June 1, 2022

Following a misjudged post gone nastily viral, popular mommy blogger Alex discovers that The Personal Assistant who knew too much about her has vanished, with USA Today best-selling author Belle shifting perspectives between the two (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Small Game, a fiction debut from Braverman (Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube), survival instructor Mara lands on a reality TV show with a mixed bag of teammates hoping to win a pile of money by camping out in some undisclosed woodlands but not counting on being stranded (150,000-copy first printing). Slipped into German intelligence by the Soviets (and by Single Spy author Christie), Double Agent Alexsi Smirnoff is captured in 1943 by the British, who recruit him for their own purposes (50,000-copy first printing). In Connelly's Desert Star, LAPD detective Ren�e Ballard rejoins the force to run the newly minted Open-Unsolved Unit, where Harry Bosch volunteers so that he can pursue a psychopath who slaughtered an entire family (750,000-copy first printing). In this follow-up to Graham and Land's The Rising, high school seniors Alex Chin and Samantha Dixon must counter a threat to all humanity, signaled by the ascent of a Blood Moon over the vanished Mayan city of El Mirador (75,000-copy first printing). "Beware of The Couple at the Table nearest to yours" says the note to honeymooners Jane and William, but the tables at their swanky resort are all equidistant--New York Times best-selling Hannah's way of chilling protagonists and readers alike (50,000-copy first printing). Searching for a mountain caribou reportedly spotted in Washington State-- A Ghost of Caribou because this subspecies was thought extinct in the contiguous United States--wildlife biologist Alex Carter instead encounters environmental conflict and a murdered forest ranger; wildlife researcher Henderson follows up A Blizzard of Polar Bears (75,000-copy first printing). Living in the Soviet Union in 1973, above the Arctic Circle--Winterland, indeed--eight-year-old Anya is tapped as a promising gymnast even as she mourns her mother, who vanished after challenging state policies; following Meadows's LJ-starred I Will Send Rain (75,000-copy first printing). Having built a successful life for herself in London after being orphaned as a child in Paris, Amelie marries dashing billionaire Jed--and realizes when she's kidnapped that she feels less like The Prisoner now than she did in her marriage; from the mega-best-selling Paris (200,000-copy first printing). Grandson of action hero Doc Savage, nerdy professor Brandt Savage is pressed into a top-secret training program that re-creates him mentally and physically as The Perfect Assassin; following Patterson's first comic-book hero foray, The Shadow (250,000-copy paperback and 45,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Steadman's latest, emerging novelist Harry husband loves her husband, Edward, but he's one of the Holbecks--filthy rich and dangerous--and though he's tried to be shot of them, the couple is soon dragged into The Family Game. In Unger's Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, Hannah's rich techie brother is graciously facilitating a weekend getaway for themselves, their spouses, and another couple, but an intrusive rental host, the personal chef's creepy stories, and a sneaking suspicion that someone in the group has a vendetta put a damper on things (150,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 8, 2022
In this subpar thriller from Unger (Last Girl Ghosted), three couples, some of whom are members of a wealthy but troubled Florida family, gather for Christmas in 2017. Mako, a tech mogul, surprises his sister, Hannah, and the others with gifts of a genetic testing kit. The next day, the group leaves for the weekend at a luxurious cabin deep in the Georgia woods, complements of the demanding Mako. Meanwhile, Alice, a single mother, tells her son, Henry, that his father was a sperm donor shortly before she dies after someone attacks her. At the cabin, Hannah feels something sinister, and when her friend Cricket arrives with boyfriend Joshua, Hannah thinks she recognizes Joshua, though they’ve never met. It’s revealed that the sperm donor, who spawned Henry and innumerable other people—including some at the cabin—was a career criminal, who between prison stints sold his sperm for money. With so many relationships and characters to keep track of, Unger overwhelms the plot, which centers on the sperm donor’s identity. But that revelation comes too late to have much of a dramatic impact. Loose ends and a crescendo of violence at the end do little to redeem the book. Unger has done better. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House.

October 1, 2022
If you've been invited on this getaway, get away and go somewhere else! Yes, it's a stunning house deep in the enchanting woods of Georgia, complete with personal chef and bubbling hot tub, and when Hannah's tech-mogul brother, Mako, invites her and her husband to the property, they're up for it. So what if it the home was once the scene of a family's brutal murder? Those shadowy figures on the grounds are just harmless ghosts, right? It turns into a stormy night of terror for everyone when someone uninvited from their past decides to join them. Embedded in a riveting novel of suspense is a revealing examination of the dangers inherent in public DNA sharing and unidentified sperm donors. This is largely conveyed through the touching parallel narrative of a young man named Henry that seems incongruous but matters very much in the end. The author is in good form here, in her twentieth outing (after Last Girl Ghosted, 2021), and her fans will be eager to dive right in.

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Starred review from October 1, 2022
A luxury vacation turns into a chain-reaction explosion of dark secrets in this tense tale. Hannah frets over being away from her baby daughter for the first time, but she and her workaholic husband, Bruce, do need a break. And the vacation Hannah's older brother, Mako, has arranged sounds too sumptuous to pass up: a long weekend in a luxury cabin deep in the North Georgia woods, complete with gourmet chef, in-house massage, and more. Mako has become wildly wealthy running a video game company, and he's picking up the tab for all of it. The group also includes Mako's wife, Liza, whom Hannah hopes to get closer to, and Hannah's longtime best friend (and Mako's ex-girlfriend), party girl Cricket. The only unknown is Cricket's new boyfriend, Joshua. Well, Hannah thinks that's the only unknown, but she'll be proven wrong. The three couples arrive for the summer getaway despite a tropical storm brewing in the Atlantic that could curve their way. There are tales of ghosts on the property that suggest past violence there, but those could just be an inventive selling point. The host and cabin owner, Bracken, definitely has a creepy air, though (and almost no online footprint), and even scarier, his promise of Wi-Fi might not be reliable. This is Unger's 20th novel, and she builds tension skillfully from Page 1 of a prologue about Christmas dinner with Hannah's family, which ends bitterly over a mysterious gift of DNA test kits for everyone, which everyone claims to know nothing about. By the time the vacationers reach the cabin, the ominous mood is in place and everything seems disturbing, from the gleaming array of knives in the kitchen to a skull-shaped chandelier. Before they even make it through the first night's dinner, one of the six disappears, and so does contact with the outside world. The others begin a frantic search as the storm blows in and as it becomes clear that all of them are in peril--but from whom, and why? Hidden history and 21st-century technology collide in a breathtaking thriller.

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Starred review from October 1, 2022

Genetics and nature-versus-nurture take the spotlight in Unger's 20th novel (following Last Girl Ghosted). The Origins DNA testing kits hidden behind Hannah and Mako's parents' Christmas tree surprise the family, but no one admits to bringing them. Mako's wife, Liza, throws hers into the trash, and the others aren't sure about submitting. Six months later, Hannah and her husband, Mako and Liza, and Hannah's best friend and her boyfriend vacation at a remote luxury cabin in the Georgia woods, funded by the larger-than-life Mako. Although everyone seems happy and relaxed, each has secrets, and they learn someone has uncovered family secrets--an outside force is manipulating the couples. The quest for truth and justice--and a violent storm--soon shred the healing power of nature. Exploring genetic origins raises the questions about DNA and destiny, how well we know the people closest to us, and how far we would go to protect them. VERDICT For fans of creepy, cunning locked-room thrillers based on controversial social norms. Readers will revel in the search for genealogical justice amid best-kept secrets, while wondering who will live and who will die.--K. L. Romo

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.