New and noteworthy
USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.
1 The Black Book
by James Patterson and David Ellis ( Little, Brown, fiction, on sale Monday)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A murder leads investigators to a Chicago brothel that caters to the elite, amid customer panic that the madam’s black book is missing.
The last collaboration THE BUZZ: between Patterson and Ellis, The
Murder House, landed at No. 1 on USA TODAY’s Best- Selling Books list in 2015.
2The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
by Hannah Tinti ( Dial Press, fiction, on sale Tuesday) WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A teenage girl raised by her dad learns more about her mysterious parents, including her father’s criminal past. THE BUZZ: It’s an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers and a Barnes & Noble selection for best new fiction of March.
3 Tuesdays With Morrie: 20th Anniversary Edition
by Mitch Albom ( Broadway, non- fiction, on sale Tuesday) WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Based on conversations Albom had with his favorite college professor, Morris Schwartz, before Morrie’s death from ALS.
THE BUZZ: Broadway Books says Morrie has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide; it was made into a TV movie in 1999.
4 Phenomena
by Annie Jacobsen ( Little, Brown, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday) WHAT IT’S ABOUT: The subtitle explains it: The Secret History of the U. S. Government’s Investigations Into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis.
A “fascinating THE BUZZ: exposé of governmental research,” says Publishers Weekly.
5Richard Nixon: The Life
by John A. Farrell ( Doubleday, non- fiction, on sale Tuesday) WHAT IT’S A ABOUT: biography of the 37th president, who resigned in disgrace because of the Watergate scandal. THE BUZZ: “Full of fresh, endlessly revealing insights,” says Kirkus Reviews.