by Paula Gail Benson
As we are nearing the holiday season, I want to recommend
some terrific books that have been or will be released soon by three of my
favorite authors. If you are looking to add to your stack of “to be reads” or
seeking wonderful gifts to share with friends, you can’t go wrong with these
writers and their work.
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| Carla Damron |
Carla Damron, retired social worker, who has her Master of
Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina,
and is a former blogging partner at
Writers Who Kill, has just released
her latest Georgia Thayer novel,
The Weird Girl. Georgia, a hospital
social worker who navigates the complex responsibilities of her work while
coping with her own mental illness, has taken on an additional role as foster
mother to a teenager who has just escaped a horrific past. While trying to give
her charge a chance at normalcy, Georgia is plunged into a search for a missing
girl that leads her to uncover a dangerous fentanyl trade and secrets hidden by
men in political circles. A review calls
The Weird Girl “a fast-moving
and emotionally charged novel that plunges into the dark heart of opioid
addiction, teen vulnerability, and the long shadows of power and privilege.”
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| Saul Golubcow |
Ever since I discovered Saul Golubcow’s detective Frank
Wolf, a Holocaust survivor who with his newly minted lawyer grandson Joel
investigates crimes in 1970s New York City, I’ve always been eager to read the
next adventure. According to Saul, the title of his new Frank Wolf book,
Were
the Angels Wrong?, comes from “a millennia-old commentary on the creation
story in the Book of Genesis. When the angels learn that God has decided to
give humans dominion over the earth, they are flabbergasted and angry. As my
detective hero, Frank Wolf, describes the angels’ reactions, ‘they shouted that
such frail, confused, and selfish creatures were both not worthy of receiving
such a gift and incapable of maintaining and retaining such a treasure.’ . . .In
this case, Frank strives mightily to challenge the angels, for the origin of
the crime emanates from the Holocaust—one of humankind’s greatest evils.”
Another element that challenges Joel is that the person accused of murder, who
Joel must now defend, is the man dating Joel’s widowed mother. Joel must
reconcile his personal concerns with a reasonable approach to resolving what
actually occurred.
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| Yasmin Angoe |
Yasmin Angoe, who has written the brilliant and critically
acclaimed Nena Knight thriller series (
Her Name is Knight,
They Come
at Knight, and
It Ends with Knight) and the intriguing, suspenseful
stand alone
Not What She Seems, will have a new thriller,
Behind
These Four Walls, released on January 1, 2026. In this novel,
sixteen-year-old Isla, an orphan living in a group home, plans to run away to
Los Angeles with her friend Eden, except Eden disappears. Ten years later, Isla
goes in search of Eden and discovers she did not know Eden at all. This novel
has been described as: “A thriller that explores revenge, morality, corruption,
and wealth as a woman sets out to uncover the truth behind her friend’s
disappearance and expose the powerful family behind it.”
In March, Yasmin’s debut young adult novel will be released.
She Drinks the Light is set on a private island off the South Carolina
coast. Addae, an island resident, goes to the mainland when her friend
disappears and one of the island’s Kin is found drained of blood which looks
like the work of the Adze, the Ghanian version of vampires. However, on the
mainland Addae discovers secrets that affect her family and could change her
life.
Which of you or your favorite authors have holiday or New Year releases?
