Notable New Book Releases [Jan. 1 - Jan. 7]

There were some great releases this week. These are the new releases that caught my eye. What did I miss? Be sure to let me know what books you were excited about this week.

Switched by Amanda Hocking
Publication Date: January 3, 2011

[I still haven't read this from her self-pubbed release. Does anyone know if the versions are different?]

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.  She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her.  Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit.  But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth:  Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening.  And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…

As a special gift to readers, this book contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, “The Vittra Attacks,” set in the magical world of the Trylle.

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Loss by Glen Krisch
Publication Date: January 4, 2012

[After enjoying The Nightmare Within, I'm looking forward to reading this.]

A 29k word (or about 110 printed pages) novella of psychological horror

After Angie Chandler's husband dies in a car crash in which she was driving, her life comes undone. Though her soul mate is gone, her memories of Paul linger as she tries to recover at their secluded wooded estate. Ostracized from Paul's family--the only family she has really known--Angie's life spirals down a dark path of alcohol and pills. In the blur of constant self-medication, Angie is in no position to know what is happening to her.
Is Paul haunting her?
Has she gone mad?
Or is there another possibility, something far worse?

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KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke
Publication Date: January 4, 2012

[I'm a fan of Kealan Patrick Burke.]

A new novel by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY.

On a scorching hot summer day in Elkwood, Alabama, Claire Lambert staggers naked, wounded, and half-blind away from the scene of an atrocity. She is the sole survivor of a nightmare that claimed her friends, and even as she prays for rescue, the killers -- a family of cannibalistic lunatics -- are closing in.

A soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder returns from Iraq to the news that his brother is among the murdered in Elkwood.

In snowbound Detroit, a waitress trapped in an abusive relationship gets an unexpected visit that will lead to bloodshed and send her back on the road to a past she has spent years trying to outrun.

And Claire, the only survivor of the Elkwood Massacre, haunted by her dead friends, dreams of vengeance... a dream which will be realized as grief and rage turn good people into cold-blooded murderers and force alliances among strangers.

It's time to return to Elkwood.

In the spirit of such iconic horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance, Kin begins at the end and studies the possible aftermath for the survivors of such traumas upon their return to the real world -- the guilt, the grief, the thirst for revenge -- and sets them on an unthinkable journey... back into the heart of darkness.

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A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood
Publication Date: January 5, 2011

[This sounds like a great stuck in the snow thriller.]

A BROKEN FAMILY: Cass is trying to rebuild her life after the loss of her soldier husband, and a renovated mill in the picture-perfect village of Darnshaw looks to be the idyllic spot to bring up her traumatised son.

A DARK SECRET: But the locals aren't as friendly as Cass had hoped, and Ben is beginning to display a hostility she can't understand. Then the blizzards blow in, and Darnshaw is marooned in a sea of snow.

ISOLATED: Now, threatened on all sides, Cass finds herself pitted against forces she can barely comprehend.
The cold season has begun...

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A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
Publication Date: January 5, 2012

[I've been on the lookout for a good YA witch book. Recommendations welcome!]

Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her - but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.