Spotlight: Court of Lies by Gerry Spence

From Gerry Spence, one of America’s greatest trial attorneys and the New York Times bestselling author of How to Argue and Win Every Time, comes an explosive courtroom thriller of murder, passion, and the twists and treachery of law and justice.

Gerry Spence is one of the greatest trial lawyers of our time. He has not lost a jury trial in fifty years and has never lost a criminal or a capital case. He has also represented many celebrated defendants and appeared on countless national TV talk shows.

Spence now presents us with beautiful Lillian Adams, who is going on trial for the murder of her wealthy husband before Judge John Murray. The prosecutor, Haskins Sewell, however, is consumed by political ambition. He plans to advance his own career by framing Lillian for murder one and by railroading the judge into prison.

A fast-paced, up-all-night courtroom thriller, Court of Lies is also a harsh indictment of today’s legal system. The country has 2.3 million people behind bars and 7.5 million more on parole or probation. A major reason for so much mass incarceration is the dominance of politically motivated prosecutors, who over-sentence defendants for the sake of winning votes in their own elections and advancing their careers.

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About the Author

Gerry Spence has been a trial attorney for more than five decades and proudly represents "the little people." He has fought and won for the family of Karen Silkwood, defended Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, and represented hundreds of others in some of the most notable trials of our time. He is the founder of Trial Lawyer's College, a nonprofit school where, pro bono, he teaches attorneys for the people how to present their cases and win against powerful corporate and government interests. He is the author more than a dozen books, including The New York Times bestseller How to Argue and Win Every Time, From Freedom to Slavery, Give Me Liberty, and The Making of a Country Lawyer, and is a nationally known television commentator on the famous trials of our time. He lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Cover Reveal: Clemency by Leah Parker

Clemency

by Leah Parker Publication Date: May 30, 2017 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Purchase: Amazon

GAIA Everything comes down to choices. Ethan’s choices led to his death, which led me to the bridge, a detour on the way to his funeral. I chose to turn around when I heard a car stop. I chose to get into the car with him. I even chose to go on a date with him. I didn’t choose to fall for him, though. And I certainly didn’t choose to be lied to for months. QUILLEN I chose to leave my hometown, to forget about everything that happened. Then Ethan died, and I chose to come back for the first time in years, knowing what I would face. They still blame me for what happened back then. If only they knew the truth. I chose to pull over on that bridge, and when I saw her face and looked into her eyes, I chose to keep the truth from her. Now she has to choose whether or not she can forgive me for my lies.  

About Leah Parker

Leah resides on the coast of Massachusetts. She’s been an avid reader since fourth grade when she fell in love with the “Dear America” books, and Harry Potter. When she’s not writing, she’s likely reading. Though she doesn’t much believe in fantasy, she does make an exception for all things Disney. Leah has a degree in Psychology and works with children on the Autism spectrum during the day. She enjoys wine, Italian food, candles, coffee, and being outside. She hates cold weather, long pants, staying in one place for too long, and going to bed (though she does love sleeping.) Leah has always had a passion for writing, but it wasn’t until the Winter of 2015 that she finally got an idea in her head for her first novel, Clemency, which she wrote the following Summer. She released her second novel, Love and Madness in April of 2018. She is currently working on her third.

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Spotlight: Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser

The secrets it exposes threaten to change their lives forever.

Molly and Liza have always been enviably close. Even after Molly married Daniel, the couple considered Liza an honorary family member. But after Liza moved away, things grew more strained than anyone wanted to admit—in the friendship and the marriage.

When Daniel goes away on business, Molly and Liza plan to reconnect with a nice long video chat after the kids are in bed. But then Molly leaves the room to check on a crying child.

What Liza sees next will change everything.

Only one thing is certain: Molly needs her. Liza drives all night to be at Molly’s side—but when she arrives, the reception is icy, leaving Liza baffled and hurt. She knows there’s no denying what she saw.

Or is there?

In disbelief that their friendship could really be over, Liza is unaware she’s about to have a near miss of her own.

And Molly, refusing to deal with what’s happened, won’t turn to Daniel, either.

But none of them can go on pretending. Not after this.

Forget You Know Me is a “twisty, emotionally complex, powder keg of a tale” (bestselling author Emily Carpenter) about the wounds of people who’ve grown apart. Best friends, separated by miles. Spouses, hardened by neglect. A mother, isolated by pain.

One moment will change things for them all.

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About the Author

Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest, where she served as editorial director for nearly a decade and became known for her in-depth cover interviews with literary luminaries. She’s the author of the book club favorites Almost Missed You and Not That I Could Tell, a Book of the Month selection and Barnes & Noble Best New Fiction pick for March 2018 (both St. Martin’s Press). She has written for The New York Times Modern Love column, Publishers Weekly, and other fine venues, and is a popular speaker at writing conferences and book festivals. She lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati.

Spotlight: The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

The Reckoning is the stunning follow-up to The Legacy, which was the start of a thrilling new series that Booklist (starred) recommends for fans of Tana French. 

Vaka sits, regretting her choice of coat, on the cold steps of her new school. Her father appears to have forgotten to pick her up, her mother has forgotten to give her this week’s pocket money, and the school is already locked for the day. Grownups, she decides, are useless.

With no way to call home, she resigns herself to waiting on the steps until her father remembers her. When a girl approaches, Vaka recognizes her immediately from class, and from her unusual appearance: two of her fingers are missing. The girl lives at the back of the school, on the other side of a high fence, and Vaka asks to call her father from the girl's house. That afternoon is the last time anyone sees Vaka.

Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are called in. Soon, they find themselves at the heart of another shocking case.

From the international number one-bestselling author of The Silence of the Sea, winner of the 2015 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel Yrsa Sigurdardottir returns with the follow-up to The Legacy.

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About the Author

YRSA SIGURDARDÓTTIR (pronounced UR-suh SIG-ur-dar-daughter) lives with her family in Reykjavík; she is also a director of one of Iceland's largest engineering firms. Her work is found on bestseller lists all over the world, and films are currently in production for several of her books. Her titles include, The Day is Dark and Ashes to Dust.

Spotlight: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for.

Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master’s dying wish: that Ren find the man’s finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever.

As the days tick relentlessly by, a series of unexplained deaths racks the district, along with whispers of men who turn into tigers. Ji Lin and Ren’s increasingly dangerous paths crisscross through lush plantations, hospital storage rooms, and ghostly dreamscapes.

Yangsze Choo's The Night Tiger pulls us into a world of servants and masters, age-old superstition and modern idealism, sibling rivalry and forbidden love. But anchoring this dazzling, propulsive novel is the intimate coming-of-age of a child and a young woman, each searching for their place in a society that would rather they stay invisible.

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About the Author

Yangsze Choo is a fourth-generation Malaysian of Chinese descent. Due to a childhood spent in various countries, she can eavesdrop (badly) in several languages. After graduating from Harvard University, she worked as a management consultant and at a startup before writing her first novel. The Ghost Bride, set in colonial Malaya and the elaborate Chinese world of the afterlife, is about a peculiar historic custom called a spirit marriage. Yangsze lives in California with her husband, two children, and a potential rabbit. She loves to eat and read, and often does both at the same time.

Spotlight: Louisa on the Front Lines: Louisa May Alcott in the Civil War by Samantha Seiple

An eye-opening look at Little Women author Louisa May Alcott’s time as a Civil War nurse, and the far-reaching implications her service had on her writing and her activism 

Louisa on the Frontlines is the first narrative nonfiction book focusing on the least-known aspect of Louisa May Alcott’s career – her time spent as a nurse during the Civil War. Though her service was brief, the dramatic experience was one that she considered pivotal in helping her write the beloved classic Little Women. It also deeply affected her tenuous relationship with her father, and inspired her commitment to abolitionism. Through it all, she kept a journal and wrote letters to her family and friends. These letters were published in the newspaper, and her subsequent book, Hospital Sketches spotlighted the dire conditions of the military hospitals and the suffering endured by the wounded soldiers she cared for. To this day, her work is considered a pioneering account of military nursing. 

Alcott’s time as an Army nurse in the Civil War helped her find her authentic voice–and cemented her foundational belief system. Louisa on the Frontlines reveals the emergence of this prominent feminist and abolitionist–a woman whose life and work has inspired millions and continues to do so today,

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About the Author

Samantha Seiple is the author of the young adult narrative nonfiction books Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII Invasion, a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Nominee and a Junior Library Guild Selection; Lincoln’s Spymaster: America’s First Private Eye, a Junior Library Guild Selection; Byrd & Igloo: A Polar Adventure; and Death on the River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon Adventure. She has worked as a competitive intelligence specialist, as a librarian, and as a production editor and copy editor. Her education includes degrees in English, journalism, and library and information science. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.