New Adult Fiction: Thursday, January 29

If you are a regular library user, you may have noticed a lack of new books in the past few months. The reason is simple: our primary book supplier, Baker & Taylor, went out of business, leaving us with a backlog of books on order and no way to get them.

The good news is that we once again have a source for new materials, and you should see a steady influx of new books in the coming weeks. So why not stop by when you can (we’re open til 8 pm) and see what’s new? To place a title on hold online, visit https://owwl.org and sign in to your account using your library card number. Pick up your book from the shelves near the circulation desk when you have time.

Here are a few of the new fiction books that have arrived at the library recently. We invite you to check them out.

The Quiet Mother

A woman is found murdered in her Reykjavík home, her apartment ransacked. Days earlier, she had begged retired detective Konrad to find the child she had given up nearly fifty years ago. But Konrad, reluctant to reopen old wounds, turned her away. Now, haunted by guilt, he vows to uncover the truth—for her and for himself. As Konrad digs into her tragic past, he is drawn into a web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Each revelation points to a hidden life that connects her death to a decades-old murder—and to shadows from Konrad’s own family history.

Call Me Ishmaelle

1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph, leaves to find work as a sailor. Abandoned and desperate for a life at sea, Ishmaelle disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York. Nearly twenty years later, Ishmaelle boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors amidst the bloody male violence of whaling and discovers a mysterious bond between herself and the white whale who claimed Seneca’s leg. Built on the bones of Melville’s classic, Call Me Ishmaelle is a powerful exploration of human nature, gender, and the nature of home

Direct Action

Charley Castillo, the original presidential agent, is in Virginia Beach to visit his son when two gunmen appear. Charley is able to thwart a deadly mass shooting, but he is hit and badly injured. Meanwhile, Pick McCoy is at the Naval Academy catching up with some old friends. When the news of the attack reaches him, he senses that this is no random event. While Charley clings to life, Pick searches for the men responsible and, in the process, uncovers a deadly plot that threatens to strike deep at the heart of American democracy.