October’s Most Anticipated Fiction

Retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch delves into the darkest chapter of his past in this electric thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly.

“The final showdown will make your heart thrum with vigilante pride.” (Kirkus Reviews)

When Harry Bosch was eleven years old, his mother was murdered and he became a ward of the state, housed in MacLaren Children’s Center, a notorious facility where abuse was rampant. Decades after its closure, a lawsuit has resulted in a massive settlement for former residents. But when Bosch’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, brings him word that Harry is entitled to part of it, Bosch says he doesn’t want the money. He wants justice.

The news awakens his memories of a place he had hoped never to revisit, and of a boy nicknamed Chops, a fellow ward who wound up dead. Bosch is certain that Chops was killed in a hidden space under the stairs—the kids knew it as “the hollow”—and his murder covered up. Now he is determined to reopen the investigation and learn the truth, even if the killer is long gone.

As Bosch digs into the files, he picks up the trail of a predator who not only survived, but went on to a life of vicious crime—possibly including one of the city’s most notorious unsolved cases. Forced to face a history that both scarred him and launched him on his mission as a cop, Bosch must bring down a sadistic criminal and finally put to rest the demons of his past.

In the long-awaited sequel to one of the world’s most beloved and widely read books of the last twenty years—The Shack—unrivaled storyteller Wm. Paul Young leads us back to the great questions of human existence: How does life go on in the face of irreconcilable loss? How can the irredeemable find redemption?

Ten years after the devastating events of The Shack, Mackenzie Allen Phillips is still living in the shadow of loss. Though life has moved forward, grief continues to haunt his family, his relationships, his faith, and his very sense of self. Nan, his wife, carries her own hidden sorrow. They are two people bound together by love yet often divided by pain.

On what would have been their daughter Missy’s sixteenth birthday, Mack and Nan confront the unthinkable when Mack is asked to visit death row to speak with the serial killer who abducted and murdered her. In the stark silence of the prison, Mack encounters not only the brokenness of another human being but also the raw weight of his own anger, doubt, and disappointment with God. Where is God when unbearable suffering endures? How can a shattered heart ever heal?

In Return to the Shack, William Paul Young invites readers on a profound journey into the depths of grief, the complexity of trauma, and the surprising humanity of those we most fear. With honesty and compassion, he explores the devastating impact of mental illness, abuse, and violence, the strain of loss on relationships, and the staggering cost—and unexpected freedom—of forgiveness.

This long-awaited sequel dares to ask the hardest questions: What does it mean to forgive the unforgivable? How do we live with God’s silence when our wounds cry out for answers? And can even the darkest prison and the most desolate wreckage of broken dreams become places where grace and redemption take root?

Both tender and unflinching, Return to the Shack is a story of pain, faith, and the relentless possibility of hope.

Bring on the holiday cheer in this delightful collection of three feel-good novellas from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Night We Met—with bonus recipes and full-page illustrations, perfect for gifting! The limited, one-time printing of the deluxe edition will have designed edges and color endpapers.

Tis the season to fall in love!

Anna thought only the food would be a disaster at her Christmas dinner—until her high school ex shows up and they quickly have to hatch a fake-dating scheme to save face with their families. For Matty, the idea of sitting in a diner all day dressed as a zombie Santa after losing a bet has zero appeal. But his cute and funny server might just make him change his mind. And finally, will Lauren be able to convince her best friend that getting married after a three-day relationship is absolutely ridiculous? Or will the town called Little Christmas pull her in with its happily-ever-after magic once she meets the best man?

Within these stories, you’ll find:

• The worst Christmas dinner imaginable
• A granny determined to dismantle the patriarchy
• Matching Christmas sweaters (by accident!)
• A Mission Impossible-style cat rescue (with a saxophone)
• Mouthwatering recipes from Abby for dishes like Disco Pancakes
• Full-page illustrations throughout

Because this year, you deserve the perfect holiday gift.

Alex Cross investigates a series of baffling murders while balancing a family crisis that threatens to upend his entire world in this thriller from the world’s #1 bestselling author, James Patterson.

Alex Cross is a brilliant psychologist—and a relentless hunter of killers for the FBI and DC Metro Police.

To his beloved Nana Mama, he’s still the boy she raised—and every morning, as he straps on his service weapon, she’s reminded just how dangerous his world has become.

But in Washington, DC, there are places even the police don’t go—an unseen underworld where violence thrives and rules don’t apply. And this time, Alex is stepping straight into it.

Each move pulls him deeper into the dark—and closer to a case that could shatter the promise he made to Nana … and cost him everything he holds most dear.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of New Moon, this second vintage-inspired collector’s edition in the series features:

• Foil-stamped slipcase
• Stunning new cover with lush, romantic artwork
• New interior art and beautifully illustrated endpapers
• Elegant ribbon marker
• One-of-a-kind interactive gilded-edge design

From evil vampires to a mysterious pack of wolves, new threats of danger and vengeance test Bella and Edward’s romance in the second book of the New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga.

The series that inspired the global film phenomenon, starring Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning.

Bella and Edward face a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy’s reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this second book in the Twilight Saga continues the vampire love story that redefined romance for a generation.

A must-have collector’s edition for any die-hard or newly minted fan.

Also Available to Celebrate 20 Years of Twilight
Twilight: Deluxe Collector’s Edition: A hardcover edition with apple blossom cover and slipcase, new interior art, designed endpapers, ribbon bookmark, and gilded edges with hidden portraits of Bella and Edward
The Twilight Saga Deluxe Hardcover Collection: A stunning 5-book hardcover boxed set featuring exclusive wraparound box art, new jacket designs, and starry night stenciled edges
Twilight (20th Anniversary Edition): A special paperback edition with deluxe cover, original art on the inside covers, and stenciled edges of a fan-favorite quote

Praise for The Twilight Saga
“This tale of tortured demon lovers entices.” —Kirkus Reviews 
“Piles on the suspense and romance.” —USA Today 
“A literary phenomenon.” —New York Times 
“In the tradition of Anne Rice … this dark romance is gripping.” —Booklist, starred review

An icy thriller from the world’s #1 bestselling author, James Patterson.

At a frozen lakeside crime scene, a corpse carries an accusatory note: “If anything happens to me, arrest Brendan Holmes.”

Mysteries trail Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple, and Auguste Poe wherever they go. At a remote lodge in upstate New York, the embattled private investigators have taken refuge from the assailant who bombed their sleek city headquarters.

When the discovery of a body in the lake puts the detectives back in the headlines and under suspicion, the elusive killer issues his despicable orders: stop solving crimes—and start committing them.

“Patterson … will have readers checking their locks twice.” —Booklist

“Patterson’s latest thriller keeps readers guessing … a fine chase.” —People

Once bitten, forever bound in this dark and deadly conclusion to the breathtaking New York Times bestselling werewolf romantasy, Bitten—where power means everything.

This gorgeous DELUXE LIMITED EDITION is available while supplies last and features:

• Stenciled sprayed edges
• Printed case
• Gorgeous endpaper art
• Deluxe effects on the jacket

Welcome back to the Wolf Queen’s Court.

Vanessa Hart is done being a victim. After the brutal winter massacre stole everything from her, she vows vengeance against her enemies once and for all—even if that means killing the boy she once loved …

Vanessa bides her time playing the role of a docile subject. But beneath her mask, she sharpens her powers, embracing the werewolf within while weaving a complicated web of lies, betrayals, and alliances to topple the throne.

Unfortunately, vengeance isn’t easy, and nothing in the Wolf Queen’s Court is ever as it seems. As the darkness of the castle bleeds into human society, it’s clear no one is safe. Cora’s vicious reign grows stronger by the day, Sinclair continues hiding deadly secrets, and Calix—the boy Vanessa might loathe most of all—is threatening her every plan.

With nowhere to run and no place to hide, Vanessa sheds the last of her humanity to play this lethal game of werewolves. And if she doesn’t win, the consequences will destroy her life—and the entire world as she knows it—forever.

From the bestselling author of literary sensation The Art of Fielding comes an urgent, deeply felt story of friendship, art, love, and grief, following two young women on the brink of irrevocable change.

Parties and weddings, messy hookups and marred friendships, art and love and grief—The Brightness follows the electric, chaotic, everything-can-happen lives of Pella and her best friend, Irma, as they fumble their way out of sleepy, Midwestern Westish College and into a larger world that will upend their connection and everything they thought they understood about their own place within it.

At 27, Pella’s life looks settled: she’s a recent college grad, engaged to Mike, her longtime boyfriend, and helping her friend Owen pull off his own destination wedding on Block Island. But over that wild wedding weekend, Pella’s past and present collide spectacularly, blowing up her plans and sending her spiraling toward an unplanned future in New York City. Meanwhile, back at Westish College, 21-year-old Irma’s involvement with a politically charged prank—one that has roiled both the campus and the world beyond—threatens to derail her brilliant future. As Irma and Pella cycle through possibilities and identities, both navigate the heights and depths of passion and ambition, and the incalculable wages of love and loss.

In stunning scenes and spectacular characters—each drawn with an almost superhuman vividness and humanity—Chad Harbach captures that specific, shimmering anxiety of your twenties when life still feels wide open, even as hard and irreversible choices start closing in.

Energetic, funny, and deeply human, this much-anticipated follow-up to The Art of Fielding confirms Chad Harbach as one of the most accomplished and deep-seeing writers of our time.

With a master spy and the U. S. government after him, former CIA assassin Oliver Stone is America’s most wanted man—but escaping D.C. won’t protect him from a lethal world of political corruption in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

Known by his alias, “Oliver Stone,” John Carr is the most wanted man in America. With two pulls of the trigger, the men who destroyed Stone’s life and kept him in the shadows were finally silenced. But his freedom comes at a steep price: The assassinations he carried out prompt the highest levels of the U.S. government to unleash a massive manhunt. Yet behind the scenes, master spy Macklin Hayes is playing a very personal game of cat and mouse. He, more than anyone else, wants John Carr dead. With their friend and unofficial leader in hiding, the members of the Camel Club risk everything to save him.

As the hunters close in, Stone’s flight from the demons of his past will take him from the power corridors of Washington, D.C., to the coal-mining town of Divine, Virginia—and into a world every bit as bloody and lethal as the one he left behind.

This deluxe collector’s edition of Holly Black’s New York Times bestseller The Queen of Nothing features a gorgeous velvet cover, a slipcase, a ribbon bookmark, illustrated endpapers, bonus content (an alternate ending!) and more!

He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her twin sister, Taryn, whose life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity …

Don’t miss the other collector’s editions!:
The Cruel Prince: Collector’s Edition
The Wicked King: Collector’s Edition

Seven ballerinas. One fallen primadonna. The audition of a lifetime. And a mysterious house that swallows the weakest one by one …

There is no performance art as punishing as ballet—and no top-tier ballerina is as punished as Eden. While others practice their steps over and over, Eden waits, knowing her body can perform only so many times before it breaks. But Eden will need to be perfect—or even better—at Deveraux Manor, secluded amid snowy mountains, where she and six other hopefuls are sequestered in a month-long audition for the mysterious, alluring, tragic former ballerina Leanora Karagianni.

Only one finalist will join Leanora’s company and dance the lead. Eden wants it more than anything, but not more than anyone. Her competitors will take every advantage they can. And the cursed house twisting around them will push each ballerina to the bloody edge—and over it. As Eden fights her attraction to the seductive Leonora and the stakes turn lethal, she’ll discover that only the dancer who pays the house’s terrible price can become the finalist.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Will of the Many, James Islington, An Echo of Things to Come is the second book in his phenomenal debut trilogy. This striking deluxe edition features stenciled sprayed edges, a foil stamped case, and custom endpapers.

“Reminiscent of Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson, Islington’s writing is refreshingly fast paced, with a light and clever touch.”? —Booklist

Following a devastating attack, an amnesty has been declared for all Augurs—finally allowing them to emerge from hiding and openly oppose the dark forces massing against the land of Andarra. The Augur Davian and his new allies hurry north toward the ever-weakening Boundary, but fresh horrors along their path suggest that their reprieve may have come far too late.

The new Northwarden, his ally in the Capital, contends with assassins and politicians and uncovers a dangerous secret. Meanwhile, their compatriot Asha begins a secret investigation into the disappearance of the Shadows. And Caeden races against time to fulfill a treacherous bargain, but as more and more of his memories return, he begins to realize that the two sides in this ancient war may not be as clear-cut as they first seemed …

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Will of the Many, James Islington, The Light of All That Falls is the final chapter in his phenomenal debut trilogy. This striking deluxe edition features stenciled sprayed edges, a foil stamped case, and custom endpapers.

“Reminiscent of Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson, Islington’s writing is refreshingly fast paced, with a light and clever touch.” —Booklist

After a savage battle, the Boundary is whole again—but it may be too late. Banes now stalk the lands of Andarra, and the Venerate have gathered their armies for a final, crushing blow.

In Ilin Illan, Wirr fights to maintain a precarious alliance between Andarra’s factions of power. With dark forces closing in on the capital, if he cannot succeed, the war is lost.

Imprisoned and alone in a strange land, Davian is pitted against the remaining Venerate. As he desperately tries to keep them from undoing Asha’s sacrifice, he struggles to come to terms with his own path and all he has learned about Caeden, the friend he chose to set free.

Finally, Caeden is confronted with the reality of a plan laid centuries ago—heartbroken at how it started and devastated by how it must end.

The Licanius Trilogy
The Shadow of What Was Lost
An Echo of Things to Come
The Light of All That Falls

“Love The Wheel of Time? This is about to become your new favorite series.” —B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Will of the Many, James Islington, The Shadow of What Was Lost is the start of his phenomenal debut trilogy where a young man with forbidden magic finds himself drawn into an ancient war against a dangerous enemy. This striking deluxe edition features stenciled sprayed edges, a foil stamped case, and custom endpapers.

“Reminiscent of Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson, Islington’s writing is refreshingly fast paced, with a light and clever touch.”? —Booklist

As destiny calls, a journey begins. It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them—the Gifted—are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion’s Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.

As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything. To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian’s wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is … And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.

The Licanius Trilogy is a series readers will have a hard time putting down—a relentless coming-of-age epic from the very first page.

“Storytelling assurance rare for a debut … Fans of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will find much to admire.” —Guardian

The edgy, funny follow-up to the USA Today bestselling The Demon Overlord’s Retirement Plan, where an annoying long-lost “cousin,” war, and the prospect of love all threaten the Demon Overlord’s retirement. 

After centuries of conquering kingdoms and terrifying the cosmos, the Demon Overlord just wants to retire in peace. But when one dangerous succubus and a couple of feuding barons come to the small town of Lower Middleton, peace is hellishly hard to find. 

Now Willem Porter (definitely not Galornus Prime, destroyer of worlds) must navigate enchanted pickles, noble politics, and the delicate art of staying out of trouble. All while pretending he’s just a humble turnip farmer, with a perfectly normal goat. 

Love, Politics, and Other Acts of War is a cozy, laugh-out-loud fantasy of infernal bureaucracy, reluctant heroism, and small-town chaos. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes, Good Omens, and anyone who likes their comfort reads served with sarcasm, tea, and a touch of demonic meddling.

A moving, whimsical debut love story of ‘what if’ about a grieving widow who attempts to rewrite her past with magical typewriter ribbons to try to save her husband from his unfortunate fate, for readers of In Five Years and Me Before You.

“A wholly original tale of love, fate, and second (and third and fourth) chances that will leave your jaw on the floor. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.” —Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Alone in her snowbound oceanfront cottage, Caroline Ora mourns the loss of her beloved husband Forest, killed earlier that year in a violent hit-and-run. Once a celebrated poet, Caroline now spends her days drowning in grief … until an unlikely discovery changes everything.

Buried deep in her attic in a dusty wooden case, Caroline finds several ancient typewriter ribbons. Spontaneously using one to write a story —a simple “what if” wherein her anguish has loosened its grip—Caroline wakes to find it’s miraculously come true.

Moment by moment, word by word, Caroline sets about rewriting her life, resurrecting her husband through ink and memories. But as the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur, Caroline learns that every wish has its cost, and every miracle has its reckoning.

Riveting, funny and heartbreaking by turns, The Seventh Ribbon is an inventive and unforgettable love story.

An utterly wild, debauched, romantic, and violent ride inspired by the 18th-century Irish pirate Anne Bonny, reimagined here as Amethyst “Meeks” Connell, one of the most extraordinary outlaws of any age. For readers of George Saunders, Percival Everett, and Maggie O’Farrell. 

“This fiercely imaginative, blood-soaked, starry-eyed, and exuberant epic will capture the dreams and nightmares of any daring reader.” (Shelf Awareness, starred review)

Meeks is a poor Irish orphan whose energy, wit, and native sensitivity to the “main chance” take her to the unlikeliest of places. She marries into the aristocracy and follows her war-besotted husband into the latest of England and France’s seemingly endless scrapes where her husband is killed and she, on her way home, is taken prisoner by pirates, resulting in a tryst with the pirate captain that sets in motion an unlikely turn of events, leading her to join his crew. Upon the open sea, her ambition and cunning become her greatest assets as she reinvents herself anew.

From Irish reformatories to the battlefields of Europe to the swashbuckling high seas, Black Moon introduces a character you’ll never forget in an adventurous world you’ll never want to leave. Throughout Meeks’ globe-spanning narrative, we come to know a heroine of unconquerable ambition, boundless intelligence, and insatiable appetite—and to recognize a lawless, brutal, and bounteous world much like our own.

Black Moon is an ingenious work of ventriloquism and page-turning entertainment from “an extravagantly talented novelist” (The New York Times).