Posh Manhattanite Catherine West has everything but the family she's always wanted. But when she falls for the man of her supposed dreams, she unravels a web of deception that upends life as she knows it. "I was rich," begins Huntley's mesmerizing debut. "I owned a small business, I had a wardrobe I replaced all the time. I was toned enough and pretty enough. I moisturized, I worked out." And yet, despite the West Village apartment, the trust fund, the weekly massages, and the occasional soup kitchen shift ("I was also a really good person," she promises), Catherine feels existentially incomplete. So when she encounters William Stockton at an art gala, obviouslyshe believes she's found her missing piece: handsome, well-bred, adoring, if oddly reserved, he is the man she's been waiting for. Plus, she wants children, and at 43, "the hourglass was running out of sand." But immediately, there is something amiss about stately William Stockton; just the mention of his name causes her ailing mother to slam shut. Then again, Catherine reasons, "even pre-Alzheimer's" her mother "had a tendency to hate people for no apparent reason." And so, within months, the pair is engaged. And still, Catherine cannot ignore the increasingly unsettling signs. Why won't her mother speak of him? Why is William so alarmed when Catherine sifts through his stash of innocuous childhood photos? And what is the meaning of the note from her former nanny, neatly taped in her mother's old diary"we cannot trust anyone to care for us fully"? As elegantly plotted as it isand it isHuntley's debut stands out not for its thrills but rather for her hawkish eye for social detail and razor-sharp wit. It is more than a classic psychological thriller: it is also a hauntingand weirdly movingportrait of love and family among Manhattan's flailing upper crust. An intoxicating escape; as smart as it is fun. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

BEING A BEAST: Adventures Across the Species Divide, by Charles Foster. (Picador, $16.) "I want to know what it is like to be a wild thing," Foster, a British naturalist, writes in this dispatch from the animal world. To that end, he stripped naked, ate earthworms, was hunted by bloodhounds and attempted to catch fish with his teeth - all to experience the natural world as do naked Welsh badgers, London foxes and Exmoor otters. WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL, by Swan Huntley. (Anchor, $16.) With an apartment in the West Village and a hefty trust fund, Catherine has nearly everything - except a husband. When she meets William, they appear to be an ideal match, until a secret threatens to derail the engagement. Huntley's debut novel is equal parts psychological thriller and sendup of New York's social elite. WHISTLESTOP: My Favorite Stories From Presidential Campaign History, by John Dickerson. (Twelve, $16.99.) The author, the political director of CBS News and the host of "Face the Nation," reflects on decades of election cycles: their memorable collapses and comebacks, surprise upsets and victories. As he puts it, "News is what surprises us, which is why the political press always has news: Voters are always undoing our certainties." MISS JANE, by Brad Watson. (Norton, $15.95.) Drawing on the real-life experiences of his great-aunt, Watson tells the story of Miss Jane Chisolm, a woman in rural Mississippi with an isolating and rare birth defect. The condition was an obstacle to sexual or romantic relationships, but Jane sought wholeness through other means. "The complexity and drama of Watson's gorgeous work here is life's as well," our reviewer, Amy Grace Loyd, said. "Sometimes heroism lies in combating our helplessness, sometimes in accepting it." HOW THE POST OFFICE CREATED AMERICA: A History, by Winifred Gallagher. (Penguin, $18.) The post office - established even before the Declaration of Independence was signed - was long a symbol of the United States' commitment to democratic values, ensuring that citizens across all the colonies were informed. Now, with the office in jeopardy, Gallagher urges a reconsideration of its future. GOODNIGHT, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN: Stories, by Anna Noyes. (Grove, $16.) The women in Noyes's collection are tested - by sexual abuse, terminal illness, poverty and young widowhood. In the opening story, a woman struggles to understand her husband's apparent suicide by drowning. "The stories may sound grim," our reviewer, Elizabeth Poliner, said, "but they consistently sparkle with expressive detail."

Catherine West lives the perfect life in Manhattan. She has plenty of money, left to her in a trust from her father, keeps a fabulous apartment, and basically does what she wants when she wants. But what Catherine doesn't have is the marriage and family she's always longed for. This fact puzzles her. After all, she's attractive and smart and has everything, so why hasn't she been able to make that connection? Enter -William Stockton, the answer to her prayers. He's handsome and urbane and seems to fall as hard for her as she does him. Certainly, she has a few reservations, ones that are exacerbated by her Alzheimer's-afflicted mother, who appears to remember something very bad about William. Despite her misgivings, Catherine charges headlong into love and an engagement. VERDICT In her meditative psychological debut, Huntley explores the effect of the lies we hear from others and the ones we tell ourselves. The buildup is nicely done, but the emotional payoff doesn't live up to expectations. [See Prepub Alert, 12/5/15.]-Jane Jorgenson, -Madison P.L., WI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Huntley's sleek debut is the story of Catherine, a Manhattanite who has everything a socialite could want: a gorgeous home on the Upper West Side; a quirky greeting-card boutique she keeps afloat with her trust-fund money; several people by her side, including her weekly masseuse; and the ability to toss thousands of dollars at every handbag or designer scarf that catches her eye. But something is missing. Her mother, suffering from dementia, is rapidly deteriorating; she never seems to get the chance to connect with her sister; and she's still nursing a broken engagement. When handsome, perfect William enters the picture, she's all too eager to be swept off her feet. He's rich, he's sophisticated, and he even has a connection to her family. But when Catherine's mother starts to blurt out only bad memories of William, Catherine begins to dig into her past. This is slow-burn suspense more of a character study than a thriller but Huntley has expertly created her characters and ekes out just enough tension throughout, leading readers on a compelling trip to the unexpected conclusion.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2016 Booklist