A war of numbers

Hidden deep within the figures tracking the ups and downs of the stock market lies a terrifying truth: America is under attack. Our government . . . our economy . . . our very way of life are in the crosshairs of a ruthless enemy . . . and no one knows. Except Garrett Reilly. He has a knack for numbers. He sees patterns no one else can. His gift has made him a rising star on Wall Street. But when he notices that two hundred billion dollars' worth of U.S. Treasury bonds are being sold off at a terrifying rate, his gift makes him the most wanted man alive.
The U.S. military wants him for his extraordinary abilities. They need someone to lead a crack squad of rogue soldiers to act as the last line of defense in a war that could mean the end of everything America holds dear. And everyone else? They just want him dead.
In this debut novel, The Ascendant, ranging from the offices of Wall Street to the casinos of Vegas to the back roads of the Chinese countryside, Drew Chapman introduces readers to a new kind of action hero. ML

Say Cheese!

Who doesn’t like cheese? For entertaining, cheese balls are a staple. In Great Balls of Cheese, Michelle Buffardi has collected more than 50 cheese balls recipes that will be sure to delight guests and taste buds too! The book includes a history of the cheese ball, cheese ball basics tips, and sweet and savory recipes for making the right cheese ball for any occasion. Lots of pictures and great ideas make this book a winner. Grab your crackers! DB

Refuge

Fourteen kids in Monument, Colorado are on a school bus when a natural disaster hits.  They make it to the big superstore to wait while the bus driver goes to get help.  More disasters and the story unfolds of fourteen kids of various ages, from kindergarten to 12th grade, trying to survive the end of the world as they know it.  This is a teen crossover by Emmy Laybourne called Monument 14 and the sequel Monument 14: Sky On Fire is already out.  The third book in this series Monument 14: Savage Drift is due out this summer and I can't wait to read it!  If you like post-apocalyptic style books and are tired of the same old plague and vampire stories then this book is for you.  SG

A Ray of Hope

In Donna Tartt's latest book, The Goldfinch, a big sprawling novel, (784 pages!) the themes of love and loss are deeply explored. It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art. His criminal father takes him to Las Vegas in a disturbing section where he experiences the dark heart of abandonment.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. Big, messy and fascinating! ML

Wreaking Revenge

Mark Suter is a handsome English Lit professor at Tarble, an all-girl college in Wisconsin. But he has managed to have a string of affairs with some of his students. In fact, he is the reason that Ruby Rousseau has never graduated. When Ruby left Tarble she was at an all-time low, questioning her sanity and nursing a shattered heart. She is slowly putting pieces of her life back together when a piece of luggage belonging to Beth, a classmate from college is delivered to her door. Ruby does not want to return to Tarble and re-open old wounds, but she senses Beth needs her help.  The Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen is a mystery that interweaves literature, love, betrayal and revenge. DB   

A Black Deed

In Diane Setterfield's Bellman and Black, a careless and cruel deed commited in childhood comes back to haunt a man in the worst way. This poetic and mysterious novel by the author of The Thirteenth Tale  tells of William Bellman, who we first meet as a boy out with his friends in the English countryside. William impresses his companions by killing a rook with his slingshot, and as the years go by, he continues to impress. A winning young man with a knack for business, he rises to the top of a local mill, marries and has four bright children, and expects all of his days to be equally blessed. Then disease comes to his town. It takes his wife and three of his children, and, in desperation, William makes a deal with a black-coated stranger. His eldest daughter is spared, but William is unable to face reminders of his happy past. He pours himself into industry, moving to London and opening Bellman & Black. As the years fly by, William becomes a kind of Ebenezer Scrooge, obsessed with work and haunted by the appearance of crows, and Setterfield is our  conscience, reminding us of what coins can and cannot buy.