Category: Audio Books

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

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‘She felt quite light-headed. Low blood sugar, maybe, or perhaps it was the dizzying effect of watching her horizons, narrowed for so long, expanding once again.’

Paula Hawkins’ latest thriller A Slow Fire Burning is a book that messes with your mind, but in a good way. Hawkins has written a book that talks about how far someone is willing to go to find peace (or revenge).

Someone has been killed. A young man was found gruesomely murdered in his London houseboat. When the authorities start investigating, questions begin to mount surrounding three women who knew him and the others living in his periphery.

Laura is a troubled young woman who was the last person seen both with the victim and in his home. Their one-night stand was fraught with violence, something that Laura admits to the police when questioned. Laura was in a devastating car accident when she was young that left her hot-tempered, rash, and dangerous. Others judge her, something that has left Laura living as a loner.

Miriam knows all too well about how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. As the person who lives in the houseboat next to the dead man, Miriam has a unique insight into his life, plus she’s nosy. She also knows that just because she saw Laura leaving the houseboat covered in blood, that doesn’t mean she killed him. Miriam has been taken advantage of one too many times, so she will do whatever it takes to clear Laura of any wrongdoing.

Carla’s nephew was just brutally murdered. Her sister died in an accident eight weeks earlier. So much tragedy in such a short amount of time has left her completely stricken and at a loss. Carla no longer trusts anyone and views those around her as damaged creatures. All she wants is peace. Or does she?

Others circulate behind the scenes: Carla’s husband Theo and the women who lives next door to the deceased man’s mother. Everyone in this story is filled with resentment. While their reasons may be varied, they all desire to right the wrongs perpetrated against them. Their journeys to revenge will lead them to peace or destruction, risks they are all willing to take.

This book is also available in the following formats:

December’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

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It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! Reminder that if you join our Best Sellers Club, these titles will automatically be put on hold for you.

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Jenna Bush Hager has selected Bright Burning Things by Lisa Harding.

Curious what Bright Burning Things is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Sonya used to perform on stage. She attended glamorous parties, dated handsome men, rode in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed to black. In their absence, came darkness—blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she could not remember.

Haunted by her failed career and lingering trauma from her childhood, Sonya fell deep into an alcoholic abyss. What kept her from losing herself completely was Tommy, her son. But her love for Tommy rivaled her love for the bottle. Addiction amplified her fear of losing her child; every maternal misstep compelled her to drink. Tommy’s precious life was in her shaky hands.

Eventually Sonya was forced to make a choice. Give up drinking or lose Tommy—forever.

Bright Burning Things is an emotional tour-de-force—a devastating and nuanced look at an addict’s journey towards rehabilitation and redemption.

This book is also available in the following format:

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Reese Witherspoon has selected Lucky by Marissa Stapley.

Curious what Lucky is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A compelling and thrilling road-trip novel about a talented grifter named Lucky whose past comes back to haunt her.

What if you had the winning ticket that would change your life forever, but you couldn’t cash it in?

Lucky Armstrong is a tough, talented grifter who has just pulled off a million-dollar heist with her boyfriend, Cary. She’s ready to start a brand-new life, with a new identity—when things go sideways. Lucky finds herself alone for the first time, navigating the world without the help of either her father or her boyfriend, the two figures from whom she’s learned the art of the scam.

When she discovers that a lottery ticket she bought on a whim is worth millions, her elation is tempered by one big problem: cashing in the winning ticket means the police will arrest her for her crimes. She’ll go to prison, with no chance to redeem her fortune.

As Lucky tries to avoid arrest and make a future for herself, she must confront her past by reconciling with her father; finding her mother, who abandoned her when she just a baby; and coming to terms with the man she thought she loved—whose complicated past is catching up to her, too.

This is a novel about truth, personal redemption, and the complexity of being good. It introduces a singularly gifted, complicated character who must learn what it means to be independent and honest…before her luck runs out.

Join our Best Sellers Club to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

Best Sellers Club December Authors: Elin Hilderbrand and Jayne Ann Krentz

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Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction? You should join the Best Sellers Club. Choose any author, celebrity pick, and/or nonfiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from the Best Sellers Club! December’s authors are Elin Hilderbrand for fiction and Jayne Ann Krentz for romance.

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Our December fiction author is Elin Hilderbrand. Hilderbrand is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University and the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her first novels were published by St. Martin’s Press and then she subsequently moved to Little, Brown, and Company.  All of her novel’s are set on or near to Nantucket Island, where she lives. She likes to draw inspiration from her local surroundings by drawing on what she knows. Hilderbrand’s novels focus on romance and friendships along the beaches of Nantucket.

Hilderbrand’s newest novel is Golden Girl, published on June 1, 2021.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

In this #1 bestselling page-turner a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.

On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she’s assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.

From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them g row without her.

With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our December romance author is Jayne Ann Krentz. Krentz is the author of fifty New Tork Times bestsellers. She writes under three different pen names, but only the books written under the name Jayne Ann Krentz are available through the Best Sellers club. Under her married name, Jayne Ann Krentz, she writes contemporary romantic suspense. Under the name Amanda Quick, she writes novels of historical romantic suspense. Her final name, Jayne Castle, is used for futuristic/paranormal romantic suspense. Before she began writing full time, Krentz worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.

Krentz’s latest book is Lightning in a Mirror, the third book in the Fogg Lake series. This book will be published on January 18th, 2022.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher.

Lightning in a Mirror is the final installment in the chilling Fogg Lake trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.

Olivia LeClair’s experiment with speed dating is not going well. First there was the nasty encounter with the date from hell who tried to murder her and now the mysterious Harlan Rancourt—long believed dead—sits down at her table and tells her she’s the only one who can help him locate the legendary Vortex lab.

This is not what Olivia had in mind when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed package offered by the dating agency. She doesn’t have much choice, though, because her psychic investigation firm works for the mysterious Foundation and Victor Arganbright, the director, is adamant that she assist Harlan. There’s just one problem—no one knows Harlan’s real agenda. His father once ran the Foundation like a mob organization, and Harlan was destined to be his heir. There’s a real possibility Harlan has returned to claim his inheritance.

For now, however, it’s a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend because others are after the secrets of the long-lost lab. Unfortunately for Olivia, the one thing friend and foe have in common is that everyone is convinced she is the key. Her unique psychic talent is required to defuse the ticking time bomb that is Vortex.

Neither trusts the other but Olivia and Harlan soon realize they must work together to survive and unlock the Bluestone Project’s most dangerous secrets before more innocent people die.

This book is also available in the following format:

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

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I’m not a spooky book person: hauntings, ghosts, unexplained mysteries keep me up all night. I decided to be brave and try The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, even though the reviews I read described mysterious happenings throughout the book. It was worth it (and the many positive reviews didn’t let me down)!

The Sun Down Motel tells the story of secrets. A rundown roadside motel in Fell, New York has been the scene of many unexplained happenings. What’s even more chilling is that the city of Fell has a high number of young girls who have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. One of these missing girls is Viv Delaney.

Viv moved to Fell in 1982. She is desperate to move to New york City, but in order to help pay for it, she finds herself working as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She was only supposed to be passing through Fell – not staying to work. The more she works at the motel, the more Viv realizes that something isn’t quite right there. Something haunting and scary has taken over the Sun Down Motel. What’s even scarier: they are determined to get Viv’s attention no matter what.

Flash forward to Fell in 2017. Carly Kirk has been consumed by the story of her Aunt Viv, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while working the night shift at the Sun Down. Viv disappeared before Carly was even born, yet her disappearance has cast a shadow over her life. Determined to finally find some answers, Carly decides to move to Fell and visit the motel where her aunt spent her last known moments. Once she steps foot at the Sun Down Motel, Carly quickly realizes that nothing has changed since 1982. The more she investigates what happened to her aunt, the more Carly realizes that both the town of Fell and the Sun Down Motel are ripe with secrets. Soon Carly finds herself wrapped up in the same haunting and scary mysteries that consumed her aunt back in 1982. Carly needs answers though and will stop at nothing to find out what really happened to Viv all those years ago.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

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Mary Kubica’s latest thriller Local Woman Missing ends with a twist I didn’t see coming. Women in a tight-knit community keep disappearing without a trace, leaving those they have left behind scrambling for any clue to their whereabouts.

Shelby Tebow was the first to go missing. Ten days after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter Delilah disappear just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen. No one knows what happened to these three. Since they disappeared in the middle of the neighborhood, people are noticeably fearful that a kidnapper and/or killer is at loose in the area. Since the incidents happened so close together, rumors swirl that the two may be connected. Searches are conducted all over town and instead of bringing answers, more questions are unearthed. The cases goes cold.

Flash forward eleven years. Delilah has returned. No one knows where she came from, who took her, or what happened to her while she was gone. The more the police question her, the more convoluted the whole situation becomes. Just when answers seem to be right at their fingertips, the case takes a turn that no one expects.

This novel is told through several people’s timelines, both in the past and present. Told from multiple points of views, readers are privy to their wide range of emotions. They are confused, hurt, scared, tired, resentful, and unreliable. The adults are flawed, the children need champions, and the mysterious cold cases only add to the terror. I’m glad the author chose to tell this story through multiple viewpoints and by bouncing between past and present. It left me wanting to know more about certain characters and what would happen to them in the future.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

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Louise Candlish’s 2020 novel The Other Passenger is a twisted tale of deception rife with unreliable characters. Candlish has a way of telling stories that grip you from the beginning and don’t let go until the very end. This novel was no exception.

Jaime and Clare have been living together in London for the last ten years. Not married, but still very much a couple, Clare is the breadwinner of the two with deep family money and a gorgeously expensive townhouse gifted to her from her parents. Jaime had been adding funds to their communal account until months ago when he had to quit his job following a terrifying claustrophobia incident aboard the tube in the tunnels. Now he works at a coffee shop as a barista and is very much dependent on Claire to survive.

The biggest change in Jaime’s life was his decision to commute to work by riverboat instead of the tube. Now he has no more gridlock or claustrophobia to contend with – all thanks to his young friend Kit and his girlfriend Melia for their riverboat pass suggestion. Kit and Jaime now feel like they have had a major lifestyle upgrade – a leisurely ride to work with alcohol available on boat on their way home. Kit and Jaime’s friendship blooms the more they commute.

One day Jaime is living his best life and the next, it all comes crashing down. It all starts when Kit does not show up for the morning boat commute and Melia reports him missing. As soon as Jaime gets off the riverboat, the police are waiting to question him as they have had reports from another passenger who saw the two men arguing on the boat. They believe Jaime was the last person to see him alive and may be behind Kit’s sudden disappearance. These accusations make no sense to him and he protests that he would never want to hurt Kit. After all, the two of them are friends. This anonymous other passenger doesn’t know anything about Jaime’s life. He’s completely innocent and has nothing to hide.

This book is also available in the following formats:

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

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Paula McLain has written an intense historical thriller detailing the life of a seasoned detective haunted by cases from her past. While in the past McLain has written historical fiction that takes place further in the past, this title is still set in the past, albeit the 1970s to the 1990s. This book is also sprinkled with true events, but it is a decided shift from her other novels.

When the Stars Go Dark digs into the life of missing persons detective Anna Hart. After a tragic event rocks her life, Anna is desperate for an escape. She heads to Mendocino, California to grieve and process what has happened. Mendocino is the closest town Anna has to home. Having grown up in the foster care system, Mendocino was the place where she found two of her most supportive foster parents. When she arrives, she expects comfort, safety, and most importantly solitude, but instead Anna finds that her work has followed her. A local girl has gone missing, leaving Anna feeling like she has to help.

This new missing persons case reminds Anna of her childhood when a local girl in her community went missing and was later found murdered. That case is still unsolved and has left the community changed. Anna volunteers her services to help with the new missing girl case. The more she works, the more the past and present interfere with each other. During her career as a missing persons detective, Anna focused on how victims come into contact with violent predators. Her knowledge of that process comes in handy as she begins searching for the missing girl. Her search slowly becomes an obsession. Anna will do anything to find this girl and to not let the past repeat itself, but soon realizes that she needs the help of others if she wants to solve this case and bring the girl home.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Best Sellers Club November Authors: Catherine Coulter and Patricia Cornwell

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Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction? You should join the Best Sellers Club. Choose any author, celebrity pick, and/or nonfiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from the Best Sellers Club! November’s authors are Catherine Coulter for fiction and Patricia Cornwell for mystery.

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Our November fiction author is Catherine Coulter. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and two cats. She is an avid football fan and loves to travel, hike, and read. Coulter is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 86 novels. She writes both historical romance and suspense thrillers. She began her career writing historical romances. Coulter is well-known for her highly successful FBI Suspense Thriller series, which has sold over 4 million copies and has spent nine weeks on the New York Times list. Coutler is frequently known as one of the pillars of the thriller genre. She also started the Brit in the FBI series in 2013 with JT Ellison.

Coulter’s newest book is Vortex, published in August of 2021. Vortex is book 25 in her FBI Thriller series.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

In the latest installment in Catherine Coulter’s #1 New York Times bestselling FBI Thriller series, agents Sherlock and Savich find themselves dealing with powerful pieces of the past that could have dire consequences in the present.

Seven years ago, Mia Briscoe was at a frat party with her best friend Serena when a fire broke out. Everyone was accounted for except Serena. She was never heard from or seen again. Now Mia is an investigative journalist covering the political scene in New York City, but she hasn’t given up trying to find out what happened to her friend that night. When an old photo taken at the frat party gives her clues, Mia realizes she knows just where to look. She enlists FBI agent Sherlock’s help to uncover a sinister string of events going all the way back to that disastrous party. But some very powerful—and very dangerous—people will do anything to keep the past buried.

CIA Operative Olivia Hildebrandt is a team leader on a mission in Iran to exfiltrate a betrayed undercover operative. She’s nearly killed by an exploding grenade and saved by a team member. After leaving Walter Reed Hospital, not only has that team member disappeared but two men come to her house to kill her. Savich believes their attack on Olivia is a direct result of the compromised mission in Iran. What intelligence was at stake? Who betrayed them? Savich quickly finds he is now a target himself and unseen enemies will stop at nothing, including murder.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our November mystery author is Patricia Cornwell. She is a New Tork Times bestselling author who has sold over 100 million books in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. Cornwell’s first novel was Postmortem, the first forensic thriller. Cornwell is most well known for her Kay Scarpetta series. These novels focus on medical examiner Kay Scarpetts as well as her tech-savvy niece Lucy and her fellow investigator Pete Marino. She has also begun two other series based on Win Garano, a Boston detective, and Andy Brazil, a Charlotte reporter. In addition to her adult ficiton, Cornwell has also written  multiple nonficiton titles, including one about Jack the Ripper and two cookbooks. She has also written a children’s book and a biography of Ruth Graham. Cornwell currently lives in Boston, but was born in Miami and grew up in North Carolina.

Cornwell’s latest book is Autopsy, which is to be published on November 30, 2021. Autopsy is book 25 in the Kay Scarpetta series.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher.

Scarpetta is back! In this twenty-fifth in the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling thriller series chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts an ingenious killer who has mastered cutting-edge science for the most nefarious ends.

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and possible corruption.

She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she’s headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that’s been torn by civil and political unrest. Just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.

At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret private laboratory in outer space, and at least two scientists aboard are found dead. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House Situation Room and tasked with finding out what happened. But even as she works the first crime scene in space remotely, an apparent serial killer strikes again. And this time, Scarpetta could be in greater danger than ever before.

In this latest novel in her groundbreaking Kay Scarpetta series, Patricia Cornwell captivates readers with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and forensic detail that she is famous for, proving once again why she’s the world’s #1 bestselling crime writer.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

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Have you ever found a subject you want to know more about, so you dive into learning as much about it as you can? I know I do! The subject I have been researching for the past couple months is packhorse librarianship. In addition to the nonfiction books and research articles I have read, I have curated a list of fiction books about packhorse librarians that I have been making my way through.

The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer is the third adult fiction book about packhorse librarians that I have read thus far. Taking place during the Great Depression, Sawyer’s novel draws inspiration from the real Works Progress Administration program that sent librarians on horseback to deliver books to hill families in Kentucky.

Addie Cowherd wants to be a novelist. Adopted by her parents at a young age, Addie wants to give readers an escape into books like what she experienced during her tragic childhood. Working at a library while going to college, Addie believes that she has finally found a way to make her dreams come true. Life has other plans for her as her adoptive father loses his job and Addie realizes that she doesn’t have the funds necessary to complete her degree. Forced to leave college and without the safety net of her parents to fall back on, Addie sets out to find a job which proves difficult given that it’s the Great Depression. Addie finally finds a job delivering books on horseback in the hills of Kentucky to poor coal mining families. Working in a library delivering books sounds perfect to Addie. She quickly spins ideas of what she’ll do and all the friends she will make once she gets to town.

As soon as Addie sets foot in Boone’s Hollow, her perfect ideas go up in smoke. The library in Boone’s Hollow is nothing like she thought. The residents in Boone’s Hollow are superstitious and wary of any outsiders. Locals who leave and come back are even subject to scrutiny. As Addie tries to find a new rhythm and gain the trust of the locals, she learns the truth about a decades-old rivalry that dictates many of the town’s actions. When someone decides to sabotage the library program, Addie and the other librarians have to work together to keep the program going or it will crumble into nothing.

Want to check out other fiction books about packhorse librarians? Below are two others available at the Davenport Public Library:

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

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The Gilded Ones is Namina Forna’s debut young adult novel and the first in her new West-African inspired fantasy series entitled Deathless. As someone who loves elegantly crafted epic fantasy worlds, The Gilded Ones did not disappoint!

Deka is a mix of emotions. As a sixteen-year old, she is now eligible for the blood ceremony that will determine whether or not she will become a member of her village. This ceremony fills her with both fear and anticipation because if her blood runs gold, she will be forced out. Gold blood means that you are impure and the consequences of that are worse than death.

The day of the ceremony arrives. When it is Deka’s turn, she is stunned to see that her blood runs gold. Deemed impure, Deka’s life is effectively over. A mysterious woman shows up in her village offering Deka a choice: stay in her village and succumb to her fate or leave and fight in an army of girls just like her. These girls are called alaki. They are near immortals who have a myriad of rare gifts. The only ones who can stop the biggest threat to the empire.

Deka decides to leave the village and travel with this mystery woman to the capital to begin her training. The minute she reaches the walled city, Deka realizes that not everything is as simple as it’s made out to be. Nobody is quite who they say they are, including Deja herself.