Win A ‘Crooked Lane Books Prize Pack #2’

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The Refuge by Carly Hillman in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 8th
Ava loves the wildlife refuge where she grew up, but the long-buried secrets she discovers there threaten to destroy her family—and the paradise they call home.

But is it really paradise if you’re trapped inside? When wildlife ranger Johnny Hayward discovers a terrified young girl hiding in the grasses, he joins the tight-knit staff in trying to solve the mystery of how the girl, Maeve, came to their land. But when the police arrive, she tells them that Johnny is her father. He goes along with the lie, a split-second decision that entangles them both in a lifelong cover-up.

Decades later, Maeve’s daughter, Ava, grows up believing that same lie. Ava’s love for the Refuge, where she lives in the staff cabins with her mother and is training to be a tour ranger, prevents her from dwelling on the fact that her mother never leaves the grounds—and won’t explain why. But after starting to date a local boy, Ava begins to question her sheltered upbringing, shocked to discover that life outside their fences is not the nightmare her mother always taught her to fear. She is obsessed with answering one question: What is her mother so afraid of? Angry that her mother and Johnny won’t give her answers, Ava follows a string of clues to investigate the disturbing events that led to Maeve’s arrival all those years ago, unearthing secrets that some will do anything to keep buried.

A Thousand Monstrous Forms by Saratoga Schaefer the book is in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15th.
A young ceramic artist moves into her new wife’s isolated manor and gets drawn into dark discoveries that stain her marriage—and her very soul.

Artist Poppy Reed doesn’t care if others think her marriage to Celia Marie Fox, a wealthy art dealer, is impulsive. Sure, they’ve only known each other for six months, and Celia has an infamous romantic reputation, but Poppy is brimming with excitement when she moves across the country to Celia’s home: a formidable, isolated, and art-filled manor called Busirane.

As Poppy tries to celebrate her first weeks of marriage and enjoy her new home, Busirane seems intent on rebuffing her every attempt to settle in. Strange noises and confounding occurrences lead Poppy to believe the house is haunted, a suspicion worsened by Celia’s insistence that Poppy avoid the locked basement. When Celia leaves for a work trip, Poppy is left alone in the house, then finds herself snowed in. Surrounded by secrets, stalked by faceless statues, and beset by bodiless whispers, she struggles to trust her wife—and her own mind. When Poppy is eventually drawn to the forbidden basement, dark truths shatter everything she thought she knew, throwing her into a desperate bid for survival. Drenched in dread, this contemporary gothic folktale retelling will have you checking all the locks. Twice.

The Killing Yards by Jason Allison in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 29th.
This gritty crime novel set in 1990s New York City will appeal to fans of Dennis Lehane.

New York, 1993. Jimmy Lettner, a convicted drug-trafficker who once lost a daughter in a narco-fueled car wreck, runs Manhattan’s hottest nightspot, Abattoir. Reformed by his time in prison, all he wants is to run a clean club. But that’s not possible in a city rife with corruption.

Jimmy doesn’t know it, but his right-hand man, Serge Thanakis, is operating an ecstasy ring that’s drawing the wrong kind of attention. Jealous industry rivals will do anything to shut Abbatoir down, and the new mayor presses the NYPD to clean up the city’s darkest corners. As Jimmy’s troubles mount, temptations from his past call to him.

Meanwhile, Ben Hopkins, a straight-edge rookie cop on the hunt for a fast-track ticket to detective, turns his attention to Abattoir. He has something to prove—to his father and to himself. But he’s not prepared for undercover work. The club scene devours Ben, along with his ability to tell right and wrong. As the war for Abattoir escalates, bodies drop, drawing more heat from city officials. The competition threatens Jimmy’s only surviving daughter, a revelation about his past threatens his future, and he questions how long his reign as NYC’s nightclub king can last. But through it all the dance floor stays packed—and Jimmy will do anything to keep his crown.