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5 new books you won't want to miss this week, including Shari Lapena and Sandra Brown

By USA Today
By USA Today

USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.

1. "An Unwanted Guest" by Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman/Viking, fiction, on sale Aug. 7)

What it's about: It may be summer but in the latest by Lapena ("The Couple Next Door"), it's winter in the Catskills at a cozy inn; a blizzard traps guests, who are being knocked off one by one by a killer.

The buzz: This is Lapena's spin on the locked-room mystery, a la Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None."

2. "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America" by Beth Macy (Little, Brown, nonfiction, on sale Aug. 7)

What it's about: Examines the 20-year history of the opioid crisis in America.

The buzz: "Heartbreaking … forceful and comprehensive," says Publishers Weekly in a starred review.

3. "The Masterpiece" by Fiona Davis (Dutton, fiction, on sale Aug. 7)

What it's about: The Grand Central Art School once housed in New York's Grand Central Terminal is the inspiration for this historical novel about two women, one in 1928 and the other in 1974.

The buzz: "With richly drawn characters … there is much to be enchanted by," says Kirkus Reviews.

4. "Chesapeake Requiem: A Year With the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island" by Earl Swift (Dey Street, nonfiction, on sale Aug. 7)

What it's about: The author spends time crabbing and oystering with the fisherman of Tangier Island in Virginia, which is literally disappearing because of climate change.

The buzz: It's an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers. "An important read," says Chloe Groth of Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minnesota.

5. "Tailspin" by Sandra Brown (Grand Central, fiction, on sale Aug. 7)

What it's about: In Brown's latest romantic suspense novel, a cargo pilot named Rye Mallett and the alluring Dr. Brynn O'Neal are pursued by bad guys as they try to deliver a mysterious black box.

The buzz: Brown's novel "Seeing Red" made its debut at No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list on Aug. 24, 2017.

WSOC

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