Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 6/25/2007

-- Publishers Weekly, 6/25/2007

NONFICTION

BALANCE: In Search of the Lost Sense
Scott McCredie. Little, Brown, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 9780316011358

According to Seattle Times journalist McCredie, the rise in debilitating falls among Americans is reaching epidemic proportions, the result of a population’s waning sense of balance. In the first half of this analytical primer, McCredie chronicles balance’s role in evolution and the unfolding discovery of its function in the body through a jumble of stories about barbarous experiments on animals (pigeons, cats, etc) and humans—specifically, mental patients and deaf mutes. It’s grim stuff, hardly indicated by the cover photo (young man, fluffy white clouds). Illustrations from 1934 that, while beautiful, don’t match the current description of, say, the inner ear frustrate, while McCredie’s tendency to fall into archaic language when discussing the 19th century aggravates. The second half is decidedly lighter, contrasting tales of tight wire walkers and acrobats with the stories of people who, through damage to the vestibular canal, have lost their balance. Here, McCredie writes engagingly of children on unicycles, Neanderthal man’s hunting techniques, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane crash and Nike knockoffs worn in China. Useful not only for its academic approach, this book could make a difference for anyone facing the natural challenges of aging. (June)

THE BOOK OF ORIGINS: Discover the Amazing Origins of the Clothes We Wear, the Food We Eat, the People We Know, the Languages We Speak, and the Things We Use
Trevor Homer. Plume, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 9780452288324

Trivia fans eager for a new resource will welcome Homer’s compendium of firsts and originals. The book offers plenty of useful information in short bursts, providing, for instance, a three-page thumbnail history of the theater, and a rundown of the early telegraphing highlights: “The first electromagnetic telegraph,” the invention of Morse code, “the first undersea telegraph cable,” etc. Trivia junky Homer admits in his epilogue that “much has been left by the wayside,” but in fact more could have been pruned; the chapter on “Famous People” is simply too broad, resulting in a laundry list of names accompanied by a line or two of relevant info. With 19 categories of factual tidbits in just over 300 pages, readers might find themselves getting lost amongst all the crimes, inventions, “massive steps” and “questionable origins”; fortunately, an index provides help for the trivially turned-around. (June)

THE BATTLE OVER THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA.
Gordy Slack. Jossey-Bass, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780787987862

Slack, the former editor of natural history magazine Pacific Discovery, has long covered clashes between scientists and creationists, and he knows both sides thoroughly—his own father, an experimental psychologist, took up creationism in the late 1990s, following a conversion to fundamentalist Christianity. In 2005, online magazine Salon assigned Slack to cover a federal court case in which a group of parents sued a Pennsylvania school board after it voted to include creationist material in high school science curricula. While Slack never hides his own convictions—firmly in support of evolution—he is staunchly even-handed throughout, giving all players the opportunity to represent themselves and their ideas. Everyone involved in the case—the presiding judge, the opposing teams of attorneys, the students and townspeople of Dover—come alive in Slack’s economical yet revealing prose, and his history of both the contemporary creationist resurgence and the long-running philosophical debates behind it provide some much-needed perspective on modern American culture wars. In this must-read for anyone involved in education—from federal officials to local school board voters—Slack demonstrates in crisp, clear language how science and religion are not opposites, but different ways of thinking, each valuable for different purposes. (June)

CROCODILE: Evolution’s Greatest Survivor
Lynne Kelly. Allen & Unwin (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (296p) ISBN 9781741144987

Kelly, an Australian writer and science teacher, gives readers a thorough tour of crocodilian evolution in this lively biological biography. Kelly builds her scientific investigation on a solid cultural foundation, by introducing the crocodile through folk tales of indigenous Australians, Africans, Americans and South Asians; similarly, fossils showing crocodilies have changed very little in more than 200 million years adds relevance to the old stories and weight to the sobering fact that, today, mankind has managed to kill off many crocodilian species that eons of natural selection never could. Among chapters on biology, featuring photos and drawings of characteristic behavior and skeletal structures, Kelly covers the scientific minds who came before her, such as 19th century naturalists Sir Richard Owen and Thomas Huxley (“Darwin’s Bulldog”), who feuded famously over still-unresolved taxonomy issues. In addition, Kelly recounts the tales of famous crocodile hunters and infamous attacks on humans by crocodilians, discusses the continuing demand for crocodile hides and meat and investigates crocodile farming in relation to other types of animal husbandry. Kelly’s treatment is clever, entertaining and complete, making this a fine read and a great example of species history done right. (July)

THE SEVEN T’S: Finding Hope and Healing in the Wake of Tragedy
Judy Collins. Tarcher, $14.95 paper (192p) ISBN 9781585424955

In this solid, heartfelt guide to grief and tragedy, author and singer-songwriter Collins (Morning, Noon, and Night) culls from her own experience (the suicide of her 33-year-old son in 1992) and the experiences of others a set of tools to help “dig your way out of tragedy and loss”: truth (tell it), trust (allow it), therapy (get it), treasure (your loved and lost), treat (your body and mind), thrive (without drugs or alcohol) and transcend. Conceptualized as a way to better navigate Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s stages of grief, Collins’s seven T’s aren’t chronological steps, but “a kind of mantra” in seven parts that’s durable enough to assist readers for a lifetime (“Time will heal us, yes, but…love does not end”). Through the T’s, Collins deals honestly with the demons of loss—guilt, isolation, hopelessness, depression, violence, etc.—while detailing many practical, proactive ways to cope, carry on and continue healing. (June)

THE STATE VS. NELSON MANDELA: The Trial That Changed South Africa
Joel Joffe, foreword by Nelson Mandela. Oneworld (NBN, dist.), $27.95 (312p) ISBN 9781851685004

In 1963, Nelson Mandela, along with nine other leaders and friends of the African National Congress, were tried on multiple charges that included sabotage and conspiracy. When his boss was swept up in the charges, attorney Joffe put his plans to escape South Africa on hold to manage the defense. In his play-by-play, Joffe recounts tremendous obstacles, among them a parade of witnesses slapped with 90-day prison stints in order to drive them to the prosecution’s side, and a judge who harbored no doubts about the legitimacy of white supremacy. Another difficulty: most of his clients were indeed guilty as charged and weren’t going to deny it. Joffe, who wrote this book in 1964, draws heavily on the original transcripts and his own experience. Unfortunately, he has little to say about Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Arthur Goldreich as people, and assumes readers already know the trial’s implications for South Africa; he doesn’t offer any big-picture conclusions beyond the verdict and sentencing (one acquitted, all others spared the death penalty). Anyone hoping for an inside look at the personalities of the ANC leadership will come away disappointed, but Joffe devotes considerable care to his account of the trial and those who conducted it, crafting a dramatic indictment of apartheid justice. (June)

TEN POINTS
Bill Strickland. Hyperion, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 9781401302580

The executive editor of Bicycling magazine explores childhood, fatherhood and cycling in this moving memoir about the legacy of child abuse and the healing power of sport and family. In Emmaus, Pa., in 2004, 39-year-old Strickland decided to take up a near-impossible challenge proposed by his preschool-aged daughter Natalie, to score 10 points in a single season; to do so, he has to place among the top four—ten times—in a local weekly race populated by Olympians and cycling legends. Alternating between present-day life and dispatches from his horrific childhood, Strickland introduces his sadistic father, a man who put a loaded gun in his son’s mouth, made him eat dog feces and encouraged him to have sex with his babysitter, among other outrages. Strickland juxtaposes these episodes with scenes of his own shortcomings: unbridled anger with his daughter and marital infidelity with a colleague. It’s only through numerous races (and missed points) that he learns to tame the inner demons that threaten his new family. Strickland's lyrical prose and swift pacing lighten the material’s weight, but it remains a necessarily brutal read that goes several shades darker than most sports memoirs; though non-cyclists may get bored during the race scenes (and there are plenty), anyone dealing with familial abuse will find Strickland’s journey an inspiration. (July)

WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports
Dave Zirin. Haymarket, $16 paper (260p) ISBN 978193185941

In sports books, the term “left wing” typically means something very different than it does in Zirin’s; a sportswriter and regular contributor to The Nation, Zirin takes a look at sports through the prisms of race, class, politics and identity, examining the mainstream sports media’s charged rhetoric and challenging the industry’s readily-accepted common wisdoms (especially the popular notion that professional athletes are all rich, spoiled, self-centered thugs). Each of the ten chapters deals with a different issue, from Major League Baseball’s exploitation of the Dominican Republic to Olympian graft. Zirin’s clear, concise arguments detail the behind-the-scenes manipulation of football star-turned-Army ranger Pat Tillman’s death, point out the racism inherent in the media’s coverage of Barry Bonds and explicate the global and local politics of soccer. Unfortunately, Zirin’s tone is too often snide, stooping to the same depths for which he regularly lambasts right wing commentators (for instance, referring to Dodger second baseman Jeff Kent as someone who “splash[es] on High Karate before strutting to the free clinic”). Still, this is a unique and thought-provoking collection of politically enlightened sports writing, suitable for anyone with season tickets and a left-of-center outlook. (June)

WHAT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WHO’S REALLY RUNNING AMERICA: And What You Can Do About It
Melissa Rossi. Plume, $16 paper (304p) ISBN 9780452288201

Narrowing her focus, journalist Rossi follows up 2005’s What Every American Should Know About Who’s Really Running the World with this critical look at the U.S. government. A case of loonies running the nuthouse, Rossi reports that lobbyists and special-interest groups have overtaken Capitol Hill; in chapter after chapter, she offers insightful evidence as to how government representatives make decisions affecting the lives of their constituencies based on the suggestions of special-interest powerbrokers. In this way, she argues, greed and poor judgment have produced any number of ills for America, such as the highest prescription drug prices in the world. Rossi also unearths lesser known schemes, such as who’s got the ear of the school boards and which laws America’s wealthiest families are working to repeal. Taking readers name-by-name, organization-by-organization and scandal-by-scandal through the American government’s recent history, Rossi covers some familiar ground, but the sheer volume of material assures readers will turn up something they had not known or long forgotten. The knowledge she pulls together and shares proves the volume’s most useful contribution to the cause of government reform. (June)

LIFESTYLE

ANTIQUES INVESTIGATOR: Tips and Tricks to Help You Find the Real Deal
Judith Miller. $25, DK (226p) ISBN 9780756628420

Antiques expert Miller has amassed a wealth of information about antiques in her latest book, part of the “Collector’s Guide Series” from DK. Covering furniture, ceramics, glass, metalware and collectibles, Miller is guilty of both overreaching and under-performing; that said, she has put together a sound introduction to several areas. Particularly in her overview of major styles and their specifics, such as chairs from the 18th century to the Arts and Craft movement, Miller is confident and informative; however, a less-than-clear presentation and fuzzy details (is the dollar amount cited next to a particular item retail price, value price or original cost?) will frustrate. First published in the UK, American audiences will find several significant gaps: her expertise seems to skew toward the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving America’s Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Modern collectors out; for instance, focusing in depth on “18th Century wine glasses,” Miller barely mentions pressed or carnival glass. A Photofit section is quite helpful but hardly comprehensive (a section on silver marks doesn’t show Paul Revere’s, one of the most widely sought—and imitated—of American antiques). Still, beginners and novices will find much to appreciate here, especially if their interests happen to line up with Miller’s. Photographs. (June)

GREENS AND GRAINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA COOKBOOK
Sandy Pukel and Mark Hanna. SquareOne (www.squareonepublishers.com), $18.95 (256p) ISBN 9780757002878

Even if they don’t have their sea legs, fans of vegetarian cooking will want to give this volume a look. Innovative takes on familiar themes dominate this compilation of more than 100 popular dishes served on Costa Cruise Lines’ Taste of Health cruises, like the Seitan Paella and the playful Sushi Salad, in which shiitake mushrooms and tofu get tossed with seasoned brown rice and nori. Natural foods expert Pukel and chef Hanna offer clear instructions for preparation, but offer little background on their choice of ingredients; instead, it’s assumed that the reader is familiar with arame, shoyu, kombu and lotus root. To their credit, the authors state in an appendix that the bulk of the ingredients can be found in health food stores, and point to online vendors for sourcing those that can’t. Most of the dishes manage to keep healthy without sacrificing taste, though Simmered Collard Greens, in which the notoriously tough and bitter plant is simmered only with sea salt, doesn’t inspire much confidence. Diners accustomed to processed flours, saturated fats and refined sugars will find the book tough going (especially in the desserts), but those with a commitment to a healthier diet are sure to find some new favorites. (July)

LOOK, DUDE, I CAN COOK!: Four Years of College Cooking Made Easy
Amy Madden. Syren, $16.95 paper (178p) ISBN 9780929636788

Though it’s not the first of its kind, Madden’s starter cookbook handily distinguishes itself with faithful classics like black bean soup and marinated steak that get more sophisticated as the book progresses. Madden gives neophytes good habits to follow early, calling for fresh ingredients instead of prepared cheese sauce, canned or other ready-made accoutrements, and using basics like pasta salad and burgers to build confidence before tackling more advanced recipes like French-Style Beef Bourguingnon. Flavors are bright and plentiful, thanks to lessons on the proper use of fresh herbs and caramelizing onions, along with other skills that cooks will use for the rest of their lives. Standards such as chili, macaroni and cheese and a simple artichoke dip comprise the bulk of recipes, though Madden also offers a quick and tasty key lime marinade for shrimp and a surefire method for assembling chocolate-dipped strawberries, either of which could easily become favorites. Madden overreaches with some irrelevant (occasionally cringe-worthy) slang lessons (defining, for instance, “Demics” and “Mouse Potato”), but this solid collection makes a welcome resource for anyone new to cooking for themselves. (July)

NEW ENGLAND SUMMERTIME COOKING
Sherri Eldridge. Harvest Hill, $19.95 (192p) ISBN 9781886862524

With more than 40 cookbooks under her apron, Eldridge (Tomato Temptations, Coastal New England Fall Harvest Cooking) clearly knows her way around the kitchen. Her latest is a faithful recreation of classic regional dishes that take advantage of summer’s bounty. Dishes range from classic New England fare like Boston Baked Beans, clam and lobster bakes and Boston Cream Pie, to seasonal favorites such as Peach Crumb Cobbler and a Quick Gazpacho. Created within the American Heart Association’s guidelines for healthy eating, rich dishes like chowders and bisques substitute skim and powdered milk for cream; pie crust uses canola oil in lieu of shortening. The end result will disappoint hardcore foodies, but the cardio-conscious will appreciate the effort. The bulk of the 150 dishes are reliable but unremarkable, ranging from standards like Baked Stuffed Tomatoes and Bill’s Blueberry Pancakes to classic sides like Fresh Roasted Corn and Apple-Raisin Cole Slaw. Hampered by a clunky, amateurish design (photos appear to be either stock or the author’s own), this book does little to distinguish itself; visitors to the region may find the book a warm souvenir, but those serious about coastal summer cooking will be better served elsewhere. (July)

THE SANTA MONICA FARMERS’ MARKET COOKBOOK: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm
Amelia Saltsman, foreword by Deborah Madison. Blenheim (Prospect Park, dist.), $22.95 (216p) ISBN 9780979042904

Sure, the farmer’s market can provide the freshest food available, but how can you tell? And once you’ve found the perfect heirloom tomatoes, what do you do with them? Cooking teacher and television host Saltsman provides plenty of answers to those questions in this compilation of recipes that shrugs off complex preparation to focus on using seasonal ingredients to their fullest. Saltsman offers tips on buying (how to pick the best corn and eggs, for instance) as well as which vendors to seek out at her local farmer’s market in Santa Monica, should you decide to make the trip. Meat, foul and fish make appearances, but the star of this book is the produce. Saltsman provides a wealth of variations for familiar favorites like tomatoes, mushrooms and squash, and uses more exotic fare to spike some standard dishes: sapote, for instance, is a citrusy, custard-like South American fruit that makes a great twist on crème brulee. Cooks will get a lot of mileage out of Saltsman’s simple yet innovative uses for fresh fruit, like a memorable tart made of seared nectarines and peaches, burnt honey and fresh berries, or a savory-sweet salad made with mixed cherries, toasted almonds, greens and aged goat cheese. In her first book, Saltsman proves that minimal effort, coupled with high-quality food, can produce extraordinary results. (Aug.)

ILLUSTRATED

PREDATOR: Life and Death in the African Bush
Mark C. Ross and David Reesor. Abrams, $35 (208p) ISBN 9780810993013

Based on years of observation in the field, filmmaker and safari guide Ross, along with wildlife photographer Reesor, present a photo-heavy volume that takes a measured look at five wild African killers: leopards, cheetahs, lions, hyenas and crocodiles. Each section begins with a “day in the life” vignette based on Ross’s observations, followed by detailed discussions of each species’ ecology, including mating, birthing and rearing young, hunting patterns, family structures and preferences for habitat and prey, using clear prose and striking photography (culled from over 20,000 images) to bring the information to life. Filled with deep insights into the lives of these animals and their prey, Ross and Reesor even provide several pages of tips for observing and photographing animals in their natural habitat, and a pull-out pocket guide to take along on safari (one of Ross’s goals is to educate people before such a trip to make the experience more rewarding). Ecological depth and plentiful insight make this an excellent addition to middle and high-school classrooms, while vivid photographs provide a fine virtual tour of the African bush and a great advert for conservation efforts. (June)

FICTION

BAD THOUGHTS
Dave Zeltserman. Five Star, $25.95 (279p) ISBN 9781594145407

In Zeltserman’s unconvincing third thriller (after Fast Lane), Cambridge, Mass., detective Bill Shannon dreads every February 10th, the anniversary of the day his mother was brutally murdered in their California home when Bill was 13. Around the anniversary, Bill suffers from debilitating blackouts that often cause long stretches of amnesia. As the 20th anniversary approaches, the blackouts become more severe, disrupting Bill’s work and home life. Soon he’s spiraling out of control, unsure how to tell reality from nightmare. A series of gruesome slayings have Bill questioning whether he himself could be responsible and terrified that Herbert Winters, his mother’s killer, has come back to claim him. Crime novelists from Robert B. Parker to Dennis Lehane have found fertile ground in a similar premise and setting, but Zeltserman falls short of their standard. Bill Shannon lacks the depth required for a character who walks the line between victim and potential killer, and instead collapses into stereotype. (July)

BED: Stories
Tao Lin. Melville House, $15 paper (296p) ISBN 9781933633268

This set of nine pseudo-autobiographical, woe-is-our-generation absurdist tales updates Oblamov for worried 21st century slackerdom. Lin’s characters will be familiar to MySpace denizens, whether they’re struggling through college in a busy city, stifling in an exhausted relationship just for the body heat, or missing their parents (but not knowing how to tell them without sounding as if asking for money). Settings are cheekily vague: “Love Is A Thing On Sale For More Money Than Exists,” about a much-needed break-up, takes place during “the month that people began to suspect terrorists had infiltrated Middle America,” while “Nine, Ten,” a love story about two nine-year-olds and their divorced parents, occurs during the year that people “got a bit careless.” As precocious children, depressing descriptions of urban pollution and beached marine life pile up, it becomes clear that Lin’s subject is the inadequacy of conventional tools and wisdom for coping with the era of the War on Terror: “Was the future now? Or was it coming up still?... all that was promised… was not here, and would probably never be here. They had lied. Someone had lied.” Such observations make the flat, matter-of-fact prose and aimless pop culture references come into vivid focus. (May)

EEEEE EEE EEEE: A Novel
Tao Lin. Melville House, $15 paper (212p) ISBN 9781933633251

Poet and blogger Lin’s debut novel uneasily documents the life of Andrew, a recent college graduate working at Domino’s Pizza while over-analyzing every aspect of his life: past, present and futureless. He drives through the suburbs reminiscing about college life in New York and his ex-girlfriend, stopping occasionally to express his boredom to his best friend Steve. When at one point, Andrew states that he wants to “wreak complex and profound havoc” upon capitalist establishments such as McDonald’s, it feels like Lin is attempting the same kind of attack on organized art. The novel, while short on plot, makes abrupt shifts in setting and point of view, and is pierced throughout by celebrity cameos and surreal touches: bears, dolphins (who say “Eeeee Eee Eeee” to express emotion, in spite of their ability to speak like humans), Salman Rushdie, and the president make grandiose declarations that are heavily saturated with the same sardonic wit displayed by Andrew and his friends. The novel dips dangerously into metafiction, with Andrew in the middle of “writing a book of stories about people who are doomed.” The characters’ repetitive thoughts and conversations become strangely hypnotic, however, and Lin’s sympathetic fascination with the meaning of life is full of profound and often hilarious insights. (May)

I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK
David J. Rosen. Broadway, $12.95 paper (240p) ISBN 9780767927949

Jason Strider, the slacker-hero of former ad-man and MTV series creator Rosen’s screwball debut novel, is a recent Cornell grad more interested in marijuana, booze and quick lays than his boring job or romantic relationships. The carnal drought he’s been experiencing is mercifully ended early in the book with a bout of athletic sex involving his refrigerator and a bar pickup named Jane, who departs after a second hook-up wearing his favorite pair of Dickies. His quest, then, to retrieve the pants occupies the bulk of the book. Along the way, Jason gets assists in the process of personal growth from his ailing next-door neighbor, Patty, and old Cornell buds Eric and Stacey, who ask Jason to perform their wedding ceremony. By the end of the tale, Jason has begun to mature and comes back into contact with his beloved pants in an unexpected yet appropriate fashion. Rosen deftly keeps the exploits of a shallow hero moving along—and more impressively, makes readers care what happens to his caddish narrator. (Aug.)

KICK THE ANIMAL OUT
Véronique Ovaldé, trans. from the French by Adriana Hunter. MacAdam/Cage, $13 paper (212p) ISBN 9781596922327

At the heart of Ovaldé’s fourth novel is 15-year-old Rose, suffering from an unspecified condition that stunts her physical and emotional development and requires her to attend “the Institute.” When her beloved mother grows increasingly despondent, Rose tries to snap her out of it with a dramatic exit. Upon returning from the hospital, though, Rose finds her mother gone, and her perennially cheerful father humiliated. Certain there is more than domestic dissatisfaction at work, Rose weaves her mother’s half-true childhood stories and clues from an elderly neighbor into a morbid but colorful biography, in which her own family is but a brief pause in the romantic sweep of her mother’s life. The real world, however, soon intrudes. Rose’s real and imagined worlds are filled with rich sensory detail—Rose imagines her mother in a mountain village, where “beyond the reflected light on the snow there is complete darkness only mottled by the dancing snowflakes, like a spectral storm of miniature meteorites.” Flighty mothers and young narrators of suspect authority are familiar territory, but Ovaldé’s lyric gifts makes for a seductive story. (Apr.)

LAWMAN
Diana Palmer. HQN, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780373772384

Bestseller Palmer mixes aw-shucks small-town romance with cookie-cutter crime drama, but still scores points with a slowly sizzling lead relationship. Texas FBI agent Garon Greer is 36; having lost his wife to cancer 10 years earlier, he has recently moved from San Antonio, Tex., to nearby Jacobsville, where his not-quite-estranged brother Cash (from Palmer’s Lawless) is police chief. The angelic Grace Carver, 24 and mourning the death of her grandmother, is the still-recovering victim of a childhood sexual assault, and Garon’s next-door neighbor. As Garon tracks a serial killer who strangles his child victims with a red ribbon, Garon avoids Grace—who may in fact may hold the key to catching the killer. Romance fans will savor Grace’s indomitable spirit and quiet power over Garon, though mystery readers may find the resolution a foregone conclusion. (June)

MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS
Lee Goldberg. NAL, $19.95 (288p) ISBN 9780451220974

Based on the USA Network show Monk, Goldberg’s fourth Adrian Monk novel, the first in hardcover (after Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu), fails to master the many challenges that television adaptations face. The books share the show’s sparseness of plot, without the charm of Tony Shalhoub’s Emmy-winning portrayal of the obsessive-compulsive genius sleuth. Goldberg’s wrinkle this time is to partner Monk’s first assistant, Sharona Fleming, whose husband, Trevor, is in prison for murder, with her successor, Natalie Teeger, a widowed California soccer mom who narrates the tale. Natalie is anxious that Sharona might supplant her, a concern not allayed when Monk asks both women to work for him part-time. The puzzle centering on Trevor is fairly thin, and Goldberg throws in several shorter mysteries for Monk to solve almost instantly. While it might have been too much to expect a book from Monk’s perspective, even within the confines of Natalie-as-narrator, more could have been done. (July)

COMICS

BLACK DIAMOND DETECTIVE AGENCY
Eddie Campbell. Roaring Brook/First Second, $16.95 paper (144p) ISBN 9781596431423

Campbell is one of the premier cartoonists of his generation. So what’s he doing working on a book adapted from a screenplay by C. Gabe Mitchell? It’s hard to say. John Hardin, a man with a criminal past, ends up framed for a horrific Midwestern train bombing on the eve of the 20th century. Hardin is captured—mysteriously his name is found planted on boxes of nitro at the scene—but escapes and heads for Chicago, the Secret Service and private detectives hot on his trail. He’s got a notion of the men (and one woman in particular) who are likely behind the bombing. Campbell’s adaptation starts quite literally with a bang, setting up a gripping criminal mystery driven by the gruesome explosion and a selection of deft, emotional images from Hardin’s past. But the work is very soon plagued by confusing plot turns and Campbell’s awkwardly painted, static artwork. Campbell cleverly uses the story as an introduction to industrialization and the growth of technology in turn-of-the-century America—with previews of police forensics, photography, subways and cars. But a bewildering progression of sometimes indistinguishable characters makes the whole enterprise somewhat hard to follow. A promising work though clearly not Campbell’s best. (June)

AUDIO

DRAGON SEA
Frank Pope, read by Johnny Heller. Tantor Audio, unabridged, nine CDs, 11 hrs., $34.99 ISBN 9781400103560

The wreck of the Hoi An lay on the bottom of the Dragon Sea off the coast of present-day Vietnam for centuries, containing within it a hoard of 15th-century porcelain. In the late ’90s, Pope managed a salvage mission, led by Oxford archeologist Mensun Bound, which would result in the rescue of a fortune in ancient Vietnamese ceramics. Bound’s moniker, “Indiana Jones of the Deep,” sums up this audiobook’s appeal pretty well. This is a can’t miss for fans of that intrepid archeologist and/or aquatic exploration. Audie Award-winner Heller’s pleasant alto voice is engaging throughout, and he does a fine job dramatizing scenes and adding accents to dialogue. The book’s structure, however, is not particularly well-suited to the audio format. The narrative’s chronology jumps around as Pope introduces the listener to the major players in the project with a lot of background information, making it a bit hard to follow at times. Heller is in top form with this performance, and first-time author Pope will leave readers looking forward to accounts of new adventures. Simultaneous release with the Harcourt hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 23). (Apr.)

THE MISTRESS’S DAUGHTER
A.M. Homes, read by Jane Adams. Penguin Audio, unabridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 9780143141839

Jane Adams turns her considerable talents to Homes’s memoir about meeting her biological parents when she was in her early 30s. Adams captures the narrator and all the members of both the adoptive and biological families. Her rendition of Homes is so smart and urbane yet wary that listeners might assume that Homes herself is telling her own story. Ellen Ballman, the biological mother, is portrayed as Auntie Mame gone bad—her boisterous voice quickly descends from that of a woman overcome with joy at hearing her daughter to whiny demands to be taken care of. Perhaps Ellen is a bit too shrill—almost anyone would hang up after hearing this voice on the other end of a phone. Adams portrays Norman Hecht, also referred to as “the Father,” with a voice as large as his considerable fortune; he cons his daughter into taking a DNA test, then refuses to give her the results. Even Adams can’t make the second half of the book exciting, as she reads page after page of questions planned for a deposition. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 15). (Apr.)