Saturdays at the Café

 

Saturdays at the Café is a weekly feature hosted here to talk about and discuss the books I’ve discovered during the past week, added to my shelf and am excited about reading. They may be new/scheduled releases I’ve seen on NetGalley, at the library, or from publishers or they may be older titles my friends have reviewed and shared on Goodreads or blogs.

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Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in Robotham’s latest psychological thriller, which finally unlocks the secrets of Evie’s past and reaffirms why Stephen King has proclaimed this author “an absolute master.”

The mystery of Evie Cormac’s background has followed her into adulthood. As a child, she was discovered hiding in a secret room where a man had been tortured to death. Many of her captors and abusers escaped justice, unseen but not forgotten. Now, on a hot summer’s day, the past drags Evie back as she watches the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach.

There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders—but recognizes immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past. But what dark forces will he set loose? And who will pay the price?

One of my Goodreads friends gave me the heads up about this upcoming July release of the next book in the Cyrus Haven series. It’s an audio review hopeful.

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And Then There Were None meets The Last Breath in this tense and suspenseful locked-room thriller that takes place inside a hyperbaric chamber from the author of the “brilliant, twisted, and oh so clever” (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author) novel The Last Thing to Burn.

Six experienced saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. Calm and professional, they know that rapid decompression would be fatal and so they work in shifts, breathing helium, and surviving in hot, close quarters.

Then one of them is found dead in his bunk.

With four days of decompression to go before the locked hatch to the chamber can be safely opened, the group must watch one another’s backs at all times. And when another diver is discovered unresponsive, everyone is on edge. What…or who…is taking them out one by one? And will any of them still be alive by the time the four days is up or will paranoia, exhaustion, suspicion, and pressure destroy them all?

The author is an auto read and this sounds fascinating. It’s scheduled for release in August and is an audio review hopeful.

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A deviously twisty novel of psychological suspense about secrets, neighbors, a need to belong, and murder by the award-winning author of The Maid’s Diary.

Socially awkward Chloe Cooper divides her time between dog walking, bartending, caring for her ailing mother, and at a safe distance, watching people and inventing the stories of their lives. Like Chloe’s new neighbors: glamorous influencer Jemma Spengler and Jemma’s husband, Adam, a renowned surgeon. They’re attractive, wealthy, and in a house of open windows, so exposed.

A move to the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a fresh start for Jemma and Adam. It’s a renewed commitment to a marriage fractured by secrets. A chance to work through the tragic losses in their past. For Jemma, however, this new beginning also comes with an unnerving sensation that she’s being watched.

Then, on a fog-shrouded beach early in the morning, Chloe witnesses the murder of a swimmer. Her suspicions aroused, she suddenly sees her neighbors in a sinister new light. But as a detective and her partner close in, nothing is quite as it seems. Because the Spenglers are not the only ones with secrets. And Chloe isn’t the only one who’s been watching.

My friend Nikki @ Nikki Lee Thrill Seeker screamed out to me about this one. I had no choice but to add. Scheduled for release in September, it’s an audio review hopeful.

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READ WITH JENNA’S MAY BOOK CLUB PICK • A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?

Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can’t shake the sense she’s hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?

I hadn’t heard of this book until it was selected by the Today show’s Read With Jenna book club for May. Thanks to my library for the audiobook.

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A “propulsive page-turner” (Alyssa Cole) and “thriller not to be missed” (Michael Connelly) from the award-winning author of Like a Sister, in which a woman thinks she’s waking up to a romantic vacation—only to find a body in her rental home and her boyfriend gone.

The truth is never skin deep.

It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, she’s shocked. There’s a stranger laying dead in the foyer, and Ty is nowhere to be found.

A Black woman alone in a new city, Bree is stranded and out of her depth—especially when it becomes clear the dead woman is none other than Janelle Beckett, the missing woman the entire Internet has become obsessed with. There’s only one person Bree can turn to: her ex-best friend, a lawyer with whom she shares a very complicated past. As the police and a social media mob close in, all looking for #JusticeForJanelle, Bree realizes that the only way she can help Ty—or herself—is to figure out what really happened that last night.

But when people only see what they want to see, can she uncover the truth hiding in plain sight?

Another book I hadn’t seen before until it showed up at my library. I quickly grabbed the audiobook.

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In an effort to halt an armed standoff, FBI negotiator Charlotte Blood tries to unravel the mystery of a young woman’s death on a remote mountainside. Pity she has to fight her stubborn, sexy, Hostage Rescue Team counterpart every step of the way.

As a highly skilled operative, HRT leader Payne Novak doesn’t have time to play detective or make nice with killers who flout the law. His focus is getting inside the compound and ending the siege as quickly as possible.

Forced to work together, the battle-hardened HRT team leader and the quietly determined negotiator figure out they might have more in common than they anticipated. As the clock ticks, Charlotte discovers there are some dangers she can’t talk her way out of, and the race to unearth long-buried lies becomes a matter of survival for everyone on the mountain.

I’ve followed the Cold Justice series for years and, thanks to BookBub, got the kindle book for free and added the audio version to my wishlist.

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We forgive murderers, not pedophiles.

Not since Lionel Shriver brought us We Need to Talk About Kevin has a writer delved into the complexities of a disturbed mother/son relationship. Until now.

Meet Noah—an A-honor roll student, award-winning swimmer, and small-town star destined for greatness. There weren’t any signs that something was wrong until the day he confesses to molesting little girls during swim team practice. He’s sentenced to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual rehabilitation center.

His mother, Adrianne, refuses to turn her back on him despite his horrific crimes, but her husband won’t allow Noah back into their home. In a series of shocking and shattering revelations, Adrianne is forced to make the hardest decision of her life. Just how far will she go to protect her son?

Saving Noah challenges everything you think you know about teenage sexual offenders. It will keep you up at night long after you’ve read the last page, questioning beliefs you once thought were true.

After listening to One of Our Own earlier this year, I wanted more by the author. I read an outstanding review on IG and am in a short library queue for the audiobook.

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When a white family moves to the affluent Black community of New Nigeria County, a “misunderstanding” between neighbors escalates until the entire town is swept up in the drama in this hilarious and whip-smart full-cast audiobook, written and performed by TikTok star Clare Brown.

New Nigeria is a good, clean, All-American town. The husbands are smiling and handsome, the wives are strong, rich, and powerful, and Nat Turner High is the best public school in the state. Yet, the citizens of this idyllic community find themselves in a rapidly changing country and, to be perfectly honest, some of them are a teeny bit uncomfortable with it all.

When a New Nigeria community leader Carèn makes a frantic phone call to the local police about a “potential gang member” roaming her cushy Malcolm X Estates neighborhood, it turns out the boy is her new European American neighbor, Jake Smith, and the misunderstanding quickly becomes the talk of the town. While Jake’s mom, Meghan, is hurt by her new neighbor’s behavior, Care`n works tirelessly to preserve the safety (and the property values) of her beloved community. As the two women work toward their own version of equity, their conflict continues to escalate, setting off a chain of cringe-worthy confrontations that send the good citizens of New Nigeria into a tailspin.

New Nigeria County is a hilarious, razor-sharp debut, flipping the script to expose uncomfortable truths through wildly entertaining comedy. This dynamic audiobook, created for the listening experience, is perfect for fans of Abbott Elementary, Dear White People, and Such a Fun Age.

I passed on this when it was first offered for audio review as I’d reached my limit. Thankfully the publisher offered an exception and I was able to get it. It has a full cast narration. 

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What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?