Books: New and noteworthy
USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.
1. Night School by Lee Child (Delacorte, fiction, on sale Nov. 7)
What it’s about: Several years before 9/11, Jack Reacher and other operatives are enlisted to prevent a terrorist attack and hunt an unknown American who is demanding $100 million.
The buzz: The best-selling thriller franchise returns at the same time Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, starring Tom Cruise, is in movie theaters.
Chat live with best-selling author Lee Child
2. The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown, fiction, on sale Nov. 8)
What it’s about: In this thriller for adults, a female ex-government agent on the run from her former employers takes one last case trying to clear her name.
The buzz: Meyer wrote a little vampire series called Twilight, and all the books in the saga hit No. 1 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.
3. This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer (St. Martin’s Press, fiction, on sale Nov. 8)
What it’s about: In England, the Cliftons and Barringtons continue their machinations in some of the highest reaches of government and finance.
The buzz: This is the seventh and final book in the Clifton Chronicles; book six, Cometh the Hour, landed at No. 1 on USA TODAY’s best-seller list in February.
4. Moral Defense by Marcia Clark (Thomas & Mercer, fiction, on sale Nov. 8)
What it’s about: Defense attorney Samantha Brinkman signs on to represent a teenage girl whose family has been brutally murdered, even if all the facts don’t add up; second in a series.
The buzz: Clark — back in the limelight after Sarah Paulson’s Emmy-winning portrayal in FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson — is developing a legal drama based on the Brinkman character for NBC.
5. Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch (Doubleday, fiction, on sale Nov. 8)
What it’s about: Based on a real-life figure in the 19th century, this is the story of an accomplished but deformed woman who becomes a sideshow attraction, and who falls in love with a showman.
The buzz: It’s an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers. “This is a book that will stay with readers for a long time,” says Mary McBride of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kan.