BookBrowse Highlights
Hello,
This week in First Impressions, we bring you Vera Kurian's Never Saw Me Coming, an engaging psychological thriller that takes place on a college campus.

Meanwhile, our online book club members are discussing the beauty and power of Charlotte McConaghy's Migrations, a sobering but beautiful novel about climate change and species extinction.

We also have new books for members to request, and copies to give away of A Most Clever Girl, Stephanie Marie Thornton's novel based on the real-life figure Elizabeth Bentley, a Cold War double agent.

Very best,
Davina
First Impressions
Each month we give away books to BookBrowse members who live in the U.S. to read and review. Members who choose to participate receive a free book about every 3-4 months. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.
Never Saw Me Coming
by Vera Kurian

Reader Reviews

"In this complicated thriller, young diagnosed psychopaths are recruited into a college study. They matriculate at the school like any other students and are not supposed to know the identities of the other six students in the program. But three members quickly find each other out. When students in the program start to die, the three must decide if they can trust each other enough to work together to stay alive. Or, is one of them the killer? ... The ending is satisfying and this is definitely a book that will get passed around from friend to friend." - Mary G. (Greensboro, GA)

"Never Saw Me Coming is a very satisfying whodunit. College students, Washington DC, and the current political climate all come together in a fresh crime novel. The characters all draw both compassion and revulsion simultaneously. I found it captivating. I usually do not read this genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed it." - Gina T. (Natick, MA)

"I felt interested on the first page. The book was deliciously engaging, fun even, and I didn't know the murderer until the last few pages. All the winding plot twists made it a very entertaining book that I enjoyed very much." - M K. (Minneapolis, MN)

Park Row Books. Thriller. 400 pages. Published Sep 7, 2021
Readers' Consensus: 4.0/5, Number of Reader Reviews: 23
BookBrowse Book Club
Migrations
by Charlotte McConaghy

From the Jacket

For readers of Flight Behavior and Station Eleven, a novel set on the brink of catastrophe, as a young woman chases the world's last birds―and her own final chance for redemption.

From the Discussion

"Migrations is a beautiful, multi-layered, complex story of survival and love. I knew from the opening paragraph that I would read this book slowly in order to savor every single word that was written on the pages... I was unfamiliar with Charlotte McConaghy before reading Migrations. Since finishing, I have placed her book Once There Were Wolves on hold at the library. She is an author I want to hear more from." - acstrine

"The book was astonishing, powerful and provocative to me. Certainly well written... Yes, depressing, but perhaps that can evoke some positive actions on our part in terms of the environment and how to deal with challenges of mental illness. I highly recommend it... seriously considering visiting Antarctica now and before reading this book it never entered my mind to do so." - julianna

"This book is crushing in its beauty of the story it tells, its characters and its writing. I loved it, and very much look forward to the author’s next book, too." - tmmarti

Flatiron. Novel. 272 pages. Paperback published July 6, 2021
For Members: Available to Request Now
Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are available now. Request at bookbrowse.com/arc before end of Saturday, September 18.

Books are provided to members free of charge with the understanding that they'll do their best to either write a short review of a pre-publication book or take part in an online discussion forum, depending on whether the book is assigned for First Impressions or the Book Club.

Due to publisher restrictions, books are only available to U.S. residents. Members who take part fairly regularly generally receive a book about every 3-4 months.

If you're not currently a member and wish to become one, join and request a book before end of Saturday and you will receive it. If you are a past member, you can renew here.

Special Offer: Enter coupon code SEPT21 to save $7 off our regular annual rate, so you'll pay just $32 for a year of great reading about exceptional books. That's the equivalent of less than $2.70 a month, with a money back guarantee at any time if you're not entirely satisfied.*
*Discount offer ends Sept 29, 2021. SEPT21 can be used to save US$7 on an annual membership for new members or to give a new gift membership. It can also be used to renew a lapsed membership. Sorry, it cannot be used to extend a current membership or renew an existing gift.
US$32 = approx. CAD$40, £23, AU$43, NZ$45, €27
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Giveaway
From the Jacket

A thrilling novel of love, loyalty, and espionage, based on the incredible true story of Elizabeth Bentley, a Cold War double agent spying for the Russians and the United States, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton.

Media Reviews

"Harrowing anecdotes and juicy spycraft will keep readers turning the pages." - Publishers Weekly

"Thornton's latest blends Cold War espionage thriller and biographical fiction into an engaging, difficult-to-put down story that readers will savor. … Readers who enjoyed Lara Prescott's The Secrets We Kept (2019) will be engrossed by this biographical novel about America's Red Spy Queen." - Booklist

"Thornton is a rare talent who always pairs fast-pace writing with excellent research, and A Most Clever Girl is a fascinating true Cold War story by a gifted storyteller." -Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of The Women of Chateau Lafayette

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BookBrowse Highlights is one of our four free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly.
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