the killer. Robb expertly ratchets up the
suspense as the endgame approaches in
this deadly chess match between Eve and
her cunning opponent. 750,000-copy
announced first printing. Agent: Amy
Berkower, Writers House. (Jan.)
I Know My Name
C.J. Cooke. Grand Central, $26 (384p)
ISBN 978-1-5387-4444-4
What does the disappearance of
wealthy 37-year-old Eloïse Shelley—wife,
mother of two young children, and refugee activist—from her London home
have to do with the dazed woman unable
to remember who she is, dragging herself
onto the beach of a remote Greek island?
That appears to be the question around
which British author Cooke’s unsettling
debut psychological thriller revolves. But,
as days pass and the outlook darkens,
especially for the amnesiac castaway, who
seems to have met up with four volatile
chums on the island for a writers’ retreat,
it starts to become clear that little is as it
initially appears. Police begin to discover
cracks in Eloïse’s marriage to workaholic
corporate financier Lochlan—who has an
ironclad Edinburgh alibi for the window
of time when she vanished—as well as
hints of some troubling mental health
issues she has been hiding from her family.
Cooke, who describes her own brushes
with mental illness in a moving afterword, keeps the suspense high as the
endangered castaway struggles to survive
while back in London Eloïse’s family
hunts for her with increasing desperation.
Some readers, though, may feel that the
author has unfairly withheld some key
information. Agent: Alice Lutyens, Curtis
Brown Literary (U. K.). (Jan.)
Hellbent
Gregg Hurwitz. Minotaur, $26.99 (416p)
ISBN 978-1-250-11917-9
In bestseller Hurwitz’s thrilling third
Orphan X novel (after 2017’s The Nowhere
Man), Evan Smoak, who once worked as
an assassin for the Orphan Program, a
covert U.S. government agency, and now
helps people in trouble from his base in
L.A., violates one of the agency’s funda-
mental commandments: never make it
personal. Evan’s mentor, Jack Johns, who
recruited Evan at age 12 to the program,
calls Evan’s help line. Soon afterward,
Charles Van Sciver, another Orphan,
take Jack prisoner aboard a Blackhawk
helicopter. In an exciting action scene,
Jack manages to sabotage the helicopter,
but pays with his life. Evan decides to
honor Jack’s last request to take care of a
“package,” which turns out to be a
teenage girl, who is, like Evan, also in
Van Sciver’s crosshairs. The master killer
hoping for redemption and struggling to
relate to others emotionally may be a
genre cliché, but such details as Evan’s
sleeping on a bed levitated by magnets
are sure to please fans of the Roger Moore
Bond films. 150,000 announced first
printing; author tour. Agent: Lisa Erbach
Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency (Jan.)
Killer Choice
Tom Hunt. Berkley, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-0-399-
58640-8
The future looks bright for Gary Foster,
the hero of Hunt’s engrossing, if flawed,
first novel. He owns a small retail business
in his hometown of River Falls, Mich.,
with his brother, and his wife, Beth, is
pregnant with their first child. Then Gary
gets a call from the local hospital, where
an ambulance has taken Beth after she collapsed and went into convulsions at a
shopping mall. Tests soon show that Beth
has a rare form of inoperable brain cancer.
The couple’s only hope for her survival is
an experimental treatment that costs
$200,000, which their insurance won’t
cover. Gary’s life becomes a nightmare as
he and Beth futilely try to raise the
money. Meanwhile, a stranger approaches
him with a Faustian bargain: if he murders a man, the money to save his wife is
his. Hunt does a fine job of maintaining
tension and dread throughout, though
some thriller fans will be disappointed
that the straightforward plot builds to a
predictable, anticlimactic conclusion.
Agent: Laney Katz Becker, Massie &
McQuilkin. (Jan.)
Just Between Us
Rebecca Drake. Griffin, $15.99 trade paper
(384p) ISBN 978-1-250-16720-0
Set in Pittsburgh, Pa., this twisty
domestic thriller from Drake (Only Ever
You) focuses on suburban moms Heather
Lysenko, Alison Riordan, Julie Phelps,
and Sarah Walker. When Alison asks
about a bruise on Heather’s arm, Heather
brushes her off. But then Sarah sees a welt
on Heather’s abdomen and Julie overhears
an argument between Heather and her
husband, Viktor, which convince the
other women that their friend is being
abused. Heather reluctantly confirms
their suspicions, but insists that she
doesn’t have the resources to leave her
marriage. The trio fear that Viktor will
kill Heather, until Alison receives a
shocking phone call: Viktor is dead, and
Heather needs their help. Julie, Sarah,
and Alison gather at Heather’s house and
make a rash decision that will change
their lives and test the limits of their
friendship. Drake initially relies too
heavily on foreshadowing to create sus-
pense, but the second half of her book is
tense, bombshell-laden, and action-
packed. The women take turns narrating,
adding nuance and depth to the tale.
Agent: Rachel Eckstrom, Irene Goodman
Literary Agency. (Jan.)
Award-winning fiction from
THE PERMANENT PRESS
Be prepared for a mix of noir thriller, historical
romance, and dark fantasy in this off-beat
contemporary mystery. —Publishers Weekly
Available from Brodart, Amazon, B&T or us
www.thepermanentpress.com
phone 631-725-1101
Award-winning mysteries from
THE PERMANENT PRESS
“The sixth Cordell
Logan mystery
finds the wise-
cracking pilot
investigating the
death of a former
CIA analyst who
was part of a covert
team looking into
the Kennedy assas-
sination. The other members of the team
have also met untimely deaths. Travel-
ling to the snowy mountains of Colorado
is a small price to pay for keeping com-
pany with sexy CIA agent Layne Sterling.
The two pair up to interview those who
knew the former analyst. Their questions
rub the local sheriff the wrong way—
probably because any scrutiny of crime
in his town is going to expose at least
one of his shady deals. Fortunately,
ex-military assassin Logan possesses
both a quick wit and a thick skin. Another
fast and highly enjoyable read by the
talented Freed. Carl Hiaasen meets
Randy Wayne White.”—Booklist
