Fiction

Seventy-five years after the death of Charles O’Brien, an Anglo-Irish itinerant healer and occasional journalist born in 1860, his memoir is discovered in a trunk. The result is this touching novel from Ireland author Delaney, in which the manuscript’s putative discoverer adds his own unreliable commentary to the fictive Charles’s probably embellished perceptions—making for a glowing composite of a volatile Ireland. Charles claims to treat Oscar Wilde on his deathbed; advise a young James Joyce (“When you write... be sure to make it complicated. It will retain people’s attention”); tell an appreciative Yeats the story of Finn MacCool; and inadvertently bring down Charles Stewart Parnell. He also meets the founders and leaders of Sinn Fein and the IRA, and will, as will Ireland itself, entwine his fate with theirs. And at 40, never-married Charles meets the love of his life, 18-year-old April Burke, an Englishwoman who repeatedly spurns him and exploits him, but who has a large role to play in his life. The narrator claims that his interest in Charles and April is academic, but he eventually confesses that he suspects their stories have some personal relationship to his own. Delaney’s confident storytelling and quirky characterizations enrich a fascinating and complex period of Irish history. (Nov.)

Canadian Harvey’s spare, terse and intense novel is about the outside, as in “outside of prison.” The story focuses on the bitter, ruined life of Mr. Myrden (his first name is conspicuously omitted) and begins as Myrden is consumed by a phalanx of reporters as he leaves the prison gates on his first morning of freedom after serving 14 years for a murder he didn’t commit. (DNA evidence belatedly cleared him.) Harvey (The Town That Forgot How to Breathe) examines the minutiae of how the former inmate deals with being on the outside, where so much has changed: his wife has left him, his children have grown (Myrden is now a grandfather), his friends have changed in unexpected ways, and he reconnects with a long-lost love. His attorneys arrange a substantial settlement that leaves Myrden and his wife more than $1 million (she’s suddenly less estranged when money’s involved), but the windfall is anything but a blessing, as Myrden soon discovers. Harvey’s prose is startlingly economical and plain (“One fast action. Release. Noise and flash”) and gives the reader immediate access to Myrden’s inner conflicted reticence. In the end, it’s tough to tell which is crueler: prison or the outside. (Oct.)

In this smartly paced novel from the author of Einstein’s Dreams, a divorced, former banker witnesses a supernatural event, inspiring him to continue the “search for something” that has hovered in the back of his mind throughout his life. A promising, handsome student in his younger years, middle-aged David struggles to restore order to his life and relationships after being sacked from his middling bank job. The search leads him to the local funeral home, where he takes a job as an apprentice among a cast less hip than the Six Feet Under crew, but compelling in a quieter way—the director, Martin, is a fatherly figure whose allegiance to his inherited profession rules an existence otherwise restricted by severe agoraphobia. After David has a vision he “can’t describe in words” in the home’s “slumber room,” he gets agitated to the point where he is compelled to confess to a loose-lipped friend. Soon, David’s vision becomes a local media event, with unwanted consequences. Familiar questions about the existence of God, life after death and the fluidity of time arise, and the cast doesn’t get the detail it deserves. But the momentum that builds alongside David’s ensuing psychological turmoil is enough to carry the story. (Oct.)

Cofounders of Sacred Center New York, Gold and Fotinos offer a spiritual parable that will appeal to fans of It’s a Wonderful Life. The hero is Joseph Hutchinson, a hardworking farmer in late–19th-century Long Island. Though not a “believer” like his beloved wife, Miriam, Joseph has a special relationship with his attic. He not only prays in his attic, he prays to his attic, beseeching the room, for example, to help him safely deliver his first child. When, despite Joseph’s prayers, Miriam dies of pneumonia, Joseph turns away from prayer and the attic, until one day he discovers a mysterious chest filled with scraps of paper and a notebook. This is, of course, the titular prayer chest, which contains three secrets to prayer: prayer is answered through you; prayers are answered when you listen; and “prayer is answered when you welcome everything.” (Hints of a fourth secret point to a sequel.) The prose can be prosaic, and Joseph’s children are at times too precociously, adorably sage (“Poppa, did you find the missing piece of your heart behind that wall?” asks six-year-old Mary, as Joseph is dislodging the panels of wood that reveal the prayer chest). Still, this easy, inspirational read will warm the hearts of seekers everywhere. (Oct. 30)

White’s latest novel (after 2004’s The Garden of Martyrs), a sweeping if often predictable saga of Antebellum societal and political tensions, follows Augustus Cain, a down on his luck gambler, wounded Mexican-American War veteran and notorious fugitive slave catcher. After a run of bad luck, Cain accepts an assignment from Mr. Eberly, a wealthy Virginia landowner that Cain’s in debt to, to track down two runaway slaves, Henry and Rosetta. Along with three of Eberly’s men, Cain sets out on a dangerous journey that takes him from Richmond to New York and Boston. After Cain captures the runaways and turns homeward, the trek becomes a means of redemption for both the “soul catcher” and his captives, and paints an unsettling portrait of a nation on the brink of civil war. Intercut with the journey are vivid flashbacks of the battle that left Cain crippled. Despite an abundance of stock cameos (a traveling salesman/con artist, wise elderly people who dispense easy advice) and a predictable conclusion, the book succeeds in presenting a fractious era and a host of moral quagmires. Cain—a flawed and coarse antihero—becomes emblematic of a historical moment under White’s sure hand. (Sept.)

This thought-provoking novel by Orange Prize–winning Martin (for Property) opens deceptively, as the quiet story of a mother slowly adjusting to her 21-year-old son becoming an adult. In 2002, Chloe Dane is a loving mother and wife, an artist engrossed in illustrating a new edition of Wuthering Heights and a protestor against the imminent invasion of Iraq. Her husband, Brendan, is a historian who doubts that his work has any value but is generally self-satisfied. When their only child, Toby, a junior at NYU, gets Salome Drago, his Croatian immigrant girlfriend, pregnant and hastily marries her, Chloe fears he was trapped by a calculating woman more interested in Toby’s family’s impressive house and property than in Toby. When Salome learns her mother, Jelena, whom she believed was killed by Serbs, is alive, she traces her to Trieste and abruptly departs to find her. Toby follows, and when the newlyweds decide to drop out of college and remain in Italy, Chloe sends Brendan to bring Toby home. A tragedy—one very convenient for the narrative—strikes while Brendan’s in Italy, paving the way for a startlingly light resolution. Forgiveness doesn’t come easy for the characters as they learn that nothing—not family, borders or survival—is inviolable. (Sept.)

British author Peace (GB84, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction) bases this riveting novel on a real-life serial-killer case in post-WWII Japan. When the nude body of a young woman turns up in a local park, Inspector Minami of the Tokyo police and his squad of detectives investigate. At the crime scene, Minami finds another woman’s body nearby and begins to suspect there will be more to come. Minami, married and a father of two, is smart, tenacious and experienced; he’s also addicted to sedatives, keeps a mistress, is in the pocket of a local crime lord and not above sampling the wares of prostitutes he encounters while roaming the city at night. Tokyo has been heavily damaged by Allied bombing, the populace is starving, the occupying victors are overbearing and brutal; for the Japanese, there’s only an unrelenting struggle to stay alive in a nightmare world. Peace, whose complex style feels like a cross between Haruki Murakami and James Ellroy, delivers an expressionistic portrait of a harrowing, devastated time and place. 50,000 first printing. (Sept.)

Russian immigrants settle in Pittsburgh and attempt to assimilate in this linked set from Litman, who emigrated from Moscow in 1992. Masha, a lonely dreamer, is a vulnerable teen desperate to distinguish herself from the other Russians in town. As she struggles to help her obstinate parents settle down, she finds comfort in Alick, a friendly exchange student from Moscow who gives Masha her first lesson in love. Subsequent stories introduce a plethora of characters: Tanya, a repressed housewife, longs to escape her loveless marriage, while single mother Natasha has a set of friends who insist on setting her up, and widower Kamyshinskiy attempts to start over. Throughout, Litman deploys a style that’s a perfect mix of sophistication and bewilderment, as her often highly educated characters cope with various forms of underemployment, with American buoyancy and with their own sometimes suffocating subculture. While Masha is a focal point, each of the stories has its own arc, and the community never comes into focus as a whole. The result is less like a novel than a coherent set of mostly first-person character studies by a very promising writer. (Sept.)

In Marinovich’s artful debut, married, childless Paul Mauro, 38, checks in with his doctor after a lump of cancer is removed from his bicep. He gets a clean bill of health and immediately starts dreading his life to come, which includes impregnating his wife, Lee. On the way out of the doctor’s office he meets a beautiful woman, Alex, who has just been diagnosed with cancer. She assumes he’s in the same boat, and Paul decides to play along. Paul, who narrates with a gallows humor, lies to Lee, too, about his condition and propels himself into a parallel fake-cancer world where women suddenly find him irresistibly brave. Paul’s an unusally self-aware scoundrel, and his adventures, including his dread of fatherhood, are very funny in spots. The ending doesn’t quite work, but readerly goodwill built up in the defter sequences compensates. (Sept.)

McInerney’s sixth novel depicts the tensions that emerge between five sisters as they struggle to establish their own identities. The book opens in 1979, in Tasmania, Australia, just before the lives of Juliet, Miranda, Eliza, Sadie, Clementine and their father, Leo, are irrevocably altered by 16-year-old Clementine’s announcement that she’s pregnant. The sisters and widower Leo make a pact to raise the child until it begins elementary school. Despite their unyielding love for baby Maggie, the pact is an enduring challenge for the sisters (who range in age from 16 to 23), who each yearn for independence. Leo, however, sees Maggie’s birth as the perfect excuse to keep all his daughters under the same roof. When Maggie is five, one sister’s colossal error in judgment ruptures the tenuous familial bonds. The consequences play out as the novel fast-forwards 20 years, with the family fractured and Maggie living in New York City. McInerney (The Alphabet Sisters; Family Baggage; etc.) has written a sprawling tale, though the material is relatively light. Straightforward prose (leavened with spots of humor and upbeat, witty exchanges) keeps the narrative moving along. It should be a crowd-pleaser. (Sept.)

In her impressive debut, Romano-Lax creates the epic story of Feliu Delargo, an underprivileged child prodigy whose musical ability brings him into contact with world leaders, first-class artists and a life filled with loss and triumph. Their father killed in Cuba just before the Spanish-American War, Feliu, his three brothers and one sister manage a meager life in Campo Seco, a small Catalan town, while their strong-willed mother fends off suitors. At 14, Feliu and his mother travel to Barcelona, where a cello tutor agrees to take on Feliu as a student. Over the years, as Feliu establishes himself, he crosses path with Justo Al-Cerra, an egotistical, manipulative pianist, and their touring leads to an intertwining of lives that becomes more complicated when they encounter Aviva, a violinist with her own emotional damage. As the trio tour and Europe careens toward WWII, Romano-Lax weaves into the narrative historical figures from Spanish royalty to Franco and Hitler, giving Feliu the opportunity to ponder the roles of morality in art and art in politics. Though the story has much heart and depth, Feliu’s proximity to so many watershed moments of the 20th century can make him feel more like an instructive icon than a person. But for sheer scope and ambition, this is a tough debut to beat. (Sept.)

The dismayed, disoriented American travelers in this trio of stereotype-shattering novellas from Theroux (following Blinding Light) lament the missing “solemn pieties” and “virtuous peasants” of the India they read about in novels. In “Monkey Hill,” a wealthy ugly American–type husband and wife take pampered health spa treatment at the foot of the Himalayas to be their due. But when the couple presume that the sybaritic care they’re paying for includes invitations for sex with masseurs and waiters, their idyllic holiday takes a tragic turn. In “The Gateway of India,” a fast-track Boston capitalist finds his loathing for the squalor of Mumbai’s slums tempered by how easy it is to buy the affections of young women; meanwhile, his once obsequious Indian assistant is usurping his power. In “The Elephant God,” a college graduate on her own encounters a young man whose call-center mastery of American dialect somehow rewires him from overly friendly striver to malevolent stalker. These unsettling tales about American travelers at odds with India’s complexities are linked through passing references, but what they share most is a transformative menace that takes the place of spiritual succor. (Sept.)

Best known as an author of erotic thrillers, Rose (Lip Service) delves into religious myth and past-life discovery in her well-paced ninth novel. In present-day Rome, a terrorist bomb explosion triggers flashbacks of pre-Christian Italy in photographer Josh Ryder. Josh experiences the memories as Julius, a pagan priest defending the sacrosanct monuments of his gods and the life of his vestal virgin lover against the emperor-mandated onslaught of Christianity in A.D. 391. Six months later, Josh has teamed with the Phoenix Foundation, an institute specializing in past-life memories in children, to explore a newly excavated tomb that may contain pagan memory stones that incite past-life regressions and will, by proving the existence of reincarnation, challenge the church. The stakes rise after it becomes clear that dangerous outside forces also want the stones. In a series of memory lurches, the narratives of Josh and Julius slowly wind together to reveal a Da Vinci Code–esque tale of intrigue that’s more believably plotted and better meets its ambitions than Dan Brown’s ubiquitous book. (Sept.)

Schrefer weds fluid prose to a trashy/sexy plot in his fun second novel, revisiting the corrupting world of the rich (his debut, Glamorous Disasters, featured an SAT tutor caught up in the dirty doings of his wealthy clients). Fifteen-year-old Humphrey Baxter, recently relocated with his down-on-their-luck parents to Florida, has trouble adjusting to his new digs (a motel), and though initially Humphrey’s narration strikes a familiar YA tone, Schrefer throws in a welcome wrinkle with two bizarre friendships (with a jock and the jock’s hot mom) that lead to Humphrey being savagely beaten. With Humphrey hospitalized, Schrefer cuts to Humphrey’s half-sister, Gretchen, who has found love with Rajan Lansing and surrogate parents in Rajan’s wealthy folks, Gita and Joel. After Rajan dumps her, Gretchen follows Gita and Joel to Rome to get Rajan back. During the luxurious, curiously intimate summer, Gretchen hears of Humphrey’s troubles and the Lansings enthusiastically invite Humphrey to join them. The Lansings handle all expenses, but there is a price to pay as the two Baxters become disturbingly (and not entirely unwillingly) entangled with philandering Joel and increasingly unstable Gita. Aside from the Hollywood thriller ending, the combination of smart writing and a decadent world make for a genuine if guilty pleasure. (Sept.)

In this intriguing medical thriller from bestseller Card (Ender’s Game) and screenwriter Johnston, George Galen, a disgraced geneticist, feeds and medicates the downtrodden with the help of a genetically altered band of helpers known as Healers. In the form of a virus called V16, Galen has developed an effective treatment for many incurable genetic diseases; the problem is that when V16 isn’t expressly tailored for each individual patient’s DNA, the results are disastrous. Enter virologist Lt. Col. Frank Hartman, recruited by the federal Biohazard Agency to catch Galen and create an antidote. As Frank and his team work frantically, romantic threads unspool, while Galen insists that if the government would just stay out of his way, he could save countless lives. Based on Johnston’s screenplay for Card’s 1977 story “Malpractice,” the novel plays out with few surprises, but raises pertinent regulatory questions. (Sept.)

Gaylin’s giddy hardcover debut follows young reporter Simone Glass on her short but shocking infiltration of Hollywood’s sleazy side. Simone, a recent Columbia journalism grad, heads for L.A. to work for a slick weekly that goes out of business almost immediately. She grabs a position at the L.A. bureau of the trashy tabloid Asteroid and plunges into the world of celebrity gossip. Reluctantly rummaging through TV superstar Emerald Deegan’s garbage, Simone discovers a shoe belonging to the recently murdered comeback kid Nia Lawson. Then Emerald becomes the next victim, and one of her bracelets is found in another future victim’s trash. When Simone carelessly wears the bracelet to a party, she catches the killer’s eye as a potential target. Gaylin (You Kill Me) has tremendous fun with stereotypical tabloid fodder, from a closeted gay superstar and a desperate, underage stripper to wild Hollywood parties and car chases. The hectic pace and huge cast of extras keep the reader guessing right to the end. (Sept.)

This fiction debut from journalist Benedek (Through the Unknown, Remembered Gate: A Spiritual Journey) opens with a horrifying and credible scenario—the downing of three commercial jets, which results in the deaths of 723 people and plunges the world into a 9/11-like panic. Though none of the airlines involved is El Al, recently retired Israeli secret agent and aviation expert Julian Granot is tapped by his government to investigate. When Aviation Monthly journalist Marie Peterssen asks Julian for an interview, he uses her request to forge a professional relationship that he hopes will lead to more clues. Readers learn early on that Julian’s old nemesis, Islamic extremist Mansour Obaidi, is the mastermind behind the crime, but Obaidi has bigger fish to fry as a massive container ship carrying a hellish mix of explosives heads toward New York City. Benedek offers lots of hot operational material and an exciting denouement, but thriller fans will find little that’s really new, and the open ending, which promises a sequel, is less than convincing. (Sept.)

The Virginia-based Hudgens (Drive Like Hell) channels regular guy Joe Rice for his rollicking sophomore effort. Gruff, conscientious Joe owns a Washington, D.C., car-detailing service and “ticket brokerage,” while best friend Gene Dellorso manages a local limo service. Joe’s the manager and catcher for the Vicodin-and-beer-fueled Whip Spa Yankees, for which Gene also plays. When Gene, 35, collapses dead at a game, his pre-game confessions of an unsalvageable marriage and a desire to flee for Las Vegas aren’t the only secrets he’s been hiding: a cavalcade of thugs come crawling out of the woodwork all wanting to claim a 1932 vintage bat used by Babe Ruth that’s now worth a cool three million. Things only get worse from there. Though lacking the hyperactive dramatic punch of Hudgens’s debut, consistent conflict and a whole heap of mischief keep this lean, amusing novel chugging along. The story is narrated by Rice, and his constant onslaught of conversational expletives may prove a challenge for some, but those ready for a rowdy ride won’t be disappointed. (Sept.)

The second installment in a series set in the bucolic Pacific Northwest town of Lumby picks up where The Lumby Lines left off, with Pam Walker bemused by husband Mark’s horticultural foibles and attempts at animal husbandry as the two struggle to turn a profit at their new inn. But when the painting The Barns of Lumby by the esteemed Dana Porter is stolen, the quiet town suddenly finds itself in the media spotlight. A slew of journalists descend and shake things up for everyone, especially young widow Katie Banks, the owner of the barns depicted in the painting. Katie is suspicious of journalists, but in spite of her skepticism, Katie is drawn into a romance with Adam Massey, a journalist who is also writing a biography of Dana. Other subplots include a monastery that makes a popular gourmet rum sauce and the sinister maneuverings of Norris Fiddler, the New York–based media conglomerate CEO owner of the stolen painting. There’s a “gee- whiz, gosh-darn-it” quality to the writing that lends an unrushed, meandering feel to the narrative as evildoers are dispatched and equilibrium is restored. Fraser’s story is pleasantly easy reading and as smalltown cozy as they come. (Sept.)

This moody turn from the late Izzo (1945–2000), author of the hit Marseilles detective trilogy that includes Total Chaos, centers on the Aldebaran, a ship waylaid by debts in the port of Marseilles. After most of the freighter’s crew is sent home, only the Lebanese captain, Abdul Aziz; the Greek first mate, Diamantis; and the pleasure-loving Turkish sailor Nedim remain. All three are dogged by a loss of purpose, memories of the women they have loved and abandoned, and the great myths of the Mediterranean, including the Odyssey. Diamantis emerges as the reluctant hero, determined to make amends with a woman he left in Marseilles 20 years before, while a middle-aged Abdul comes to terms with his morally ambiguous career at sea. Marseilles’s seedy underbelly soon catches up to the lost sailors and entwines their lives in new ways. Izzo writes candidly about European racial politics, and his characters brood intriguingly, but their noirish flatness proves a real limit. (Sept.)

In this undistinguished, straight-ahead thriller from Brewer (Whipsaw), Solomon Gage acts as a murderous jack of all trades for wealthy, powerful Dominick Sheffield. Elderly Dom tries to keep an eye on California-based Sheffield Enterprises, but sons Michael, who heads mining operation Sheffield Extraction Industries, and Chris, a sycophantic wastrel, are weak, greedy and ambitious. Together with Bart Logan, Michael’s head of corporate security, they’ve put together a risky deal involving an unstable African country and uranium ore. The only thing in their way is Gage, whose repeated interference leaves the schemers determined to engineer his downfall. There’s never any doubt who the bad guys are, who the good guy is and who will come out on top, so the suspense meter never reaches very high. Gage’s unflappable stoicism, whether knocking down a blowhard, shooting a crackhead or punishing a wife-beater, may leave readers equally unmoved. (Sept.)

According to an afterword by former Michener ghostwriter Joe Avenick, this short novel was rejected by Albert Erskine, Michener’s Random House editor, because it too closely resembled Sayonara. More likely, it was rejected because it’s not very good. The story, such as it is, involves two romances. Mary Ann Mays, an attractive, hopelessly impoverished, abandoned mother of four in Pottsville, Pa., finds a wallet and returns it to Paul Reynolds, a handsome, debonair and available investment banker who falls instantly in love with her. He marries her, moves the family into a fine home and provides love and financial security for life. The alternating story involves divorcée Melissa Tomlinson, an attractive Philadelphia librarian, who visits the Florida Keys and meets Joe Carlton, a ruggedly handsome, available cop who falls instantly in love with her, marries her and provides love and emotional security for life. The unconnected plots shift back and forth without complication, suspense, conflict or development. Dialogue is wooden, speechy and incredible. Both women remain dreamy and adolescentlike; both men are deeply sensitive, caring, responsive and generous. It’s like a formula romance with none of the formula’s pap pleasures. (Sept.)

Fans of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days may find this work from Verne (1828–1905) austere. In 1859, three sailors arrive on an isolated island to man a new lighthouse at the wreck-prone tippy tip of South America. They soon discover a band of “egregious criminals,” led by “dangerous evildoer” Kongre, who have been tricking ships into running aground, killing the survivors and taking the loot. When two lighthouse men go to assist a ship and are killed, serious trouble ensues. Characters are cardboard; the action slight, though violent; the plot simple; and the encounter between decency and evil on an island one-dimensional. Posthumously published in 1905, the book was translated into English in 1923, but this is the first English translation from Verne’s original manuscript. (Sept.)

In this profoundly disturbing debut, Bernard, a native of Grenada who moved to New York City as a child, uses elements of time travel, fantasy and classic mystery to tell a love story set in an age of terrorism. The U.S. is enmeshed in an endless, unwinnable war in Africa, the president has been assassinated and the citizenry deceived. One day, Bernard’s African protagonist, known only as “the little boy,” witnesses a beaten and bloody young girl seemingly being born from the very bowels of the earth, a horrifying event that will haunt him throughout his life. Sent to war upon graduation from high school, the boy (now “the soldier”) is taken prisoner. He eventually escapes, and the government touts him as a hero—which the soldier resists. Meanwhile, the soldier instinctively understands that he has always loved the girl he saw born now that she’s grown, that she’s somehow connected to him from another life, another world. Readers will remember this powerful, fable-like work of protest long after they’ve turned the last page. (Sept.)

Edgar-winner Hamilton’s first stand-alone crime thriller falls short of his excellent Alex McKnight series (A Stolen Season, etc.). When Joe Trumbull, a juvenile probation officer in Kingston, N.Y., finally decides to socialize two years after his fiancée’s murder, his blind date winds up strangled to death hours after their meeting. The local police chief calls in a pair of state detectives, who make Joe their prime suspect after two more woman are murdered who recently had contact with him. A loner beset by nightmares living in a messy apartment above the gym where he boxes to keep in shape, Joe begins to investigate to clear his name. Though the usually reliable Hamilton nicely evokes life in Kingston and the Hudson River landscape, this search for a psychopathic killer disappoints with repetitive dead ends and a clichéd wounded protagonist who brings on the terrifying climax by working with no backup. Author tour. (Sept.)

In this fast-paced, thought-provoking debut novel, McKay, a psychologist who works with humanitarian relief, explores injustice, religious reconciliation, suffering and faith through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl whose mission trip goes tragically awry. For Cori and a team of Christian teens, building a church in Indonesia sounds like a fun project. After an overly long prologue, McKay describes how they journey to the island of Seram and bond with the Indonesian villagers. However, even as they put the finishing touches on the newly built church, Muslim and Christian tensions flare, culminating in a horrific tragedy witnessed by Cori and her friends. They flee through the mountainous jungle, hoping to escape the escalating hostilities. McKay’s carefully chosen words, devoid of unnecessary sentiment, lend power to her story. The external hardships the characters face on their trek are secondary to the internal struggles they battle over how a loving God could let terrible things happen; and why their sacrificial choice to give up a summer to help others would cost them more than they ever dreamed. While written from a Christian perspective, McKay gives an evenhanded treatment to Muslims, showing that violence and hatred transcend religious boundaries. This is one of Christian fiction’s best novels of the year. (Sept.)

Among the most experimental of Cela’s works, this audacious and provocative novel tells the story of the 1881 shootout at the OK Corral from the perspective of Wendell Liverpool Espana, the uneducated, bastard son of a prostitute. Structured as a monologue comprising a single 250-page-plus-long sentence, the book weaves together hundreds of characters, both fictional and real (Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, etc.), to create a vivid and frequently grotesque picture of the American Southwest. Scatological and crude sexual references abound, as do graphic depictions of racism, murder and death, sometimes all at once (“[I]t must be funny—a Negro hanged by the neck with his cock pretty hard, his tongue sticking out, and a flower in his lapel”). Given its harsh imagery and unwieldy narrative structure, the book is not for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, as a significant example of Cela’s themes and stylistic inventiveness, scholars and fans will consider it an important addition to the author’s English-translated works. (Sept.)

Wilhelm’s sharp ninth Barbara Holloway legal thriller (after 2006’s Sleight of Hand) proves compelling action can take place outside a courtroom. A not entirely welcome marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Darren, inspires Barbara to head to a remote California cabin for some time to herself. Her getaway is interrupted by a boy seeking help for his injured mother. Barbara goes to get help and comes back to find that the two have vanished. They turn out to be Elizabeth and Jason Kurtz, on the run after discovering Elizabeth’s ex-husband’s family business, the Diedricks Corp., has been involved in illegal activities that could derail a planned billion-dollar Swiss buyout. When Elizabeth resurfaces in Eugene, Ore., Barbara agrees to meet her, only to find Elizabeth has been shot dead and Jason is missing. Barbara comes under increasing scrutiny from the Kurtz family and the police as she struggles to solve the bewildering puzzle. Wilhelm’s smooth style, sans graphic violence or sex, provides a cool alternative to overheated blockbusters. (Sept.)

A listless part-time teacher and writer of pornographic novels helps his elderly father quench a decades-old thirst for revenge in Duncan’s sixth novel (after Death of an Ordinary Man). Anglo-Indian narrator Owen Monroe, long accustomed to his quasi-bohemian lifestyle in contemporary London, has been hearing from his father, Ross, for years about the devious Skinner, the English con man who, decades before, ruined Ross’s Olympic boxing dreams. Though Skinner disappeared, Ross has never given up hope of finding him, but it is Owen’s chance discovery in a library (a novel by a pseudonymous author Owen and Ross believe to be Skinner) that finally gives them a lead. Posing as a literary scholar, Owen tries to arrange an interview with the author, but ends up instead in bed (repeatedly) with the author’s daughter, Janet. As Owen continues his investigation, Duncan cuts back to pre- and post-partition India, where Ross, a railroad worker, first encounters Skinner and eventually becomes unwisely involved in a scheme to boost freight from a train Ross and his longtime friend Eugene work on. The plan’s consequences are far-reaching for all involved and propel the novel toward a surprisingly anticlimactic conclusion. Though the narrative sometimes feels coyly deceptive, Duncan’s polished, merciless and frequently hilarious prose supplies a trove of pleasures all its own. (Aug.)

A coincidence so improbable that a character comments on it renders bestseller Kellerman’s 16th novel to feature Lt. Peter Decker of the LAPD and wife Rina Lazarus (after 2003’s Street Dreams) one of the series’ lesser entries. After a commuter airplane crashes into an apartment building shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport, Decker and his team investigate what many fear was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the parents of Roseanne Dresden, a flight attendant, suspect that their daughter was murdered by her stockbroker husband, Ivan, who claims his wife joined the doomed flight at the last minute. Roseanne was considering divorce, and Ivan stood to lose financially. As the probes into the crash and into Roseanne’s fate converge, readers will find it a challenge to suspend disbelief. Fans of the extended Decker-Lazarus clan will enjoy catching up with old friends, but those looking for a plausible police procedural may be disappointed. (Aug.)

Casey’s mellow third Alafair Tucker whodunit (after 2006’s Hornswoggled) is as laid-back as its 1914 Oklahoma setting. Alafair, farmer’s wife and busy mother to a flock of youngsters, searches grimly for a killer after mysterious gunmen shoot her brother-in-law Bill McBride and abduct and rape Laura Ross, Bill’s fiancée, while they’re out riding with Alafair’s daughters, Mary and Ruth. Mary, who suffered a head injury from a stray bullet, struggles to remember a “mighty important thought” that might help identify the miscreants. Even the Tuckers’ once trusted farm hands, Kurt and Micah, fall under suspicion as another attempt is made to end Laura’s life. Cousin Scott, the sheriff, is leaving no stone unturned in his official investigation, but he’s quietly confident that Alafair will use her skills and intuition to ferret out a solution. Casey gives convincing voice to the early Midwest much as Sharyn McCrumb does for her Appalachians, including period recipes that help to convey the literal flavor of the era. (Oct.)

Derringer Award–winner White’s engrossing, evocative debut novel will grab most readers from its opening sentences: “I’ve killed three men in my life. One the police know about, two that I’ve kept to myself.” New Jersey ex-cop Jackson Donne is about to use profits from his PI business to fund a bachelor’s degree when his closest friend, Korean War vet Gerry Figuroa, is killed in a hit-and-run. Reluctantly investigating the accident, Donne finds evidence that Figuroa may have been supplementing his actor’s income by manufacturing crystal meth, and soon suspicious ties appear to an apparently unrelated adultery and divorce case. White manages to make improbable plot twists seem plausible, and his choice to alternate Donne’s slightly unhinged first-person narration with the third-person perspective of New Brunswick Police Det. Bill Martin, Donne’s despicably corrupt former partner and nemesis, works surprisingly well. Fans of hard-hitting, uncompromising private investigators will hope that Donne ditches his college dreams and continues to pound the pavement. (Sept.)

Albert’s charming fourth Beatrix Potter mystery (after 2006’s The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood) finds our heroine unexpectedly in possession of a foundling child, Baby Flora. The reader knows the mysteriously twinkly Mrs. Overthewall stole Flora from her teenage mother, Emily, a maid at the gloomy and possibly haunted Hawthorn House, and left her on the Potter doorstep, but Beatrix—not having read the prologue—suspects the child of having gypsy origins. Capt. Miles Woodcock and his sister, Dimity, gladly give Flora a new home, leaving Beatrix to solve the mystery of her old one. Other thoughts of families and youngsters abound: Jemima Puddleduck broods over a nest of long overdue eggs; Reynard the Fox struggles with his unnatural fondness for Jemima; and the village gossips bring all their matchmaking powers to bear on Beatrix and the highly eligible Captain Woodcock. The whimsical blend of romance, mystery and nostalgia will keep cozy fans happily entertained. (Sept.)

At the start of Jungstedt’s somber, subtle second mystery set on the Swedish island of Gotland (after 2006’s Unseen), Det. Supt. Anders Knutas and his team look into the murder of the alcoholic former news photographer Henry Dahlström. In the course of their investigation, they discover evidence not only that the man maintained a good income doing illegal repair work for most of Gotland’s leading citizens but that his death may somehow be linked to missing 14-year-old Fanny Jansson. Meanwhile, Johan Berg, a Stockholm news reporter, tries to keep his bosses interested in Dahlström’s murder so he can take trips to Gotland to visit his married lover, Emma Winarve. With solid characters and powerful descriptions of the dark Swedish winter, this newest entry in the great tradition of Scandinavian police procedurals provides an engaging and twisty narrative that will fool even the most attentive reader. (Sept.)

Sophie Katz flirts with dirty politics and a certain Russian PI in Davis’s cool but sometimes overcaffeinated third chick lit cozy (after 2006’s Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights). A simple favor for Sophie’s college mentor Melanie O’Reilly turns into an investigation after Melanie’s husband, former FBI agent Eugene, is killed in a drive-by shooting. Sophie teams with ex-lover boy Anatoly Darinsky, a licensed San Francisco PI, to crack the case. Eugene had been working as a crackerjack researcher for Flynn Fitzgerald, a conservative Republican running against liberal Democrat Anne Brooke in a hotly contested congressional race. As the killer begins stalking Sophie, she discovers one of the candidates is connected to “the dark underbelly of the furry world” inhabited by fetishists who dress up in animal costumes and get it on with stuffed toys. Wry sociopolitical commentary, the playful romantic negotiations between Anatoly and Sophie and plenty of Starbucks coffee keep this steamy series chugging along. (Sept.)

Emerson’s engrossing 16th-century mystery (her 11th, after 2006’s Face Down Beside St. Anne’s Well) plunges readers into the middle of Scottish domestic drama and political intrigue from the first page. Series heroine Susanna, Lady Appleton, is distressed to learn that her friend Catherine has gone missing. Catherine’s mother-in-law, Jean, was found strangled after the two women got into a fight, and though Susanna is sure of her friend’s innocence, Catherine could be executed if found guilty of murder. To make matters even more complicated, Catherine was last seen with a woman who once had an affair with Sir Appleton; her daughter has been spirited away by her nurse, Avise; and her son is trapped in Stirling Castle, a reluctant schoolmate of young King James. Vividly realized strong female characters, well-paced plot, seamless dialogue and intriguing historical details add up to a compelling period tale. (Sept.)

Veteran Carl brings Great Scot reporter Jean Fairbairn and ex-cop Alasdair Cameron to the hills of the Scottish border in their engaging third outing (after The Murder Hole). Alasdair, now a security guard at crumbling, haunted Ferniebank Castle, and Jean, on assignment to do a story about the history and legends of the castle before its transformation into a spa and conference center, anticipate a romantic two-week idyll. Then a councilor in the nearby town of Stanelaw goes missing, as does a folk harp once played for Mary, Queen of Scots. When three people die in quick succession, the lovers dive into a dangerous and intriguing investigation. Authentic dialect (marred only by too-frequent clichés), detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present. (Sept.)

Fans of Edgar-winner Maron’s reliably pleasing Deborah Knott series will be glad to see the North Carolina judge back on the bench in this intriguing 13th mystery (after 2006’s Winter’s Child). Deborah has to decide a high-stakes divorce case with a no-show husband as well as preside over a growing caseload involving migrant workers pitted against locals. Meanwhile, body parts begin to appear in rural Colleton County that turn out to belong to Buck Harris, a farmer known for his exploitation of cheap immigrant labor who happens to be Deborah’s missing divorce plaintiff. When Knott’s new husband, sheriff’s deputy Dwight Bryant, investigates the immigrants living on the Harris farm, he uncovers a sequence of events that suggest something much more damaging than the sheer indifference the victim had shown to his workers. As Deborah adjusts to becoming the stepmother of Dwight’s motherless eight-year-old son, Cal, her large extended family debates the future of their own family farm. Readers will eagerly await further developments in the next book. (Aug.)

This breezy collaboration between Perrin (Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa) and Mott (Man from Montana), the first in a new series, introduces Lexie Muller and Hailey McGraw, 30-year-old high school best friends who reunite in Miami. After celebrating at a strip club, the two stumble on the body of a male stripper, whose female impersonator lover turns out to be related to Gina Coletti, owner of a used-book store about to go out of business. On impulse, Lexie and Hailey decide to buy the bookstore, but before they can throw the grand opening of Nothing but Lies (they sell only fiction), they find Gina’s bloody body in the store room. Not trusting the local authorities to solve either murder, the pair launch their own investigation, closely followed by a funny undercover cop with a crush on Hailey. Lexie, African-American city girl, and Hailey, Anglo country girl, alternate narratives nearly seamlessly in a cute chick lit debut that might better have been titled How to Catch a Killer and Open a Bookstore in 10 Days. (Aug.)

By turns deliriously romantic and richly melancholic, Guran’s second anthology (after Best New Paranormal Romance) reprints 15 stories originally published in 2006 that explore the phantasmagoria of fantastic romance. Guran’s shift from “Paranormal Romance” to “Romantic Fantasy” means selections “do not necessarily deal with the establishment or continuance of a relationship,” signaling increased efforts to appeal to fantasy readers. Standouts include three seaside treats: M. Rickert’s breath-stealing ghost tale, “Journey into the Kingdom”; Sonya Taaffe’s hypnotic “The Depth Oracle”; and Sandra McDonald’s wistful story about a young mother’s yearnings concerning “The Mountains of Key West.” Also notable are Angela Boord’s bittersweet woodland fairy dream, “Evergreen”; Vera Nazarian’s bright delight, “The Story of Love”; and Delia Sherman’s gorgeous Parisian ode to the addictive charms of “La Fée Verte.” While these offerings from an impressive crew of fantasy heavyweights may not be jam-packed with happy-ever-afters, they explore the many worlds of fantastic romance with passion and panache. (Sept.)

Schroeder’s ambitious sequel to 2006’s Sun of Suns further explores Virga, the vast enclosed realm containing a miniature cosmos of floating worlds, wheellike townships and intriguing mysteries about the construct’s origins and creators. Heated and lit by numerous artificial suns, the individual populations have evolved on divergent paths. When the delightfully amoral Venera Fanning finds herself on Spyre, an ancient and decaying cylindrical world that’s slowly breaking apart, and realizes the Key of Candesce could not only unlock the secrets of a long-lost technology but also destroy entire worlds, she inadvertently disrupts Spyre’s delicate political balance and rigid cultural mores and ignites a revolution. Comparable to classic SF epics like John Varley’s Gaean trilogy and Jack L. Chalker’s Well of Souls series, Schroeder’s saga is an awe-inspiring example of masterful world-building. A myriad of themes, from rogue artificial intelligences to the evolution of human bodies and culture, make this futuristic epic one to reckon with. (Aug.)

Full of paranormal passion, Sunny’s fast-paced first in a new erotic fantasy series, the Demon Princess Chronicles, introduces Lucinda, a 600-year-old demon princess who’s getting bored with her long unlife. At least she has an official duty to pass the time: seeking out wayward demons and returning them to Hell. Lucinda finds herself attracted to Stefan, a renegade warrior of the alien Monère, but before they can get too cozy, duty calls and she must track down another rogue, Nico. She brings Nico to his cruel queen, but then claims him for her own along with Talon, a maltreated Floradëur, “a flower of darkness,” whose blood gives demons more power. The whole crew goes to Hell to recharge Lucinda’s supernatural batteries and return Talon to his own kind, with Derek, a dangerous demon who wants Talon back, in pursuit. Sunny (Mona Lisa Awakening) has created a Hell reminiscent of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels trilogy and the fiction of Laurell K. Hamilton. (Aug.)

Set 15 years after the events of 2006’s A Shadow in Summer, Abraham’s clever second novel follows the tribulations of Otah Machi, the sixth son of the Khai Machi. On the demise of the Khai, one son must dispose of all other contenders in order to become the new ruler. Exiled years ago for refusing to become a magic-wielding poet, Otah made his home far from Machi, changed his name to Itani, worked as a laborer and never interfered in affairs of state, hoping to escape the kill-or-be-killed tradition. Now the old Khai’s death approaches, and Otah’s oldest brother, Biitrah, has been smothered in his sleep. Whispered rumor—which may have been started by the Galts, an empire desperate to destroy the house of Machi—puts the blame for the murder on Otah. He returns to Machi, grimly acknowledging that he must kill his brothers to save himself. Mystery, love triangles and struggles with magical creatures called andat make for a slow-starting but well-rounded story. (Aug.)

At the start of this readable light entry in McCaffrey and Scarborough’s popular Acorna series (Acorna’s Rebels, etc.), Acorna’s long-lost daughter, Korii, and Korii’s twin, Ariin, travel through time and space in search of the secret of the plague that’s endangering galactic civilization. With them is their faithful cat, Khiindi, who turns out to be a good deal more than he seems. After plenty of stirring adventures, the twins find that the secret of the plague lies in the elder race known as the Ancestral Friends, in particular in one not-so-friendly Lord Odus. The time traveling is almost too easy, and the book isn’t for newcomers despite the comprehensive glossary and notes, but series fans will appreciate the authors’ genuine feeling for their human characters as well as for cats and dragons. (Aug.)

Bestseller Feehan’s steamy and dreamy 18th Carpathian novel (after 2006’s Dark Celebration) explores the erotic allure of ancient shape-shifters, Brazilian rain forests and vampires. Manuel “Manolito” De La Cruz, one of those dark, irresistible Carpathian hunks who can only thrive with one woman by his side, has found his life mate in MaryAnn Delaney, a Seattle counselor for battered women who flies to his Brazilian family compound to help a pregnant rape victim. It takes a while for MaryAnn to accept Manolito’s love, as Feehan, with her usual expertise, draws out the foreplay between the two. Feverish jungle encounters with Jaguar-men and MaryAnn’s shocking discovery of her inner werewolf add spice, while growing tensions in the Carpathian world create other problems. Feehan’s combo platter of danger, fantasy and wild, uninhibited romance continues to sizzle. (Aug.)

Incredibly vivid lead characters, earthy writing and an intense love story buoy the third entry in Hoyt’s Georgian-set romance series (following The Leopard Prince), which kicks off with Lucy Craddock-Hayes’s page-one discovery of Viscount Simon Iddesleigh in a ditch near her home, naked and beaten almost to death. Though her blustery father fears for Lucy’s virtue, they take the battered man in, and the insightful, beautiful Lucy is soon as drawn to the handsome, witty gentleman as he is to her. But Simon’s mission, to avenge the death of his brother, pulls him in two opposing directions: his soul-deep need for revenge and his desire to protect Lucy. The exquisite romance, flawed slightly by a dearth of historical details, is touched by Hoyt’s mesmerizing storytelling; in a less talented writer, the love story could easily have been overwhelmed by the revenge subplot, but Hoyt skillfully uses Lucy and Simon’s internal and external conflicts—including the threats against their lives—to enhance her love story. (Sept.)

Grief counselor Tally Whyte is back, this time taking some well-deserved time off to deal with her own grief, having lost her mother (who’s also her boss) in her last adventure, The Grief Shop. When Tally returns to work for a visit, though, she finds herself unable to keep away from a highly unusual case: an ancient Anasazi clay pot with a contemporary human skull trapped inside—a skull Tally suspects belongs to her friend. When another friend of hers really does get murdered, and the pot and skull are stolen, Tally swings into action. Despite boyfriend (and cop) Hank Cunningham’s attempts to stop her, Tally sets out for the southwestern site of the pot’s discovery, determined to unravel the mystery. Unfortunately, tedium takes over early; besides the predictable everything-she-thought-she-knew-was-wrong plot twist, the narrative is short on conflict. Even as the body count grows, Stiefel roots Tally in place for much of the story, endlessly bickering with men trying to stop whatever course of action she’s decided on; the resolution, when it comes, is entirely contrived to thwart reader’s attempts to follow the clues, which will leave mystery readers frustrated. (Sept.)

The battle of the sexes tests more than just wills in this charming Victorian whodunit romance, the third installment in DeHart’s Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society series. The handsome and cocky Insp. James Sterling is known for his anything-goes daring-do, often implementing illegal but successful strategies to catch criminals, a habit that angers his superiors—and frustrates his new partner, by-the-rules Willow. Willow Mabson is a dutiful daughter with a secret penchant for crime solving; she fulfills her Sherlockian impulses with the help of her three closest friends, who make up the aforementioned Sleuth Society. After the inspector challenges her, the two put their heads together to solve the case of a murdered society photographer. James learns to see past Willow’s homely facade, discovering a passionate, intelligent and curvaceous lady beneath. When the investigation strikes close to home, however, Willow must re-evaluate her values, the strength of her family bonds and the importance love plays in her life. Though the romance proves predictable, DeHart’s thoroughly enjoyable mystery bolsters it nicely, which should make this a pleasure for fans of the off-beat series. (Aug.)

Novak’s latest Stillwater novel (after Dead Giveaway) revisits the small Mississippi town, where journalist/newspaper owner Madeline Barker is still seeking closure two decades after the disappearance of her father, a town minister. When police find her missing father’s Cadillac submerged in a quarry outside of town, Maddy is determined to discover, finally, what really happened. Maddy hires L.A. private eye Hunter Solozano to solve the case, but neither expects to find romance: Hunter is an embittered divorcé, and Maddy recently broke up with a domineering boyfriend. While their relationship simmers, Hunter discovers some disturbing truths about Maddy’s father and his domestic life; before long, a series of sinister phone calls and a botched robbery raise the stakes. Strong characters bring the escalating suspense to life, and the mystery is skillfully played out. Novak’s smooth plotting makes for a great read, but the conclusion, though organic, has perhaps too much shine and not enough surprise. (Aug.)

This short story collection by the popular author of the Boys’ Love manga Antique Bakery and Solfege presents five intriguing tales of turbulent male romance. In the title story, a successful young doctor whose parents are eager to see him settle down faces his repressed feelings for a needy male friend. “My Eternal Sweetheart” tells of a man-hungry teenager who uses his older brother’s genius at making androids—here called “sexaroids”—to create an all-male bevy of sexual playmates, and things take an unexpected, disturbing turn. In “Fairyland,” the last two people on a deserted earth find each other, try to make sense out of their bleak situation and collide with the tragedies of loneliness and alienation. A May-December marriage and its collapse is the focus of “One May Day,” and “Pianist” traces a musical prodigy’s rise and fall, punctuated with promiscuity and hubris. Each vignette is emotive and thought provoking, showcasing Yoshinaga’s superior storytelling and strong characterization, and showing why she’s one of the stars of this popular genre. (July)

Readers will find this book doing strange and wonderful things to their minds. Imagine someone going through old magazines and stopping whenever an unusual picture or story catches his attention. Then imagine this reader taking the time to cut out the oddities and stick them in a file folder. And finally imagine someone selecting the most unusual, striking things out of a drawer filled with such folders and printing them in an elegantly designed, lovingly printed anthology. Arf Forum features Max Ernst’s surrealist collages (a man with the head of an Easter Island statue cavorting in various melodramatic scenes) as well as a sleazy photo story from the early 1940s about a visit to a comics studio where girls pose in their underwear. Yoe’s warm memoir of a meeting with cartoonist Bill Holman (Smoky Stover) shows the modern audience how dazzling this comic strip was, while a piece about ultra-obscure artist William Ekgren (known only for three covers) offers a tantalizing glimpse of an unfulfilled talent. Yoe fills this volume to the gills: Stan Lee on irate readers, Italian cartoonist Kremos’s girly cartoons, a photo of Elvis reading a Betty and Veronica comic. There’s no overall theme here except “Isn’t this cool!” but that’s enough; it is cool. (July)

The second installment of the popular Kingdom Hearts video game series makes its way into print as a manga adaptation. Readers follow Roxas, an energetic young boy enjoying his last days of summer vacation, as he struggles to understand the mysterious dreams of a boy named Sora and the appearance of a group of monsters whom fans will recognize as reminiscent of the “heartless” of the first Kingdom Hearts. Together with his friends Hayner, Olette and Pence, Roxas soaks up the last precious moments of summer, while forces of good and evil conspire to disrupt these peaceful, lazy days. Amano faithfully translates this popular and complicated video game into a manga. The adaptation is very well done, effectively blending battle sequences and in-game fights into elements of a bigger story. New readers will be able to follow along without any complications or knowledge of the first Kingdom Hearts, although the existing fanbase may be put off or bored by the literal translation of game to manga. (July)

Very occasionally a computer game, or even just the idea of one, is enough of a grabber to justify getting the comic book treatment. That’s the case with Hellgate: London, a collection of the four-issue series based on the as-yet-unreleased video game from the makers of the wildly popular Diablo computer game. In 2020, London serves as the unfortunate entry point into the human world for an armada of slavering demons from some vile Lovecraftian dimension. The always handy Knights Templar (yep, still around, only now equipped with modern weapons and hypermodern armor) try to head off the demons, but no luck, and the city becomes a charnel house. Cut to many years later, and the city is a Terminator-style wasteland of ashes and bones, while the human resistance continues underground. Much of the plot involves the fragile alliance between the competing human factions, envisioned in strictly medieval fantasy terms. As befitting any game (or soon-to-be game) turned comic, the emphasis is strictly on action, not to mention explicating the different types of characters and weapons likely to be used by players. To that end, Pugh’s artwork is extremely energetic, but Edginton’s text is strictly off the shelf. (July)

Signature

Reviewed by Jennifer Gilmore

Tom Perrotta knows his suburbia, and in The Abstinence Teacher he carves out an even larger chunk of his distinct terrain. Set in the northeastern suburb of Stonewood Heights, Perrotta’s sixth book takes on the war between the liberals and the evangelists.

When single mother Ruth Ramsay, the sex ed teacher at the local high school, tells her class that oral sex can be enjoyable, the Tabernacle of the Gospel Truth church begins its crusade. Believable or not, the school agrees to an abstinence curriculum and in marches JoAnn Marlowe with her blonde hair and pumps to instill in Ruth the tenets of the new program. Gone are the days of rolling a condom over a cucumber; now Ruth is required to promote restraint, which she does wearily and halfheartedly.

These are heady days, when students rat out their teachers and the local soccer coach—Ruth’s daughter is on his team—is a divorced ex-druggie and active Tabernacle member. When Tim leads the team in prayer, Ruth wrenches her daughter from the circle and the hostility between the opposing camps grows.

Who is bad and who is good? Ruth’s youthful promiscuity rises slowly to the surface, while Tim’s struggle to stay sober makes him constantly confront his past. He’s lost his wife and daughter—also on the soccer team—to his addictions, but now he’s clean and married to a Tabernacle girl. His Jesus-loving ways, however, are in direct conflict with his desires, rendering him the most complex and likable character. When he loses his own battle with abstinence at a poker party, the finest scene in the novel culminates with his keying “Jesus” across the hood of an SUV parked in the drive. Ruth would gladly have sex if it would only come her way, and she also drinks on school nights. A less well-drawn complement to Tim, Ruth is a tolerant liberal with a newly toned body who plays therapist to her gay friends, but who can’t accept that her children are interested in Jesus.

The lesson is that everybody must give up something. Even Ruth’s ex-lover, once a pudgy trumpet player, no longer eats to maintain his abs of steel. So what is lost when we cannot succumb to our desires? Who then do we become? The book is rife with Perrotta’s subtle and satiric humor (the Tabernacle is seen as a place of diversity, while the punks, Deadheads and headbangers of Tim’s past are all predictably the same), but these questions get lost as the plot winds down. Issues of sex and religion that have shaken the town become, in the end, the story of what Ruth and Tim’s newly forged relationship will soon become. (Oct.)

Jennifer Gilmore is the author of the novel Golden Country, which will be out in paperback in September.