Books We Can’t Wait to Read this Spring

Private Paris, by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
Patterson’s globe-trotting former CIA agent Jack Morgan is back in a book co-written by Mark Sullivan. Jack’s taking a relaxing vacation in the City of Light, with just a quick check-in planned at the Paris office of his worldwide detective agency, Private. If you’re wondering what could possibly go wrong, you must be new to Patterson’s brand of action and suspense. A missing granddaughter leads to the investigation of the grotesque and the very public murders of several prominent Parisians as the city itself threatens to descend into chaos.

Fool Me Once, by Harlan Coben
Bestselling author and master of the modern mystery-thriller Harlan Coben returns with a standalone novel about a former Special Ops pilot whose husband is brutally murdered. At least, she believes that he’s been murdered, until nanny-cam images show him alive and well and playing with their two-year-old, two weeks after his supposed death. Can he really be alive, or is there a deeper mystery at play?

Lust & Wonder, by Augusten Burroughs
The witty memoirist and essayist who wrote Running with Scissors turns his attention to love and relationships, and in particular, his own experiences with romance and lust as a gay New Yorker. Fame and fortune inform Burrough’s seventh autobiographical work, and it sounds as though money and a successful stint in rehab haven’t done much to curb his dark sense of humor—nor has life for the writer gotten all that much easier.

14th Colony, by Steve Berry
Former Justice Department operative and antiquarian book-dealer Cotton Malone returns in a new historical adventure. Trapped in Siberia, Malone gets wind of a stunning plot against the United States: an agent of the former Soviet Union plans to take advantage of a Constitutional loophole by assassinating both the president and the vice president before either can take the oath of office. As in his previous novels, Berry blends elements of real-life history and politics into a suspense-laden thriller.

Beast: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J. R. Ward
Sometimes you just need a good dark fantasy, and J.R. Ward’s brand of paranormal romance is particularly action-packed. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a society of vampires who battle against soulless humans. In the latest installment of the series, Brother Rhage is separated from his love, Mary, by insecurities that lead him to suffer a devastating injury. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood is on the cusp of war with the ever-more-powerful slayers. Ward’s vampire love stories are quite a bit darker than some others, but that’s hardly a bad thing.

Miller’s Valley, by Anna Quindlen
Whether as a journalist, essayist, or fiction writer, Quindlen is never less than insightful. In her latest novel, she tells the story of Mimi Miller and her hometown of Miller’s Valley, Pennsylvania. It’s been the seat of her family for generations, but the Millers are warned of a coming flood that threatens to destroy everything that they’ve built. It’s the catalyst for an exploration of home and family: Mimi’s dad stubbornly won’t leave, her brother joins the Army, her aunt won’t even come outside. Mimi, meanwhile, has to form her own identity with, and in spite of, her relatives.

Most Wanted, by Lisa Scottoline
Scottoline’s latest hot-button legal thriller involves a couple that discovers they are unable to conceive as a result of the husband’s infertility. Desperate for a child, they seek out a donor, which results in a successful pregnancy. Everything’s going just fine, until the wife discovers the identity of the donor: a man who has just been arrested for a series of murders.

The Obsession, by Nora Roberts
Bestselling romance novelist Nora Roberts tells the story of a woman who was once Naomi Bowles and is now living under an assumed name in the small town of Sunrise Cove, desperate to flee her past. As a girl, she helped to expose the monstrous crimes of her father. Given the chance for a new start, she’s forced to choose between hiding her secrets or coming to terms with them. For her, and for the curious Xander Keaton, the past will become an obsession that neither may be able to escape.

Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Jane Austen’s popularity in the modern era is no fluke: her enduring novels have almost as much to say to our times as they did to her own. In Sittenfeld’s retelling of the story of Elizabeth and Darcy, Liz is a magazine writer in New York City and Fitzwilliam Darcy is a not-terribly-charming neurosurgeon. Regency balls and calling cards have been replaced by barbecues and yoga classes, but the essence of Austen remains very much alive.

I Had a Nice Time And Other Lies…How to Find Love & Other Sh*t Like That, by The Betches
With a title like this one, you can’t possibly go wrong. The Betches are the creators of an online advice column that doesn’t skimp on the funny, and they’re back with a new book about navigating today’s modern world of love and romance. Dating apps are a prime target, but the gang offers up a must-read for any “betch” looking for love. Even if they can’t help us get dates, we’re at least guaranteed a few laughs.

The Last Mile (Amos Decker Series #2), by David Baldacci
Baldacci continues his latest series with this new book in the adventures of Amos Decker. Last year’s Memory Man introduced the detective with total recall and a lack of empathy just as he came home to find his entirely family murdered. Well after all of the leads have gone cold, a brilliant killer appears to take on Decker and his flawless memory. Baldacci’s thrillers are reliably high-concept entertainments.

Extreme Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #26), by John Sandford
Sandford’s latest sees Lucas Davenport at loose ends following the events of last year’s Gathering Prey. The unorthodox, frequently violent detective no longer works with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but he’s been offered a cushy job on the governor’s staff as he plans to run for president. As you’ve probably guessed, things don’t stay quiet for long, with Davenport called to protect his old friend from a would-be assassin.

Everybody’s Fool, by Richard Russo
1993’s Nobody’s Fool introduced Donald “Sully” Sullivan, an aging hustler with an occasional heart of gold. The book and character were popular, and Paul Newman starred in a critically acclaimed film of the same name. After more than 20 years, Russo is returning to his most beloved character, who’s still conning his way out of every problem in the small town of North Bath in upstate New York. This time, he’s got more to hide than ever: told by his doctor that he has only a year or two to live, Sully is determined to keep the news from a town full of colorful friends and enemies.

LaRose: A Novel, by Louise Erdrich
In the backwoods of North Dakota, a tragic hunting accident leaves a five-year-old dead at the hands of Landreaux Iron. Desperate to make amends, Landreaux and his wife come upon an ancient means of reconciliation and restitution: they offer their own son, LaRose, to the neighboring family, to be raised as their own. The latest from Native-American author Erdich follows young LaRose as he becomes part of an entirely new family, and the struggle of both families to heal in spite of barriers that include a vengeful enemy who won’t let the past lie.

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, by Nathaniel Philbrick
There are many biographies of America’s first president, but the man manages to be endlessly interpretable, never giving up all his secrets. For Philbrick, whose earlier bestseller In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex was recently made into a motion picture, the interest lies in the complex and controversial relationship between Washington and one of his top generals, a certain Benedict Arnold. Philbrick traces that relationship over four years that were critical to the American Revolution, exploring the events that made a patriot into a traitor, and a second-rate military commander into one of history’s best-regarded generals.

The Gene: An Intimate History, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Mukherjee’s previous nonfiction bestseller, The Emperor of All Maladies, won a Pulitzer Prize, so it’s no wonder his latest is much anticipated. The Gene promises a scientific, cultural, and social history of our growing understanding of genetics over the centuries, while simultaneously exploring the story of Mukherjee’s family’s own history of mental illness, and what the future holds for humanity as we perfect our ability to read our genetic code and alter it at will.

The City of Mirrors (Passage Trilogy #3), by Justin Cronin
Cronin’s apocalyptic trilogy comes to a conclusion with the finale of the series that began with 2010’s The Passage. The previous two books, about a future world overrun with vampire-like beings infected with a contagious plague virus, were well received by critics and genre fans alike, and young Amy Bellafonte has proven to be a particularly compelling lead. It’s all coming to a head in this final book, as The Girl from Nowhere takes on the First of the Twelve for the final fate of humanity.

A Hero of France, by Alan Furst
The latest in Furst’s loosely related Night Soldier series, A Hero of France takes us back to occupied France and the Second World War for the first time since 1999’s Red Gold. Furst’s fast-moving thrillers set in the shadowy world of international espionage have earned him the title of master of the historical spy novel, and this story of the French Resistance should be thrilling.

End of Watch, by Stephen King
Any new Stephen King book is an event, and this book concludes the blockbuster mystery-thriller trilogy that began with 2014’s Mr. Mercedes and continued in Finders Keepers. Brady Hartsfield, the Mercedes Killer himself, is back, and determined to have his revenge on retired police officer Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney, who previously brought him to justice. The two are now running a detective agency, and are quickly drawn into the Mercedes Killer’s vicious game. It sounds like King has something big planned for the finale of his hard-boiled detective series.

Here’s to Us, by Elin Hilderbrand
There’s no better time for another of Hildebrand’s summer-soaked, Cape Cod-based romances. This one centers around the death of celebrity chef Deacon Thorpe and the complicated bonds that form when wives, children, and friends gather in Nantucket to mourn and say goodbye. Full of resentments and bitterness, Deacon’s three former wives come to find that they have more in common than they’d ever have believed as they struggle to let go of the past and discovering how to move forward.
What forthcoming book are you most looking forward to?