The opening line is not promising, “Neither its plot nor its provenance do much to recommend Terry Hayes’s I Am Pilgrim,” (S&S/Atria/ Emily Bestler; S&S Audio; Thorndike), but Janet Maslin’s review in today’s New York Times quickly becomes a rave, describing the book as “the most exciting desert island read of the season … a big, breathless tale of nonstop suspense,”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer spotted it two weeks ago, and called it “one of the strongest thrillers in years, and certainly the best so far of this year.”  Published in the U.K. last year (although set in New York City), it also won over British reviewers. The Guardian went so far as to agree with the publisher’s hype that it is “the only thriller you need to read this year.”

The book is expected to be the first in a series (in fact, Maslin’s only grumble is that “This book doesn’t exactly end; it just stops … At the price of credibility, [Hayes] paves the way for a sequel. It’s not a fair trade.”)

Libraries show growing holds.

It seems less and less likely that the sequels to The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo will be adapted in to English language movies.

However, the team that worked on the first Dragon, director David Fincher and star Rooney Mara, are in talks to join forces again for another adaptation, based on Red Sparrow, by Jason Matthews (S&S/ Scribner), which won an Edgar this year for best first novel.

The Washington Post gave the book a particularly strong review, calling it a “sublime and sophisticated debut,” noting that some of the plot points might render it a “hodgepodge of the fantastic [the main character sees emotions] and the prurient [agents are trained in the art of seduction; “an Upper Volga Kama Sutra”] amid a series of spy vs. spy shenanigans. But the novel is far more grounded.”

If your readers want to understand how the internet has opened the government to security leaks, but can’t get their hands on Glenn Greenwald’s best seller, No Place to Hide, you can offer them a new novel released yesterday.

David Ignatius’s The Director, (W.W. Norton), provides, according to NYT reviewer Michiko Kakutani, “a harrowing sense of the vulnerability of governments and ordinary people alike to cybercrime, surveillance and digital warfare in this day when almost anything and everything can be stolen or destroyed with some malicious pieces of code and a couple clicks of a mouse.”

Ignatius knows the territory; he has covered the CIA for The Washington Post for over 25 years.

The Director also gets high praise from NPR reviewer Alan Cheuse, who says the author, in this his 9th novel,  provides “yet another deeply engaging spy thriller, rooted at that point where the intricacies of the intelligence community and the everyday world of civilians converge.”

Did fact inspire fiction? No, says Ignatius, in an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition yesterday, He began working on the novel months before the news about Snowden broke. But he seems happy with “ripped from the headlines” comments. As he reminds listeners, “Snowden, before he worked for the NSA, worked for the CIA.”

The book we called “THE Title You Need to Know” for the last week of April, Natchez Burning by Greg Iles, (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio), debuts at #2 on this week’s New York Times Fiction best seller list and at #5 on the USA Today list, where is is just below Veronica Roth’s Divergent.

It’s been five years since Iles’s most recent book, The Devil’s Punchbowl. He published 13 thrillers in rapid succession and was on track to release Natchez Burning in 2011, when twin tragedies changed that plan. He nearly died in a car accident, losing part of his right leg, and then his father died, making him realize, as he tells the Greenville S.C. newspaper, “life was too short to pull any punches. I decided there was no room in this book for formula and fluff. The story had to be handled with appropriate gravitas. I had to deal with it not only the way it deserved but in a way that would make my father proud.”

He ultimately decided to make Natchez Burning the first in a trilogy. On his Web site, Iles says, “I’m working like a madman to finish The Bone Tree, volume 2 of the trilogy.”

So far, only one film has been made of  Harlan Coben’s best selling novels, the 2006 French film, Ne le dis à personne, and it was not released to U.S. theaters (several libraries own the DVD). [UPDATE: We stand corrected. As one of the comments points out, the film was shown in 112 U.S. theaters].That seems odd, since, as the Washington Post characterizes  the writer, he is the “master” of a film-worthy type of story, “a life suddenly unraveling, the past summoned back into a swiftly shifting present, secrets peeling back to reveal more secrets.”

Hollywood seems to have caught on. Three of Coban’s books now in various stages of development.

His latest thriller, one of his many standalones, Missing You, (RH/Dutton; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike) releasing today, was just picked up for adaptation by Warner Bros., according to Deadline.

The plot involves an internet dating site. Booklist says, “Coben never met a technological device he couldn’t turn into a riveting plot element … Coben’s meticulous plotting and his incorporation of the technology are first-rate. His characterization and dialogue? Not so much.”

In the pipeline are two other standalones. One is an English-language version of Tell No One, currently being scripted at Universal. The second, Six Years, published last year, is being produced at Paramount, with Hugh Jackman set to star.

Editor’s Note: We’re delighted to welcome Robin Beerbower as the regular “GalleyChatter” columnist for EarlyWord. Robin’s day job is as the  readers’ advisor and homebound services coordinator for the Salem [OR] Public Library. She has been a supporter of GalleyChat from its inception, calling those discussions “pure gold for selectors and readers advisors.” She’s enthusiastic about the importance (and fun) of reading books ahead of publication and tirelessly tracks down galleys, making her the local authority on new books. She is also very active on the Edelwiss Community Board, using it to spot titles and gauge developing buzz among librarians (you can join in; just register on Edelweiss and “friend” Robin). She plans to write regular roundups on the titles she discovers through the monthly GalleyChats, with regular updates on books to watch for.

From Robin:
Thanks to everyone on GalleyChat for their warm reception about my contributions to EarlyWord, and thanks to Nora for giving me this opportunity. The chats are  fast and furious with tweets flying everywhere. I’ll do my best to summarize each chat (for a full transcript, check our board on Storify).

GalleyChats are held on Twitter the first Tuesday of each month. The next one is on April 1. Please join us (details here).

Below are the titles that rose to the top of the TBR lists as we chatted last week. If you haven’t received print galleys of these titles, check for e-galleys on NetGalley and Edelweiss.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Scribner, May 2014; Audio exclusive from MidWest Tape), a historical novel set in occupied France during WWII, received high praise from a couple of chatters including Susan Balla, who called it “A once-in-a-lifetime book.” The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin, April 2014), a moving novel set in a small island bookstore, also received an outpouring of love from multiple chatters. Vicki Nesting said she wanted to reread it as soon as she finished, and it has received “Much Love” from 47 peers on Edelweiss. Scroll through those reviews; you’ll be convinced (UPDATE: it’s the #1 title on the just released April LibraryReads list). Selectors, stock up on this one.

 Kristi Chadwick said the intriguing novel set in a beehive, The Bees by Laline Paull (HC/Ecco, May 2014), was amazing, and during the January chat, Wilda Williams from Library Journal called it “a Watership Down for insects.”

Two science fiction/fantasy books received several mentions. The e-galley of Jeff VanderMeer’s second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Authority (Macmillan/FSG, May 2014), was well received by Megan McArdle, who loved the first book,  Annihilation. The Macmillan rep reported the good news that the third book, Acceptance, will be released next September. Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor (Tor, April 2014) was mentioned by multiple members with Jane Jorgenson saying it was the best fantasy she’s read in years. Addison also writes the Doctrine of Labyrinth series as Sarah Monnette.

Suspense thrillers were popular during the exchange with the third in the Keye Street series, Don’t Talk to Strangers by Amanda Kyle Williams (RH/Bantam, July, 2014), at the top of the list. Jane Jorgenson said  “It’s got good, claustrophobic, small-town feel – kind of reminds me of the mood of  True Detective (love).”  This has been a popular readalike series for Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gardner fans. Chevy Stevens’That Night and Chelsea Cain’s departure from the Sheridan/Lowell series, One Kick,(Simon & Schuster, August 2014) received nods from fans of their earlier books.

My personal favorite of the past month was Robin Black’s Life Drawing (RH, July 2014), a gorgeously written suspenseful study of marriage and betrayal. Not exactly a Gone Girl readalike but just as compelling.

If you read any of these mentioned books, please let us know what you enjoyed by either entering your comments below or in Edelweiss.

Happy Reading!

Examining “Why We Can’t Get Enough of Twisted Marriage Thrillers,” in the Daily Beast, regular contributor Lucy Scholes looks at the spate of recent “psychological page-turners that subvert the ‘happily ever after’ formula of classic chic lit.”

Following in the footsteps of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, A.S.A Harrison’s The Silent Wife, S. J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep, and “the less well known but equally creepy How to Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman,” (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Thorndike) are some new titles (Entertainment Weekly also looks at recent titles in the genre this week).

Scholes considers Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse, (Bloomsbury USA), published last month, as “truly formulaic in every sense of the word, but it’s an easy read and will go some way in filling the Gone Girl shaped hole in Flynn fans’ lives,” (it got a B from Entertainment Weekly).

The one Scholes calls a “significantly superior addition to the genre” arrives next month, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s You Should Have Known, (Hachette/GrandCentral; Hachette Audio, March 18), the author’s next novel after the successful Admission (made into a less successful movie starring Tina Fey). Entertainment Weekly also adds their voice to this one, in their list of “14 Reads That Are Worth the Wait” calling it, ‘The thriller we’re already obsessed with.” LJ did not give it similar cred, saying “the suspense is marred by the overwritten prose” but PW calls it an “intriguing and beautiful book.”

Scholes also suggests keeping an eye out for a summer publication, Natalie Young’s Season to Taste, (Hachette/Little, Brown, 7/15). The American edition does not included the U.K. subtitle, … or How to Eat Your Husband, which gives fair warning that it is not “for the faint hearted or the weak stomached…” It hasn’t been reviewed by the prepub sources yet, so libraries we checked have not ordered it.

With Gone Girl about to hit 75 weeks on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list, the new issue of Entertainment Weekly takes a dystopian view of love by highlighting novels featuring couples whose happiest times are now behind them (one small ray of hope; none of these are by Americans).

Apple Tree Yard, Louise Doughty, (Macmillan/FSG/Sarah Crichton; Brilliance Audio), published Jan 14

Along with The Silent Wife, also reviewed in the story, even though it’s already achieved long-lasting best seller status, this one gets the highest rating for the group, an A-.  The reviewer says it’s “fascinating to see a brilliant woman destroy her life with a few impulsive decisions. In Doughty’s hands, [main character] Yvonne’s actions are both shocking and weirdly understandable.” Libraries are showing 1:1 holds.

Before We Met, Lucie Whitehouse, (Bloomsbury USA), published Jan 21

The exploding rose on the cover has become a popular image (see The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty and Perfect by Rachel Joyce). Entertainment Weekly gives this a solid B, noting, “Thanks to the novel’s overt Britishness, the twists that ensue are more taut and fraught than manic and frantic.”

The Innocent Sleep, Karen Perry, (Macmillan/Holt), coming next week

Here’s another cover with echoes of an earlier domestic thriller, which also happened to have “Sleep” in the title (bet you’ve already guessed which one). This debut is set in Dublin and Tangier. Giving it another solid B, the reviewer warns that you won’t see the big twist coming.

Watching You, Michael Robotham, (Hachette/Mulholland; Brilliance Audio) coming March 11

Australian author Robotham already has a strong track record (Stephen King picked his previous title, Say You’re Sorry, as one of his favorites of 2012).

“It’ll keep you guessing and gasping” says Entertainment Weekly, giving it a B+

Jennifer McMahon’s sixth novel, the psychological thriller, The Winter People (RH/Doubleday; RH Audio, published today) may be her breakout. It is both a LibraryReads and an IndieNext pick for February. Holds in libraries we checked are currently around 4:1.

Holds are particularly heavy in the Cleveland area, where the  Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s  influential reviewer Laura DeMarco, recommended it in a blog post:

Chilling is just the tip of the iceberg in describing new fantastic suspense-horror novel The Winter People, set in rural Vermont in 1908 and today. When people begin to disappear in small-town West Hall, including their hippie mother, 19-year-old Ruthie and 6-year-old Fawn think a centuries-old journal may hold clues to the disappearances that have plagued the town since Sara Harrison Shea’s beloved daughter Bertie died in 1908. They’re right – and the answer offered in this late-night page-turner is equal parts horrifying and heartbreaking, compelled by the power of a mother’s love.

A full-page ad in the upcoming 2/16 NYT Book Review includes quotes from Lisa Unger and Chris Bohjalian as well as one from an LA. Times review of two of the authors’ earlier books calling her “one of the brightest new stars of literary suspense.” The review is by Sarah Weinman, one of the brightest stars of  mystery reviewing (she published the anthology, Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense, Penguin).

McMahon is already called a “NYT best selling author” because one of her paperback originals appeared for three weeks on the combined print and ebook list. This title looks poised to bring her to a new level.

Thanks to Wendy Bartlett, Cuyahoga Public Library, for the alert.

Dean Koontz fans have been frustrated by news that the movie of Odd Thomas (RH/Bantam, 2003) was finished, but was being held up by various legal wrangles.

It suddenly appeared On Demand last week through most cable providers, is being released next week through rental sources like iTunes, and on DVD and BluRay on 3/25 (see Dean Koontz’s site for a full rundown). It will have a limited theatrical release on 2/28.

A paperback movie tie in was planned, but is now cancelled; movie art will be included in the ebook. More on the book series here.

Below is the trailer, with Anton Yelchin starring as Odd.

In the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, director David Fincher reveals that he has changed the ending of Gone Girl for his film adaptation, which releases on Oct. 3 (the cover shot, left, is not a still from the movie; Fincher himself took the eerie photo of stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in a variation of the famous Yoko Ono/John Lennon pose).

Smart move; this will add the intrigue for the legions of fans of the book. It may also benefit the book; those who see the movie first may be enticed to read the book to compare the endings.

Author Gillian Flynn embraced the complicated job of rewriting her book as the screenplay. She tells Entertainment Weekly, “There was something thrilling about taking this piece of work that I’d spent about two years painstakingly putting together with all its eight million LEGO pieces and take a hammer to it and bash it apart and reassemble it into a movie.”

Here’s a fun game to play with book clubs — “How would you change the ending?” (the web site Bookish offers five spoiler-filled ideas).

We hear that Buzzfeed‘s list of “16 Books To Read Before They Hit Theaters This Year” is having an effect on holds in libraries. Also see our list of upcoming books to movies, with tie-ins (Note: BuzzFeed includes A Long Way Down, Wild,  Serena, none of which have U.S.release dates yet, so we have them listed as In Production).

The first images have been released  for the adaptation of Tom Rob Smith’s best selling Soviet era thriller,  Child 44, (Hachette/Grand Central). Starring Tom Hardy, as a demoted secret police agent battling both his superiors and his unhappy wife, played by Noomi Rapace, while trying to track down a serial killer who targets children, it costars Gary Oldman and Vincent Cassel, and is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House).

Before the heavily promoted debut was published in 2008, Ridley Scott bought the film rights to this first book in a trilogy that continued with The Secret Speech (2009) and  Agent 6 (2012).

No release date has been announced, but the film is expected some time in 2014.

Smith is publishing a new book in June, The Farm, a contemporary psychological thriller.

Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movies” blog offers an enticing headline today, “Ben Affleck on what to expect from David Fincher’s Gone Girl — EXCLUSIVE.”

Unfortunately, Mr. Affleck, who stars in the movie, is not particularly forthcoming, saying he doesn’t want to give away too much, “But I will say that Gillian [Flynn] adapted it and I think it’s very, very faithful to her book. If you read the book and liked it, you will definitely like the movie.”

The article adds that filming, which is currently under way, will wrap in February (the movie is scheduled for release on Oct. 3 next year).

A film based on an earlier title by Flynn, Dark Places, starring Charlize Theron, wrapped earlier this month and may make it into theaters first. IMDB lists its release date as Sept. 1 next year.

One day after Tom Clancy died, the trailer for the latest movie based on his character, Jack Ryan, was released.

The title has been changed, from Jack Ryan: Shadow One to Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also plays a Russian villain, it stars Chris Pine as the young CIA analyst Ryan, Keira Knightley as his wife and Kevin Costner as Ryan’s CIA handler. Unlike previous Jack Ryan movies, (The Hunt for Red October, The Sum of All Fears, Clear and Present Danger, and Patriot Games), this is an original story, not based on a specific Clancy novel.

In The Rolling Stone Daniel Schechter describes the lengths he went to in his effort to get the rights to Elmore Leonard’s book, The Switch (HarperCollins/Morrow, part of a series of recent rereleases in trade paperback of Leonard’s classic backlist) and how hopeful he was that the author would like the resulting movie, titled Life of Crime.

He had reason to be nervous. With the exceptions of Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, and the FX series, Justified, Leonard wasn’t a fan of the majority of the many adaptations of his work. With the author’s death on Tuesday, first-time director Schecter will never know which category his film would have fallen into.

Starring Jennifer Aniston, the movie was renamed Life of Crime, presumably to separate it from a very different movie Aniston starred in earlier, The Switch, based on a Jeffrey Eugenides’ short story The Baster.

Life of Crime, which also stars John Hawkes, Isla Fisher and Tim Robbins, will premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival’s closing gala, which, notes The Rolling Stone is “an unprecedented honor for a relatively new filmmaker” and will be dedicated to Leonard’s memory.