The Hypnotist - Macmillan Library

Monday Fun Day! (7/11/2011 Edition)

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, everyone!

Let's start by congratulating Chevy Stevens whose chilling debut, STILL MISSING, won the 2011 Thriller Award for Best First Novel. Well done, Chevy! You can see all the 2011 Thriller Award-winners here.

Congrats are also in order for a second exceptional debut, THE POACHER'S SON by Paul Doiron, which just won the 2010 Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel!

In response to a flood of requests, we posted the full text of the fabulous BEA panel, "The Great Readalike. If You Like This…You’ll LOVE That!" The recommendations are spot on; I've already found two new favorites.

Barbara Hoffert shared some of her personal panel highlights from ALA 2011 in Authors at ALA: My Final Word. Her list includes “Tales from the Heart: Literary Memoirs” with Margaux Fragoso (TIGER, TIGER), “Celebrating Southern Writers" with John Hart (IRON HOUSE), and “Mystery and Horror @ Your Library” with Bill Loehfelm (THE DEVIL SHE KNOWS) and Erica Spindler (WATCH ME DIE). Barbara also included her Best Suggestion for a Book Club Read: THE TRANSFORMATION OF BARTHOLOMEW FORTUNO by Ellen Bryson and says,

"Both touching and absorbing, this First Author title reminds us that we’re none of us geeks—we share our humanity, whatever our 'curiosities.'"

Speaking of TIGER, TIGER, IRON HOUSE, and THE TRANSFORMATION OF BARTHOLOMEW FORTUNO, our Great ALA Signed Books Sweepstakes is only open until Friday, so get your entry in now!

And if you're in the mood to enter another rad contest, FSG is giving away 50 copies of THE HYPNOTIST here: http://us.macmillan.com/FSGadult/promo/hypnotistjuly.

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Talia’s Pick: The Hypnotist

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Ali Fisher

If you've attended a book buzz, panel, or webinar featuring Talia this year, you were undoubtedly recommended THE HYPNOTIST by the pseudonymous couple, Lars Kepler. Booklist warned us of Talia's penchant for gore, so we all should have known this book would be right up her alley. I mean, come on, the cover is a pair of bloody scissors suspended over what looks like a pool of more blood. And just listen to this description:

In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is still at large, and there’s only one surviving witness—the boy whose family was killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes wanted this boy to die: he’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. Desperate for information, Linna sees only one option: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes.

It’s the sort of work that Bark has sworn he would never do again—ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl.

Publishers Weekly gave THE HYPNOTIST a starred review that reads, "The brutal slaying of gambling addict Anders Ek, his wife, and his younger daughter propels this outstanding thriller debut. [...] Readers will look forward to seeing more of Linna in what one hopes will be a long series."

Shelf Awareness calls it "extraordinary—a heart-pounding, enthralling story of madness and malevolence." And "a riveting story of obsession and revenge."

Booklist says THE HYPNOTIST has "a cracking pace" and that it "belongs on every international crime fan’s reading list."

If you're looking for a pulse-raising, blood spattered, fast-paced thriller, then THE HYPNOTIST is for you.

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Buried in the Sand: The New York Times Beach Recs

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Not sure which book to bring to the beach this summer? Let The New York Times help you out with their list of Books to Bury Yourself In. We've highlighted our favorites below.

The Times kicked off their list with THE GIRL WITH THE STURGEON TATTOO, "a nifty parody due late this summer. Its Goth heroine, Lizzy Salamander, spends Wednesdays kickboxing, Thursdays doing Krav Maga and Fridays memorizing pi. Its muckraking journalist hero, Blomberg, has been asked to stop investigating 'a vast ring of corruption, prostitution and ethnic cleansing involving the prime minister and the CEOs of Volvo, Saab and H&M' and instead write about Abba’s Christmas reunion concert."

"For those disinclined to laugh about the Larsson legacy, there is THE TATTOOED GIRL, a paperback devoted to topics like “Lisbeth Salander, the Millennium Trilogy, and My Mother.” This book is also a guide to Scandinavia’s next crime-writing stars, like the author of THE HYPNOTIST, Lars Kepler. THE HYPNOTIST is a debut novel. It’s the summer’s likeliest new Nordic hit."

"Norb Vonnegut offers a gleeful peek at the world of hedge fund moguls in THE GODS OF GREENWICH, a funny, savvy book that can be as absurd as its title."

"In GONE WITH A HANDSOMER MAN, by Michael Lee West, Teeny Templeton — called Possum Head as a child — catches her fiancé with two other women. Since this is a Southern story in the Steel Magnolia vein, Teeny’s first response is to throw peaches at him. Her second, better idea is to remember that peach seeds contain cyanide."

"THE AMERICAN HEIRESS is also far from fluff. Its author, Daisy Goodwin, has written a Gilded Age period piece (published in England as MY LAST DUCHESS) about an American girl from a Vanderbilt-like family who snags a British title, sort of the way Consuelo Vanderbilt did."

And finally, "BENEATH A STARLET SKY, an outrageously name-dropping novel set at the Cannes film festival, offers a giddier view of France. But it’s the closest thing to BERGDORF BLONDES that can be found this summer. And its authors, Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper, have that rare gift among today’s few viable chick-lit authors: a sense of humor."

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BEA 2011 Recap

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Sorry for the late post, everyone!

I got a little caught up celebrating over my Publishers Weekly article that ran this morning and lost track of time. Okay, okay; I also had to watch this ridiculously cute cat video that people have been sending around the office. But now I'm really getting down to business, so I thought I would post a super quick recap of our BEA 2011 events.

Monday night we kicked off the conference with the Annual BookExpo America Librarians Dinner, presented by AAP and Library Journal. Nancy Pearl hosted the event with some great authors including, Dava Sobel, author of A MORE PERFECT HEAVEN. Oh, and the dessert was divine!

Tuesday we started off with The Great Readalike. If You Like This…You’ll LOVE That! in which a few of our favorite librarians sounded off about which books you might have missed in a few popular categories. If you want a taste, Lesa posted her readalikes on her blog! Then there was Back to Basics. Why Home Economics Books are the New Retro Chic, a fun panel introducing some great DIY topics to share with your crafty patrons. The BEA Librarians Author Lunch hosted by Nora Rawlinson of EarlyWord was overflowing with very excited (and very hungry!) librarians. We ran out of chairs fast, but thankfully everyone was fed. During the lunch Tom Perrotta, author of THE LEFTOVERS, told stories about his library experiences alongside other great speakers such as Chuck Palahniuk, David Baldacci, and more. Talia finished up the day giving book recommendations at the AAP Annual Librarians Book Buzz and a panel on Hot Fall Book Club Titles. Curious what she recommended? To name a few:

THE LETOVERS (Perrotta)
GLOW (Ryan)
THE SISTERS (Jensen)
THE AMERICAN HEIRESS (Goodwin)
THE HYPNOTIST (Kepler)
KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT (Cotterill)
FREEDOM (Franzen)
BY NIGHTFALL (Cunningham)
THE MARRIAGE PLOT (Eugenides)
BEST FRIENDS, OCCASIONAL ENEMIES (Scottoline & Serritella)

Wednesday we sat in on a few informative panels discussing the future of collection development considering financial cutbacks, technological transition, and the ever-changing role of the librarian. Hearing about how these changes are tangibly taking shape in libraries straight from the mouths of librarians is invaluable to us and makes conferences like BEA entirely worthwhile. We finished up our conference at the 3rd Annual Librarian Shout ‘n Share which was a riot! Talia and I both added a few books to our TBR piles, were serenated with a little BROETRY, and learned a valuable lesson: never give librarians squeaky horns!

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