Fiction Reviews: Week of 10/8/2007

Anthropology doctoral student Dovey's smart debut novel traces events in the lives of three functionaries in the entourage of the president of an unnamed country who is overthrown by the “Commander.” Dovey divides the book into three sections. The first section is devoted to the three men: the president's chef, barber and portraitist. The second section is told by three women: the chef's daughter, the barber's late brother's fiancée and the portraitist's wife. The third section operates as a coda, bringing about a second coup. The Commander imprisons the three men in the presidential residence, thinking, at first, of punishing them as subordinates to the old regime. (The portraitist's wife is also imprisoned, for reasons that are obvious to everyone but the cuckolded portraitist.) However, as the Commander samples the chef's food and the barber's skills, he softens his stance toward them. As for the portraitist, he proves too pathetic to punish. Meanwhile, the barber and the Commander's wife commence a dangerous affair, and the chef tries to figure out how to use it to his advantage. Dovey's prose gives the events an air of magic and allows this small, fable-like story to plainly illustrate the old axiom about power's ability to corrupt. (Mar.)

Carey, who has made a career out of boring into the psyches of scoundrels, delivers a cunning fugitive adventure set largely in the wilds of Australia. Raised by his boho-turned-bourgeois grandmother on New York's Upper East Side, Che Selkirk, seven years old in 1972, hasn't seen his Weathermenesque parents since he was a toddler, but when a young woman who calls herself Dial walks into Che's apartment one afternoon, he believes his mother has finally come. Within two hours, Dial and Che are on the lam and heading for Philly as Che's kidnapping hits the news. Unexpected trouble strikes, and soon the boy and Dial, who doesn't know how or if to tell Che that she is only a messenger who was supposed to escort him to meet his mother, land in a hippie commune in the Australian outback. The novel sags as Dial, with the help of local illiterate “feral hippie” Trevor, tries to make the primitive living situation work; the drama consists largely of commune infighting and the travails of living without running water, but the narrative eventually regains its thrust and barrels toward a bang-up conclusion. While this novel lacks the boldness of Theft or the sweep of Oscar and Lucinda, it's still a fine addition to the author's oeuvre. (Feb.)

At the start of Sewell's intriguing if uneven debut, Dafydd Woodruff, a surgeon in present-day Cardiff, Wales, receives a letter from a 13-year-old girl claiming to be his daughter and to have a twin brother. Flashback 14 years to Moose Creek, a tiny outpost in Canada's Northwest Territories, where Dafydd took a year-long post to clear his conscience after botching the surgery of a young boy in Wales. In that isolated community, Dafydd met Sheila Hailey, an acerbic head nurse, who would later accuse him of fathering her twins. Predictably, Dafydd returns to Moose Creek after learning that the DNA test he demanded proves he's the father of Sheila's children. In his bumbling efforts to unearth the truth about the past, the empathetic Dafydd stumbles on long-buried town secrets. Despite her unusual locale and a strong supporting cast, Sewell is less sure at creating suspense, often stretching out moments of little narrative importance and skimming over others that later prove vital. Still, readers will find this first novel, which was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger Award, compulsively readable. (Feb.)

Tyrannies large and small dominate Klimasewiski's powerful stories, from the real-life dictators who feature in two stories (the title story and opener “Nobile's Airship”) to domestic wars fought over kitchen tables and via long-distance phone calls. Three stories depict with a cold precision the bitterness, bottled rage and emotional aloofness that flow through three generations of WASPs after a family tragedy: Henry, a working-class college dropout, is charmed by the iciness of the blue-blooded parents of his girlfriend (and, later, wife) Angela, each parent differently affected by the long-ago drowning of their sons. Henry and Angela's marriage has its share of similarities to her parents', and their son grows up to be more like his father than either of them would have liked. Another series of three stories follows a young couple: Tanner, who's American and Jun Hee, who's Korean, as they build a “comfortable isolation” from the weight of family expectations and the pain of separation, only to find their isolation more costly than they had expected. The collection is bookended by two strange stories of early aeronauts: one, the captain of a dirigible on an Arctic mission for Mussolini, the other, an early ballooning pioneer. Klimasewiski (The Cottagers) has talent to spare; every story is good. (Feb.)

Abandoned by her father and having unfulfilling sex with the married man whose children she babysits, Shivana Montgomery, 15, “already knew what it felt like to feel nothing.” Living in subsidized housing on Chicago's South Side, Shivana is soon enough pregnant. She fears confessing to her mother, considers abortion and finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with a neighborhood boy who just might be her “heart love”—and also with her own unborn baby. The spirit of this unborn child is a character in its own right, telling a story that spans centuries and offers tragic glimpses into the truncated lives of black children. The fetus's wise, sometimes heavy-handed narration grounds Shivana's story within a sad legacy, through slavery, lynching and ongoing racism to a modern world where reproductive choice is a myth, virtually all children are unwanted, and The Cosby Show is the ultimate fairy tale. At its best, the novel balances a bitter stocktaking with a sorrowful lyricism. (Feb.)

An apartment on West 106th Street (aka Ellington Boulevard) links a disparate group of New Yorkers in this intricate tale of life, love and real estate. Ike Morphy, a rent-controlled tenant at 84 West 106th Street, learns his apartment is being sold by hard-luck magnet Mark Masler, who, after inheriting the building from his deceased real estate developer father, learns Ike never signed a legal lease. Ike isn't happy about giving up the cheap digs so close to Central Park, where he walks his adopted pooch, Herbie Mann. (Herbie has his own history with the ensemble that swirls around the apartment.) Columbia “veteran teaching assistant” Darrell Schiff and his ambitious magazine editor wife, Rebecca Sugarman, meanwhile, are looking to move out of their cramped student housing apartment and into somewhere with enough space for “an as-yet-unconceived child.” Their broker, part-time actor Josh Dybnick, is hot to make a commission that'll put him closer to his dream of opening his own theater. Langer (Crossing California; The Washington Story) takes his time in developing the characters and the depths of their interconnectedness, rendering the twists, doubts and heartbreaks that afflict the milieu highly affecting. For readers who turn first on Sunday morning to the real estate section, it doesn't get much better. (Jan.)

The wildly imaginative Reilly has taken inspiration from comics, video games, movies, thrillers and Code-style puzzle novels to create this rocket-fueled sequel to his 7 Deadly Wonders. After completing a 10-year mission to acquire the Golden Capstone of the Great Pyramid from what's left of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Jack West Jr. has retired to the Australian outback to raise his adopted daughter, Lily. Jack's pal, Professor Max T. Epper, known as Wizard, has discovered that the Dark Sun, a mysterious heavenly body, is due to emerge in nine days, triggering the Apocalypse. Ultimate disaster can only be averted if someone can locate the six legendary Pillars, cleanse them with the Philosopher's Stone and insert them in the 6 Vertices, thereby causing the Great Machine to power on and negate the fatal blast from the Dark Sun. If anyone can perform these Herculean labors, it's Reilly's resourceful hero. A pervasive tongue-in-cheek quality (one that extends to the low tech–looking maps and illustrations) will help readers find this outlandish adventure thrilling. (Jan.)

Millet proves no less lyrical, haunting or deliciously absurd in her brilliant sixth novel than in her fifth, the acclaimed Oh Pure & Radiant Heart. As a boy, T. keeps his distance from others, including his loving but vacant parents, preferring to explore his knack for turning a dollar. Before long, he's a wealthy but lonely young real estate developer in L.A. Just after he adopts, on impulse, a dog from the pound, his mother shows up and announces that T.'s father has left her. His mother, increasingly erratic, moves in; meanwhile, T. finally meets and falls in love with Beth, a nice girl who understands him, but a cruel twist of fate soon leaves him alone again. As his mother continues to unravel, T. finds unexpected consolation in endangered animals at the zoo, and he starts breaking into pens after hours to be closer to them. The jungle quest that results, while redolent of Heart of Darkness and Don Quixote, takes readers to a place entirely Millet's own, leavened by very funny asides. At once an involving character study and a stunning meditation on loss—planetary and otherwise—Millet's latest unfolds like a beautiful, disturbing dream. (Jan.)

Patricia Reid and Gayle Saunders, the two African-American women who overcame personal and profession obstacles through hard work and enduring friendship in Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made (1997), return for a sequel guaranteed to tug at readers' heartstrings. Once homeless and now raising her daughter, Vanessa, alone, Gayle is the creative force behind the Ell Crawford phenomenon that began with children's books and is about to launch into toy merchandising. Gayle's best friend and business partner, Pat, brings savvy to their business, being the practical one since kindergarten, where they met. While Gayle deals with a rebellious teenager, self-doubt and bulimia, Pat turns to a sympathetic colleague for affection as husband Marcus is distracted by a manipulative 16-year-old named Tiffani Alexander, who claims to be the progeny of a long-ago fling. Meanwhile, Vanessa moves in with her troublesome boyfriend. Success and problems the friends (temporarily) can't bring themselves to talk about threaten to pull Gayle and Pat apart. The authors, themselves longtime friends, take on with gusto the pitfalls of modern life, friendships and entrepreneurship. Women especially will enjoy spending time with Pat and Gayle. (Jan.)

Sakey's second crime novel doesn't quite measure up to his impressive debut, The Blade Itself (2007), but it exhibits many of the same strengths: high-tension action, intricate plotting and a Chicago setting that thrums and pulses with the feel of the city. Jason Palmer, a veteran of the current Iraq war haunted by his experiences, has yet to settle down, unlike his older brother, Michael, who runs a bar in their old South Side Chicago neighborhood and is raising an eight-year-old son, Billy. But when Michael is murdered and Billy threatened, Jason finds himself reacting in the only way he knows—as a soldier. Soldiering, however, is only part of the answer, and Jason has to come to terms with his past, weigh new responsibilities and counter the carnage that gang warfare, political corruption and corporate greed are wreaking on the neighborhood. Sakey, who draws disturbing and thought-provoking parallels between Baghdad and Chicago, provides enough narrow escapes, traps and obstacles to satisfy a Die Hard fan, but enough meat to please readers who demand more than pyrotechnics. Author tour. (Jan.)

In Robinson's stunning 17th suspense novel to feature DCI Alan Banks (after 2006's Piece of My Heart), Banks and his on-again-off-again partner and lover, Det. Insp. Annie Cabbot, race to piece together a string of brutal murders. While on loan to a sister precinct, Cabbot investigates the gruesome death of a paraplegic woman found on a desolate cliff with her throat slit. Back in Eastvale, North Yorkshire, Banks and his team discover the body of a young woman who has been raped and strangled in a shady area of town known as the Maze. At first, there are no obvious connections between the two attacks, but when Cabbot uncovers the chilling identity of the woman on the cliff, she and Banks must once again confront sadistic serial killers Terry and Lucy Payne, last seen in Aftermath (2001). Banks and Cabbot are flawed but empathetic heroes, and readers will be on the edge of their seats as the two explore not only the depths of human depravity but also their own murky relationship. 7-city author tour. (Jan.)

Greenlaw's second novel centers on Juliet Clough, a 20-something Londoner grappling with difficult siblings, a complicated romantic life and uncertain health. Things take a turn for the worse when Juliet's brother Tobias is killed in a traffic accident just after a bomb goes off in London. Much of the novel revolves around the family's attempts to cope with Tobias's death. In the murky days of grief, Juliet takes up with famous, much older and married author Jacob Dart. Though her siblings—Fred, Carlo and Clara—do not approve of the match and Juliet suffers from a vaguely explained and painful illness, she pursues the relationship until decamping for a job in Littlefield, Mass. Her life in Littlefield pokes along until Jacob shows up unannounced, wooing her anew. Meanwhile, back in the U.K., Juliet's siblings meander along: Carlo gets serious with his boyfriend; artist Clara's career gets a boost from Jacob's wife; and Fred, an unevenly successful financier, mostly occupies himself with taking care of his siblings. The surfeit of characters and subplots can be difficult to follow, but Greenlaw's prose, line-by-line, is razor-sharp. The book is a clear pick for fans of Penelope Lively and Margaret Drabble. (Jan.)

A couple of smalltime grifters are taken for a ride by the enticing young woman they choose as an easy mark in this nifty little page-turner from Holden (The Narcissist's Daughter). Young, beautiful and bored Darcy Arlen is in Rome on a group tour of Europe, a gift for her high school graduation. When she comes across young, good-looking Will staring pensively into the Tiber River, she's more than ready for an adventure. Will and his partner/lover Justine, 39, have been on the road for several years, living off small cons and thievery, into which she has initiated him. The duo sees Darcy as a lamb to be shorn, and soon enough the two separate her from her tour, and they all head to Venice and then on to the Greek island of Matala. It slowly becomes clear that Darcy is not the innocent everyone supposes her to be, and the plot morphs into con-man-conned territory. Holden cops out on a few promised revelations, but in the end everything falls nicely into place, adding up to a slick, sexy read. (Jan.)

When Claudia, a 40-something Texas widow, holds a garage sale to offload some of her late husband's belongings, she discovers a note he scribbled in the last days of his illness, asking her to return a bizarre three-foot bust of Elvis Presley to Memphis. Reluctantly, Claudia embarks on a “return to sender” road trip to Tennessee with her 60ish aunt, who knew Elvis personally, and a caustic teenage girl who is harboring a secret. Ellis (who has built a career in romance writing under the name Leanna Wilson) has some strong moments scattered throughout the story, which is laced with over-the-top Elvis humor and interesting reflections on Claudia's cautious return to faith in God. The first half of the novel is an awkward mix of road trip sitcom and overwrought melodrama before jettisoning the humor somewhere after a tour of Graceland. Elvis fans will likely enjoy the homage paid to the King—in addition to the travelogue of sites around Memphis, each chapter is named after an Elvis song—but others will find the gimmicks distracting. Moreover, the writing is marred by theatrical clichés (“sudden tears threaten like the storm clouds popping up on the horizon”). Despite some entertaining scenes in this faith fiction offering, it lacks cohesiveness. (Jan.)

In her moving debut novel, Souza shows the power of love and faith in the friendship of two women while exploring the theological problem of bad things happening to good people. Life is smooth sailing for Angel “Gabby” Whitaker Nevin and her best friend, DeeDee McAllister-Kent, who both married their college sweethearts and have enjoyed their planned child-free lives in California. Then, on the cusp of turning 40, DeeDee gets baby fever and will do anything to become a mother. Gabby rides the roller coaster of infertility as DeeDee desperately tries to conceive, and begins to question her own decision to remain childless. DeeDee's infertility problem is only the beginning of heartache for the two friends, however, as deeper problems create fissures in their well-ordered lives. Throughout, Souza adeptly portrays the strengths of friendship, and the wonderful but often difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. Occasionally, Souza overdetails events, and some unnecessary or needlessly long scenes intrude. Although some readers will find Gabby's acceptance of God's role in DeeDee's suffering coming a little too easily, Souza laudably refuses to succumb to a pat ending that neatly ties up all the loose ends. Souza's poignant story shows promise and should earn her some fans among inspirational fiction readers. (Jan.)

In bestseller Berry's predictable third novel to feature Cotton Malone (after The Alexandria Link and The Templar Legacy), Malone takes on another villain bent on world domination, Irina Zovastina, supreme minister of the Central Asian Federation, who's plotting to use a bioweapon to destroy Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Malone races around the globe trying to find the means to foil the minister, aided by longtime allies Cassiopeia Vitt, an enigmatic and deadly operative, and his former Justice Department boss, Stephanie Nelle. The answer may lie buried with Alexander the Great's remains. Both the good and the bad guys let their opponents live in circumstances that make no sense except to prolong the plot, and the genuine mysteries surrounding the death of Alexander the Great receive short shrift. Despite some pedestrian prose (“He shook his head. Choices. Everybody made them”), this international yarn, full of shoot-outs and explosions, won't disappoint fans of Berry's previous action-packed thrillers. (Dec.)

The second installment in Quinn's planned Venetians trilogy (after The Lion of St. Mark) chronicles the continuing adventures of two leading Venetian families of the Renaissance: the Zianis and the Soranzos. Patriarchs Antonio Ziani and Giovanni Soranzo thought that the generations-old feud between their aristocratic clans was finally ending, but Soranzo's adopted son Enrico “had learned to hate the Zianis” and refuses to relent. Enrico especially hates Antonio's son Constantine, who had won fame fighting the Turks. So when the beautiful Maria Mocenigo—daughter of a high-ranking senator—rejects Enrico for Constantine, Enrico hires a greedy assassin to kill his rival. Meanwhile, the Venetians negotiate a peace treaty with the Turks only to be attacked by a league of Italian states unhappy with the terms of the Venetian treaty. “Exhausted” and “vulnerable,” the Venetians gamble on a risky naval attack that brings the Zianis and Soranzos, at once allies and rivals, into the climactic battle. Quinn's research shows in his grasp of historical detail and local color, but the pacing is uneven, the characters are parchment thin, and the plot contains few surprises. (Dec.)

The slim, moving novel depicts the life of Billy Reilly, a schizophrenic man whose gentle nature and fragile psyche are no match for life in modern Dublin. It's bad enough that Billy is neglected by his parents, treated badly at the halfway house where he lives and marginalized or rejected by society in general. But when Billy is wrongly implicated in the brutal murder of a young vagrant woman, his life becomes a nightmare. His sister, Angela, is the only one who cares enough for Billy to help him have a life of his own, but she is overwhelmed by his worsening condition. Callaghan (The Visitors' Book) paints a bleak picture of the effects of prejudice and discrimination on the mentally ill, simultaneously noting the difficulties even healthy people have in coping with daily life. Without becoming mawkish or preachy, Callaghan delivers an effective indictment of society's failure to care for a vulnerable minority. (Dec.)

Grabien (New-Slain Knight) turns to supernatural crime with an artistic twist in this eerie thriller. Leo Chant and her brother, SFPD Lt. Cassius Chant, join forces to identify Captain Nemo, a psycho who kills pregnant women and then arranges their corpses according to feng shui principles. After Nemo claims a seventh victim in broad daylight, an elderly Chinese eyewitness helps Leo provide the police with a sketch, but the almost demonic features give Leo a shock. Has she seen them before? Digging through old sketchbooks with Mara, her preternaturally wise teenage niece, leads Leo to a dangerous attempt to catch Nemo by entering the “shadowlands of painted reality” through Leo's painting of the killer. Leo's blend of art and magic is a novel and intriguing method for closing cases and will leave readers hoping that a sequel is in the works. (Dec.)

Vibrant, tortured and stubborn memories flood overlapping narratives in this fifth novel from Iraqi novelist Mamdouh, winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Arabic Literature. The morose Nader leaves his wife and young son in Canada to attend to his estranged mother Suhaila, an Iraqi expatriate living in Paris. Suhaila, a charming but depressive former dancer, has fallen into a coma, and her beloved women friends hold prayerful court around her hospital bed. Nader is trapped between a childhood suffocated under Suhaila's adoration of his every bodily function and a manhood haunted by the war-torn homeland that claimed his abusive father. Suhaila's friends simultaneously blame Nader for abandoning his mother and insist that she will “come back” for her son. As the women dote on Suhaila's inert body with melodramatic urgency, the bewildered and beleaguered Nader is seduced into their awed reverence for his mother, longing for her with a fervor that eclipses thoughts of his own family. Written in exile, Mamdouh's meditation on a mother and son fighting against a lifetime of war and estrangement is as colorful as Suhaila's dancing and as enigmatic as her silent, sleeping body. (Dec.)

The author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and The Queen's Bastard returns with a look at the future queen of England before Henry VIII comes into her life. When Anne is nine, her father is sent to France by Henry to conduct state affairs, and brings the family. Beautiful, intelligent and learned, Anne gains the favor of France's kind Queen Claude as well as of the brilliant Marguerite of Savoy, the bright but lecherous Francois I and even Leonardo da Vinci, all before she turns 17. But Anne and her siblings are put upon by her cold and cruel father, Thomas Boleyn, to do whatever he may order to further his interests and those of England. Maxwell's Anne witnesses the devastating effect upon her sister, Mary, and determines to find her own destiny—certainly a rarity in the era. The budding romance between Anne and her paramour Percy is feelingly described, and all the more poignant when one knows the outcome. Maxwell delivers a ripping piece of historical romance. (Nov.)

Oscar Wilde makes a stylish sleuth in this clever series debut from Brandreth, a British author best known as a biographer (John Gielgud: An Actor's Life, etc.). Narrating the tale from his old age, poet Robert Sherard enjoys recalling the summer of 1889, when his friend Wilde was still celebrated and happily married. After discovering the butchered body of handsome young Billy Wood, Wilde fetches Sherard and his new friend Arthur Conan Doyle, but upon returning to the scene, they find neither body nor blood. Wilde and Sherard urge charismatic Scotland Yard Det. Insp. Aidan Fraser to investigate, but without concrete evidence, Fraser refuses to act until another murder occurs. Undeterred, Wilde interviews suspects from Wood's stepfather to his pimp, and sets a trap that helps reveal the truth. Brandreth blends history and invention, integrates a nicely complex solution with entertaining subplots and delivers the whole in witty, precise prose. This tale should please readers partial to period mysteries, literary heroes and deft writing. (Jan.)

The exemplary 10th Inspector Ian Rutledge historical whodunit (after A False Mirror) offers tight plotting and rich characterization amid understated but convincing evocations of post–WWI England. Haunted by memories of battle, unable to find a safe haven after his discharge from a psychiatric hospital and the abrupt departure of his fiancée, shell-shocked veteran Rutledge has returned to his prewar life as a Scotland Yard inspector. This time out, the War Office wants him to locate a mysterious person of interest, connected with (and perhaps the same as) an unidentified corpse found at a Yorkshire abbey. Rutledge toils diligently to uncover personal secrets and shames that may have motivated someone to kill, and their connection to a long-ago romance between the suspected killer's wife and the local inspector investigating the case. The mother and son writing as Charles Todd show no evidence of running out of ideas for murder mysteries that illuminate new aspects of their compelling protagonist and the horrors of the Great War. (Dec.)

Randisi brings back casino pit boss Eddie Gianelli for his fast-paced second adventure in 1960 Las Vegas. Gianelli helped out Dean Martin in Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime (2006), so it's a natural for Dean to call on Gianelli when his buddy Frank (Sinatra) runs into a little problem involving a missing girl. Plenty more names are dropped when the Rat Pack assembles in Vegas, where Dean is performing before the premiere of Ocean's Eleven. There are also plenty of bodies dropping as Gianelli and his New York–based protector, Jerry Epstein, try to locate Frank's girl discreetly. Randisi perfectly captures the glitz, glamour, corruption and crime of the era, using the Rat Pack gang with affectionate respect and considerable acumen. Gianelli and Epstein make an entertaining and effective odd couple, nimbly charting a path beset by stars, capos and cops as they hunt down a gal that somebody wants dead. (Dec.)

O'Hehir's engaging third mystery (after Erased from Memory) finds part-time deputy sheriff Carla Day facing a confusing case. In a California community peopled by aging hippies, prophesying teen Tamina Kerry has fallen to her death—or was she pushed? And what's the talk of babies with special indigo auras? When a man is found with his throat slit after Tamina's funeral, Carla knows she needs to find out fast. O'Hehir's spare prose and dab hand with character development render Carla intriguing and slightly remote; readers will plow eagerly through the story just to get to know her better. Her boss, sheriff Cherie Ghent, is also likable, a blonde fashion plate who manages those around her by playing dumb. Running alongside the crime-solving is Carla's intermittent affair with sweet-talking Rob (whom Cherie stole and then generously gave back) and her devotion to her father, who's losing his memory to Alzheimer's. Carla's filial care-giving balances the West Coast occultism and lends this whodunit emotional heft. (Dec.)

In Simon's energetic third Theda Krakow mystery (after 2006's Cattery Row), freelance music journalist Theda delves into the seamy underside of the club scene and the radical side of animal rights. When Animals Now activist Gail Womynfriend is killed in a hit-and-run, Theda and her pet-sheltering punk rocker friend, Violet, take over Gail's efforts to save feral cats from the brutal Boston winter. The more they investigate the accident, the more they learn about tensions among Animals Now's members, and Theda becomes uncomfortably suspicious of a friend. She's also hunting a dangerous new designer drug making the rounds of music venues and wondering about its connection to an elusive group of musicians who want Theda's attention, but only on their own terms. When her beloved cat, Musetta, goes missing, Theda risks everything to get her back and solve all these mysteries once and for all. Readers will thrill to Theda's engaging adventures in amateur sleuthing. (Dec.)

In Ferris's 11th crafty cozy (after Sins and Needles), former cop Betsy Devonshire, now proprietor of the Crewel World needlework shop in Excelsior, Minn., tries to solve a mystery from home while recovering from a horseback riding accident. At the annual Embroiderers' Guild of America convention, which Betsy missed thanks to her busted leg, National Heart Coalition exec Robert Germaine accepted a check for a substantial charitable donation and then disappeared with it. Betsy reluctantly takes on the case when Germaine's wife begs for her help and Godwin “Goddy” Dulac, Betsy's overeager assistant, offers to do the legwork. Meanwhile, Tony Milan, an ex-con who was planning to mug Germaine for the check, wakes up three days later with a concussion. He's lacking some vital memories thanks to a car wreck, but he knows something's up when he discovers he arrived at the hospital wearing Germaine's suit and watch. Serious mystery readers might yawn at this less than intricate yarn, but Ferris's fans will be charmed. (Dec.)

Taking a break from her Roman historical mystery series (Scorpion Rising, etc.), British author Todd shifts to Sparta in 466 B.C. for this undistinguished whodunit. Lysander, commander of the Spartan secret police known as Krypteia, has coerced Iliona, high priestess of the river deity Eurotas, into gathering intelligence for him. Soon several disappearances, coupled with vague eyewitness reports, awaken fears that the legendary one-eyed giant Cyclops has returned to the area to prey on its inhabitants. The bodies pile up as Iliona searches for the culprit and develops an ambiguous relationship with Lysander. Todd's prose and dialogue are practiced and smooth, but she overuses the gimmick of ending many chapters with a brief passage from the gloating killer's perspective. Modern slang (“Monsters are always so gross”) makes the suspension of disbelief a challenge for all but Todd's most die-hard fans. (Dec.)

The feel-good vibes flourish in this classically cute cozy, the first in a new series to feature feisty grandparents Kitty and Jack Bloodworth of Metropolis, Ill. (home of Superman and Cruse's Metropolis mystery series). When Kitty's cousin Will Ann Lloyd, a meddlesome and widely disliked woman who'd accused Kitty's daughter Sunny of being a tramp, winds up strangled and stuffed in the trunk of Kitty's '57 Chevy, Kitty and Jack are horrified to be among the suspects, as are Sunny and Will Ann's son, Craig. While going through Will Ann's personal effects, Kitty finds a helpful clue, but before she can track down more information, she's run off the road. Her subsequent amnesia dramatically hampers her investigation. Cruse tosses in chatty observations about family and growing older, scanting the unsettling details of death, injury and illness. Although the big “reveal” about the killer might come as no surprise, it's fun to go along for the ride. (Dec.)

Campbell's nightmarish prequel to Scar Night (2006) explores the depths of twisted revenge. Every half-century since the Deepgate year 511, when Henry Bucklestrappe was extracted mysteriously from the temple dungeons and nastily murdered, the hideously scarred angel, Carnival, has slain a Bucklestrappe descendent. Now, in 1012, it is wily old prospector Sal Greene's turn to be a victim. He asks phantasmacist Laccus Ravencrag to summon up the demon Basilis, unexpectedly impotent, to battle Carnival, herself victimized by her own psyche and trapped by the brutal witch Ruby. Campbell meshes pity with terror against the bleak phantasmagoric backdrop of a city suspended from chains, swinging dismally over a yawning abyss. In a civilization literally built upon nothing, dark magic and vengeance are the rule of the day, and Campbell will quickly have readers under his creepy and sometimes heartbreaking spell. (Jan.)

Equal parts short fiction collection and candid retrospective, this second and concluding volume of Martin's shelf-bending compendium highlights a wide variety of his later work, including two stories set in the shared, superhero-laden universe of Wild Cards; “The Hedge Knight,” a prequel to the epic Song of Ice and Fire fantasy saga (A Game of Thrones, etc.); and “Doorways,” an action-packed, exceptionally plotted pilot script for a science fiction television series that never aired. Other notable selections include “Portraits of His Children,” the Nebula-winning story of a self-absorbed writer forced to come face-to-face with the consequences of his own heartlessness, and two outstanding cautionary tales featuring space-faring ecological engineer and savvy opportunist Haviland Tuf. Science fiction, fantasy and horror fans alike will be blown away by the diversity and quality of stories as well as by Martin's extensive and frank commentary about his life and experiences in the publishing and television industries, backed up by a 24-page bibliography. Both physically and thematically immense, this extraordinary collection is one to cherish. (Dec.)

Fans of Kurtz's Chronicles of the Deryni will enjoy this convoluted conclusion to the newly revised trilogy (after Deryni Rising and Deryni Checkmate) originally published some 30 years ago. After much struggle, 14-year-old Kelson Haldane has become the first king of magical Deryni heritage to rule Gwynedd. He still faces trouble, however, from a suspicious Church that doesn't trust magic or anyone of Deryni blood, and from certain nobles who would exploit that distrust. Chief among these is Wencit of Torenth, a sorcerer king who is determined that he, not Kelson, will unite and rule the 11 Kingdoms. As Duke Alaric Morgan and Father Duncan McLain, powerful lords excommunicated for their use of magic, work to reinstate themselves with the Church and gain its support for Kelson, Wencit schemes to weaken Kelson's hold on the throne. With a complicated cast and tension-reducing plot twists, this volume doesn't stand alone well, but series completists will be more than satisfied. (Dec.)

The chilling conclusion to Newcomb's majestic but sometimes ponderous trilogy (after March into Darkness) suggests that the bloody, centuries-old War of Attrition between the countries Rustannica and Shashida may never end. Evil wizard Gracchus Junius is determined to persuade the impoverished Rustannica Emperor Vespasian, whose magical gifts far exceed those of all other Rustannica wizards combined, to destroy Shashida with banned magic and steal all its gold. Meanwhile, Prince Tristan and Princess Shailiha of the distant country Eutracia, talented magicians destined to end the War of Attrition, are struggling to learn to use the magical substance known as “subtle matter” and find the subterranean Azure Sea that will take them to Shashida. Those who haven't read earlier installments and the preceding trilogy may feel a bit lost amid the intricate magical systems and large cast, but Newcomb juggles the various plots and people with aplomb. (Dec.)

Nostalgia-minded readers who yearn for the days of “Doc” Smith's Lensman books will enjoy the third installment (after 2006's Wolf Star) of Meluch's barely modernized space opera series. When the Palatine Empire's home world of Roma Nova almost falls to the voracious, nigh-invulnerable Hive, which travels between the stars in search of organic matter to consume, Caesar Magnus reluctantly subjugates the empire's forces to Capt. John Farragut and the U.S.S. Merrimack. This marriage of convenience is strained when the Legate voices suspicions that the Americans are trying to steal technology developed by long-dead Roman genius Constantine. As Farragut and the Roman cyborg Augustus (who plays a combination of Spock and McCoy to Farragut's Kirk) investigate the Hive infestation, they come to suspect Constantine might be not only alive but in possession of the secret to defeat the Hive. Assassinations, the threat of civil war and a canonically evil villain all keep things hopping in this fast-paced space adventure. (Nov.)

Arranged loosely in order of publication, the 16 diverse selections in this decade-spanning anthology add up to a plausible snapshot of cyberpunk's short-form evolution. Kelly and Kessel (Feeling Very Strange) clearly describe cyberpunk counterculture in a cogent introduction, yet draw only one story from a nongenre source (Greg Egan's “Yeyuka”) and greatly undervalue the subgenre's ability, at its most popular, to reach beyond SF's core audience. While some entries (Charles Stross's “Lobsters”; Cory Doctorow's “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”) focus strongly on techno-geek culture, others apply high-tech ideas in more down-to-earth contexts (Mary Rosenblum's “Search Engine”; Paolo Bacigalupi's “The Calorie Man”). The critical matter is too scant for academic readers and too intrusive for genre fans; discussion of specific stories is extremely sparse, and excerpts from correspondence between Kessel and Bruce Sterling distract rather than enlighten. Readers seeking a thorough critical study should look elsewhere, but those looking for well-told stories will be satisfied. (Nov.)

Kratman (A Desert Called Peace) raises some disquieting questions about what it might take to win the war on terror in this military SF novel set in a future world with obvious parallels to our own. When Salafi fanatics launch a 9/11-style attack on the hated Federated States of Columbia, they end up killing the family of Col. Patricio Carrera. Carrera vows to destroy Salafism by any means necessary and raises an army in his wife's native land to provide that means. He takes the fight to Pashtia, where the planners of his family's doom are cowering. This disturbing but insightful narrative takes Nietzsche's aphorism about staring into the abyss and runs with it to its grim conclusion. As always, Kratman delights in offending left-wing sensibilities, but this will only enhance its appeal to his target audience, who will enjoy it for its realistic action sequences, strong characterizations and thoughts on the philosophy of war. (Nov.)

Thief and con artist Kate, alone and undaunted in 1822 Europe, makes a living hustling the aristocracy as a fortune teller, hoping to save up enough for a countryside cottage where she won't be bothered. While working a party in Rome, she meets beautiful, sophisticated Gian Urbano, who sees through her ruse immediately. When, later, she steals a cursed emerald from a shady figure on the street, she's visited by genuine visions and a powerful, violent woman bent on possessing the gem. Fortunately, Gian wants the emerald, too, and he shows up just in time to save Kate's neck. Kate and Gian set out on an international escapade to return the jewel to its proper place, but it isn't long before an accumulation of uncanny details leads Kate to realize the truth: her guardian is an honest-to-God vampire, and so is the woman after them. Full of colorful characters, romantic locales and vivid details of 1820s life, Squires's newest (following One with the Night) has a delicious pace and plenty of thrills, and her vampire mythos is both mannered—almost Victorian—and intriguingly offbeat. Bound to net a wide audience of paranormal fans, this one may even convert devotees of traditional historicals. (Dec.)

Bonansinga's third outing with FBI profiler Ulysses Grove is a first-rate suspense thriller, as compelling as it is frightening. Grove is living with his wife, Maura, and their infant son, Aaron, in northern Virginia when he receives his latest assignment, tracking down a serial killer who offs his victims in pairs before systematically eviscerating them. As he continues his brutal rampage, with Grove doggedly in pursuit, the killer turns his sights on Grove's family—and the villain's preternatural powers may just lead him to their front door. Fortunately for Grove, he's got supernatural aid of his own in his mother's psychic visions; even more fortunate is the way Bonansinga never lets the intensity flag while balancing believable characters, forensic science, hard-nosed detective work and paranormal flourishes. Grove proves to be one of the most genuine, flesh-and-blood suspense-thriller protagonists out there, and the foe Bonansinga pits against him is truly chilling. (Dec.)

The wife of a prominent accounting firm executive has just been arrested for the murder of her husband and his afternoon pay-per-playmate, but the Chicago PD have their doubts about the open-and-shut case. It's up to longtime Collins heroine, Ms. Tree, the sexy brunette PI star of his graphic novel series, to clear the forest of red herrings and uncover the conspiracy beneath; of course, her tricky investigation is soon beset by deadly antagonists. Tree slips effortlessly into her first all-prose incarnation, though “graphic” is not an inaccurate description for this exceptional novel: “Mike was sprawled on his back... his bare chest puckered with entry wounds and blood pooling beneath him, glistening with neon reflection.” A psychiatrist Tree seeks out (for help with recurring nightmares) provides a framing device that keeps her complex tale unspooling smoothly, and Collins skillfully ties up a multitude of branches into the big, bloody bouquet one would expect from the author of The Road to Perdition. Sharp and satisfying, this is another must-have for fans of the Hard Case Crime imprint. (Dec.)

Joanna Walsh is a busy woman: besides owning a hair salon and janitorial supply business in her small town of Hatlow, Tex., she's also trying to establish a small organic egg business and help out her best friend, Clova, whose son Lane lays in a Lubbock hospital after an accident. Without Lane, Clova has no one to help run her struggling ranch, so Joanna decides to call on Clova's other son, Dalton, who left home years earlier to become a Los Angeles photojournalist. But when Dalton returns to Texas, he's angered to find Joanna's “nasty goddamned” chickens living on a few acres of the family cattle ranch. When Dalton accuses Joanna of exploiting his mom, Joanna counters by pointing out that in his 15-year absence, the land's had to be mortgaged and the ranch buildings are falling into disrepair. As the steely recriminations fly, they spark a fire between the rugged, self-confident Dalton and the wise, uncompromising Joanna. Jeffrey has a strong plot rich in hardscrabble west Texas detail and a keen ear for dialogue that makes her obvious affection for all her characters most contagious. (Dec.)

The newest incarnation of the Buffy comic, written by series creator Whedon, is effectively the new season of the TV series. It plunges right into the show's dense cosmology and doesn't bother to explain anything to neophytes. Regulars will love it, however. “The Long Way Home” establishes the season 8 status quo: demon-killing heroine Buffy Summers is now commanding an army of hundreds of Slayers (and her little sister, Dawn, has been turned into a giant by Whedon's favorite transformative force, sex). Still, there's some creepy unfinished business from the TV show to deal with, and the U.S. Army is coming after her, too. A shorter story, “The Chain,” concerns the bittersweet, truncated life of a Buffy look-alike sent underground as a decoy for the forces of evil. Jeanty, Owens and Lee's artwork, understandably, is in a very straightforward mainstream-comics style—the characters look as much as possible like the TV actors—although they manage a few interpretive flourishes, like a Cubist witch seen by one character in a fantasy sequence. The real draw, of course, is Whedon's writing. His dialogue is as snappy as ever, and his plots are hypercompressed and telegraphic. (Nov.)

Midorikawa's debut manga tells the story of a misfit boy accepted into a “school of witchcraft and wizardry,” a school with a rigid class system, enchanted libraries and staircases that move. Surprisingly the book has ample charms of its own, despite the enormous debt it owes to the Boy Who Lived. Lewin Randit is accepted into the Gaius School, even though he doesn't seem to have any magical ability. Given an old sword by his beloved adopted grandmother, Randit chooses the school's swordsmanship path, only to find himself mercilessly teased at every turn. In time he befriends some kids from the wizardry classes, helps them solve some tough problems and develops confidence in the process. That confidence comes in handy when the school is attacked by animated skeleton creatures. Artwork is chaotic and jagged throughout; some panel designs are refreshingly innovative, emphasizing white space, while many others are dense and nearly inscrutable. The volume ends with a cliffhanger, as well as some character notes that hint at a deeper mythology. Readers looking for a fresh, original approach to the magic school genre may find this series worthwhile. (Nov.)

This first of a trilogy is written by the publisher, which isn't unusual from small comic companies—who better knows what suits their vision for their line? By naming the company after the popular “boys' love” manga genre, Abraham makes clear what audience they're going after. Perhaps that's why this volume is so hardcore. It ships shrink-wrapped due to mature content, and they're not kidding; the first scene features the title character orally pleasuring his brother. The “dark prince” has been murdering boys because of demands from his demon lover. Instead of being an imaginative figment, that character's real, too, and randy. Other cast members include the jaded ex-wife running the palace brothel and a peasant boy whose stepfather tried to sell him into sexual slavery. (He winds up raped by an aristocrat.) The story is an odd combination of an elaborate fantasy religion and a string of atrocities and fetishes, all illustrated by a new artist. Typical of young creators, Sambre's style is heavy on surface qualities and decorative flourishes while the basics are lacking. No one's three dimensional in either anatomy or approach. The characters are defined only by their sexual purpose. (Nov.)

Where Maggots first seems to be the most avant-garde flipbook ever, readers' enthusiasm may turn to dismay when they see the instructions printed on the inside jacket flap. Readers are, in fact, supposed to read the book, made up of tightly gridded, postage-stamp-sized panels of improvisatory black pen work sketched over the pages of a Japanese book catalogue. As if this were not challenging enough, you are to read the panel rows in a zigzag pattern, left to right and then right to left, down the first page and up the second except when “its [sic] tricky like page 4 gets weird,” as the author kindly notes. Suddenly what was a dynamic, unconventionally animated book of strange characters in hallucinatory landscapes becomes a slow, patience-testing novel of the same ilk. Shunning the contrivances of a clear plot, character development, theme or setting, the pages buzz only with the nervous scratching of an overly busy pen, through which brief moments of clear activity—typically a sex act—arrive amid long stretches of action too tiny and messy to comprehend. Chippendale belongs to Thunder Bolt, a leading “noise” rock band, a music that seeks art and beauty through chaos and energy. Fans of same may find something to enjoy here. (Nov.)

In these rare examples of autobiographical work from comics master Eisner, we see the artist looking back on the expanse of his life. Shown are the New York of his childhood, a family that came together more out of necessity than love, the young artist at war and the ramifications of anti-Semitism at home and in Europe. In an enthusiastic introduction, Scott McCloud tells us, “When you enter a 'graphic novels' section of a bookstore, you're looking at Will's handiwork.” Indeed, the sense of witnessing history is strong. In “The Dreamer,” Eisner tells the story of his entry into and hand in creating the comics industry. This section is thinly veiled as fiction but a helpful annotation from the publisher makes clear what the real-world business corollaries were. The central piece of the book is “To the Heart of the Storm,” in which the artist rides a train through Europe on his way to the war and, as he looks out his window, sees scenes from the past. Eisner's childhood in the Bronx is played out, as are his parents' early lives. This is a rich story, and Eisner's expression of the difficulties faced by Jews in the early part of the 19th century reveals his gritty side. (Oct.)