A Stranger in the House, by Shari Lapena (August 15): Lapena burst onto the thriller scene last year with The Couple Next Door, her riveting tale of a kidnapping that unraveled a family’s dark secrets. She’s back this August with another domestic thriller, this time about a seemingly loving wife who can’t account for her whereabouts following a car accident. She’s definitely hiding something, but what? And is she the only one with a secret?
Perfect if you love: B.A. Paris and her latest, The Breakdown, or other thrillers that hinge on paranoia and deception (try Alexandra Burt’s Remember Mia, an overlooked gem from 2015!)
The Store, by James Patterson (August 14): It’s always fun when James Patterson pens a standalone thriller – after all, he’s the author that brought us Zoo and its related television series. Now Patterson and co-author Richard DiLallo bring us along for another terrifying thrill ride, set in a superstore that seems to have its employees’ best interests at heart – at least until two undercover employees, out to expose its business, discover that the store is always watching.
Perfect if you love: Tales of sinister businesses that are keeping close watch on their staffers, like The Circle, by Dave Eggers, and Horrorstor, by Grady Hendrix.
Y is for Yesterday, by Sue Grafton (August 22): Kinsey Milhone is back! When we last saw her in X (2015), she was caught in the tangled web of multiple mysteries (everything from bank robberies to art theft), and she returns this month with a story that flashes back and forth through time as she tries to resolve a brutal crime from 1979. We’re glad to see Kinsey again – if only the alphabet had a few more letters to keep her stories going…
Perfect if you love: a classic private investigator mystery. We recommend Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski mysteries (still going strong after eighteen books!) or Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels (now written by Ace Atkins, Spenser is on his forty-fifth mystery).
Mrs. Fletcher, by Tom Perrotta (August 1): Leave it to Perrotta to tap modern culture and mine it for hilarious effect: his latest explores the dual trials and tribulations of a divorced mother, whose long-dormant love life is resurrected when her son leaves for college, and her son’s gradual discovery of social justice on campus. If you liked the decidedly adult humor and sharp social commentary on display in Little Children or The Leftovers, be sure to snap up a copy of Mrs. Fletcher.
Perfect if you love: literary fiction that pokes gentle fun at its characters (and culture), in the style of Jonathan Tropper or Jeffrey Eugenides
The Address, by Fiona Davis (August 1): Don’t let a new author like Davis sneak under your radar, especially if you love historical fiction! Her debut novel, The Dollhouse, was a Library Reads selection in August 2016 (as was top pick Shari Lapena’s novel!), and explored the famed Barbizon Hotel. Now she turns her attention to the Dakota apartment building and its scandalous past – which just happens to include the murder of its architect.
Perfect if you love: historical fiction authors who focus on female characters, like Kate Alcott, Lauren Willig, or Beatriz Williams
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