Editor’s Choice
Safe From the Neighbors, by Steve Yarbrough, $25.95. Mississippi high-school teacher can’t separate his hometown’s uneasy past from his own in this thoughtful novel from Yarbrough (“The End of California”). He uses what in other hands could be a banal plot to bring to vital life the complicated interplay of cause and coincidence in history and individual lives. Kirkus
FICTION
Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter, by Michael J. White, $24.95. Set in mid-1990s Des Moines, White’s debut novel focuses on teenager George Flynn and his complex relationship with Emily Schell. . . . at its heart it’s a romantic and ultimately sad love story featuring an extremely likable narrator. Library Journal
Impact, by Douglas Preston, $25.95. Wyman Ford (“Tyrannosaur Canyon,” “Blasphemy”) returns in Preston’s latest thriller, where the stakes involve not only the salvation of the world but also the solar system. The thriller elements mix well with the science aspects of the story, making even the hard-to-grasp concepts easy to understand. Library Journal
NONFICTION
Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History, by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell, $24.95. Campbell, the author of “Blood Diamonds,” teams with lawyer Selby for a fascinating chronicle of the $108 million theft at the Antwerp Diamond Center on Feb. 15, 2003. Like a finely cut gem, this well-polished, multifaceted book sparkles. Publishers Weekly
Mark Twain: Man In White, by Michael Sheldon, $30. The last part of Twain’s life was cynically managed by a team of his secretary, Isabel Lyon, and business manager, Ralph Ashcroft. Here is a well-researched book for all Twainiacs, as well as those coming to the subject’s late years for the first time. Publishers Weekly
The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea, by Philip Hoare, $27.95. A young boy’s first glimpse of a whale in captivity matures into a writer’s paean to the giants of the deep in this poetic blend of nautical history, literary allusion, personal experience, and natural science. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
American Rust, by Philipp Meyer, $15. The dying steel towns of southwestern Pennsylvania are the somber canvas upon which Meyer paints this tale of class, crime, and circumscribed choices. Lifelong buddies Isaac and Billy find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Isaac’s on the run, and Billy’s taking the fall for a murder he didn’t commit. Library Journal
True Colors, by Kristin Hannah, $14.99. In her 17th novel, best-seller Hannah portrays the enduring bonds of sisterhood. The story of the Grey sisters is set in a small Washington town and follows Winona, Aurora and Vivi Ann from the time of their mother’s death. Publishers Weekly
Ghosts of Wyoming, by Alyson Hagy, $15. In her fourth collection of short stories, Hagy (“Snow, Ashes”) explores the lonely state of the Equality State, with its haunted inhabitants. Hagy has an ear for the locals and a feel for the vast lonely landscape, capturing modern issues. Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
A Question of Belief, by Donna Leon, $24. Leon continues her series featuring the principled nice guy Commissario Guido Brunetti. In this one Brunetti looks into — surprise — judicial corruption in Venice. (May)
