This week, from the modern master of noir James Ellroy, comes the new novel “Widespread Panic;” about the malevolent monarch of the 1950s Hollywood Underground. The novel is a tale of pervasive paranoia teeming with communist conspiracies, FBI finks, celebrity smut films, and strange bedfellows. Photo courtesy of Knopf. ...

This week, Former flight attendant T. J. Newman wrote much of her new novel, “Falling,” on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep. “Falling” follows pilot Bill Hoffman after he’s been given an impossible choice: crash the plane he’s currently flying, or let his kidnapped family die. Photo courtesy of Avid Reader Press. ...

This week, Elizabeth Brundage discusses her new book “The Vanishing Point,” which takes a close look at relationships; the mistakes we make early on that inform our destinies and the troubling things we sometimes do in the name of love. Photo courtesy of Little, Brown, and Company. ...

This week, Megha Majumdar discusses her book, “A Burning.” The novel centers around three characters following a terrorist attack in India. This episode originally aired in June 2020. Photo courtesy of Knopf. ...

This week, host Joe Donahue speaks with New York Times bestselling author and former host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews. The pair discuss Matthews’ new book; “This Country: My Life in Politics and History,” which offers a panoramic portrait of post–World War II America through the story of his life and career. Photo courtesy of Simon & Schuster. ...

This week, Maggie Shipstead discusses her new book “Great Circle.” The novel tracks the lives of Marian Graves and her twin brother; as she chases her dream of becoming the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe north-south. (more…) ...