Fiction Reviews: Week of 5/7/2007
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 5/7/2007
Signature Reviewed by Molly Jong-Fast Midway though Cabot's latest novel, Chaz (the boyfriend of protagonist Lizzie Nichols's best friend) tells Lizzie, "Someday you're really going to have to describe to me in more detail what life is like on the planet you live on. Because it sounds really great, and I'd like to visit there one day." Ultimately, this is what is both problematic and enormously appealing about the work of Cabot, the woman who shot to fame selling the idea that fairy tales really do come true. Lizzie is the fairy tale heroine. She is the fat, awkward girl in all of us, profoundly Midwestern, from the Spanks (modern Spandex girdles) she wears to her indignation at subway rudeness to her insistence on paying her wealthy boyfriend rent for living in his mother's Fifth Avenue apartment. As the book opens, Lizzie has just moved to New York City with her best friend, Shari, and their boyfriends, Luke and Chaz. Lizzie is determined not to become like her acquaintance Kathy Pennebaker, the prototypical smalltown girl who fails in Manhattan and returns home to wander the aisles of the local grocery store loading up on cough syrup for a weekend meth-making session. Things quickly become perfect for Lizzie. Luke asks her to move into his mother's apartment. She finds an amusing though nonpaying job working as a wedding dress restorer with an insane French couple. Lizzie also takes a paying job as a receptionist at Chaz's father's law firm. There are slight problems in paradise: the wedding store where Lizzie works has fallen on hard times and is involved in a rivalry with another wedding dress restorer. Luckily, Lizzie stumbles on a wedding dress gold mine when she befriends a woman who takes cares of seals at the zoo. It turns out that the seal-keeper is about to marry into one of Manhattan's most prominent families; suddenly, the smart crowd is coming to Lizzie's store. But Lizzie's quest to become successful is sidetracked by Shari's relationship problems and Lizzie's conviction that Luke's mother is having an affair and her obsession with the idea that Luke will never marry her. There is something oddly affirming about Cabot's writing. After sitting down with Queen of Babble in the Big City, it is totally clear to me why her books are huge bestsellers. Meg Cabot is nice. She sees the world as a wonderful place, and you want to live in her world and be her best friend. Her characters are charming. There is a school of thought that says reading should be entertaining, and this is exactly what Meg Cabot produces for us: fun. She is the master of her genre; she is the George Bernard Shaw if not the George Eliot of chick lit. Molly Jong-Fast's third book,The Social Climbe's Handbook, will be published by Villard in 2009.
Queen of Babble in the Big City
Meg Cabot. Morrow, $22.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-085200-9
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England Brock Clarke. Algonquin, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-56512-551-3
Clarke's fourth book (after the story collection Carrying the Torch) is the delightfully dark story of Sam Pulsifer, the "accidental arsonist and murderer" narrator who leads readers through a multilayered, flame-filled adventure about literature, lies, love and life. Growing up in Amherst, Mass., with an editor for a father and an English teacher for a mother, Sam was fed endless stories that fueled (literally and figuratively) the rest of his life. Thus, the blurred boundaries between fact and fiction, story and reality become the landscape for amusing and provocative adventures that begin when, at age 18, Sam accidentally torches the Emily Dickinson Homestead, killing two people. After serving 10 years, Sam tries to distance himself from his past through college, employment, marriage and fatherhood, but he eventually winds up back in his parents' home, separated from his wife and jobless. When more literary landmarks go up in flames, Sam is the likely suspect, and his determination to find the actual arsonist uncovers family secrets and more than a bit about human nature. Sam is equal parts fall guy and tour guide in this bighearted and wily jolt to the American literary legacy. (Sept.)
The View from Mount JoyLorna Landvik. Ballantine, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-345-46837-6
Landvik's latest light drama opens as Joe Andreson transfers into a Minneapolis high school as a class of '72 senior. Like everyone else, Joe has a major thing for head cheerleader Kristi Casey-a version of Reese Witherspoon's character in Election. Joe gets some action, but is estranged from Kristi by graduation. As the years pass, and they stay in touch sporadically, Joe, who narrates, can't quite let go of his infatuation. He becomes an innovative grocer, still unmarried at mid-book, and Kristi transforms into a Bible-thumping radio/televangelist. Joe builds solid relationships with his mother and her new husband, and reconnects with high school friend Darva Pratt (who returns to town with her daughter, Flora), while Kristi sets her sights on the White House. Landvik (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons) deftly mixes humor and pathos in Kristi's ditzy On the Air with God radio show, starkly contrasted by her quietly powerful portrait of Joe, a man with real family values. (Sept.)
The Empress of WeehawkenIrene Dische. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $24 (288p) ISBN 978-0-374-29912-5
Frau Professor Doktor Rother, the narrator of this brutally funny debut, is self-centered, cynical, sarcastic, fiercely proud of her Aryan heritage and incorrigibly anti-Semitic. As a German army nurse in WWI, Elizabeth Gierlich meets wealthy Jewish surgeon Carl Rother and marries him once he converts to Catholicism. They have a "racially impure" daughter, Renate, whom Elizabeth mocks and chastises relentlessly, even as she dotes on her. After the Nazis rise to power in Germany, life for Elizabeth's in-laws becomes precarious ("forced labor was not a high-earning profession"), and Carl's "honorary Aryan" status can't protect him from the SS once he irks them by protesting the forced sterilization of Jews. The Rothers flee to the "less-civilized world" of Weehawken, N.J., where Renate grows up, marries Jewish professor Dische, becomes a successful pathologist and has two children, a boy too intelligent for his own good and a rebellious daughter, Irene, whose adventures, tracked via letters and collect calls home, take her across the Middle East and Africa. Elizabeth dies in 1989, still outspoken and bigoted, and continues to meddle in her beloved daughter's life from Heaven. Dische evokes human failings so skillfully that readers will catch themselves laughing at mankind at its cruelest and darkest. (Aug.)
What You Call Winter: StoriesNalini Jones. Knopf, $22.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4000-4276-0
In her auspicious debut, Jones reveals the hopes and disappointments of young children, mothers and old men living in Santa Clara, a mostly Catholic suburb of Mumbai, India. It covers all the ground between six-year-old Jude Almeida, who in the story "The Crow and the Monkey"witnesses his godmother's wild antics at the New Year party, and 77-year old Roddy D'Souza, who in the title story is haunted by visions of his dead father. The opening story, "In the Garden," is a gem: at home alone on the verge of her 10th birthday, Marian Almeida discovers and tries on the dress that is intended to be her gift. Simply plotted, the story evokes the weight of expectations of a girl about to enter adolescence. Similar themes are fleshed out in "This Is Your Home Also" and the devastating "We Think of You Every Day," both of which also explore childhood vulnerabilities. Adulthood, however, offers a wider perspective; in "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "Home for a Short Time," characters reconcile themselves with their decisions-one leaves her mother behind for a new life in the United States, while another stays in India. Jones displays impressive scope and depth of sympathy in her first collection. (Aug.)
Mad DashPatricia Gaffney. Crown/Shaye Areheart, $23 (368p) ISBN 978-0-307-38211-5
Gaffney's latest (after The Goodbye Summer) chronicles a 20-year marriage on the verge of imploding. Vivacious, impulsive professional photographer Dash Bateman is the opposite of her worrywart, straitlaced husband, Andrew, a history professor at Mason-Dixon College. After Dash's mother dies and the couple packs off their daughter for her freshman year at college, Dash's crisis of purpose culminates with Dash fleeing her house and husband for an extended stay in the couple's isolated cabin. As they attempt to live without one another, Andrew flirts with a feisty younger colleague and salivates over the chance to be chair of his department (if he can navigate the politics), and Dash finds a substitute mother, daughter and potential love interest. Gaffney tells the story from both Dash's and Andrew's points-of-view, allowing readers to see how the two frustrate and fall in love with one another. The writing is lively, though scenes involving conversations about the nature of love and relationships can turn tedious. The climax teeters on the edge of being over the top, but the denouement is just rosy. It's a lot of fun, and the faults are easily forgiven. (Aug.)
Love LifeRay Kluun, trans. from the Dutch by Shaun Whiteside. St. Martin's/Griffin, $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-36681-0
In the Dutch Kluun's brutal roman à clef, Dan and Carmen van Diepen are successful professionals in their 30s, raising their young daughter in Amsterdam's suburbs while still partying zestfully, when Carmen's diagnosis with an aggressive form of breast cancer puts her life on hold. Dan, who narrates, soon rages against the incompetence and insensitivity of the doctors treating Carmen, and the couple alternate between manic joy and terror as they realize Carmen won't live to see their daughter, Luna, grow up. At the same time, confirmed club hound Dan pursues numerous infidelities, comments on his greatly diminished affection for his stricken wife and offers few apologies. As Carmen grows increasingly ill, they learn to forgive each other's faults, and Dan takes on the heavy burden of Carmen's decline. The final chapters find Carmen, Dan and their colorful cohort of yuppie friends pulling together to support Carmen's decision to end her life with dignity. Kluun's novel was a bestseller in Europe, and the translation is poignant, humorous and very graphic on the cancer. Kluun's take on marriage may be too "European" for the States, but his lacerating portraits of the medical establishment will certainly hit home. (Aug.)
Getting Rid of MatthewJane Fallon. Hyperion, $23.95 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4013-0320-4
Brit TV producer Fallon takes "careful what you wish for" to hilarious heights in her debut novel, a comedy of errors triggered by a mistress who discovers thrice-weekly hookups with her married lover are better than a 24/7 relationship with him. Helen, office staffer at a public relations firm catering to desperate D-list celebrities, is fast approaching her 40th birthday with little chance of swimming out of the secretary pool or snagging a full-time commitment from Matthew, her middle-aged lover and "relay relationshipper." When Matthew abruptly leaves wife Sophie and preteen daughters Suzanne and Claudia to move in with Helen, she's not sure it's the happy ending she prefers. Thus begins a head-spinning ruse to convince Matthew to go back home and to persuade Sophie and her scene-stealing pair of potty-mouthed children to take him back: Helen invents a new persona, hard-charging PR whiz "Eleanor," who befriends Sophie and gives her advice to repair her shattered marriage. The scheme gets more elaborate when Helen/Eleanor falls for Matthew's estranged eldest son. This delightfully fizzy chick lit caper goes disappointingly flat before the finish, but the surprising and rewarding treat is a bright, grown-up story of two women who discover friendship and trust in one another. (Aug.)
The Sabotage CaféJoshua Furst. Knopf, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-375-41432-9
After examining the lives of children in his well-received short story collection, Short People, Furst explores the pains and perils of adolescence in this first novel, with mixed results. Rebellious Cheryl, 15, slips into her Doc Martens one day and runs away from her stifling suburban home. She ends up squatting with a group of dead-end anarchist kids in a seedy section of downtown Minneapolis: music, drugs and sex follow. Furst strives diligently to convey the angst and confusion that go along with a conscientious young person growing up in an avaricious late-stage capitalist environment (the book's pretty explicit about that). There are headlong lyrical passages, but they sometimes collapse in melodrama: "It was as though, drilling toward his pain, she'd tapped her own, and now they were bleeding together." Some of the infelicities may be intentional, however, and part of the book's unconventional conceit: Cheryl's mother, who narrates, has been diagnosed with "Schizotypal Personality Disorder" and seems to have a clairvoyance that allows her to monitor and chronicle her daughter's exploits, which are similar to what she went through around that age. Furst eventually clarifies and reconciles these issues in the end, but the payoff isn't as powerful, or as unexpected, as it needs to be. (Aug.)
The Russian ConcubineKate Furnivall. Berkley, $15 paper (560p) ISBN 978-0-425-21558-6
The experiences of the author's mother inspired this debut novel, a somewhat improbable tale of star-crossed love in 1928 China. Valentina Ivanova and her 16-year-old daughter, Lydia, White Russian refugees, live in grinding poverty in the International Settlement of Junchow, subsisting off whatever presents Valentina can charm from gentlemen admirers and the profits Lydia makes from pawning stolen goods. When Lydia inadvertently attracts the unwelcome attentions of a criminal gang, the Black Snakes, she finds a rescuer in Chang An Lo, an English-speaking Communist and kung fu master. Danger is never far as the two fall in love. Lydia's travails are mirrored by those of Theo Willoughby, the British headmaster of her school. Theo's struggle to preserve his school and his happy life with his Chinese mistress, Li Mei, drives him to collude with Li Mei's estranged father-the leader of the Black Snakes-to run opium into Junchow. Violence is more prevalent (and graphic) than sex, and the narrative has extended periods of inertia during which there is much action, but not of the plot-advancing sort. Despite these flaws, Furnivall vividly evokes Lydia's character and personal struggles against a backdrop of depravity and corruption. (Aug.)
New England White Stephen L. Carter. Knopf, $26.95 (576p) ISBN 978-0-375-41362-9
Two lesser characters from Yale law professor Carter's bestselling first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002)-husband and wife Lemaster and Julia Carlyle-take center stage in his second, a compelling, literate page-turner that effortlessly blends a gripping whodunit with complex discussions of politics and race in contemporary America. Lemaster, one of the country's most influential African-Americans, has recently begun his tenure as president of a prestigious New England university. As he and Julia, who serves as a dean in the university's divinity school, drive home one snowy night, they happen upon the corpse of Professor Kellen Zant, a brilliant economist as well as Julia's former lover. The murder threatens to shatter not only the Carlyles' marriage but also the fragile psyche of their precocious but troubled daughter, Vanessa-and may affect the upcoming, bitterly contested race for the White House. Julia proves an unlikely but dogged investigator, who looks beyond the official verdict that Zant was killed in a chance encounter with a robber. In the richness of his characters, both major and minor, and the intelligence of his writing, Carter rivals Scott Turow. Expect another bestseller. 300,000 first printing; author tour. (July)
Confession$ of a Wall Street Shoeshine BoyDoug Stumpf. HarperCollins, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-088953-1
A Wall Street comedy of manners by Vanity Fair deputy editor Stumpf, this fast-paced debut novel updates The Bonfire of the Vanities. Gregarious young Brazilian émigré Aguilar "Gil" Benicio shines shoes at a prominent firm, where his customer base is almost entirely white, male and exorbitantly pampered: "This traders make more money than movie stars," Gil notes. When a janitor friend is unjustly fired, Gil relates the details to Glossy magazine writer Greg Waggoner, who suspects the incident masks a insider-trading scandal. The conceit of the book, in which Gil and Greg share narrating duties as they recap their effort to uncover the crime, is that the book is Greg's novel, a fictionalized version of the scoop that got away. It's a lousy setup, and vital clues that come too easily don't help. Neither do Gil's unvarnished dialect and his idolization of the traders and of Greg, who plays Henry Higgins to Gil's Eliza Doolittle. Rare indeed, too, is the female character who comes through this tale without suffering degradation or scorn. Yet the book is funny, and beneath the humor (and a lot of sex and sex talk), Stumpf takes on assimilation, class betrayal and common decency with seriousness. (July)
Touching StarsEmilie Richards. Mira, $24.95 (528p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2472-0
The setup of Richards's 50-somethingth book is wince-inducing: Gayle Fortman's ex-husband, hot-shot TV journalist Eric, has had a nasty run-in with the Taliban; at Gayle's invitation, he returns to the Shenandoah Valley, Va., B&B they bought together to convalesce. Eric, who is in a relationship with L.A.-based fellow journo Ariel Kensington, knows little about the three sons he left behind 12 years ago: 13-year-old Dillon, 16-year-old Noah and 18-year-old Jared. Over 500-plus pages, each boy confronts his father in his own way, while Gayle harbors hopes that Eric will stay. Sidelines include Jared's relationship with hot-to-trot Brandy Wilburn (which may jeopardize his chances at an MIT scholarship), and a neighbor, Travis Allen, waiting in the wings for Gayle. Romance Writers of America award-winner Richards gets the emotions right and writes credible dialogue when the adults speak to children. The result is a fine, light family melodrama. (July)
Don't Make a SceneValerie Block. Ballantine, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-345-46185-8
Block (None of Your Business) adds a nearing-40 protagonist to the chick lit formula in her third novel, and the result is an entertaining winner. Diane Kurasik, a basically happy 39-year-old New Yorker interested in more than just men and shopping, runs a successful repertory theater, the Bedford Street Cinema, and has a fabulous rent-controlled apartment in the Village. But she's single, her job is losing its charm, and she's evicted from her apartment. Diane spends exhausting days searching the city for a new home, living out of suitcases in friends' guest rooms and squalid sublets while overseeing a long-awaited theater renovation. A welcome distraction arrives when she meets Vladimir Hurtado Padrón, a sexy Cuban architect. At first she hopes he might signal the end to an interminable series of boring blind dates, but he turns out to be a handful, not to mention married with a 17-year-old son he hasn't seen in 10 years. New Yorkers will cringe at the painfully accurate apartment-hunting scenes, and the novel is peppered with film trivia and instances in which life (usually Diane's) imitates art. Film buffs and readers bored with fluffy love stories will welcome the novel's sly substance. (July)
My Summer of Southern DiscomfortStephanie Gayle. Morrow, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-123629-7
Short story writer Gayle makes her debut as a novelist with this chronicle of a young, liberal New York lawyer who starts over in the South. The daughter of a famous civil rights champion, Natalie Goldberg stuns her parents by moving to Bibb County, Ga., to work as a prosecutor. The job was initially Natalie's excuse to flee her position at a Manhattan law firm after having an affair with partner Henry Tate and finding herself the scapegoat for a mistake he made. Though Natalie has some trouble acclimating to her new environs, and she butts heads with co-counsel, good ol' boy Ben Maddox, she slowly warms to life in Bibb County while attempting to balance her anti-death penalty stance with her desire to win a capital case. Natalie's dilemmas are perfectly played, and Gayle's economical prose is peppered with sharp sentences (also a few duds: "I felt as if I had been born full woman, Athena from Zeus's brow, with heavy breasts and dark pubic hair as curly as that atop my head") and clever fish-out-of-water observations. Don't be fooled by the ditzy jacket art. (July)
The Exception Christian Jungersen, trans. from the Danish by Anna Paterson. Doubleday/Talese, $26 (512p) ISBN 978-0-385-51629-7
The slow burn of office politics can be just as riveting as international intrigue, as shown in Jungersen's second novel, his first to be translated into English. Iben, Malene and Camilla work in Copenhagen for the Danish Center for Information on Genocide. Even before Iben and Malene receive death threats with Nazi overtones, the three friends had been ostracizing the new librarian, Anne-Lise. Though evidence suggests Serbian war criminal Mirko Zigic has been sending the death threats, the paranoia and fear of the three friends converge to make Anne-Lise the target of rising suspicion. "Victimizing is part of human nature," Anne-Lise's doctor tells her when she seeks advice, and the novel hauntingly pursues this idea to its deepest implications. Can people fighting genocide display the same traits as war criminals? What does it mean to be evil? Jungersen (Thickets) explores these questions and others on a very personal level. A complex understanding of people turns what could have been pace-slowing conversations and reproductions of essays on genocide into fuel for a sometimes cruel but always intense page-turner. (July)
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up SmokingAoibheann Sweeney. Penguin Press, $21.95 (208p) ISBN 978-1-59420-130-1
Sweeney's debut novel centers around Miranda Donnal, who grows up on Maine's lonely Crab Island, where her father decides to hunker down and work on his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Shortly after their arrival from New York, Miranda's mother dies in a boating mishap, leaving Miranda in the care of her withdrawn father, who is content to keep his nose in his books. A half-Indian local fisherman, Mr. Blackwell, becomes something of a father figure to Miranda, taking on an unusually devoted caretaker role-cooking for the Donnals, taking Miranda to school and serving as her confidante. Yet secrecy also shrouds Mr. Donnal and Mr. Blackwell's evolving relationship. When Miranda graduates from high school, her father dispatches her to New York City and a job at the classical studies institute he was molded by. There she begins to peel away myth after myth of the father she thought she knew as she falls in love and has her own revelations about intimacy and connections. Sweeney's prose effortlessly conveys her characters' isolation and evolution, and her portrayal of the aftermath of life's slights-big and small-make this coming-of-age better than most. (July)
BeforeIrini Spanidou. Knopf, $23 (224p) ISBN 978-0-375-41381-0
The evocative third novel from Spanidou (Fear) centers uneasily on a group of late 1960s New York bohemians over the course of several tense months. Beautiful, delicate Beatrice, 25, dropped out of Barnard to marry Ned, a hard-drinking painter with coarse ways and little respect for his lovely, emotionally remote wife, who supports them as a book editor's assistant. The SoHo of their downtown loft is menacing; their motley assortment of friends move in and out of their lives depending on happenings and their attraction to Beatrice as an obscure, unattainable object of desire. The friends include Beatrice's childhood friend, Faye, a singer and rising TV actress who is as sensuous and sarcastic as Beatrice is cerebral; Colin, the deep-feeling, independently wealthy young man who lives downstairs; and Cyril, Ned's Vietnam vet brother, determined to replace feeling with making money. Next door, an ex-con returns from prison and on his doorstep appear a parade of doped-up adolescent boys waiting for their next hit. Beatrice's life unfolds sadly as the It Girl is doomed to implausible notions of love and little sense of self-worth, both tied deftly by Spanidou to Beatrice's 1950s upper-middle-class upbringing. Restrained and sparely episodic, Spanidou's novel is at once haunting and immediate. (July)
On the Wing: Book Two of Flying, a TrilogyEric Kraft. St. Martin's, $23.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-312-36374-1
This fanciful novel, the second volume in Kraft's Flying trilogy (begun with 2006's Taking Off) describes Peter Leroy's solo cross-country "flight" at age 14 on a homemade aerocycle that only got airborne once, when it hit a bump in the road. Traveling from New York to New Mexico, Peter and his aerocycle encounter strange events and even stranger people. He spends a night in jail for being an egotist, visits Forgettable, W.Va., receives useless advice from strangers ("Gravy covers a lot of sins") and is mistaken for a UFO in New Mexico. Kraft has a vivid imagination and a wry sense of humor, spoofing both the 1950s and the present in alternating chapters of a teenaged Peter on his journey, and Peter as an adult taking his wife, Albertine, on an erratic trip of remembrance. This is cheeky, escapist satire, funny and irreverent but-much like its protagonist-without firm direction. (July)
Justice DeniedJ.A. Jance. Morrow, $25.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-054092-0
In bestseller Jance's complex, overlong 18th J.P. Beaumont novel (after Long Time Gone), the Seattle special homicide investigator works three cases simultaneously. The first involves the murder of a wrongly imprisoned ex-con, the second the disappearance of a whistle-blowing electronics engineer who vanished the day Mount Saint Helen's erupted in 1980, the third the deaths of several former felons. Meanwhile, Mel Soames, Beau's female colleague and lover, looks into the unexplained deaths of recently released sex crimes perpetrators as well as the disappearance of a childhood friend's abusive father. Unbelievably, all Beaumont's and Mel's assignments meld into one, except for the case of the missing engineer. The detectives are helped by the delightful Todd Hatcher, a young forensic economist and statistical analyst, but the exceptionally busy plot, host of characters, incredible coincidences, ignored clues and red herrings add up to a less than stellar effort from the usually reliable Jance. (July)
Up High in the TreesKiara Brinkman. Grove, $23 (240p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1847-9
The Asperger's afflicted narrator of Brinkman's sincere, sober debut struggles to cope with his pregnant mother's recent death after she was hit by a car. Already keenly sensitive to emotional and sensory stimuli, Sebby Lane finds his mother's loss almost unbearable; he acts out at school, biting a girl on the shoulder. Sebby's father, Stephen, is nearly unable to function, and, in an attempt to help both Sebby and himself, takes Sebby to the family summer home, hoping that a change of scenery will ease their mourning. Once there, however, Stephen slips ever deeper into his misery. Sebby, however, reaches out, writing letters to his teacher and befriending two unpleasant neighbor children. Though the narrative direction is muzzy and the conclusion is saccharine with forced uplift, the cast is portrayed with keen sympathy and sensitivity-no easy task with a young, on-the-spectrum narrator. Told in brief poetic vignettes, the novel moves quickly and episodically, like a series of snapshots from the camera of Sebby's unique mind. (July)
The IslandVictoria Hislop. Harper, $14.95 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-134032-1
Travel writer Hislop's unwieldy debut novel opens with 25-year-old Alexis leaving Britain for Crete, her mother Sofia's homeland, hoping to ferret out the secrets of Sofia's past and thereby get a handle on her own turbulent life. Sofia's friend Fortini tells Alexis of her grandmother Anna, and great-aunt Maria. Their mother (Alexis's great-grandmother) contracted leprosy in 1939 and went off to a leper colony on the nearby island of Spinalonga, leaving them with their father. Anna snags a wealthy husband, Andreas, but smolders for his renegade cousin, Manoli. When philanderer Manoli chooses Maria, Anna is furious. Conveniently, Maria also contracts leprosy and is exiled, allowing Anna to conduct an affair with Manoli. Meanwhile, Maria feels an attraction to her doctor, who may have similar feelings. Though the plot is satisfyingly twisty, the characters play one note apiece (Anna is prone to dramatic outrages, Maria is humble and kind, and their love interests are jealous and aggressive). Hislop's portrayal of leprosy-those afflicted and the evolving treatment-during the 1940s and 1950s is convincing, but readers may find the narrative's preoccupation with chronicling the minutiae of daily life tedious. (July)
RestitutionLee Vance. Knopf, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-307-26632-3
The plot setup of this debut thriller may sound familiar, if not trite: husband and wife in troubled marriage; wife found murdered; police focus on husband as prime suspect; husband must find wife's killer and clear his name. Fortunately, Vance does more than just embroider this theme. After the authorities accuse Peter Tyler, a kingpin at the Wall Street financial firm of Klein and Klein, of his wife's murder, Peter gets entangled in money scams, stolen art, a pharmaceutical giant and a brilliant, ruthless and byzantine act of vengeance. Peter's best friend, Russian business tycoon Andrei Zhilina, may hold the key, but not even Andrei's twin sister, Katya, has been able to contact Andrei in his Moscow office. Peter embarks on a strongly cinematic quest, which takes him from plush Manhattan offices and the Harvard Club to deserted warehouses and meetings with Moscow toughs. Vance's ambitious story line hangs together remarkably well, providing depth and surprises to what otherwise might have been just another fugitive action tale. 100,000 copies. (July)
ChambermaidSaira Rao. Grove, $22 (288p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1849-3
Here is the legal system exposed and skewered for what it is: haplessly human. Columbia Law School grad Sheila Raj accepts a clerkship from Judge Helga Friedman of the federal court of appeals in Philadelphia, and the world appears to be at her feet. The terrain inside the courthouse turns to quicksand, however, as Sheila discovers Friedman is a "sociopathic, homicidal, bipolar jurist" who screams at, mocks and otherwise tortures her clerks. Yet Sheila and co-clerks Matthew and Evan must suffer in silence, since the world universally views Judge Friedman as a champion of liberalism. "During her tenure, Friedman had nailed cops for racial profiling, overturned a law banning pornography on First Amendment grounds, and nine out of ten times thought company executives were sexually harassing pricks. If she weren't a tyrant who racially profiled her law clerks, she'd be worth idolizing," Sheila laments. This judicial nut job winds up the crucial member of a panel hearing a death penalty appeal that pits her against a rival judge with a dirty little secret that Sheila helps reveal. While Rao's wit shines in her debut, the former TV producer and federal appeals court clerk plays most of the characters for slapstick, which generates more smirks than laughs. (July)
Dead ConnectionAlafair Burke. Holt, $19.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-8050-7785-8
Putting feisty DA Samantha Kincaid on hold after three novels (Close Case, etc.), Burke introduces a disappointingly dull heroine in 30-year-old NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher. Flamboyant homicide detective Flann McIlroy asks outspoken Ellie to assist in looking into the First Date case, a series of murders seemingly connected by the female victims' subscription to an online-dating site. Flann is relying on "curvy" Ellie as "date bait," but also hopes that Ellie's past might help with the case: Ellie's father, a Wichita, Kans., cop, died under mysterious circumstances soon after bringing an infamous local serial killer, the College Hill Strangler, to justice. As Ellie and Flann dig deeper into the shady history of the dating site-and its potential link to the Russian mafia-Ellie realizes that the killer is taunting her just as the College Hill Strangler taunted her father. Ellie's character never quite gels, however, and her interactions with the suspects don't provide enough tension or heat to keep pages turning all the way through. (July)
The Worst IntentionsAlessandro Piperno, trans. from the Italian by Ann Goldstein. Europa (Consortium, dist.), $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-933372-33-4
This gall-coated Jewish-Italian family folly opens with patriarch Bepy Sonnino, a textile magnate, lying dead in his rosewood coffin, leaving wife Ada, sons Luca and Teo, and aging ex-mistress Giorgia Di Porto bereft-well, sort of. The crackly, all-seeing first-person narrative falls to Luca's 33-year-old ne'er-do-well son, Daniel, who seems born to the task. He shows us his Uncle Teo, an émigré Israeli who backs the Likud party; sexually frustrated Aunt Micaela, Teo's wife (an adolescent encounter with her feet "hurled me into a vortex of depraved fetishism"); cousin Lele, whose testicular cancer has rendered his homosexuality academic; and Daniel's father, Luca, who makes a cameo in his Porsche and exits in a cloud of irrelevance. Gaia Cittadini, the granddaughter of Bepy's business partner, possesses eyes that drive Daniel to distraction. Rome's Jewish community feels as tight-knit and claustrophobic as mid-century New York's: "She's anarchic," says Daniel of his mother, "but, like all people who enjoy appearing disillusioned, deep inside hasn't given up the dream of happiness and pleasure: she has only buried it socially." This is a very bitter, very funny book. (July)
The Nazi HunterAlan Elsner. Arcade, $26 (336p) ISBN 978-1-55970-839-5
At the start of this gripping debut thriller set in 1994, a German-accented woman named Sophie Reiner appears at the desk of Marek Cain, a Nazi hunter in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, and tells Marek that she can deliver smoking gun documents concerning Belzec, an extermination camp in Poland where half a million Jews were murdered in 1942. Marek is extremely interested, both professionally and personally: his own grandparents perished at Belzec. The next day, Sophie turns up dead in her hotel room, where the police find a CD of Argentinean baritone Roberto Delatrucha singing Schubert lieder. The possible Argentinean connection sets off alarms for the veteran investigator, and soon he's hot on the trail of the famous singer. Subplots involving neo-Nazis out to blow up Washington, and the newly elected Republican congress threatening to cut off OSI funding add suspense, but it's Marek's quest to expose Delatrucha's past that drives this compelling tale. Elsner is also the author of Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons and Guarded by Angels, a Holocaust family chronicle. (July)
The Lady in BlueJavier Sierra, trans. from the Spanish by James Graham. Atria, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3223-1
Destiny propels an agnostic journalist to rediscover his faith in this intriguing paranormal puzzler about a mysterious bilocating "lady in blue" from bestseller Sierra (The Secret Supper). In 1629, Sister María Jesús de Ágreda appeared more than 500 times to the Jumano Indians of New Mexico and converted them to Christianity-without ever leaving her monastery in Spain. (The Inquisition suspected her of witchcraft.) In 1991, Spanish journalist Carlos Albert interviews Giuseppe Baldi, a Benedictine priest and musicologist about his 1972 Chronovision machine reported to recapture sounds as well as images from the past. (The Vatican censured Baldi.) Albert later stumbles on Ágreda's monastery in Spain, while in Los Angeles, Jennifer Narody, a former U.S. intelligence agent working on a secret project for the Vatican, deals with unusual dreams and receives a startling stolen religious text. Sierra's heady tale about a true flying nun should entertain Christian paranormal buffs, though some readers might have welcomed more about that Chronovision time machine. (June)
Mystery
Anarchy and Old DogsColin Cotterill. Soho Crime, $23 (288p) ISBN 978-1-56947-463-1
Set in 1970s Communist Laos, Cotterill's delightful fourth novel to feature Dr. Siri Paiboun, the Laotian national coroner and one of the more eccentric characters in crime fiction, and Paiboun's clever assistant, Nurse Dtui (after 2006's Disco for the Departed), nicely blends the supernatural, humor and intrigue. This time, their trials and tribulations begin with the death of Dr. Buagaew, a blind dentist hit by a truck. When blank papers are found on the dentist's body, Paiboun quickly discovers encoded writing in invisible ink. Aided by his friends, police officer Phosy and politburo member Civilai, Paiboun follows up on a number of clues and discovers that the code describes a series of chess moves. A trip to the southern Laotian city of Pakse draws him deeper into a complex political intrigue. Adding local color is Auntie Bpoo, a fortune-teller transvestite who predicts Paiboun will soon betray his country. This sometimes slapstick, sometimes serious, but always lively mystery is sure to bring the author many new readers. (Aug.)
The Ever-Running Man Marcia Muller. Warner, $24.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-446-58242-1
After 25 books in 30 years, the novelty of a female private eye such as MWA Grand Master Muller's Sharon McCone has worn off, but McCone has only gained luster since her original appearance in Edwin of the Iron Shoes (1977). The San Francisco investigator is in top form as she unravels a case that may unravel her marriage. When Renshaw & Kessell International, a maverick corporate security firm dealing in contingency plans for kidnappings and hostage situations, hires McCone after a series of bombings has damaged its facilities, she starts by looking into the checkered pasts of the firm's co-owners. Readers may find the collateral damage that threatens to tear apart McCone's private life as involving as the search for the bomber, who soon moves from demolition to murder. Muller delivers the complete package, an absorbing mystery with a familiar and evolving cast and enough grit to give it satisfying substance. (July)
The Gold of ThraceAileen G. Baron. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (200p) ISBN 978-1-59058-430-9
Former archeologist Baron has slipped off form a bit in her third novel, a somewhat confusing mystery about the contemporary trade in stolen antiquities. Tamar Saticoy, a professor of archeology, discovers a fine Roman floor mosaic on one of the last days of an excavation in Turkey. When she returns the next day with an official from the Department of Antiquities, the mosaic has been removed and a student assistant is dead. Saticoy sets off for Switzerland in hopes that the mosaic will show up on the black market. Meanwhile, her co-excavator, Andrew Chatham, is delayed in Bulgaria, hoping to acquire a newly discovered cache of Thracian gold jewelry. Although Tamar and Chatham are colleagues, they hardly interact, making their stories appear unrelated. Baron (The Torch of Tangiers) does bring them together in the final chapters, but by then, readers may have lost interest. On the plus side, Baron supplies plentiful information about the archeology of ancient Rome. (July)
The Cliff House Strangler: A Sarah Woolson MysteryShirley Tallman. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-35756-6
Plucky lawyer Sarah Woolson arrives at rugged Land's End on a predictably dark and stormy night in Tallman's third entertaining and atmospheric 1880s San Francisco whodunit (after 2005's The Russian Hill Murders). Socialites have gathered at Cliff House for a séance with Madame Karpova, self-proclaimed Russian psychic. She puts on a good show until tell-all columnist Darien Moss decides to spoil the party. Then comes a crash of lightning, the lights go out, and when they come back on, Darien is found garroted with a balalaika string. Sarah, trying to establish herself as San Francisco's first female attorney, turns sleuth with the help of her devoted brother, a crime novelist. Mounting corpses distract Sarah from the miseries of her first client, a single mother whose flight from a drunken husband (legally represented by Sarah's love interest, Robert Campbell) provides a poignant subplot. Tallman throws in some unexpected twists, keeping the reader guessing to the end. (July)
Ham BonesCarolyn Haines. Kensington, $22 (288p) ISBN 978-0-7582-1092-0
In the outrageous seventh episode of Haines's delightful Southern Belle series (after 2006's Bones to Pick), PI Sarah Booth Delaney explores the Mississippi Delta in search of clues to a scandalous murder. She has more than a professional interest: the accused killer is Sarah herself. When the New York cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof comes to Zinnia, Miss., lead actor Graf Milieu persuades Sarah to understudy for obnoxious prima donna Renata Trovaioli. Sarah dwells on memories of her acting experience in New York and her fling with Graf, further confusing her already complicated feelings for sheriff Coleman Peters. Then Renata is found dead in her dressing room, and Coleman arrests Sarah. Aided by her partner, Tinkie, and Jitty, a friendly ghost who has taken to wearing Scarlett O'Hara hoop skirts, the sassy heroine sets out to clear her name. While the astute reader may deduce the conclusion in advance, the humorous romp through the pages is well worth taking. (July)
Reduced Circumstances: A Frank Cole MysteryVincent H. O'Neil. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-312-36966-8
At the start of this appealing sequel to O'Neil's Malice Domestic Contest-winning debut, Murder in Exile (2006), Frank Cole, now working as a Florida taxi dispatcher, is on the trail of a con artist who was last seen in a Midnight Taxi cab. Swanky Atlanta PI Curtis Winslow, two fast-talking guys who claim to be bondsmen and a big-eyed waif of indeterminate age are also looking for the mysterious young man, known as Dennis Taylor or Dennis Sharp. Dennis turns up dead, yet some of his pursuers keep asking questions, like whether he was carrying anything when he hopped the cab. Cole is a captivating narrator, the kind readers will follow anywhere; Winslow is equally engaging, and even the ineffectual local cops are charming in their bumbling way. In fact, all the characters are well-drawn, except for Cole's girlfriend, whose occasional appearances distract. At times, too, the relaxed pacing borders on the lugubrious. (July)
The Maze MurdererCharles Pero. SterlingHouse (CyntoMedia, dist.), $24.95 (248p) ISBN 978-1-56-315391-4
FBI legend Frank Logan, head of the Bureau's elite Special Circumstances Killer squad, breaks off his ongoing book tour to investigate a pair of bizarre slayings-one in Florida, the other in Georgia-in Pero's vivid and energetic, if a bit slow-building, debut. The killer has left mazes drawn in the blood of the victims, hinting at the possible location of the next murder. Assigned to work with Logan is Vinny Smalldeano, the newest member of the squad. As the two examine the killer's patterns and try to prevent another death, Smalldeano develops an understanding of Logan's strengths-and flaws. Pero's depiction of a bestselling author's life is somewhat romanticized, but the crime-fighting scenes have great verisimilitude. This procedural about lawmen in hot pursuit of a crazed killer takes the reader on a wild and satisfying ride. (July)
ThirstPete Larson. Bleak House (www.bleakhousebooks.com), $24.95 (214p) ISBN 978-1-932557-40-4; $12.95 paper ISBN 978-1-932557-34-3
Set at a fictional Texas university, Larson's sharp debut blends religion, philosophy and murder. The day after finalizing her divorce from talented artist Daniel Lackland, Gwen Lackland marries Dr. Andrew Washburn, Travis University's pompous and very shady dean of fine arts. This makes Daniel a prime suspect after the dean is poisoned by cyanide-laced Scotch while drinking at a university function where Stu Carlson, a divorced former minister, is tending bar. Stu, who not only admires Daniel's art but also had an anonymous one-night stand with Gwen just a few days before, tries and fails to resuscitate Washburn, and becomes obsessed with solving the crime. Though his informal sleuthing makes him a target and he's warned repeatedly by Travis City authorities to steer clear of their investigation, Stu's conflicted but stubborn faith and belief in Daniel's innocence help to close a case complicated by greed, art and love. (July)
SF/Fantasy/Horror
Space BoyOrson Scott Card. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $35 (90p) ISBN 978-1-59606-111-8
Hugo- and Nebula-winner Card (Speaker for the Dead) gives a familiar childish fear a science fiction spin in this youthful tale of a monster in the closet. The monster here is a wormhole that serves as a conduit to an alien world. Four years earlier, young Jared claimed he saw his mother get snatched away by it when she stepped into his bedroom closet. When older brother Todd sees proof that Jared wasn't just fantasizing, Jared and his family have to find a way for Todd to travel to the menacing other world and bring his mom back. Card works both pathos and humor into this tale of a family pulling together to rescue one of their own, producing a story more pleasing than its slight plot might suggest. (Aug.)
Whispers in the Night Edited by Brandon Massey. Dafina, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-1741-7
African-American horror writer and editor Massey has another slam dunk with his third Dark Dreams anthology (after 2006's Voices from the Other Side). Outstanding stories by returning contributors include Tananarive Due's "Summer," exploring a toddler's eerie possession; Robert Fleming's "The Wasp," a heartbreaking portrait of an abused wife; Chesya Burke's "My Sister's Keeper," examining a sister's terrifying choice; and the best of the bunch, Terence Taylor's brilliant discussion of racism, friendship and Hurricane Katrina in "WET PAIN." Bright newcomers' tales include Lexi Davis's hilarious cautionary tale about bad brothas, "Are You My Daddy?"; Randy Walker's obsessive-compulsive "To Get Bread and Butter"; and Tenea Johnson's provocative meditation on revenge, "The Taken." In Massey's introduction, he hopes someday "any black writer can pen a tale of horror and suspense... without being likened to being merely a black version of a white author, without being viewed with suspicion or even fear." In the meantime, this excellent series continues to fill a now shrinking void. (July)
The Man with the Golden TorcSimon R. Green. Roc, $23.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-451-46145-2
Readers who recognize the pun on Ian Fleming's James Bond title, The Man with the Golden Gun, will find the secret agent in question has more up his sleeve than a fancy car and some high-tech gadgets in this first of a new fantasy series from bestseller Green (Deathstalker). Meet Shaman Bond, aka Eddie Drood, scion of the ancient Drood family, devoted to "protecting humanity from the forces of darkness." Protected by the "secret weapon" received at birth by all members of the Drood family-a magical gold torc (i.e., a neck ring) that turns into a suit of nearly impervious golden armor-Eddie faces arcane dangers with healthy doses of wry self-confidence and sarcasm. Then the family matriarch sends him on a mission that turns out to be a deadly setup. Declared a rogue, Eddie teams up with short-tempered witch Molly Metcalf to find out why he's been betrayed. This spy yarn is packed with enough humor, action and plot twists to satisfy fans who prefer their adventure shaken, not stirred. (June)
A Thousand DeathsGeorge Alec Effinger. Golden Gryphon, $24.95 (340p) ISBN 978-1-930846-47-0
Aheartfelt homage to the late (and largely underappreciated) SF author Effinger (1947-2002), this intimate collection of stories revolving around his literary alter ego, hapless genre writer and editor Sandor Courane, offers a poignant glimpse into the author's psyche. Central to the collection is The Wolves of Memory, a deeply allegorical novel in which Courane, banished from Earth by the computerized overlord TECT after numerous career failures, finds himself exiled on a bleak world where he and other outcasts slowly succumb to an alien neurological disorder. Struggling with increasing memory loss and the deterioration of his body, Courane finally finds what he has been seeking all along: fulfillment. Also included are seven sardonic short stories that pit the ill-fated Courane against, among other things, a bibliophilic time traveler and a witch who lives off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A touching afterword by Andrew Fox as well as visually stunning cover art by John Picacio make this bittersweet collection one to be cherished. (June)
The Spirit Stone: Book Two of The Silver WyrmKatharine Kerr. DAW, $24.95 (464p) ISBN 978-0-7564-0433-8
After the disappointment of Kerr's first entry in her Silver Wyrm series, The Gold Falcon (2006), part of her popular Deverry cycle, fans will welcome the author's usual intricate plotting and convoluted relationships in this second volume. Horsekin raiders, fired up by a bloodthirsty new goddess named Alshandra, are harrying the borders along the Westlands, forcing Prince Daralanteriel of the Westfolk to prepare for war. As Dar sends envoys to dwarven and human allies seeking assistance, the bard-mage Salamander frets over the fate of new-made wizards, husband and wife Neb and Branna, whose magical talents from their previous lives are now finally being realized in their current incarnations. In a lengthy flashback, Kerr lays out details of Neb and Branna's former incarnations and Salamander's history as a half-breed raised by elves before returning to the conflict with the Horsekin. Though not a good entry point for new readers, those already familiar with the Deverry setting and its complicated time lines and relationships should be satisfied. (June)
Kushiel's JusticeJacqueline Carey. Warner, $26.99 (720p) ISBN 978-0-446-50003-6
Bestseller Carey's fifth book in her Kushiel's Legacy series, volume two of her Imriel fantasy trilogy (after 2006's Kushiel's Scion), is a moody tale of violence and divided loyalties. Phèdre nó Delaunay, the sexually adventurous heroine of the first trilogy, has become a placid foster mother to Prince Imriel, son of the unseen traitor Melisande Shahrizai. Carey's infamous explicit sex scenes now portray Imriel's illicit and often violent affair with Sidonie, daughter of Queen Ysandre. Their romance is frustrated by Imriel's obligation to marry Dorelei, an Alban princess, and beget future rulers of Alba. When Dorelei and her unborn son are betrayed and Imriel is badly wounded, he finds himself torn between his vow to avenge his wife and child and his desire to seek solace in Sidonie's arms. His inner conflicts are ameliorated by religious faith, a change from previous books that may please some readers and dismay others. Imriel serves well as protagonist, however, and events are clearly building to what promises to be a spectacular climax in the sixth volume. Author tour. (June)
Mass Market
Bitterwood James Maxey. Solaris, $7.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-84416-487-5
In the distant future-year 1070 of the Dragon Age, to be exact-Earth has been commandeered by dragons, who subject their human inferiors to lives of misery and squalor, either as slaves or pets. Human Bant Bitterwood, consumed with thoughts of vengeance against the dragons he believes murdered his family, goes on a dragon-killing spree that makes him a folk hero among the oppressed human populace. When Bitterwood slays the dragons' crown prince, Bodiel, their king vows to exterminate humankind-the only way he "can be certain of victory over Bitterwood." To that end, the king enlists his murderous brother Blasphiel to build a city that will serve as humanity's abattoir. Maxey's world is stunningly imaginative, a landscape both familiar and alien, and packed with thoughtful treats for readers. Skillfully examining themes of faith, martyrdom and heroism, Maxey maintains an unflagging believability even while borrowing some of the most generic elements from science fiction and fantasy. The dragons are wonderfully written, as is the tormented hero; it is almost a shame that the story is so self-contained, as many readers will pine for a whole series of Dragon Age titles. (July)
A Thousand BonesP.J. Parrish. Pocket, $7.99 (496p) ISBN 978-1-4165-2587-5
Parrish uses his last, stunning Louis Kincaid novel (2006's An Unquiet Grave) as a jumping-off point for Kincaid's lover Joe Frye, the lone female homicide detective in the Miami-Dade Police Department. Told in flashback, Frye recounts her investigation of serial murders 13 years earlier, in 1975. Frye's uneventful rookie year in the Leelanau County, Mich., sheriff's department undergoes a drastic change with the discovery of human bones in the woods of Echo Bay. Soon, the discovery of more bones and a multitude of artifacts point police to the conclusion that the remains belong to more than one victim. Mysterious Native American glyphs carved into a tree nearby provide the lead Frye needs-if only she could decipher where they're taking her. Even after the clues fall carefully into place, revealing the killer's identity and pushing Frye into his sights, the book continues to sizzle with taut suspense and the promise of a tumultuous conclusion. Keen attention to detail and thorough character development get equal billing with scintillating thrills, giving Parrish another top-notch whodunit that just may leave fans thinking, "Louis who?" (July)
Mystic GuardianPatricia Rice. Signet, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-451-22169-8
On the eve of the French Revolution, the country's commoners are suffering, and one small, starving seacoast village has a final chance for hope: a golden god foreseen by local girl Mariel St. Just's deceased mother. Unfortunately, when Mariel finally spots the golden figure, he's about to set sail. Spunky Mariel, a rather uncommon commoner who can swim underwater like a mermaid, follows his ship to its destination: the secret, magically guarded isle of Aelynn. Despite mutual attraction, the golden man-actually Tristan l'Enforcer, Aelynn's loyal guardian-refuses to help Mariel or her town-so Mariel helps herself, escaping with an old chalice that she sells to buy wheat for her village. Little does she realize that the relic is Aelynn's most powerful sacred artifact, the Chalice of Plenty-and soon Tristan shows up to recover it. As is typical, award-winning author Rice pieces together an intriguing, complex plot, setting the spirited pair against an exiled islander, their growing feelings for each other and two troubled worlds. A fine, fresh series kickoff, Rice's latest is passionate, rich in historical detail and peopled with enough captivating secondary characters to pique readers' curiosity for many volumes to come. (July)
Without ConsentKathryn Fox. Harper, $7.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-125255-6
In Fox's sophomore thriller, the follow-up to last year's Malicious Intent, Aussie physician and freelance forensic pathologist Anya Crichton returns with a temporary gig as acting director at a center for sexual-assault victims. When a number of victims come to the center bearing signs of similar attacks, Anya begins to suspect a serial rapist-and it isn't long before the rapist's m.o. turns to murder. The lead suspect in the police investigation is Geoffrey Willard, a convicted child rapist just released from 20 years in prison; meanwhile, Anya's own investigation throws doubt on Geoffrey's culpability-and also attracts the murderous attention of the real madman. Fox, a physician with a mind for forensic medicine, provides plenty of authentic, grisly detail and has a real talent for carefully plotted mystery. Though the action can occasionally drag in the name of scientific accuracy, Fox keeps the suspense high, the down-under prose fun and her readers guessing, making this a captivating thrill ride with a great kicker. (July)
Comics
52 Volume 1Geoff Johns,
Grant Morrison,
Greg Rucka,
Mark Waid et al. DC Comics, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4012-1353-4
When this first of four volumes was serialized, its selling point was that it was a weekly, soap-operatic series happening in "real time," a sort of 24 with superheroes, written by four major comics names. As a single book, it's a compelling mess: a breakneck but occasionally jolting tour of a fictional world whose balance of power is rapidly shifting, and it's packed with Easter eggs for longtime comics readers. The cast of hundreds includes time travelers, space travelers, a down-on-her-luck ex-cop recruited by a faceless hero to replace him, a Chinese government-sponsored superhero team, and mad scientists mysteriously vanishing by the score; there's a grand, Lost-like conspiracy to which this volume offers plenty of clues but no solutions. Keith Giffen's layouts flow smoothly and give the book a measure of consistency; they're fleshed out by an assortment of cartoonists, mostly in solid examples of the generic superhero style of 2006. The writing team's knack for character comedy and crisp dialogue keeps the tone lively, but there are a few too many plot threads to juggle-the overall effect is of a handful of entertaining series with their pages shuffled together. (May)
Warriors: The Lost WarriorDan Jolley and James L. Barry. Tokyopop, $9.99 paper (96p) ISBN 978-0-06-124021-1
Based on Erin Hunter's popular novel series, Warriors is the story of a wild cat-a real one, as opposed to manga's usual teenaged human wearing a short skirt and kitty-cat ears-who's separated from his family and friends. There are no plot surprises in this story of a lost hero, and the artwork is a literal, workmanlike rendition of cats and dogs in suburbia. Graystripe, the protagonist, is a mighty warrior of the beleaguered Thunderclan, which has recently been threatened by a combination of suburban development and a zealous cat catcher. The story opens with him imprisoned in a strangely seductive suburban home. After briefly succumbing to the charms of soft living as a "kittypet," Graystripe steels his resolve and vows to make his way back to the wild. Alas, he's lost his edge and finds himself spooked by everything from local bullies to lawnmowers. Luckily, he's joined by a helpful, attractive female sidekick, Millie, who knows her way around the challenges of "Twolegplace." Many little (and perhaps some larger) girls will find this kitty fantasy irresistible. (May)
Grendel: Devil by the DeedMatt Wagner. Dark Horse, $12.95 paper (48p) ISBN 978-1-59307-736-5
This 25th anniversary edition reprints what began as an inconspicuous backup feature but has blossomed into a classic dark saga of the ultimate counter-Batman. Hunter Rose is a wealthy and glamorous socialite who also is the masked assassin Grendel, master of the underworld but obsessed with destroying his archfoe, the cursed, centuries-old wolfman Argent. Meanwhile, Rose's innocent ward, Stacey, discovers his secret and coldly plots against both villains, becoming monstrous herself in the process. The fundamental story is silly, over-the-top pulp fiction. Wagner makes it readable and memorable first by filtering the action through several layers of narrator/interpreter so that a reader isn't confronted by gruesome lunacy but is encouraged to imagine the lurid details. Secondly, Wagner experiments with the form of comics by turning each page into an elegant Art Deco design in which blocks of narrative text are embedded; Finally, he succeeds in tantalizing readers' hope and dread that some of Grendel's aloof, fierce spirit may be alive in all of us. For better or worse, he helped introduce the age of the antihero in comics. (Apr.)
Gothic Classics Edited byTom Pomplun. Eureka Productions (www.graphicclassics.com), $11.95 paper (144p) ISBN 978-0-9787919-0-2
Mystery, terror, imprisonment, death: the great gothic themes are explored in these five well-chosen, seminal tales. "Carmilla," by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu sets the tone for the collection, with its dreamy, swirling art by Lisa K. Weber and its haunting story of a corrupt, corrupting beauty. Edgar Allan Poe is represented by "The Oval Portrait," in which Poe's customary bewildered narrator comes to realize he's staring at an object of horror-a not unpredictable development given that he was spending the night in a ruined, abandoned castle. Ann Radcliffe's inimitable "Mysteries of Udolpho" is rendered in a faithful, nearly documentary style by Carlo Vergara, while Jane Austen's play upon the gothic, "Northanger Abbey," is charmingly illustrated by Anne Timmons. The collection ends on a sweeter, melancholy note with the little known "At the Gate" by Myla Jo Closser, in which a crowd of dogs waits in a mysterious land of limbo. The Airedale protagonist realizes, along with the reader, that they are anticipating reunions with their human families, who usually take much longer to reach this shadow land than do their shorter-lived pets. (Apr.)
