#St. Martin's Press

[brokehorrorfan]

James S. "Murr" Murray - best known as one of the Impractical Jokers - and frequent collaborator Darren Wearmouth will publish You Better Watch Out on October 15 via St. Martin's Press.

The 240-page Christmas-themed serial killer thriller will be available in hardcover, e-book, and audio book. Read on for the synopsis.

48 hours until Christmas, Jessica Kane wakes up with blurred vision, ears ringing, and in excruciating pain. A gash in her head and blood running down her face, the last thing she remembers is going for a run and something or someone hitting her in the head. It doesn’t take her long to realize she is trapped in an unknown, deserted town with five other strangers who share similar stories of being attacked and stranded there. Unsure why and how they got there, she knows one thing for certain, she has to find a way out. That becomes nearly impossible when someone is meticulously orchestrating their deaths, one by one, and the only thing Jessica can do is watch the life leave their eyes. The fenced-in town is the killer’s very own playground and there’s nowhere left to hide… she better watch out because she could be next.

Pre-order You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth.

[judgeitbyitscover]

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Cover art by Frank Morris

St. Martin's Press, 1988

FBI trainee Clarice Starling has an elusive serial killer to hunt.

Only one man can help.

Psychopathic cannibal Hannibal Lecter...

The serial killer nicknamed 'Buffalo Bill' has been capturing and starving women, then murdering and skinning them. FBI rookie Clarice Starling is assigned to solicit help from imprisoned psychopath Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter, whose insight into the depraved minds of serial killers is second to none.

But in exchange for inviting her into the darkest chambers of his mind, Hannibal begins to probe at hers, demanding knowledge of her childhood demons as the price of understanding Buffalo Bill's.

Clarice knows how dangerous this man is, and the terrible things he can do with this information. But women are still disappearing, and time is running out...

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Stephen LaBerge - Controlling Your Dreams - Audio Renaissance Tapes/St. Martin's Press - 1987

[aaronstveit]

St. Martin's Press Boycott

From the Readers for Accountability Toolkit:

The boycott of St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and other related imprints is a direct response to the publisher’s lack of accountability regarding a) statements made by an employee in their marketing department and b) their failure to respond to concerns about possible systemic issues within the department.  

This employee, who we will not name, posted Islamophobic, queerphobic, and anti-Palestinian content on their personal (but public) social media. This included pinkwashing and use of the term “pallywood” which is used to imply that videos of Palestinians being murdered or brutalized by Israeli soldiers are fakes.  

This content was shared in Instagram stories and was brought to our attention by Palestinian activist and content creator @vivafalastinleen.  

Leen noted that while she is on the St. Martin's Press influencer list, she never seemed to receive any of the ARCs she requested. Other Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian creators had previously noted the same thing. 

Leen further noticed that her white counterparts, with a comparable or smaller following, would receive these ARCS regularly and without issue. She began to question if this was a symptom of the employee's bigotry or perhaps a systemic issue within the marketing department at this publisher when she was made aware of the posts shared by this employee.  

Leen attempted to reach out to St. Martin's Press when the employee's posts came to light, but struggled to receive a response and was largely ignored. Other influencers and content creators reached out as well with similar results. However, Leen did eventually receive an email from Brant Janeway. 

The response, however, was dismissive and defensive with no action being taken to investigate. 

The boycott was officially enacted after ten days of radio silence from St. Martin's Press and Wednesday books. During those ten days, content creators were emailing, DMing, commenting, and making videos to demand that St. Martin's Press make a statement to no avail. 

As such, Leen created a video that provided other creators with context for the boycott. This video also included a large number of screenshots and significant context explaining why those screenshots are so dangerous. Twitter likes were also included to provide evidence of how deep the employee's bigotry runs. 

R4A have since then assisted in bringing attention to this issue by providing education and resources for the boycott. This includes a petition outlining our demands and urging St. Martin’s Press to hold their staff accountable to the MacMillan Code of Conduct.

While St. Martin’s Press has largely remained silent despite resuming posting like normal on their socials, they did take the time to unfollow two prominent BIPOC creators within the community including @satrayreads and @vivafalastinleen.  

An email was sent from R4A to St. Martin’s Press on 12/14/23 outlining our concerns and issues with St. Martin’s Press and a response was received on 12/15/23. This response failed to meet the demands of the boycott and was heavily focused on equitable ARC distribution. As such, the boycott continues and further updates will be shared as the situation develops.

This boycott means that while you can buy and read books published by St. Martin's Press and its imprints, you should not platform this. This means not marking them as 'read' or 'reading' on Goodreads, not reviewing them, and not posting them on social media. Yes, even Tumblr. To learn more about this boycott, check out Readers for Accountability on Instagram, or this article by Prism Reports.

Participation:

Participating in the St. Martin's Press boycott can be as simple as no longer promoting books from St. Martin's Press or related imprints on your social media, websites, and review spaces. Participants are asked to withhold ALL reviews of these books until demands are met, including on Goodreads and NetGalley. Additionally, we are asking that participants avoid promoting these books in any way during this time. This includes master lists, reading recaps, and other similar posts. However, readers can still purchase and read these books in order to reduce harm done to the authors.

Additionally, participants are encouraged to share posts about the boycott, make their own posts, and utilize the templates and graphics we have provided you to keep the momentum going.

Research a book's publisher before you post about it, even here on Tumblr. If it is published by St. Martin's Press or one of its imprints (Wednesday Books, Castle Point Books, St. Martin's Essential, Minotaur Books, and St. Martin's Griffin), do not platform it.

Check out @/readersforaccountability on Instagram for more information. All text here aside from the final indented paragraph comes from their toolkit, which includes more information and more ways you can help the people of Palestine.

[deadpresidents]

It has been a while since I last asked so what have you been reading recently?

Here is what I've been reading over the past couple months:

•Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination -- and Secret Diplomacy -- to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar

•The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) Stuart A. Reid

•Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) Mary Beard

•The Invention of Papal History: Onofrio Panvinio Between Renaissance and Catholic Reform (BOOK | KINDLE) Stefan Bauer

•Infallibility, Integrity and Obedience: The Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, 1848-2023 (BOOK | KINDLE) John M. Rist

•Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) Uri Kaufman

•Lincoln and California: The President, the War, and the Golden State (BOOK | KINDLE) Brian McGinty

•Who Believes Is Not Alone: My Life Beside Benedict XVI (BOOK | KINDLE) Archbishop Georg Gänswein with Saverio Gaeta

•White House Wild Child: How Alice Roosevelt Broke All the Rules and Won the Heart of America (BOOK | KINDLE) Shelley Fraser Mickle

•Madonna: A Rebel Life (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) Mary Gabriel

[brightbeautifulthings]

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

"But just like every fight, every loss, every night spent lying awake in the dark, every half-baked escape plan, none of it ever leaves. She's made of every bad thing that has happened to her, just like she's made of every good thing."

Year Read: 2024

Rating: 4/5

About: Devin's foster parents have just had her abducted for fifty days of nature therapy where, along with several other troubled teens, a nature guide, and a counselor, she'll learn to survive in the wilderness and, hopefully, overcome her personal demons. When the campers wake one morning to find both counselors missing, they realize they'll have to work together to have any hope of getting back to civilization. But something is watching from the woods, and it doesn't want them to leave… I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books. Trigger warnings: character death, family/twin death, dead body, cancer, rape/pedophilia, abusive households, severe injury, burns, blood, violence, drugs/dealing, addiction.

Thoughts: I've read other books with a similar premise that didn't go well, so it was only on faith that Gould could do better with this story and my love for The Dead and the Dark that had me picking this up. I'm so glad I did. It's easily one of my favorite novels of the year so far, and Gould remains the uncontested queen of lesbians in YA horror. It's full of wonderfully drawn characters and scenery, and some of the creepiest paranormal elements in recent memory.

I think the first fascinating twist on the nature therapy plot is that half these kids barely qualify as "troubled." Though their issues vary from drug abuse or dealing to fighting, one can't help feeling their parents are the ones who would benefit most from fifty days in the woods to talk about their feelings. I felt for all of them by the end of the book, and I like the way Gould is able to make them sympathetic and three-dimensional. (Which is obviously the end goal, because nobody deserves to suffer this sort of program, teenager or otherwise.) I like how far both Devin and Sheridan in particular come by the end of the book despite their initial hatred for each other. It is, after all, very hard to hate someone when we understand them.

It's the horror elements that really knocked this book out of the park for me though. Gould has a knack for the creative and the uncanny, and there are many spooky, wtf-type scenes while we try to figure out what exactly is stalking the group. I won't go into details to avoid spoilers (and, really, it's better to go into it blank), but they're some of the spookiest, most original "monsters" I've seen. If they have a counterpart, I've never seen it, and the lore seems to be entirely of Gould's own creation. I loved it. I'll be looking for a copy for my bookshelf.

[triviareads]

my friend created a helpful resource if you'd like to track romance novels (mostly historical romances) that fall under the ongoing St. Martin's Press boycott:

[retrogirlsbooks]

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Cover illustration by Michael Storrings

ISBN 978-0-312-37084-8

[theblackestofsuns]

Kings Of Infinite Space (2004)

James Hynes

St. Martin's Press

[doodlesink]

A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke -- A Book Review

Happy Wednesday!  A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke is now out.  See what I thought about the first book in the Supernatural Mysteries.  Happy Reading!

https://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-new-lease-on-death-by-olivia-blacke.html

[brokehorrorfan]

Christopher Golden (Ararat, Road of Bones) - who also co-wrote the recent film Hellboy: The Crooked Man - will publish The Night Birds on May 6 via St. Martin's Press.

An atmospheric horror novel set in a half-sunken freighter ship, the 320-page book will be available in hardcover and e-book. Read on for the synopsis.

Charlie Book and Ruby Cahill have history. After their love ended in heartbreak, they never expected to see each other again, but when terror enters Ruby’s life, Charlie Book is the only safe harbor she can believe in. In his work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Book has been living aboard and studying the Christabel, a 19th century freighter that lies half-sunken in Gulf waters, just off the shore of Galveston. Over many years, a massive forest of mangrove trees has grown up through the deck of the ship, creating a startlingly beautiful enigma Book calls the Floating Forest, full of birds, crabs, and snakes. Though a powerful storm churns through the Gulf, Book intends to sleep on board as usual. But when he arrives at the dock, preparing to motor out to the Christabel, he’s stunned to find Ruby there waiting for him. And Ruby’s not alone. With her are a mysterious, terrified woman named Johanna and an infant child. They need Book to hide them safely aboard the Christabel while they're on the run, only it isn’t the police who are after them. It’s the coven of witches Johanna has fled, stealing away the helpless infant for whom they had hideous plans…or so Johanna claims. It’s lunacy. Book wants nothing to do with it. But after the way he and Ruby ended things, and the unspoken pain between them, he can’t refuse. Yet even as he brings them out to the ruined ship and its floating forest, back in Galveston there are shadowed figures out in the storm, sniffing the air like bloodhounds. And despite the worsening wind and rain, the night birds are flying, scouring the coastline as if searching for their prey.

Pre-order The Night Birds by Christopher Golden.

[lilibetbombshell]

[bookwyrmshoard]

Identity, by Nora Roberts

A resiliant heroine, a steadfast hero… and a chilling villain

Rebuilding your life after identity theft isn’t easy. Especially when the thief stole not only your identity, but your best friend’s life… and he’s not done with you yet.

That’s the situation Morgan Albright finds herself facing in Identity, the newest romantic suspense novel from Nora Roberts. Reeling from her friend Nina’s death, and from repeated attacks on her finances and credit, Morgan retreats to the family home shared by her grandmother and mother, to try to make a new start. But as she begins to rebuild her life, the FBI is closing in on Nina’s killer… and he is closing in on Morgan.

I love how Nora Roberts’s novels give me a glimpse into careers I’ve never explored. Morgan is a bartender—a good one. (Warning: be prepared to come out of this book with a whole new appreciation for cocktails!) She’s also is excellent at setting goals, doing the research, and carrying out her plans. Morgan is competent and resilient, strong and determined. But her recent experiences have left her shaken and doubting herself.

Miles Jameson, the hero, is attracted to Morgan’s strength and confidence, along with the vulnerability she tries to hide. He is kind and dependable, if a little brusque and occasionally dictatorial for my taste. He is also perceptive, and has a deep love for his family… and his rescue dog, Howl.  

A quick caveat here: Miles is not Morgan’s direct-line supervisor, but his family owns the resort where she works. That could have been a sticky situation, but Roberts is careful to keep their attraction and growing relationship mutual and consensual, and avoids any appearance of pressure or coercion.

Family love and support play an important role on both sides. I loved Morgan’s mother and grandmother (her “ladies”), and appreciated how they are both skilled and creative business women, strong and competent. I also enjoyed the three generations of Jamesons that own and run the resort; their mutual love, respect, and lack of familial conflict were a delight.

The suspense/thriller aspect of the plot can get fairly intense at times. Some scenes are told from the killer’s POV, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, you may have trouble with this novel. On the other hand, I generally steer clear of books that get too dark or violent, particularly if they involve serial killers, but I did all right with this one. Most of the violence was short-lived and easy to skim past.

Nora Roberts is one of my auto-read authors, although she has written a few books that I can tell from the blurb will be too much for me. I’m glad I gave Identity a try despite my initial concerns about the plot. I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it, and will happily add it to my list of rereadable NR novels!

  NOTE: This review was first published in a longer form on The Bookwyrm’s Hoard blog. You can read the full review here.

[triviareads]

ARC Review of Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Publication Date: April 16th

Premise:

A sapphic opposites-attract romance; Opal gets conned into buying a flower farm with her lottery winnings, only to find out it's already owned by Pepper. The farm is failing and the two women decide the best way to save it is entering a national flower show competition.

My review:

This was the sapphic cottage-core romance of my dreams! Opal wins the lottery and in an effort to distance herself from her mooch-y fake friends, she escapes by buying the Thistle and Bloom. Enter Pepper, grumpy flower farmer and actual(?) owner, and the two of them quickly come to the agreement that they'll live together as roommates while they sort out the situation and enter a flower sculpture competition for the prize money.

I loved the idea of both Opal and Pepper finding refuge in the Thistle and Bloom at different points in their life. Both have been hurt in the past and the farm is their safe space as well as the source of inspiration for their art (the way the author describes growing flowers absolutely sounds like an art form; not to mention Opal's shoe-painting business), which is why it's all the more important that they save it from bankruptcy. However, things get further complicated when they begin a no-strings, no-feelings sexual relationship when obviously, there are some very real feelings growing between them.

I really like the way Mazey Eddings wrote both Opal and Pepper's characters; they come across as somewhat messy zillennials (complete with doctoring their own hair to fit their mood)— and they are! Opal and Pepper are 24 and 26 respectively. I saw some reviews call them immature but as someone around their age, I completely sympathize with the way they're both just trying to get by financially while navigating a new relationship. Like, there is a third act break-up that some might see as an overreaction, but I think it fits the pattern of their prior relationships, and the way they react makes sense. What I could have done with less of is the amount of zillenial pop culture references— from 3 different Taylor Swift references to Phoebe Bridgers and Timothee Chalamet. I feel like constant pop culture references tend to date a book.

This book has queer rep and neurodivergent rep; Opal is bisexual and Pepper identifies as queer, and both women are on the spectrum. I appreciate how Mazey Eddings also wrote in multiple queer side characters, as well as how she portrayed neurodiversity— everything from Opal's autism and ADHD causing her use alcohol as an unhealthy coping mechanism to Pepper's sensory sensitivities that cause her to dislike large crowds.

The sex:

I was pleasantly surprised by the sex scenes in this book! They're pretty damn hot and varied, super emotional as time goes on, and I loved the dynamic— Opal is the more assertive one in bed, which leads to some solid dirty talk on her part (it's also in contrast to how she is out of bed because she tends to waffle over a lot of decision making), while Pepper is a little more rough and uncertain but she also has this stern edge. And of course there's greenhouse sex because what even is the point otherwise.

Overall:

I had so much fun reading this book— it had so many laugh-out-loud moments while at the same time Opal and Pepper were such intensely sympathetic characters, perhaps even more so because they were not above messing up (also can we talk about the epilogue?? What Opal did for Pepper is literally the most romantic thing a person can do in this economy). I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotionally satisfying romcom that also brings the heat.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

[that-butch-archivist]

"Marcia and Sarah"

source: Girls' Night Out, photographed by Chloe Atkins