Summer fiction gets full emphasis next week, with a debut thriller by S.J. Watson, a second novel from J.Courtney Sullivan, author of the bestselling debut Commencement, and Pen/Faulkner winner Kate Christensen’s latest. Usual suspects include Jeffrey Deaver, Tom Clancy, Dorothea Benton Frank and an adult novel from Ann Brashares.

Buzz Titles

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (HarperCollins). We’ve been talking about this title for months. Soon, we will find out how the public responds to this disturbing psychological thriller in which an amnesiac desperately tries to uncover the truth about who she is — and who she can trust. 
In the New York Times, Janet Maslin writes in her “critic’s notebook” on summer beach reads that it has “the summer’s single most suspenseful plot.” Holds are as high as 13 to 1 in libraries we checked.

The Astral by Kate Christensen (Doubleday) finds the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author exploring marriage, friendship and parenthood among aging bohemians in rapidly changing Brooklyn. Kirkus calls it “a masterpiece of comedy and angst,” NPR reviewer Alan Cheuse gives it a thumbs up, and it’s a People Pick for summer in the June 14 issue.

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan (Knopf) follows three generations of Irish Catholic women who converge on a family beach house, seeking acceptance from one another while struggling for self-acceptance. By the author of the bestselling debut novel Commencement, this one has also gotten some mentions on our very own Galley Chat and is a People Pick for summer.

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Usual Suspects

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster) is a new James Bond thriller – with 007 as a thirty-something veteran of the war in Afghanistan. USA Today interviews Deaver, who’s the bestselling author of the Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance series of thrillers.

Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale by Dorothea Benton Frank (Morrow) is the story of a woman picking up the pieces after her equity-trader husband commits suicide in the wake of the 2008 economic crash. Kirkus doesn’t give it high marks for “scene-craft,” but there’s no denying the popularity of the series.

Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy (Putnam) finds an ex-Navy Seal fighting a dark conspiracy on the U.S./Mexican border.

One Summer by David Baldacci (Grand Central) is a family drama about learning to love again after a terminally ill man’s wife is killed in a car accident. Kirkus calls it “creaky” and “contrived.”

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (Random House) follows the heroines of the mega-selling YA series – Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget – as they start lives of their own, now that the jeans they shared as teenagers are long gone.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 7:28 am and is filed under 2011 -- Summer, Fiction, New Title Radar, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.