farm, whose honor he intends to defend at any cost against the cruelty of the men. As Callum and Ava flee their bleak and lonely pasts together, an unexpected romance blossoms between the two.

Brown writes with a strong, clear voice, conveying the difficulties of the broken countryside of the South in the wake of Sherman's "total war." Fallen Land moves seamlessly between the broad history of the Civil War and the very personal, individual struggles of Callum and Ava, resulting in a historical novel that is astounding in its depth, rooted deeply in its time while proving timeless. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Discover: Taylor Brown's stunning debut sweeps readers back to the final, harsh year of the Civil War.

St. Martin's Press,
$25.99,
hardcover, 9781250077974

Mystery & Thriller

The ShutEye

by Belinda Bauer

The Shut Eye
by
Belinda Bauer

Detective Chief Inspector John Marvel is obsessed with the disappearance of 12-year-old Edie Evans, who went missing more than a year earlier while riding her bike, but Marvel's boss, the superintendent, wants the detective to look for a poodle belonging to the superintendent's wife.

James and Anna Buck's son, four-year-old Daniel, is also missing, and Anna's grip on reality has been slipping in the months since he disappeared. She seeks out a so-called psychic named Richard Latham, but soon after, Anna thinks she's having visions herself.

Though chapters in The Shut Eye (a term meaning psychic) are from different points of view and at first seem to be telling separate stories, Belinda Bauer eventually weaves the threads together while keeping readers guessing all the way.