5 new books you won't want to miss this week, including Stuart Woods' latest

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USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.

1. Unbound by Stuart Woods (Putnam, fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it’s about: When Hollywood film producer Billy Barnett (a CIA operative with a different name in a previous life) tries to exact revenge for a personal loss, his friend Stone Barrington’s legal skills are put to the test.

The buzz: Woods goes into the new year with five Top 10 USA TODAY best sellers under his belt for 2017 alone.

2. In the Shadow of Agatha Christie, edited by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus, fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it’s about: As the subtitle says, this book collects “Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917.”

The buzz: Christie herself had a very good posthumous year in 2017, thanks to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express and other adaptations, so why not share the wealth with more obscure, early female mystery writers?

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A murder disrupts a quiet train ride, leaving passengers to defend their innocence in the trailer for 'Murder on the Orient Express.' USA TODAY

3. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn (William Morrow, fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it’s about: In a modern twist on the Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, a 38-year-old woman in New York City, a shut-in who self-medicates, believes she sees a crime committed in the townhouse across the park.

The buzz: Film rights have been acquired by Fox 2000, with Scott Rudin set to produce and Tracy Letts writing the script.

4. Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske (Picador, non-fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it’s about: A young American mother takes a lesson on raising self-reliant children from German parents after her family moves to Berlin.

The buzz: “Entertaining, informative, and enlightening,” says Kirkus Reviews.

5. Green by Sam Graham-Felsen (Random House, fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it’s about: Green (who blogged for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign) draws on his own middle-school experiences for this debut novel about two boys — one black, one white — who become friends in 1992 Boston.

The buzz: It’s an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers. An “original, thought-provoking twist on an important subject — race relations … and a great read,” says Sue Roegge of Chapter2Books in Hudson, Wisc.