The Sellout

Paul Beatty (Get this book)
The provocative author of The White Boy Shuffle (1996) and Slumberland (2008) is back with his most penetratingly satirical novel yet. Beatty has never been afraid to stir the pot when it comes to racial and socioeconomic issues, and his latest is no different. In fact, this novel is his most incendiary, and readers unprepared for streams of racial slurs (and hilarious vignettes about nearly every black stereotype imaginable) in the service of satire should take a pass. Beatty never backs down, and readers are the beneficiaries. Another daring, razor-s h arp novel from a writer with talent to burn.--Kirkus

All the Old Knives

Steinhauer, Olen (Get this book)

Two American spies—one retired, one active—dance around what really happened five years earlier during a mission gone horribly wrong. In this masterfully plotted and suspenseful stand-alone, Steinhauer pieces together the details of an event the CIA refers to only as Flughafen (after the German word for airport). Four Islamist extremists, members of the Aslim Taslam group, hijacked a plane at the Vienna airport, and, despite the presence of a low-level operative onboard—a pure coincidence—the takeover ended in tragedy. It's an understatement to say that nothing is as it seems, but even readers well-versed in espionage fiction will be pleasantly surprised by Steinhauer's plot twists and double backs. --Kirkus

Almost Famous Women: Stories

Bergman, Megan Mayhew (Get this book)
In her second story collection, Bergman tells the forgotten tales of women hovering on the edges of history. From Allegra Byron, the poet's illegitimate daughter, to Dolly Wilde, Oscar's niece, this book collects notable women whose lives have been forgotten. Though some stories seem to reveal more about their fictional narrators than about the women themselves, this gives the collection a unified feel and helps readers see how little the public has understood about these women and their genius. Only "The Lottery, Redux," a spinoff of the Shirley Jackson ta l e, seems obviously symbolic and mars this otherwise original and surprising collection. A collection of stories as beautiful and strange as the women who inspired them. --Kirkus

Mightier Than the Sword

Jeffrey Archer (Get this book)
The fifth of Archer's Clifton Chronicles begins with a bang before heading on to only slightly less explosive ground as Archer examines his fictional clan's financial, political and personal contretemps in the 1960s. Emma Barrington Clifton's family company, Barrington Shipping, has launched the luxury liner MV Buckingham, but her arch enemy, Don Pedro Martinez, an Argentinian gangster and Nazi sympathizer, hires the Irish Republican Army to sabotage its maiden voyage. The conclusion's a turbo-charged cliffhanger that'll have fans screaming Arrrcherr! --Kirkus

The Whites

Harry Brandt (Get this book)
Price is one whale of a storyteller by any name, as evinced by the debut of his new brand—okay, Brandt—a gripping, gritty, Greek tragedy of cops, killers, and the sometimes-blurry line between them. The sprawling tale centers on stoic police sergeant Billy Graves, banished to the purgatory of the NYPD's night watch since his role in a racially charged, politically explosive double shooting a decade earlier. The author skillfully manipulates these multiple story lines for peak suspense, as his arresting characters careen toward a devastating final reckoning.--Publisher's Weekly

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

Gaiman, Neil (Get this book)
The third collection of short fiction from a beloved modern mythmaker. Everything that endears Gaiman to his legions of fans is on display in this collection of short stories: his gift for re-imagining ancient tales, his willingness to get down into the dark places, his humor. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, except for the new American Gods story "Black Dog" (which does not disappoint), but the collection as a whole does add up to something bigger than it seems (only partly because there's a TARDIS in it). Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new ones—if there's anyone out there left unconverted.--Kirkus

The First Bad Man

Miranda July (Get this book)
In a bizarrely touching first novel, July brings the characteristic humor, frankness and emotional ruthlessness of her previous work in film, prose and performance to a larger canvas. Cheryl Glickman lives a lonely, precisely arranged life afflicted by mysterious neuroses, including the persistent sensation of a lump in her throat. She obsesses over Phillip Bettelheim, a board member of the nonprofit where she works, and the belief that she keeps meeting a familiar, beloved soul embodied in the babies of strangers. A sometimes-funny, sometimes-upsetting, surprisingly absorbing novel that lives up to the expectations created by July's earlier work and demonstrates her ability to carry the qualities of her short fiction into the thickly fleshed-out world of a novel.--Kirkus