Fiction: Fiction Reviews Week of 8/14/2006

In two previous novels, Maine showcased a great gift for fleshing out the lives of biblical characters (Noah and his relations in The Preservationist; Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel in Fallen). He returns to the Bible for this wildly pleasurable first-person account of the life of Samson, the Israelite judge remembered for his voluminous hair, Herculean strength and ill-advised relationship with Delilah. Samson delivers his monologue from the Philistine temple of Dagon where, shorn and shackled and awaiting execution, he reflects upon a life of "frustration and pain plus a fair bit of sex and lots of killing and broken bones." Hatred of the Philistines is the narrative's central theme, and Samson delights in recalling his violent exploits. Though he is a brute and a blowhard, he's also hilariously plainspoken and not above ruefully admitting his shortcomings, chief among them his weakness for "a pretty face or the swelling of a woman's backside." Which brings us to Delilah. Though the outcome of their doomed tryst will surprise no one, Maine keeps the story captivating, a result of the sensationally entertaining voice he's dialed into. The combination of archaic language and setting with modern sensibilities again demonstrates Maine's talent for making the familiar intriguing. (Nov.)

Waller, of The Bridges of Madison County fame, takes readers to the unforgiving terrain of south Texas in his 10th novel. Seventy-seven-year-old Winchell Dear has made a good life for himself as an honest poker player, including acquiring his 45,000-acre ranch (named "Two Pair" in honor of the hand he bluffed to win the land). So when his gambler's sixth sense tells him trouble is in the air, Winchell tucks a gun into his boot and waits out whatever's on the way. Meanwhile, a Mexican drug mule hurries to meet his connection, Sonia Dominguez, who also works as Winchell's housekeeper; a diamondback snake that proves pivotal to the plot slithers through the scrub grass; Peter Long Grass, a Native American squatting on the ranch, watches everyone from the shadows; and a pair of hit men in a cream-colored Lincoln Continental approach Two Pair. Connections between the characters—some more believable than others—are revealed as the story builds toward a violent climax. Though the prose tends toward the awkward ("Under kitchen lights reflecting off walls of dark wood and partially absorbed and mellowed almost to amber by that effect..."), Waller's fans will enjoy his take on the Old West meeting the New. (Nov.)

The fourth volume of the late L'Amour's short stories takes the author out of his familiar American frontier setting and into desolate and dangerous locales around the world, from "a narrow fjord at the end of the earth" on the southern coast of Chile to a "lonely isolated spot in the Coral Sea." While the characters are not traditional L'Amour, as "men of quick wit and valor" they share similar characteristics and values; freighter captain Ponga Jim Mayo, who plies the treacherous waters of the Indian Ocean during World War II (and is featured in nine of these 45 stories), succinctly sums up their worldview: "I'll make my own rules and abide by the consequences." The stories reflect the author's own youthful wanderings—as seaman, soldier and professional boxer—and, having been mostly written for pulp adventure magazines, are predictably formulaic. L'Amour's first publication, "Death Westbound," a Depression-era hobo story, crackles with his trademark prose: "Sometimes the shacks were pretty good guys, but a railroad dick is always a louie." No L'Amour fan will want to miss this collection. Afterword by L'Amour's son, Beau L'Amour. (Nov. 7)

Memoirist Ginsberg (Waiting; Raising Blaze) gracefully transitions into fiction with a fresh twist on the aggrieved publishing assistant. Angel Robinson is a voracious reader excited to land a job at the prestigious Lucy Fiamma Literary Agency in San Francisco, but she quickly finds herself overwhelmed in the maelstrom of an office. Angel, forever lugging manuscripts home, discovers she has a knack for turning mediocre manuscripts into moneymakers, a talent Lucy handsomely capitalizes on. When an anonymous submission set in a Bay Area literary agency is e-mailed in, Angel begins hammering it into salable shape. At first, the parallels between the manuscript and her life are innocuous enough, but as subsequent chapters appear in her inbox and she corresponds via e-mail with the author (coyly called "G. A. Novelist"), the story begins to reveal intimate details about Angel's life and to contain thinly veiled threats. Could her foundering writer boyfriend be the culprit? A jealous co-worker? Another of Lucy's clients? A game of e-mail cat and mouse unfolds as Angel continues working on the manuscript and her dragon-lady boss angles to sell it. Though not nail-bitingly suspenseful, the plot is twisty enough to keep readers guessing to the end. (Nov.)

Chang died in 1995 in Los Angeles, having emigrated to the U.S. in 1955 at 35. These six stories, most available in English for the first time, were published to acclaim in China and Hong Kong in the '40s; they explore, bewitchingly, the myriad ways love overcomes (or doesn't) the intense social constraints of time and place. In the compact "Sealed Off," Shanghai briefly shuts down in defense against a blockade, and strangers on a tram allow their inner yearnings to surface, with consequences at once momentous and static. In the layered title story, a couple taunt each other with false estrangements as they fall in love, then are forced to confront one another directly through wartime privations. The startling novella "The Golden Cangue," told with upstairs-downstairs shifts in perspective, fugues around a wife, resentful of her disabled husband and reviled by his family, who seeks reassurance in opium. In these eloquent tragedies, Chang plunges readers in medias res. She expertly burdens her characters with failed dreams and stifled possibilities, leads them to push aside the heavy curtains of family and convention, and then shows them a yawning emptiness. Their different responses are brilliantly underplayed and fascinating. (Nov.)

Tessa Riley, mocked by one and all for being "about a third of the size of the usual kind," resides uneasily in the early 20th-century farming community of Oakley, Kans., avoiding her rigid, abusive father; Bible-thumping mother; and aggressively normal siblings whenever she can. But Tessa, who narrates, finds comfort in Mary Finn, the newly arrived librarian to whom everyone has an attraction of one sort of another (leading, natch, to difficulty and resentment). Mary, known as Marionetta during her days as a flyer in the Velasquez Circus, teaches Tessa to read and tells her stories about a fantastical place called Rain Village; Tessa uses the stories, and Mary's attention, as an escape from ridicule and from her father's sexual abuse. Following Mary's enigmatic suicide, Tessa runs to Kansas City and waits for the circus to arrive, and ultimately becomes its star. She marries Mauro, one of the Flying Ramirez Brothers, but she continues to obsess over Mary and her stories. When Mary's nephew Costas arrives at the circus and announces that he is going to Rain Village, Tessa chooses to join him, unsure what she'll find there. Turgeon, in her debut, turns in a credible Francesca Lia Block–style fable, but the mystery of Mary's suicide and of Rain Village itself aren't enough to sustain interest in Tessa's quest. The conclusion is abrupt and leaves Tessa stranded. (Nov.)

Pete (Don't Get It Twisted) traces the lives of three Houston residents in his fifth novel with mixed results. Waitress and aspiring singer Amelia is derailed when her boyfriend Bodie is sent to prison after his conviction in connection with the botched robbery of the pawn shop where he, accompanied by his thug friends, had gone to buy an engagement ring for her. When he gets locked up, Amelia tries to put Bodie behind her and follow the example set by her best friend Natalia, who has become a national sensation after appearing on a reality talent show. Ike, a corrections officer at Bodie's prison, meets Amelia at a club and, unaware that she's Bodie's ex-girlfriend, romantically pursues her. Bodie learns what is happening in the outside world and plans his revenge. The story has its slow patches and some of the plot points are too obvious, but the inner lives of the main characters and most of the supporting cast are well sketched. And though the sex scenes are awful ("parting my yearning walls," anyone?), Pete has a knack for describing budding romance. The last few chapters build to a satisfyingly bittersweet conclusion. (Nov.)

Memoirist and story writer Kittredge's first novel (after The Nature of Generosity and Hole in the Sky) tells the life story of Rossie Benasco, the ornery son of a Reno, Nev., casino pit boss who, at age 15 in the early 1930s, takes work as a "wrango boy" at a Nevada ranch owned by retired rodeo legend Slivers Flynn. Rossie's intimate relationship with Slivers's daughter causes Slivers to give Rossie a choice: run a couple hundred horses to Calgary or stay and "have a mess of redheaded kids." Rossie chooses the thousand-mile trek and, at trail's end, falls for Eliza Stevenson, the beautiful and pregnant (the father "went batshit" and is in prison for assault) daughter of a Scottish businessman. Eliza's father deeds the family's Montana farm to Rossie to nudge him into marrying Eliza, and the couple seal their relationship with the birth of a son and a wedding. Kittredge moves Rossie along with a compelling confidence: Rossie learns to run a farm, watches his son mature and adopts an orphaned girl before joining the Marine Corps in December 1941; he is shot by a fellow soldier and spends most of his tour working as a supply clerk. Years later, his children grown, Rossie gets involved in local and state politics, which proves to be as perilous as the Pacific theater. Kittredge balances earthy dialogue with lyrical prose to create a memorable evocation of the American west. (Oct. 6)

Robert Wells, the hapless psychiatrist hero of Ward's superior noir novel, has spent many thousands of hours helping people at his free clinic in Baltimore. While treating art dealer Emile Bardan, who's suffering from paranoid delusions, Wells learns that Bardan owns a priceless Sumerian mask representing Utu, the "god of justice and vengeance." The no-longer-altruistic Dr. Wells starts to scheme to steal the mask and sell it to his patient's worst enemy and rival, Colin Edwards. But things don't go quite as expected, and the twists come fast and furious as Wells discovers that crime, like psychiatry, has its own peculiar bylaws. At once admirable and devious, Wells unsettles as much as he compels our sympathy. Ward (Red Baker, winner of the PEN West prize for Best Novel of 1985) has been a writer and producer on such TV shows as Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice. Regional author tour. (Oct.)

In his haunting second novel (after The Grace That Keeps This World), Bailey presents a vicious history of race relations in his home state. Set in fictionalized Hushpuckashaw County, Miss., in 1944, the novel opens just after the lynching death of Letitia Johnson, a black nanny accused of drowning her young charge. Letitia's 12-year-old daughter, Sally Johnson, becomes a ward of the state, and her case file lands on social worker Baby Allen's desk. Baby takes in Sally, and while hiding the girl from the Klan, she finds an unlikely ally in Jake Lemaster, the one-time college football hero who is now second-in-command to his father, Boss Chief, at Parchman Farm, the state's infamous penitentiary where Sally's father is serving time for stabbing a man during a gambling dispute. Jake's progressive politics and clashes with his father over prison reform, compounded by Jake's and Baby's quest to discover who is really responsible for the drowning, come to a violent head during one brutally hot July week. With its heels set firmly in the Southern gothic tradition (scenes involving torture, necrophilia and grisly deaths), the novel depicts a sun-scorched landscape where prospects for justice are as wilted as the cotton plants that stud the dusty ground. (Oct.)

The world is a candy store for Niki Papadaki, a wild international party girl one week away from her 21st birthday—the date established in her late father's will when she becomes the "sole proprietress" of Papadaki Private Holdings Ltd., "one of the world's largest privately held corporations." Once at the helm, Niki's lack of business scruples, carelessness with people's lives and environmental recklessness have negative effects on the company's bottom line and make the company a target of Mother Earth's Children, a radical environmental group. PPHL's board decides to replace Niki. Enter Ariadne, Niki's twin sister, who had been secretly raised in America by a childless couple because the girls' father believed twin heiresses were a curse. After an elaborate and covert switch, Ariadne assumes control of both PPHL and Niki's identity and works to turn the company around. Tension mounts as Ariadne-as-Niki becomes the target of an assassination plot; her bodyguard, the dashing Matt Foster, steals her heart while keeping her safe. Bestseller Gould crafts an absorbing narrative in which steamy scenes abound, characters' lives drip with decadence and danger is never far off. (Oct.)

At the start of this taut tale of a very bad woman out to fleece a very good man from bestseller Woods, Santa Fe, N.Mex., lawyer Ed Eagle wakes up one morning with a terrible hangover and a missing wife. After a few phone calls, it turns out that not only has his wife, Barbara, disappeared, she's in the process of taking $5 million of his money with her. Ed, who met Barbara in an earlier Woods novel, Santa Fe Rules (1992), knew she was a shady character, but she was also beautiful and fabulous in bed so he married her. He hires a couple of PIs to find her, but every time they catch up with the unrepentant Barbara, she shakes them off and gets away. She's the most compelling character in the book, willing to go to any lengths, including murder, to keep the money. Scarcely an excess word gets in the way of the briskly moving plot. Author tour. (Oct.)

How does a marriage fall apart, and how does one go about saving it? Bestselling author T.D. Jakes (Woman, Thou Art Loosed!) puts those questions at the heart of his novel, which follows Dave and Clarice Johnson as they struggle to recover from a devastating car accident, which shattered Clarice's leg. The physical recovery proves to be far simpler than healing their dissolving marriage: lack of communication and respect, along with divergent priorities, have slowly worn down their relationship. So when Julie, a physical therapist from their church, proves ready to admire and appreciate Dave, an innocent friendship turns into a serious temptation. Are both Dave and Clarice willing to fight for their marriage? And should they? For Jakes, the answer to the second question is clearly yes. He captures the rapidity with which relationships can fall apart, along with the rigorous and painful healing process, which requires honest communication, self-denial and humility. The story is far from a fairy tale and at times too true to life to be readily enjoyable, but readers will find themselves attached to the characters. Jakes's faith appears throughout the story in a gentle way, which should make this book appeal to both Christian and general market readers. (Oct. 11)

Richard "Souse" Sauer, the 18-year-old antihero narrator of New Zealand writer Shuker's second novel (after Method Actors) is on a violent behavior jag that would make American Psycho's Patrick Bateman proud. Souse is a sensitive, self-destructive kid made uncomfortable by his first contact with independence as a marketing student at the University of Otago. Unofficially, he has switched to the more congenial discipline of beer guzzling, with a minor in bong hits; one beer-drenched night he does some awful, sexually abusive thing that he can't quite remember to "this blond chick" at a party. Early on, Souse is revealed to be both a sadist (he tortures Snoopy, the family dog, and reads serial killer stories for inspiration) and a sensitive soul (he has a Sylvia Plath poem tacked up in his dorm room). After he leaves college and moves in with some similarly disaffected friends, Souse's days are foggy with parties, bars, self-pity and introspection—the latter two being pretty much identical. Unfortunately, the numbing regularity of Souse's days and nights (party, stupor, self-loathing) diminish the reader's interest long before Souse's final plunge into mayhem. (Oct.)

During the steamy summer of 1939, a lurid double murder rocks sleepy Millersburg, N.J., in Cauley's accomplished third novel. The crime implicates Josh Pritchard, the beloved uncle of Ben Whyte, who's about to turn 17 and undergoes a triumphant rite of passage as he learns many shocking truths about his family. Much to the distress of Ben's formidable grandmother, Adela Pritchard Wayland (aka Mamu), the murder investigation overshadows her announcement that she plans to die by summer's end. Memorable characters include Ben's sweet sister, Estella; his seemingly fragile mother, Eulalie; and the true heads of the Wayland household, Priddie and Osceola Flowers, a serenely powerful African-American couple employed by the domineering Mamu, whose bitterness and anger are as fully evoked as the farm and goats she loves more than anything or anyone. Cauley (The Botticelli Angel), who's also a playwright and actor, doesn't waste a word in this exquisite time capsule. (Oct.)

April Kyle, the damsel in distress that Spenser rescued in two earlier books, Ceremony (1982) and Taming a Sea Horse (1986), again turns to the iconic Boston PI for help in the 34th entry in Parker's popular series. Cynical yet romantic, Spenser easily handles the immediate threat of some men trying to muscle in on the high-class Boston whorehouse April is running. Unfortunately, that isn't the real problem, and Spenser without much surprise finds that April, the thugs and everyone else involved is lying to him. Instead of walking away, Spenser continues to probe, following trails that lead to New York, a con artist, mob connections and other complications. This is vintage Parker, with Spenser exchanging witty dialogue with the faithful Hawk, sexy dialogue with his beloved Susan and smart-alecky dialogue with cops and villains. The old pros can make it look easy, and that goes for both the author and his hero as they deliver the goods smoothly and with inimitable style. (Oct.)

Spur Award–winner Blevins adds this fourth volume to the developing epic of western mountain man Sam Morgan (last seen in Dancing with the Golden Bear). Following a brief synopsis of the first three books, young Sam travels in 1827 with legendary trapper Jedediah Smith from the Rockies to the California desert. Sam pines for Meadowlark, his Crow wife who died in childbirth, and his missing baby daughter, Esperanza (who was kidnapped with his sister-in-law in the last book). Sam hopes to find his daughter, reclaim her and return her to his wife's Wyoming tribe. He barely survives a Mojave ambush, evades Mexican authorities who want him for homicide, has a torrid love affair with a beautiful Spanish widow, is exposed to the brutal Mexican slave trade and does a lot of his own killing. Although the plot (and conclusion) are predictable western fare, the action is sharp and exciting, and Sam's companions are colorful and eccentric, including Hannibal, a half-white and half-Delaware Indian man who speaks Latin and Greek, and Grumble, a talented con man with a trunk full of surprises. The pet coyote that rides a horse, however, is unconvincing. (Oct.)

Mardale, the remote British hamlet where Hall's remarkable debut novel is set, is a close-knit community of tenant farmers "where grand events and theatrical schemes rarely take place." So when a handsome stranger arrives in 1936, suspicions run high among the hardworking villagers. Jack Liggett is up-front about his plans for Mardale: he has come to inform the villagers that their homes would soon be at the bottom of a massive reservoir. According to Liggett, the dam associated with the project will be a "wonderful piece of architecture and engineering." But the villagers, who view the project as "so strange and vast that at first it was not taken seriously," resist, setting off a losing struggle between the insular community and the modern world. Caught in the middle is Janet Lightburn, the daughter of a local farmer, who begins a tempestuous and tragic romance with Jack. A Booker Prize finalist for her second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, (published in the U.S. in 2005), Hall is a talented writer, and though U.S. readers may have trouble with the phonetically rendered dialogue ("Twa Pund. Eh? Yan more ootstanding' "), the story, with its undertones of loss and grief, tugs at the heart. (Oct.)

In comp lit professor Kahf's fiction debut, Khadra Shamy recalls growing up in an immigrant Syrian family in 1970s Indianapolis. Khadra's devout parents raise Khadra and her older brother, Eyad, to be observant of Islamic customs. The inevitable culture clashes ensue, from taunts of "raghead" and "go back where you came from" to the varying interpretations of Islamic code among the community's other Muslims. The mutability of ordinary cultural crossroads—along with the shock of violent ones, such as the rape and murder of one of Khadra's friends—force Khadra to continually question what it means to be "Muslim" or "American." After a short and disastrous marriage to an overbearing husband (he forbids her to ride a bike; she has an abortion), Khadra travels to Syria—now mired in political and religious strife—and returns to the United States in the late '80s to continue searching for her own way in the world. Khadra is a compelling protagonist, and the supporting cast is varied and believable, but Kahf's authorial incursions—critiques of religion and society—are heavy-handed. However, Khadra's ever-evolving view of herself and her religion resonate and provide a valuable portrayal of an oft-misunderstood faith. (Oct. 10)

On a Saturday afternoon in December 1995, Peruvian immigrant Antonio Alday Gutiérrez lies in his small Delaware house, contemplating his failed creation, Anthony Allday—the Americanized version of himself that "could not exorcise the ghosts of Tecora" in 22 years in the U.S., and whom he has just committed a murder to protect. Antonio's stocktaking comprises the book, including sections of his "Peruvian Notebooks," a diarylike work in progress containing the bookish Antonio's reflections on his past and self-fashioning, as well as various letters home. The letters bespeak a success that didn't exist (as Allday, he was a night guard at a mall), and in the book's near-past, cousin Genaro's impending arrival from Peru threatens to smash his "thick shell" of lies and delusions. A Peruvian immigrant himself, Muñoz is a professor of sociology at Swarthmore College and the author of critical studies as well as a Spanish-language novel; this is his first novel written in English. Repetitive flashes into Antonio's postmurder recriminations are tedious, and readers will have guessed his victim's identity long before it is revealed. The book is richest when relating details of American life through the eyes of a bewildered newcomer in the early 1970s. (Oct.)

This humorous novel from Gutteridge kicks off her new series, the Occupational Hazards, featuring seven siblings in a clown family that disbands when the parents die in a freak accident. Twenty-five-year-old Hayden Hazard sheds her protected, homeschooled life to strike out on her own as assistant to Channel 7 news producer Hugo Talley. Her innocence, simple faith and good looks attract the attention of reporter Ray Duffey and egomaniacal weatherman Sam Leege. But trouble is brewing: an aging newscaster has overdone the Botox, giving her a permanent happy face while announcing the most terrible tragedies, and Ray is assaulted on the air while doing a story on pig zoning. An explosion at the waste-water treatment plant seems simple, but Ray discovers something stinks more than sewage or the pigs. Hugo pops blue pills for his stress, but even his medicated calm can't quell the looming disaster. As she did in her Boo series, Gutteridge clearly has fun with her story; the pages brim with quirky characters and plenty of laughs. Hayden's crusade against Hugo's antianxiety meds are the only questionable note in the book; readers may see it as a faith versus prescription antidepressants message. Drugs aside, this is a rollicking evangelical ride through the television news world, reminding readers why Gutteridge is such a delightful read. (Oct. 10)

Bestseller Neggers (Dark Sky) keeps the reader guessing "whodunit" to the end of her intriguing novel of romantic suspense. Seven years after Boston homicide detective Abigail Browning's FBI Special Agent husband, Chris, was shot dead on their honeymoon on Mt. Desert, Maine, 32-year-old Abigail returns to the resort island to try to find Chris's killer so she can move on with her life. The relentless detective risks both physical and emotional pain as she searches for the truth among the local people and the wealthy summer families who were her late husband's friends. A multitude of well-drawn suspects and the rugged Maine setting help offset some unrealistic initial interludes between Abigail and a potential new love interest, Owen Garrison, a neighbor who was the first to inform her of Chris's murder. (Oct.)

Sharfeddin's second western (after 2005's Blackbelly) is a sharp, perceptive blend of crime and contemporary life issues. When 10-year-old Gray Dausman reports a badly decomposed body near the Clark Fork River, Kip Edelson, the new sheriff of Montana's sparsely populated Mineral County, is impressed by the boy's bravery, but becomes concerned after he learns about Gray's troubles at home. A tip about the female corpse's identity leads the sheriff to investigate area women with names similar to "Chris," including Gray's missing mother, Kristi Blackhorse, and Christen Vining, the sister of Randy McHugh, owner of a popular tavern. Complicating the situation is the twisted relationship Randy has with Christen, the wife of a drug dealer Kip kills in self-defense. Tight and emotionally satisfying, this impressive novel should gain the author new readers. (Oct.)

Fans will best appreciate the 14 often darkly humorous fictions in bestseller Hamilton's first story collection, which includes several unpublished tales. Stories like "Selling Houses," in which a determined real estate agent faces up to the difficulties of selling a house where a gruesome mass murder has taken place, and "Here Be Dragons," a horrific account of a psychic child whose dreams can kill, show talent but need polish. Anita Blake aficionados, though, will relish the opener, "Those Who Seek Forgiveness," with its early version of a somewhat naïve vampire hunter. Stories set in the sword-and-sorcery world of Hamilton's first novel, Nightseer—"A Token for Celandine," "Winterkill," "The Curse-maker" and "Stealing Souls"—reveal that she has always had a talent for portraying strong female characters. Brief author introductions to each selection provide context. (Oct.)

Nero's second outing (after Cheekie), set against the backdrop of New Orleans's pre-Katrina Ninth Ward, deploys three deftly drawn narrators to tell a wrenching story of desire and survival. Tonya, a stripper at Club Circus in the French Quarter, dates a shifty, up-and-coming rapper while her true love, Johnny, a former football star and preacher's son, serves time in an upstate prison for roughing up Tonya's ex. In prison, Johnny meets James, a sassy, educated drag queen from the same side of the tracks, doing time for petty theft. Worlds collide when Johnny admits to his feelings for James and becomes torn between his long-repressed homosexuality and the woman and life he had before. Once on the outside, James and Johnny become tangled in intrigue involving former and potential lovers, parents, friends and the ever-present specters of jealousy, homophobia, spite and simple misunderstanding. Nero has an excellent sense of pacing and nails each character's voice with a distinctiveness that's both illuminating and, by turns, hilarious. He moves easily from drag queen balls to church pews, and though the plot strands are tied up too neatly at the end, the book's mold-breaking characters and myriad subplots will hook readers. (Oct.)

Donovan's poetic, well-crafted third novel, like his debut, Schopenhauer's Telescope, shows how violence can infect and take over a person's life. Julius Winsome has retreated with his old dog, Hobbes, to a remote family cabin in the northern Maine woods. "Many men live in these woods who cannot live anywhere else," he tells us. "They live alone and are tuned close to any offense you might give them." Winsome has some physical skills (he's an excellent shot with his grandfather's WWI Enfield rifle), but mostly he spends the long winters reading from his father's library of 3,282 classic books neatly arranged around the cabin walls. Only once did a chance for love and companionship brush him; it will return to haunt him as his frightening and touching story unfolds. Winsome's descent into anger, sadness, perhaps madness, begins when a deer hunter deliberately kills Hobbes. From that moment, Winsome's need for revenge grows rapidly and irrationally. Readers will sympathize with him every step of the way. (Oct.)

These 14 monologues are not so much short stories as Robert Browning–like soliloquies. In them, poet (Split the Lark) and Shenandoah editor Smith shows history dominating current Southern life. An obsessed Civil War re-enactor follows the bidding of the ghost of Stonewall Jackson, stealing the taxidermied remains of his horse in "Little Sorrel." Sybil Mildred Clemm Legrad Pascal, a docent at Lee Chapel of Washington and Lee University (the Virginia school where Shenandoah is based), offers her own views of the general's life. In the title story, a short ukelele player, Parham "Uke" Rivers, tells his eventful life story, which involves some dirty business with his driver and nurse-lover Sunny (whose "hospital costume in the bedroom was a special treat"), but which centers on his love for the lovely, departed Stella. Smith does a credible job with his various players' down-home diction, but their tics and concerns never coalesce into character, standing out like items in a curio shop. (Oct.)

Thriller fans who don't demand much realism in their reads should enjoy the first hardcover entry in bestseller Du Brul's adventure series featuring geologist and spy Philip Mercer (Vulcan Forge, etc.). The novel opens with an intriguing premise—that the Hindenburg zeppelin blew up in 1937 as the result of sabotage aimed at keeping a crackpot academic's discoveries secret. In the present-day Central African Republic, Mercer hooks up with the de rigueur attractive but brainy female, Cali Stowe, who's a U.S. intelligence agent posing as a medical researcher. As the pair dodge death from violent insurgent armies in predictable action sequences, they exchange light banter—and learn that the African nation is the source of a radioactive element coveted by terrorists that may have been used by Alexander the Great to defeat his foes. Du Brul is the coauthor with Clive Cussler of the Oregon Files novels, Dark Watch and Skeleton Coast. (Oct.)

In this earnest debut, young attorney and biracial lesbian Jean Sousa is accustomed to living between worlds. But it's Jean's Jamaica Kinkaid–like relationship with her mother, Sophia, and her mother's homeland, the fictional Caribbean island of Baobique, that has always given her the most difficulty: "I cannot think of a single thing I hate more in this world than unraveling my mother's knots." Though Sophia has returned to Baobique after many years in the U.S., Jean still feels her reach, especially when Sophia demands to visit her in Oakland, Calif. Once there, Sophia's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, including disappearing from Jean's apartment to spend the night on a stranger's porch. Sophia's reappearance leads Jean to recall her most recent visit to Baobique, where her influential uncle lay dying and where Jean has her first sexual relationship with a woman. California attorney Silva writes standard-issue prose that occasionally strains toward portent. The scenes in Baobique convey the most interest and tension, a convincing portrait of a place at an economic and cultural crossroads. By contrast, Jean's current life in Oakland lacks texture and energy, and a legal subplot involving a same-sex couple struggling over custody of their daughter feels forced. (Oct.)

Randisi (Arch Angels) provides a snazzy snapshot of a mythic 1960 Las Vegas in this enjoyable first of a new series. When Eddie Gianelli, former Brooklyn CPA turned Vegas pit boss, is asked to do a favor for Frank Sinatra, what's he gonna do, say no? Of course not. He wants to please his boss at the Sands casino, Jack Entratter, as well as the fabled blue-eyed Chairman of the Board, by catching the bozo who's sending Dean Martin threatening notes that have put the filming of Ocean's 11 in jeopardy. After two thugs break into Eddie's house and smack him around, though, things get complicated with further investigation turning up two dead dancers. Randisi's hilarious, pitch-perfect time capsule captures the swaggering era when the Rat Packers reigned in a city glittering with celebrities, gamblers, showgirls, gangsters and crimes that had to be solved without annoyingly clever CSI techs. (Nov.)

In Herron's dazzling third Zoë Boehm adventure, the second to appear in the U.S. (after 2004's The Last Voice You Hear), the struggling London PI gets mixed up with, among others, a suicidal widower, a battered wife, a baby-faced giantess and a disgraced policeman. Stirred and shaken, the result is potent and surprising, as Zoë scrambles to stay ahead of her creditors. Soon after she's hit by a big back-taxes claim and her car is stolen, Zoë receives a call from a robbed jeweler, Harold Sweeney, who offers a reward big enough to cover her bills. Two thieves, including one armed with a crossbow, took things Sweeney couldn't tell police about. All Zoë has to do to collect her reward money is identify the two men, but the case proves far from simple. Herron's tale, as the title suggests, is suffused with death, but without a needlessly high body count. Smart, dogged and never down for the count, Zoë is a fine addition to the ranks of female PIs. (Oct.)

Nadelson's strong sixth Artie Cohen whodunit (after 2005's The Disturbed Earth) depicts a grim and gritty post-9/11 New York City faced with new fears of terrorism aimed at disrupting the 2004 Republican National Convention. As Cohen, an NYPD detective who grew up in the Soviet Union, prepares to marry, he receives cryptic requests for help from an old friend, Sid McKay, a respected reporter who has become increasingly disillusioned with the corruption of the American news media. Cohen imperils his personal happiness by going the extra mile for McKay, delving into a complicated world of terrorism, the Russian underworld and real estate speculation. Tragically, Cohen's efforts can't prevent McKay's murder. The author continues to raise the stakes for her three-dimensional hero and shows every sign of having many more compelling stories to tell. (Oct.)

Intrigue involving "land pirates," who plant false lights to lure merchant ships to their doom on the rocky English coast, is the focus of Morgan's atmospheric third mystery to feature Geoffrey Chaucer (after 2005's Chaucer and the Legend of Good Women). When the San Giovanni goes down oddly without casualties, the unfortunate ship's master accuses William Bailey, the arrogant mayor of Dartmouth, of plundering its cargo. Chaucer, in his role as diplomat and crime solver, investigates, since the disaster carries political and economic implications for English-Italian relations. His mission is complicated during his stay at lofty Semper House by scheming within the family of the eponymous physician, Richard Storey, who recently remarried to the dismay of his brooding son, Edgar, and wily ex-mother-in-law, Bridget Salt. An absorbing mix of history, suspense and romance, this tale brings one of Britain's most renowned literary figures to credible life. (Oct.)

A well-developed protagonist lifts this police thriller, the first of a new series from Spinosa, the pseudonym of Edgar-finalist Reed Farrel Coleman (The James Deans). Joe Serpe, an ex-NYPD detective, lives a barren life driving a heating-oil truck and mourning his fireman brother, a victim of 9/11. When a developmentally disabled young man who had been working for Serpe's employer turns up dead, the ex-cop's guilt leads him to begin a private investigation, aided, ironically, by the retired Internal Affairs officer, Bob Healy, responsible for Serpe's departure from the force. As the body count mounts, the two sleuths find a wide range of possible suspects, from right-wing anti-immigration activists to the Russian mob. While much of the setup borders on cliché (e.g., the attractive psychologist who falls for the tough-but-sensitive wounded hero), Spinosa injects enough depth into his characters to suspend disbelief. (Oct.)

Hyzy's second cozy to feature Chicago TV reporter Alex St. James delivers on the promise of the first in the series, Deadly Blessings (2005). When Alex returns home after a humiliating evening with her former lover, she's dismayed to discover that Evelyn Vicks, her elderly neighbor, has been murdered. Evelyn, who worked at a bank, had earlier asked Alex's advice about some suspicious financial business involving the bank. Alex soon finds herself stalked by an ex-con and dealing with the victim's estranged son. New romantic interests and the care of her handicapped sister further complicate Alex's life as she puts her keen investigative skills to work for the police under the direction of the efficient, astute Detective Lulinski. The fast-paced plot builds to a spine-chilling ending. (Oct.)

At the start of Harris's winning second supernatural caper to feature Harper Connelly (after 2005's Grave Sight), a skeptical anthropology professor, Clyde Nunley, tests Harper's gift of clairvoyance in a historic Memphis cemetery, where Harper correctly senses a fresh corpse in the wrong grave. Strangely, the body turns out to be a missing 12-year-old girl, Tabitha Morgenstern, whom Harper failed to locate in Nashville on a case two years earlier. The hotel suite of Harper and her manager and stepbrother, Tolliver Lang, both of whom fall under suspicion, becomes a magnet for a medley of amusing characters, including Memphis cops, Tabitha's assorted relatives and a drunken Clyde Nunley, who, shortly after accusing Harper of fraud, is found dead in the same grave as Tabitha. Peppered with the author's trademark deadpan wit, this book should help make Harper and Tolliver as popular as Sookie Stackhouse, the heroine of Harris's vampire mystery series (Definitely Dead, etc.). Author tour. (Sept. 26)

Beginning with his very first sale, "Gorgon Planet," Hugo and Nebula award–winner Silverberg (A Time of Changes) collects 24 stories from the prolific first five years of his career (1953–1958), each piece with a lively headnote about its genesis, magazine venue and editor. While learning his craft and churning out copy to pay the rent, Silverberg imitated the styles of well-known writers, with such stories as "The Songs of Summer," which borrows the technique of multiple viewpoints from William Faulkner to tell a first contact tale, and "The Silent Colony," which seeks to replicate Robert Sheckley's clarity. Silverberg also wrote stories to match cover art, a literary exercise that resulted in "Why?" and in the often-anthologized "Sunrise on Mercury." Though none of his best-known or award-winning stories are included, these selections, which Silverberg deems the best of his early era, illustrate his apprenticeship and presage the Grand Master he has become. (Nov.)

Abandon hope, all readers who enter Schreiber's taut, scary debut: you're not going anywhere until you devour every one of its tension-filled pages. Sue Young, a 34-year-old single mom living in Boston, gets a phone call from a man who informs her he's kidnapped her infant daughter, Veda, and chastises her for an ancient crime she committed with her childhood friend and mysteriously missing ex-husband, Philip Chamberlain. The creepy, psycho kidnapper soon subjects Sue to an agenda that includes grave robbing, child killing, shotgun murders, zombies and various other assorted undead. Sue, an ex-ambulance driver, is tough, smart and determined to rescue her daughter. With its rural New England setting, this horror-fest pays respectful, clever homage to Stephen King's backyard. The author adds his own fresh supernatural twists to what starts out as a conventional suspense thriller. Readers will anxiously await his next outing. (Oct.)

Elliott's elaborate first entry in a projected seven-book fantasy series introduces a once prosperous but now lawless land called the Hundred. Its godlike Guardians, who dispense justice, have disappeared; the eagle-riding Reeves, who have kept the peace, have lost authority; and a mysterious, ruthless new force preys on the towns and inhabitants of the Hundred and neighboring empires. But after years of dissolute behavior, a Reeve named Joss is regaining his will to defend his land. Meanwhile, Outlanders Captain Anji; his resourceful bride, Mai; and his well-trained band of Qin soldiers come to the Hundred by necessity. Elliott (Crown of Stars) crafts complex if not wholly original characters, including strong women who persevere in repressive, nonegalitarian societies. She is equally adept at outlining intricate religions and myths. This promises to be a truly epic fantasy. (Oct.)

The fairy Princess Céleste of Springwood finds a lover in the chevalier Roél after he rescues her from brigands in McKiernan's entertaining fourth and final "seasonal" fantasy (after Once Upon an Autumn Eve), which takes its inspiration from the Childe Roland fairy tale. The feisty princess joins Roél on his quest to rescue his virginal sister, Avélaine, from the Lord of the Changelings before the evil ruler can defile the girl, impregnate her and steal her soul. On their travels through exotic kingdoms, Céleste and Roél must solve the Fates' riddles, outwit an Ogre, navigate past the Sirènes, best Greek mythical figures in Elysian Fields and pass through the Egyptian Underworld. Though McKiernan's characters have no depth and inconsistent sexual mores, the relentless, fantastical action will satisfy series fans. (Oct.)

The lusty Prince Wolfram, heir to the late, saintly King Kattanan Rhys, flees the kingdom of Lochalyn following an attempt on his life in Isaak's colorful but overly ornate sequel to her debut, The Singer's Crown (2005). With his safety endangered and true parentage in question, Wolfram leaves behind his mother, Queen Brianna, and her Lord Protector, Fionvar DuNormand, but is accompanied by his foster sister, Princess Melody, to the land of Hemijrai, a Middle Eastern stand-in contraposed with the "western" realm of Lochalyn. He falls in love with Deishima, a virginal acolyte of the priestess Faedra, a zealot who seduces Melody into a Hemijrai Rebirth ritual that could imperil Lochalyn. Isaak's occasionally slow-going sophomore effort may confuse readers unfamiliar with her debut. (Oct.)

In Shinn's intrigue-filled third Twelve Houses fantasy (after The Thirteenth House and Mystic and Rider), Justin, one of the elite King's Riders who serve King Baryn of Gillengaria, finds plenty to be concerned about after going undercover as a stableman to learn about threats to Baryn's rule. Noblewoman Coralinda Gisseltess, head of the Lumanen Convent of the Daughters of the Pale Mother (a moon goddess), has begun her own campaign against mystics, preaching that their magic is an abomination to the goddess. Then Justin meets Ellynor Alowa of Lirren, a young novice from the convent, and loses his heart to her. Things get complicated when Ellynor is denounced as a mystic because of her healing abilities. Rescuing Ellynor from being burned at the stake won't be easy, but if Justin succeeds, he'll then have to deal with the taboo against Lirren women marrying outside their clans. Once again Shinn expertly mixes romance with traditional fantasy for a satisfying read. (Oct.)

This weird novel of alien contact from Stoker-winner Hoffman (A Fistful of Sky) careens like a pinball among the bumpers of science fiction, young adult literature and softcore porn. Soon after just-barely-adolescent Kaslin and his family join the human colony on the planet Chuudoku, Kaslin falls into the clutches of an alien tribe. Kaslin's life has had little to recommend it—his father's a deadbeat, his mother's a workaholic and he's frequently beaten up, poisoned and mocked by Histly, the physically augmented daughter of one of the richest men on the planet—so he throws himself into living his dream of first contact. The aliens are endlessly curious about human bodies, leading Kaslin to bizarre erotic couplings first with his captors and then with Histly. Despite the smooth prose, this teen-oriented fable may strike many readers as fan fiction for a nonexistent canon. (Oct.)

It has been 54 years since Dodge's most famous book, To Catch a Thief, hit the shelves and was shortly thereafter made into the classic Hitchcock film. In reading his latest, written just before his death in 1974 and never before published, it's easy to see why his writing translated so well to Hollywood noir, with its tight-lipped narration, a tough easy rider in the lead and vivid descriptions of both glittering locales and gamine ladies. Our hero, con man Curly, is working the Côte d'Azur—as well as a matronly woman of means—when he meets the Hon. Regina Forbes-Jones, aka "Nemesis," who pegs him for a small-time grifter straight off. The on again/off again flirtation between the callused American swindler and the saucy British beauty is the delicious meat of the book. Unfortunately, Dodge chooses to spend most of the narrative chronicling Curly's scams across the world: from Cannes to Tangier, Marrakech, Lima and Belém. When the relationship between Reggie and Curly takes center stage, though, the book shines, and it ends with a gratifying twist. Dodge fans should pick this up for good old times, but newcomers may want to start with his time-tested classics. (Oct.)

This third volume of Joyce's popular de Warenne dynasty (following The Masquerade) features impetuous and independent de Warenne daughter Eleanor, betrothed to a kind, decent and well-connected Englishman, Peter Sinclair. As might be expected, her heart belongs to another: her half-brother and best friend Sean O'Neill, who disappeared from their Irish estate four years earlier. Now, with her wedding just days away, Eleanor learns that Sean has been rotting in prison for two years, convicted on charges of treason—and that he's just escaped. Sean's plan is to sail for freedom in America, but he's compelled to return home first, ostensibly to offer his farewells to Eleanor. Things don't turn out quite so simple: though already in her wedding gown, Eleanor forgets her fiancé and flees with Sean in front of 200 wedding guests. Pursued by the authorities, the family and the in-laws, the fugitive couple navigates a tense, twisting plot as well as the treacherous emotional territory between them. Sean, damaged from his years in isolation, is a strong and mysterious lead, and Eleanor is more than his match; Joyce's characters carry considerable emotional weight, which keeps this hefty entry absorbing, and her fast-paced story keeps the pages turning. (Oct.)

Marine archeologist Jack Howard may have found the key to uncovering Atlantis, the legendary sunken city purportedly built by a flourishing culture. A scrap of papyrus discovered in an Egyptian desert, which may contain a secondhand account of the lost city, sends Jack scrambling to assemble a team, including Costas, an MIT- and Stanford-trained expert in "submersible technology" and Katya, a beautiful Russian Atlantis specialist. Once prepped and in position in the Aegean Sea, Jack and company find themselves caught up with Kazakhstan terrorists and a multicountry fight over a missing Soviet nuclear submarine—and that's before they've uncovered the ancient secrets of the lost city. It's thrilling stuff for sure, but the story limps along on complicated, exposition-heavy science that's doled out much too slowly (characters walk each other—often and at length—through their particular areas of expertise as the plot requires). Gibbons, an underwater archeologist and Cambridge University Ph.D., knows his science; still, things don't pick up until the second half of the story, when the dive gives way to a more straightforward kidnapping plot. The historical conspiracy angle gives the book Da Vinci-esque appeal, and the intense visual details of the team's marine discoveries make it naturally cinematic, but if history and science lectures aren't your cup of Dramamine, you might want to give this one a pass. (Oct.)

In St. John’s sexy sophomore contemporary, staid and sizable Clarise Robinson, top salesperson at Eubanks Elegant Apparel, is determined to use the company retreat to go after her secret love, best friend, and boss, Ethan Eubanks. Self-consciousness has kept her from pursuing him in earnest, but as Clarise turns 30, she decides it’s "high time she at least tried to locate her wild side," and the office trip is the perfect opportunity: Tampa, Florida’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival (think Mardi Gras on peg legs). With a new, body-hugging wardrobe and a sexual to-do list, Clarise decamps to Tampa, and while drunkenly flashing her "Robinson Treasures" for trinkets, Ethan discovers his feelings for her are quite different outside the office. Amid plentiful and inventive sex, though, those old inhibitions take hold of Clarise and Ethan, who can’t quite come clean about their sticky feelings. Though occasionally marred by purple dialogue, and hobbled by a too-long ending, this is steamy reading that should appeal to those in the Sex and the City crowd who aren’t getting their fill of the former from standard chick-lit. (Sept.)

Brunetti's stated criteria for what made the cut for this hearty and hefty volume comes in his refreshingly honest introduction: "Ultimately... these are comics that I savor and often revisit." Luckily Brunetti's got a fabulous eye for an artist's signature work. The selections are difficult to argue with, hitting not just the expected luminaries (Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes) but lesser-knowns like surrealist Mark Beyer and Richard McGuire, whose "Here" breaks down the time-space continuum with mind-bending ease. Brunetti includes usually just one work from each artist, but makes exceptions for the likes of R. Crumb, and he isn't above putting his own work in, a move that's somehow more charming than obnoxious. Any fallow patches are more than made up for by, say, Jaime Hernandez's cinematic miniepic "Flies on the Ceiling." Unlike other recent anthologies, women cartoonists are represented with some of the best work in the book, like Debbie Drechsler's horrific "Visitors in the Night." While one may question the need for another comics anthology in a year unusually heavy with them, Brunetti has gone beyond the obvious to create an anthology of what is truly the finest in comics. (Oct.)

This collection of short stories lacks some of the artistic sophistication of most books from art comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly—the drawings are, in fact, about as bare bones as it gets—but it still manages to be completely engrossing. Paradoxically, the stories are interesting—even addictive—because Bell has such a flair for communicating a specific brand of postcollegiate ennui. Her day-to-day existence is a litany of dilapidated rental apartments, low-paying jobs, yoga classes and artistic frustration, but Bell's straightforward storytelling reveals a true poignancy amid the tedium. Far from being depressing, these snippets of daily life in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., are comforting in their frankness and familiarity; by settling into the rhythm of the artist's daily life, the reader experiences the heft of small victories and simple pleasures. Never laugh-out-loud funny, brief tales of yoga roommate miscommunication, ignorant comics buyers, the anguish of nude modeling, and sex-obsessed, adolescent art students radiate good humor and are sure to resonate with a certain stripe of well-educated, underemployed 20-something comic reader. Lucky is yet another sophisticated, nuanced pleasure. (Sept.)

Aimed at a young audience with the intention of fostering an interest in history, this volume in the Osprey Graphic History series recounts the most famous battle of the American Civil War. Although its heart is in the right place, this hybrid of textbook and comics-style format suffers from a stiffness of execution that harks back to the pedantic delivery of the most tedious professor. For those unfamiliar with the event, in 1863 President Jefferson Davis, of the Confederate States of America, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee developed a strategy to invade the North, to force President Lincoln to recall troops to defend the capital and to prevent further depletion of waning Southern resources. When the opposing forces happened to meet in Gettysburg, Pa., the bloody confrontation made its way into the pages of history. Abnett's script, like Verma's art, gets the facts straight without creating much drama. Although this volume may give reluctant readers a window on history, this volume is best avoided by the casual reader. (Sept.)

A competition between warring gods takes place behind the scenes of suburban high school life in Fukuchi's surreal and overwrought tale. Celestial beings take part in an elaborate duel system in which students are their proxies, each one imbued with talents from their spectral sponsor; at stake is the title of "King of the Celestial World." For instance, Kosuke Ueki, a morose boy, has the ability to transform debris into a tree growing from the palm of his hand. But if a contestant uses his powers to hurt another person outside of the competition, he loses one of them; if a player loses all of his talents, he vanishes. As volume one ends, all 100 candidates for the king position have submitted their students, and the battling begins. Fukuchi's story takes the tradition of the "versus battle" to new, strained heights—think Dragon Ball Z on Mt. Olympus, as acted out by a teenage drama club. Even so, those plot limitations are exactly what will make it so appealing to fans of endless volumes of one matchup after another. Facial features are stylized in unusual ways—black eyes, aquiline noses—giving character design an inviting and intriguing look. (Aug.)

Cree and the remaining band members of Faust find themselves in the hot seat after their bassist abandons them in this new English-language manga. Cree stumbles upon Izsak, a talented bassist living in the subway, who just happens to be playing a song that she holds dear. Much to the objections of close friend and guitar player Rail, Cree not only invites Izsak to join the band but also asks him to move in with her. Though Cree and Char (Faust's drummer) accept Izsak with open arms, Rail remains suspicious of a man with no past and no future. Watching Cree grow close with Izsak only succeeds in pushing Rail to dislike him further, and he eventually goes so far as to trail Izsak. But things are not exactly as they seem, and the mysteries surrounding Faust's new bassist run deep. Lijewski seamlessly blends American and Japanese comic styles to create a hybrid, punk manga look that easily catches the eye. Her storytelling is strong, the plot intricate and engrossing, and the characters ultra likable. This is a catchy manga title with an upbeat mood and a style that sets it apart. (Aug.)