May 2023 Adult Top 10 Picks

← Return to Archive Sign up for our mailing list
  1. The 23rd Midnight
    by James Patterson
    Little, Brown and Company
    May 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    The 23rd Midnight
    by James Patterson
    Little, Brown and Company
    May 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback

    The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!

    An attention-seeking copycat is recreating murders by a famous killer from the Women’s Murder Club’s past—with devastating new twists.

    Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.

    Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list.

    An obsessed maniac has turned Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own.

    Now Lindsay’s tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  2. Identity
    by Nora Roberts
    St. Martin's Press
    May 23, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    Identity
    by Nora Roberts
    St. Martin's Press
    May 23, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback

    The #1 New York Times-bestselling author's terrifying new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.

    Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

    Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke" is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

    What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. The Lie Maker
    by Linwood Barclay 'Canada'
    William Morrow
    May 16, 2023
    Hardback
    The Lie Maker
    by Linwood Barclay 'Canada'
    William Morrow
    May 16, 2023
    Hardback

    In this twisty, fast-paced thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Take Your Breath Away, a man desperately tries to track down his father—who was taken into witness protection years ago—before his enemies can get to him.

    Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son.

    These are some of the last words Jack Givins’ father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives as best they could.

    Years later, Jack is a grown man with problems of his own. He’s a talented but struggling author, barely scraping by on the royalties from his moderately successful first book. So when the U.S. Marshals approach him with a lucrative opportunity, he’s in no position to turn them down. They’re recruiting writers like Jack to create false histories for people in witness protection—people like Jack’s father.

    The coincidence is astonishing to Jack at first, but he soon realizes this may be a chance to find his dad. Only there’s one problem—Jack’s father hasn’t made contact with his handlers recently, and they have no idea where he is. He could be in serious danger, and Jack may be the only one who can find him.

    But how will he find a man he’s never truly known? A man who has done terrible things in his lifetime and made some deadly enemies in the process—enemies who wouldn’t think twice about using his own son against him.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  4. Meet Me at the Lake
    by Carley Fortune 'Canada'
    Viking
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
    Paperback / softback
    Meet Me at the Lake
    by Carley Fortune 'Canada'
    Viking
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
    Paperback / softback
    INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
    INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    In this breathtaking new novel from the #1 bestselling author of Every Summer After, a random connection sends two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects.


    Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.

    At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.

    She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.

    But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?
    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. The Wedding Planner
    by Danielle Steel
    Delacorte Press
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    The Wedding Planner
    by Danielle Steel
    Delacorte Press
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this captivating novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a wildly successful, unmarried wedding planner leads her clients to happily ever after.

    Faith Ferguson is New York’s most in-demand wedding planner, an arbiter of taste for elegant affairs, lavish ceremonies, and exclusive fêtes. She appreciates a simple celebration as much as a dazzling event, for she knows that a dream wedding is not necessarily the most expensive one.

    As much as Faith enjoys her work, her two failed engagements leave her with no desire to get married herself. She finds fulfillment in her close relationship with her twin sister, Hope, her role as a mentor for her assistant, Violet, and her career.

    This year, new clients have flocked to her, and she signs up an extravagant reception, a mid-sized gathering, and an intimate soirée, in addition to her mother’s next marriage and Violet’s modest ceremony. Faith finds herself forming bonds with her new clients and their loved ones—most notably the handsome brother of one of her grooms.

    But weddings are not always all champagne and roses, and in no time, Faith is grappling with private quarrels, unplanned pregnancies, family scandals, dark secrets, and the possibility of cancelled ceremonies. Through her own journey, Faith will prove once and for all that there is not just one path to happily ever after.

    In The Wedding Planner, Danielle Steel presents an enchanting story about the winding road to love and the many ways to find joy while staying true to oneself.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. Standing in the Shadows
    by Peter Robinson 'Canada'
    McClelland & Stewart
    May 16, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback
    Standing in the Shadows
    by Peter Robinson 'Canada'
    McClelland & Stewart
    May 16, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback
    The twenty-eighth and final installment of the #1 bestselling Inspector Banks series by “the grand master of the genre” (Literary Review), Peter Robinson.

    In November 1980, student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police officers. As he discovers that his ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing, he realizes two things in quick succession: he is undoubtedly a suspect as he has no convincing alibi, and he has his own suspicions as to what might have happened . . .

    Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in, and as an investigation into the find begins, the past and the present meet with devastating consequences.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. Drowning
    by T. J. Newman
    Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    Drowning
    by T. J. Newman
    Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    “The first terrific thriller of 2023.” —James Patterson * “Spectacular…Taut, gripping.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * “Reads like Apollo 13 underwater.” —Don Winslow * “Masterful.” —Patricia Cornwell

    Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside—and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

    Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

    More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

    Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

    There’s not much time.

    There’s even less air.

    With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. Killing Moon
    by Jo Nesbo
    Random House Canada
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Private Investigators
    Hardback
    Killing Moon
    by Jo Nesbo
    Random House Canada
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Private Investigators
    Hardback
    In the thirteenth novel in the New York Times bestselling series, brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer.

    “Jo Nesbo is one of today’s most interesting thriller writers, and Harry Hole is an all-time great character.” —Lee Child


    Harry has gone to Los Angeles to drink himself to death, in the wake of his life back in Oslo falling to pieces. He’s nearly managed to, but then Harry decides to help an older film actress, Lucille, free herself from the grip of a drug cartel she owes a million dollars. In return she gives him shelter, company and a tailored suit.

    In Oslo, two girls have disappeared and been found murdered. One of the suspects is a well-known real estate magnate, and investigator Katrine Bratt wants to bring in the country’s foremost serial killings expert. But the idea of collaborating with Harry Hole is out of the question for the chief of police. The real-estate magnate under suspicion, on the other hand, wants to hire Harry as a private investigator to clear his name. Harry declines, but that’s before the drug cartel takes Lucille hostage. If Harry clears the real estate magnate, he will award Harry a bonus big enough to cover Lucille’s debt. So Harry puts together his own kind of investigative team, consisting of a cocaine-dealing childhood friend, a corrupt police officer and a cancer-stricken psychologist. The drug cartel has given them ten days. The clock is ticking, and a blood moon has been forecast over Oslo.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. Queen Charlotte
    by Julia Quinn
    Avon
    May 09, 2023
    Hardback
    Queen Charlotte
    by Julia Quinn
    Avon
    May 09, 2023
    Hardback

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel of Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte and King George III's great love story and how it sparked a societal shift, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.

    “We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his…”

    In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours.

    Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent… not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed, because George had secrets… secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.

    Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court… all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all she must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight—for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfill her destiny… as Queen.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. Truth Telling
    by Michelle Good 'Canada'
    HarperCollins Publishers
    May 30, 2023
    Hardback
    Truth Telling
    by Michelle Good 'Canada'
    HarperCollins Publishers
    May 30, 2023
    Hardback

    A bold, provocative collection of essays exploring the historical and contemporary Indigenous experience in Canada.

    With authority and insight, Truth Telling examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed by Michelle Good’s personal experience and knowledge.

    From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening. Truth Telling also demonstrates the myths underlying Canadian history and the human cost of colonialism, showing how it continues to underpin modern social institutions in Canada.

    Passionate and uncompromising, Michelle Good affirms that meaningful and substantive reconciliation hinges on recognition of Indigenous self-determination, the return of lands, and a just redistribution of the wealth that has been taken from those lands without regard for Indigenous peoples.

    Truth Telling is essential reading for those looking to acknowledge the past and understand the way forward.

    View this title on BNC CataList

Sign up for our mailing list!

Sign up for the latest top 10 lists and other news about Loan Stars. You can unsubscribe at any time.


Sign up!