Fiction Reviews: Week of 1/28/2008

As he demonstrated in the imaginative The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Greer can spin a touching narrative based on an intriguing premise. Even a diligent reader will be surprised by the revelations twisting through this novel and will probably turn back to the beginning pages to find the oblique hints hidden in Greer's crystalline prose. In San Francisco in 1953, narrator Pearlie relates the circumstances of her marriage to Holland Cook, her childhood sweetheart. Pearlie's sacrifices for Holland begin when they are teenagers and continue when the two reunite a few years later, marry and have an adored son. The reappearance in Holland's life of his former boss and lover, Buzz Drumer, propels them into a triangular relationship of agonizing decisions. Greer expertly uses his setting as historical and cultural counterpoint to a story that hinges on racial and sexual issues and a climate of fear and repression. Though some readers may find it overly sentimental, this is a sensitive exploration of the secrets hidden even in intimate relationships, a poignant account of people helpless in the throes of passion and an affirmation of the strength of the human spirit. (May)

An inviting voice guides readers through this expansive saga of redemption in the early 20th-century West and gives a teeming vitality to a period often represented with stock phrases and stock characters. Novelist Monte Becket isn't a terribly distinguished figure; his first and only published work hit five years before the story's start and he is about to reclaim his job at a smalltown Minnesota post office when he meets Glendon Hale, a former outlaw who is traveling to Mexico to find his estranged wife. He persuades Becket to join him, and the two set off on a long journey peopled with sharply carved characters (among them a Pinkerton thug tracking down Glendon) and splendid surprises. As Monte's narration continues, the tale veers away from Monte's artistic struggle and becomes an adventure story. The progress has its listless moments, but Enger crafts scenes so rich you can smell the spilled whiskey and feel the grit. (May)

If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability. Much like Denny, however, Stein is able to salvage some dignity from the over-the-top drama. (May)

Everything changes for late-night radio talk show host Annette Majoris after she jokingly tells her Twin Cities audience that the Vietnam War was a government hoax. Where Annette had been struggling, careerwise and financially, she quickly finds herself grappling with a multiplying caller-base, national syndication and the romantic attentions of wealthy Republican Party mover-and-shaker Walter Bishop. Guided by Walter, who co-opts Annette's message to launch a presidential hopeful, and supported by Stan Marlin, the erstwhile leader of a radical conservative organization, Annette persists on the air that Vietnam never really happened, provoking outrage and disgust and attracting a following among veterans who, haunted for decades by their participation in the war, find in Annette's questioning the possibility for closure and healing. While Annette defends her argument persuasively for a time, it's a house of cards that comes crashing down. Hawley's characters are fully realized people, with their own set of ambitions, insecurities and competing desires, and her great achievement is to have constructed out of their lives a deft and hilarious sendup of the media and political culture. (May)

In this delightful, character-driven coming-of-age novel, Gabriel Geismar grows up in mid–20th-century New Orleans as the only son of a rabbi, maturing into a brilliant, homosexual mathematician who is out of sync with his father's values. At Swarthmore in 1970, Gabriel meets the twins Daniel and Marghie Hundert, the children of Nobel Prize–winning physicist Gregor Hundert, one of the so-called Hungarian Eight who emigrated to America and worked with Robert Oppenheimer on the bomb. Fascinated by the stately, Old World professor and his kindly wife, Lilo, and deeply attached to Marghie, a cinema-obsessed vegetarian, and to Daniel, an angry counterculture figure, Gabriel spends the summer with the family at their Wisconsin retreat, which yields cherished conversation and understanding. As Gabriel departs to study astrophysics at the University of Chicago, the tempo of Daniel's activism builds, and Marghie begins running a movie house. When the once great professor sinks into senile dementia, Lilo makes a necessary but terrible decision for them all. The editor of Saul Bellow's forthcoming letters, Taylor turns in a smart, humane look at what Gabriel calls the era's “intergenerational rancor.” (May)

The Domestic Equalizers take on Manhattan in Cash's latest big hair blitz. Edwina Perkins-Martin and Debbie Sue Overstreet run a beauty salon and the only PI agency in Salt Lick, Tex. The invitation to speak at the annual conference of the NAPI (National Association of Private Investigators) comes as a surprise, but Edwina and Debbie Sue accept since the NAPI's going to pop for the expenses and pony up an honorarium. Meanwhile in Dime Box, Tex., Celina Phillips dreams of becoming a PI and also decides to attend. The three meet and the rest is cornpone kismet when a crime occurs right next to their hotel room, and Celina falls for a sexy NYPD detective. Cash (pseudonym for a sister writing team) crams her latest caper with such wackiness that the contrived plot can almost be excused, but Edwina and Debbie Sue are often so silly that they're downright annoying. (May)

The gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents from their American-raised children—and that separates the children from India—remains Lahiri's subject for this follow-up to Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. In this set of eight stories, the results are again stunning. In the title story, Brooklyn-to-Seattle transplant Ruma frets about a presumed obligation to bring her widower father into her home, a stressful decision taken out of her hands by his unexpected independence. The alcoholism of Rahul is described by his elder sister, Sudha; her disappointment and bewilderment pack a particularly powerful punch. And in the loosely linked trio of stories closing the collection, the lives of Hema and Kaushik intersect over the years, first in 1974 when she is six and he is nine; then a few years later when, at 13, she swoons at the now-handsome 16-year-old teen's reappearance; and again in Italy, when she is a 37-year-old academic about to enter an arranged marriage, and he is a 40-year-old photojournalist. An inchoate grief for mothers lost at different stages of life enters many tales and, as the book progresses, takes on enormous resonance. Lahiri's stories of exile, identity, disappointment and maturation evince a spare and subtle mastery that has few contemporary equals. (Apr.)

Prize-winning Brit Winterson applies her fantastical touch to a sci-fi, postapocalyptic setting. Heroine Billie Crusoe appears in three different end-of-the-world scenarios, allowing Winterson to explore the repetitive and destructive nature of human history and an inability (or unwillingness) of people to learn from previous mistakes. In the first section, inhabitants of the pollution-choked planet Orbus have discovered Planet Blue (Earth), and soon set about launching an asteroid at it to kill the dinosaurs that would prevent them from colonizing the planet. The second and third sections are set on Earth in 1774 and then in the “Post-3 War” era. Though passionate condemnations of global warming and war appear frequently, the book also contains a triptych love story: Billie meets Spike, a female “Robo sapien” capable of emotion and evolution, and falls (reluctantly) in love with her. In each of the scenarios, Billie and Spike (or versions of them) fall in love anew while encroaching annihilation looms in the background. Winterson's lapses into polemic can be tedious, but her prose—as stunning, lyrical and evocative as ever—and intelligence easily carry the book. (Apr.)

In her fourth novel (following the acclaimed What I Loved), Hustvedt continues, with grace and aplomb, her exploration of family connectedness, loss, grief and art. Narrator and New York psychoanalyst Erik Davidsen returns to his Minnesota hometown to sort through his recently deceased father Lars's papers. Erik's writer sister, Inga, soon discovers a letter from someone named Lisa that hints at a death that their father was involved in. Over the course of the book, the siblings track down people who might be able to provide information on the letter writer's identity. The two also contend with other looming ghosts. Erik immerses himself in the text of his father's diary as he develops an infatuation with Miranda, a Jamaican artist who lives downstairs with her daughter. Meanwhile, Inga, herself recently widowed, is reeling from potentially damaging secrets being revealed about the personal life of her dead husband, a well-known novelist and screenplay writer. Hustvedt gives great breaths of authenticity to Erik's counseling practice, life in Minnesota and Miranda's Jamaican heritage, and the anticlimax she creates is calming and justified; there's a terrific real-world twist revealed in the acknowledgments. (Apr.)

Following the story collection The Guy Not Taken, Weiner turns in a hilarious sequel to her 2001 bestselling first novel, Good in Bed, revisiting the memorable and feisty Candace “Cannie” Shapiro. Flashing forward 13 years, the novel follows Cannie as she navigates the adolescent rebellion of her about-to-be bat mitzvahed daughter, Joy, and juggles her writing career; her relationship with her physician husband, Peter Krushelevansky; her ongoing weight struggles; and the occasional impasse with Joy's biological father, Bruce Guberman. Joy, whose premature birth resulted in her wearing hearing aids, has her own amusing take on her mother's overinvolvement in her life as the novel, with some contrivance, alternates perspectives. As her bat mitzvah approaches, Joy tries to make contact with her long absent maternal grandfather and seeks more time with Bruce. In addition, unbeknownst to Joy, Peter has expressed a desire to have a baby with Cannie, which means looking for a surrogate mother. Throughout, Weiner offers her signature snappy observations: (“good looks function as a get-out-of-everything-free card”) and spot-on insights into human nature, with a few twists thrown in for good measure. She expends some energy getting readers up to speed on Good, but readers already involved with Cannie will enjoy this, despite Joy's equally strong voice. (Apr.)

An unenthusiastic Southern debutante copes with the cruelties of postcollege New York life in Crouch's amusing debut. Sarah Walters is neither a misfit nor the queen of the Camellia Society cotillion scene growing up in Charleston, S.C. But when she and her fellow Camellias try to make a life in New York City, they find themselves coping in unexpectedly dangerous ways—from standard substance addictions to Sarah's fixation on preppy ex-boyfriend Max, a smooth and sadistic child of wealth. While the formula of young women in the big city seems destined for cliché, Crouch subverts most expectations; Sarah almost purposely misses an opportunity for happiness and stability with the gentle lover she met in Europe, and her ploy to ignite sparks with a college friend goes painfully awry. When Sarah goes back to Charleston and faces a perhaps too over-the-top family crisis (it involves suicide and lesbianism), the reader's left with the hope that the worst is over. Though this feels almost like a collection—each chapter its own story with its own narrative technique—Crouch's portrayal of a young woman's self-sabotage and the pitfalls facing young women in a cold world is wise, wry and heartbreaking. (Apr.)

Three generations of two warring families collide when young Laura Delancey returns from a lengthy trip to India and finds her family greatly changed. The Delanceys had ruled their corner of the English countryside for centuries, but their fortunes have declined. A decades-old feud between them and the Traffords, their former gardener's family, is the source of much tension, and only Stanley Trafford, the former gardener, knows the truth about the rift. Bad blood has carried through the generations, and as the Delanceys' finances diminished, the Trafford family, thanks to business-savvy son Mark, achieved wealth and bought out the Delanceys' gorgeous ancestral abbey as payback. To make things worse, the Delanceys now live in a cramped lodge on the property. Laura's return and a troublesome but short-lived affair provide the catalyst for old wounds to be opened and secrets to be revealed. Though the wrapup is painfully neat and the dark secrets aren't that dark, Dilke (The Inheritance) exploits the British class system to its fullest potential. (Apr.)

Neugeboren's (The Stolen Jew) first novel in 20 years presents a fictional account of an obscure historical figure in this intelligent, densely layered novel. Dr. Eduard Bloch, an Austrian doctor who achieved notoriety for being Adolf Hitler's childhood physician, accepts favors “granted to no other Jew” and finds himself at the beginning of WWII living out his twilight years in the Bronx. Inspired by a visit from the striking Elisabeth Rofman, an inquisitive medical illustrator, Dr. Bloch decides to write his recollections of the Hitler family. He soon finds himself in the middle of a spat between Elisabeth and her pompous ex-husband over the proposed castration of Daniel, their institutionalized mentally ill son. In the midst of this dispute, Elisabeth's father disappears, and Daniel arrives at Dr. Bloch's apartment, seeking shelter. Through Dr. Bloch's diary entries, he charts the inevitable convergence of his romance with an increasingly unhinged Elisabeth, the unstable yearnings of Daniel and his own surreal remembrances of the teenage Hitler. Neugeboren's characters are nuanced and complex, especially the strong-willed Elisabeth. There are no shocking revelations, but the great characters and the author's thoughtful examination of good and evil pack a cerebral punch. (Apr.)

Law professor Murray continues her Red Lion series (following The Queen Jade) with a death-defying treasure hunt that transforms her “sedentary, word-mad bibliophile” heroine into “a genuine biblio-adventurer.” When a stranger approaches Lola Sanchez, a Long Beach, Calif., bookshop owner and the daughter of legendary archeologist and old-fashioned pulp hero Tomas de la Rosa, with a centuries-old letter offering clues to the location of Montezuma's lost gold, she can't resist the lure—especially when told that her father died while searching for the treasure. Assisted by her half-sister, fiancé, mother and stepfather, Lola follows the clues in “a suicidal treasure hunt” that leads across Italy and to some of history's most iconic sites. The characters are unique and memorable, the action fast-paced, the plot serpentine and the riddles challenging in this entertaining adventure. In heroine Sanchez, Murray has created a perfect counterweight to the traditional macho hero. (Apr.)

In his debut novel, Snyder offers a hearty dose of lad lit. Russell Fink sells copiers—a job he hates—and is engaged to a controlling wannabe actress he doesn't love. He still lives at home, has lost faith in his televangelist, miracle-working father and occasionally doses the family dog with alcohol from his mother's stash. Russell's twin sister, Katie, died of leukemia when they were young, and he's blamed himself ever since. The story is a bit helter-skelter: Russell's brother, Peter, has disappeared and may have been kidnapped. Russell believes his dog was poisoned and is intent on tracking down the animal's killer. He breaks things off with his fiancée, but will he finally admit that he loves his longtime friend Geri? His dad has applied for a new ministry position and needs Russell's help to get the job, but will they make amends? Throw in a number of secrets, some questions of religious faith, a move out of his mom's house and a move in with a perpetually cold new roommate who may or may not be a scientist for NASA, and you have a fairly nutty story. Snyder's writing is inventive and fun, but there are too many crazy characters and rampant story lines, and it may be a bit too edgy and complex for the Christian chick lit crowd. (Mar.)

In the latest from acclaimed London novelist Coe (The Rotter's Club ), the story of two cousins' friendship is keyed to a hatred that is handed down from mother to daughter across generations, as in a Greek tragedy. Evacuated from London to her aunt and uncle's Shropshire farm, Rosamond bonds with her older cousin, Beatrix, who is emotionally abused by her mother. Beatrix grows up to abuse her daughter, Thea (in one unforgettable scene, Beatrix takes a knife and flies after Thea after Thea has ruined a blouse), with repercussions that reach the next generation. All of this is narrated in retrospect by an elderly Rosamond into a tape recorder: she is recording the family's history for Imogene, Beatrix's granddaughter, who is blind, and whom Rosamond hasn't seen in 20 years. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Rosamond's fundamental flaw and limit is her decency, a quality Coe weaves beautifully into the Shropshire and London settings—along with violence. Through relatively narrow lives on a narrow isle, Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end. (Mar.)

Scenes of domestic abuse and the journey to recovery make Kleypas's modern romance anything but fluff. A Wellesley grad and daughter of a Houston energy baron, Haven Travis is an unlikely romantic heroine until her brief but ardent encounter with a man who turns out to be Hardy Cates, the East Texas roughneck from Sugar Daddy who worked his way up from poverty and then outmaneuvered the Travis clan in a business deal. Haven's engaged to Nick Tanner—a man her dad thinks is unfit for her—and though she and Hardy have a charged interaction, she elopes with Nick, and her father cuts her off. Nick turns out to be a bad guy, and a beaten and bruised Haven returns to Houston, where Hardy's still at odds with her family. Their passion proves as fervent as ever, but demons from Haven's recent past—as well as strife with her family and troubles at work and in bed—stand in the way. Kleypas isn't a literary stylist, but she delivers a page-turning, formula-breaking romance that takes on social issues and escalates passion to new heights. (Mar.)

The detecting and diplomatic skills of Thomas Pitt, now assigned to the Special Branch, are tested as never before in bestseller Perry's solid 25th novel to feature the Victorian sleuth (after 2005's Long Spoon Lane). In 1893, the discovery of a prostitute's mutilated corpse in a Buckingham Palace cupboard after a stag party presided over by the prince of Wales could spell political disaster for the monarchy. Pitt soon eliminates the members of the sizable household staff as suspects, narrowing his focus to the prince himself and his close friends, who, it turns out, have been planning a major construction project in Africa—a railway that would run from South Africa to Egypt. Though the sensitive nature of Pitt's assignment precludes any active involvement by Charlotte, his wife and partner in earlier cases, he's able to place her maid, Gracie Phipps, on the palace staff to assist him. Perry does a nice job with some plot twists, even if most readers will quickly discount the heir to the throne of England as a viable suspect. (Mar.)

Complex, finely wrought characters, keen psychological insight and a compelling plot lift this crime novel from South African author Meyer (Dead Before Dying). Former mercenary Thobela Mpayipheli is trying to live a peaceful life, but these plans are shattered when his eight-year-old son, Pakamile, is shot dead. The two gunmen responsible escape before sentencing, and the grieving father decides to take matters into his own hands. As he pursues his son's killers, Mpayipheli begins to target pedophiles and other perpetrators of violence against children, meting out justice with a Xhosa tribal sword called an assegai. Dubbed “Artemis” by the papers as the killings increase, Mpayipheli becomes a kind of folk hero to the people of Capetown. Insp. Benny Griessel, an aging alcoholic whose struggles with the bottle have all but cost him his family and his life, works the case with a desperate intensity. Griessel finds an unlikely ally in Christine van Rooyen, a young prostitute, who lures the detective into a very dangerous plan of her own when her young daughter goes missing. This book is easily Meyer's finest effort to date. (Mar.)

Bestseller White juggles too many story lines that never quite coalesce in his uneven 16th thriller to feature Boulder, Colo., psychologist Alan Gregory (after 2007's Dry Ice). On a trip to Manhattan, soon after adopting the son of a close friend who died in a terrorist blast in Israel, Alan meets with his ex-wife, Merideth, who asks him to help her and her fiancé, political consultant Eric Leffler, track down their surrogate, who disappeared soon after becoming pregnant with their child. Initially reluctant, Alan eventually agrees to investigate. Aided by his Boulder detective friend, Sam Purdy, Alan gets drawn into a web of lies that stretches back to an ill-fated Grand Canyon hiking trip when Eric and the surrogate were in college together. White never recovers his rhythm after beginning the narrative with fractured accounts of the hiking expedition and then abruptly switching to Alan and Merideth's story. An unsatisfying climax and a distracting subplot involving a long-ago adoption make this one of the weaker entries in the series. (Mar.)

Ten years after Merle Raye Finkel, a terrified runaway girl, is wrongfully convicted of killing her abusive father in bestseller Johnston's exciting seventh Bittercreek romantic thriller (after The Next Mrs. Blackthorne), Merle's paroled from a youth facility near Austin, Tex., and assumes a new identity as Grace Caldwell. Grace's hunt for the true killer, which involves examining all cases her Austin police detective dad, Big Mike Finkel, left unsolved, leads to a surprising suspect, FBI Assistant Special Agent Vincent Harkness, who's overseeing security for an upcoming visit of the U.S. president to the University of Texas at Austin campus. Grace hooks up with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Breed Grayhawk in hopes of learning more about his boss, Harkness. When Grace's snooping uncovers a diary by Harkness's wife detailing her sex addict antics and worse, Grace winds up accused of plotting to assassinate the president. A less successful subplot about Texas Ranger Jack McKinley, Breed's best friend, provides a cliffhanger that sets up the author's next nail-biter. (Mar.)

Characters struggle, sometimes heroically, against their compulsions and addictions in Waites's messy sequel to The Mercy Seat (2006). Journalist Joe Donovan's life fell apart after his six-year-old son vanished years ago, but now he's put together a substitute family of soiled misfits who want to learn how to trust and depend on each other while saving vulnerable people from exploitation. Besides going after a Serbian war criminal who's reinvented himself as a British vice lord, Donovan and his team become involved in the hunt for a sadistic serial killer who preys on young women. Along the way, they explore Newcastle's slums, where eastern European girls are a disposable commodity. What many of Waites's characters really want is proof that they're more than animals, mere “bone machines.” Even the lunatic who tortures girls to death is trying to prove that the voices in his head are real and that there is life beyond death. Watching these competing, terribly driven people is often unpleasant but also compelling, as readers are kept unsure whether the ones they care about can survive as human beings or not. (Mar.)

Distracted by the daffodil-flocked Wiltshire countryside speeding past her, or perhaps by the condom wrapper she has found in her husband's car, the unnamed doctor's wife plows into the doomed bicyclist—shattering several lives and launching a haunting journey that should burnish the reputation of Joss (Half Broken Things, which won the CWA's Silver Dagger Award) as one of Britain's most original crafters of psychological suspense. The guilt-ridden hit-and-run driver becomes increasingly obsessed with the victim, recently retired English teacher Ruth Mitchell, and Ruth's devastated widower, Arthur. Providing emotional contrast are the notes Arthur leaves for Ruth and excerpts from The Cold and the Beauty and the Dark, the slow-paced multigenerational saga Ruth was bringing to her writing group on the fateful day. As the narrator finds herself irresistibly drawn to the Mitchells' home, a nightly witness to Arthur's decline, boundaries begin to blur. Increasingly, her flashbacks to her own family history begin eerily to mirror the clan in Ruth's manuscript. But, Joss asks provocatively, who are any of us apart from the stories we choose to believe—those we create and those we appropriate? (Mar.)

Reincarnation and past-life recall figure in the efforts of Liza Donovan, a young grad student, to solve a 163-year-old “murder” via her dreams in Brallier's intensely romantic second paranormal puzzler (after Seal Island). Liza and her best friend, Jane Bryant, head for Nantucket for summer break to learn more about the long-dead people Liza has been dreaming about, in particular Obadiah Young, a 19th-century whaler. In a wild coincidence, Jane's Aunt Kitty owns Obadiah's old estate, where the ghost of his wife, Lucy, haunts the stairs she died on. On the resort island, the erotic heat rises in Liza's dreams and in reality as she starts to date Adam Gallagher, a hunky museum associate curator who helps her with her research. Jane's childhood friend and Kitty's godson, Lucian Theriault, offers additional romantic distraction as Liza tries to unlock powerful clues from her dreaming mind about what really happened on those stairs. Mystery buffs may find the action too ethereal, but romance fans should be satisfied. (Mar.)

Somewhere within this fashionably fractured narrative, a based-on-real-events murder mystery is struggling to get out. The second work of fiction from historian, poet, playwright and novelist Watada revolves around the 1940 deaths of 16-year-old Mariko Miyamoto and her degenerate gambler father, Jin. Although the official story is that Jin murdered his daughter and was shortly thereafter killed by his gangster creditors, Watada imagines a more noir scenario, focusing his attention on Mariko's mother, Yoshiko, and local crime boss Etsuji Morii, tracing their respective journeys to and sojourns in Canada from 1905 to 1940. Yoshiko is determined to create the life she had always imagined in the New World, persevering despite the abuses heaped on her by her husband and the disappearance of her lover, a Morii associate, after her husband's death. Morii, meanwhile, already suspected in the murder by the police, is further drawn in when Yoshiko comes to him for help. Though the prose sometimes feels like it belongs in a history text—there are numerous digressions on the situation of the Japanese in early 20th-century Canada—the novel at its best recalls the works of Hammett or Cain. (Mar.)

A reformed prostitute turns avenging angel in Stella's disappointing sixth crime novel, which does little new with this familiar theme. Agnes Lynn, a hooker who has put “the life” behind her, has left Las Vegas for a new start in New York City, but she's drawn back into the sordid underbelly of society after the disappearance of her best friend, Rachel Wilson, who turns tricks in order to afford private school for her children. After Wilson's mutilated corpse washes ashore in Brooklyn, Lynn embarks on a quest for vengeance against the Russian mobsters who arranged for her pal to perish in a snuff film commissioned by a wealthy Saudi weapons dealer. She's aided by her lover, former cop Jack Russo, who suspects that the Russians have help evading prosecution from inside law enforcement. Stella (Cheapskates) doesn't display much ingenuity in crafting perils for the main figures, whose adversaries at one point leave Russo uncuffed and with access to a gun. Fans will hope for a return to form in the next book. (Mar.)

Human rights activist Duarte's latest novel is based on a string of real-life murders in Ciudad Juárez in the 1990s. Forced out of the house by her alcoholic mother, 13-year-old Evita takes to the streets, glimpsing newspaper columns about the murders, while struggling to survive. Petra, Evita's comely 19-year-old cousin, exchanges the country life for gritty Juárez to raise money for her ailing father. An acquaintance of Petra, Mayela, a 12-year-old Tarahumara Indian, lives in an orphanage where her artistic talent is discovered. Over the course of the novel, the girls are stripped of their childhoods and face grotesque realities that stalk the streets, even under the guise of protection. After a chance encounter reunites the girls, they must work together before one of their own becomes a victim. Duarte's writing is laced with anguish and desperation and brings to life the grime and sleaze of Juárez. (Mar.)

Kraus, an interior designer who has coauthored multiple inspirational novels with her husband, Jim, offers a fairly standard but likable Christian romance in her first solo effort. Ethan Willis is a 40-ish widower in smalltown Franklin, Pa., who builds his life and his living around holding on to the past. As a restorer of Victorian homes, Ethan craves historical accuracy. In his personal life, he cherishes the memory of his beloved wife; he has neither recovered from her tragic death nor discussed it with his young teenage son. Cameron Dane is a pretty young newspaper reporter doing a story on Ethan's current restoration project, with a tragic past of her own. Of course, a newspaper interview leads to lunch, which leads to dinner, and readers will be able to do the math and find everything they expect and nothing they don't. (There's no sex, and there's a simple but sincere conversion story as the characters recover their faith.) Kraus focuses on the theme of forgiveness throughout, with quotes at the beginning of every chapter. Ethan's incessant insistence on historical detail may grate on readers' nerves the way it does his client's, and the comparison between holding on to the past in his work and his life is a bit overdone, but the story is enjoyable and will please Christian romance enthusiasts. (Mar.)

Most U.S. readers will be surprised to learn from the editors' introduction to this fine addition to Akashic's noir series that Toronto is “North America's most multicultural metropolis outside of Miami.” That diversity is well served by the volume's 16 selections, only one of which is by an author likely to be familiar to American mystery fans. Peter Robinson (Friend of the Devil and 16 other Inspector Banks novels) demonstrates his mastery of the short story with “Walking the Dog”: Lloyd Francis's attractive wife, Laura, begins a torrid affair with a model, Ray Lanagan, and before long Laura and Ray are scheming to bring about Lloyd's untimely demise. Robinson deftly inserts two major surprises into the plot, which should please James M. Cain and Cornell Woolrich fans. The anthology's other standout is Gail Bowen's “The King of Charles Street West,” which, with its complex and insightful revenge plot line, should help gain Bowen, an Arthur Ellis Award winner, a wider U.S. following. (May)

Dickinson's witty, highly literate seventh Lord Francis Powerscourt novel (after 2007's Death on the Nevskii Prospekt) provides a lively portrait of turn-of-the-last-century Ireland, where the English investigator and his wife, Lady Lucy, track down missing ancestral paintings of Anglo-Irish overlords, rescue kidnapped noblewomen from Irish nationalists and unmask murderers defiling the sacred Croagh Patrick pilgrimage. Large dollops of Ireland's long bloody struggle for independence counterpoint snatches of the country's famed song and poetry as Powerscourt thrashes out his inner dilemma against the labor pains of modern nationhood, torn between his aristocratic English heritage and the Ireland of his youth that he still loves deeply. Meanwhile, Ireland's religious and political leaders juggle fanaticism against practicality and Celtic voodoo against political expediency. Though Lady Lucy's role here is subordinated to Dickinson's evident relish in historical settings, architecture, art and poetry, this novel provides splendid entertainment and a wealth of insights into still-smoldering resentments and conflicts. (Apr.)

The excellent first in a new series from Irish author Charles (Sweetwater and seven other Det. Insp. Christy Kennedy mysteries) introduces Garda Inspector Starrett, whose vast experience of the range of human nature is put to the test when a horrific crime rocks his quiet Donegal town of Ramelton—the murder by crucifixion of carpenter James Moore. After learning that Moore had been having an affair with Amanda Morrison, the missing wife of the pastor of a local unorthodox church, Starrett focuses his investigation on the husband, First Minister Ivan Morrison. The minister's bland response to the corpse's presence in his own house of worship increases the scrutiny he receives, but Starrett wisely remains open to other possibilities. While the solution is less intricate than in some of the Kennedy novels, it nonetheless satisfies. The appealing Starrett, with his intuitive gifts, is a worthy addition to the ranks of contemporary police detectives. (Mar.)

In Childs's diverting ninth Tea Shop cozy (after 2007's Dragonwell Dead), Theodosia Browning, proprietor of Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop, is in the audience of the recently restored Belvedere Theater when someone shoots celebrated movie director Jordan Cole on stage during Charleston's first film festival. Theodosia glimpses the murderer escaping in the theater's old dumbwaiter, but doesn't see enough to identity the culprit. Cole, a handsome rake, had more than his share of enemies, including his recently ditched girlfriend, Isabelle, granddaughter of curmudgeonly Timothy Neville, the festival's organizer, who asks Theodosia to fill in for a judge who quits. Despite being burdened with catering duties as well, Theodosia feels compelled to investigate the crime, much to CPD Det. Burt Tidwell's consternation. The savory recipes at the end will leave readers hungry for more. (Mar.)

This solid noir from Cuban expatriate Latour (Outcast) opens with a deceptive encounter in an upscale Havana suburb. Sean and Marina, two joggers claiming to be Canadian tourists in need of water, buzz the door of Elena Miranda, an attractive special education teacher, who lets the couple into her spacious if shabby apartment. Elena's hospitality toward the strangers arouses the ire of her brother, Pablo, who suspects they're up to no good. When someone breaks Pablo's neck soon after this meeting, his murder appears to be linked to his involvement in a lucrative pornography racket. Capt. Felix Trujillo of the Department of Technical Investigations later learns that the killing may connect in some way to Pablo's father, a legendary figure in the struggles to topple Batista, now imprisoned for a crime of passion. Some readers may be dismayed that Latour focuses more on the scheming Sean and Marina than on Trujillo, whose wry awareness of the challenges of being an honest policeman in a corrupt system would make him an intriguing series lead. (Mar.)

Filled with juicy scandal, delightfully eccentric characters and 21 tempting recipes from Cream Cheese Frosting to Lemon Fluff Jell-O, bestseller Fluke's 10th Hannah Swenson mystery (after 2007's Key Lime Pie Murder) centers on a family reunion that turns deadly. Hannah's friend Marge Beeseman is thrilled when her brother, Gus Klein, who disappeared from Lake Eden, Minn., more than 30 years earlier, unexpectedly arrives. At the big family party, everyone wonders how the elegant, well-dressed Gus heard about the reunion and why he came back. When Gus fails to show up for the group photo the next morning, Hannah finds his body on a pavilion floor—with ants crawling around pieces of her carrot cake nearby. Hannah's malcontented cat, Moishe, and flickers of romance with her devoted dentist and the no-less attentive local police chief add spice to the subsequent murder investigation. The ending will leave cozy fans gasping for breath. (Mar.)

This impressive collection of reprints dating back to 1973 and a handful of new stories displays Modesitt's breadth of experience and knowledge to great effect. “The Great American Economy” mocks those who micromanage the national economy for political advantage. “Rule of Law” elegantly revives the age-old topic of computerized justice. “Iron Man, Plastic Ships” draws powerfully on Modesitt's experience as a navy helicopter pilot in Vietnam, as does “The Swan Pilot,” a modernized fairy tale with a twist. “Beyond the Obvious Wind” connects with the Corean Chronicles as “Black Ordermage” and “Sisters of Sarronnyn, Sisters of Westwind” do with the Recluce saga. As in Modesitt's novels, eloquent prose and skilled characterization are evident, only slightly diminished by occasional outbreaks of slow pacing. Readers will find this an excellent showcase of a very fine writer's highest quality work. (Mar.)

Fans of well-written tales filled with ironic reversals will relish this quality collection of 34 stories (including 13 originals), the first of two planned volumes. The entries vary in length, but even the briefer ones, such as the vivid “Desperate Times,” pack a punch. Many feature human beings in subservient roles, such as zoo exhibits for aliens (“The Henry and the Martha”) or game animals for Earth's new masters (“Good Dog”). Other high points include “Crickets, Everywhere,” a novel variation on the theme of an insect swarm apocalypse, and the creepy “The Teddy's Touch,” in which a skilled government operative confronts an insidious conspiracy aimed at controlling thoughts and emotions. While Rand's work is steady rather than spectacular, he consistently displays creative imagination as well as a gift for understatement. Even where the twist endings are less than surprising, the deftly drawn characters and evocative descriptions will keep readers entirely satisfied. (Mar.)

Slightly overbalanced by dense, lush descriptions, Duncan's elaborate sequel to 2007's The Alchemist's Apprentice finds footing in intricate plots and conspiracies. Able swordsman Alfeo Zeno, a brash young noble serving as Nostradamus's apprentice, provides a firsthand account of murder and romance in an alternate 16th-century Venice. This time the mystery centers around coded messages from an enemy agent, with Nostradamus and Zeno aiming first to crack the code and then to find the spy through a combination of magic and Holmesian investigation and deduction. Zeno's chatty narration breathes life into the city as he describes its political and social structure. The level of detail occasionally stifles the flow of Duncan's prose, an effect offset by the energy of the twisting plot. The only snag is the somewhat superfluous element of the fantastic, which adds little to this tale of interpersonal intrigue. (Mar.)

This ensemble-driven follow-up to 2004's The Highwayman finds bestseller Salvatore liberally borrowing themes and character types from his earlier novels. As in the Cleric Quintet, a disaffected monk (Cormack) contemplates higher wisdom and draws the love of a restless outsider (the shaman Milkeila), while rough-and-ready dwarf Mcwigik provides brute strength and comic relief in similar measure. As in the Drizzt novels, the nominal hero wanders, deals death and addresses his readers in impassioned italics. Bransen Garibond's dual identity as the swashbuckling Highwayman and stuttering Stork recalls the Crimson Shadow. As in the Icewind Dale books, the setting is a remote wintry landscape, with isolated islands standing in for barbarian villages. The scattered cast takes much too long to converge, and druidic arch-villain Ancient Badden never emerges as an effective antagonist. The result is a Frankenstein's monster–like construct of brisk prose and lively combat scenes: imposing at first glance, but awkwardly assembled and doomed to disappoint. (Mar.)

Nebula and Hugo–winner Varley continues the space opera saga of the Garcia-Strickland clan (last encountered in 2006's Red Lightning) in this enjoyable if simplistic tale. Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond, daughter of an earlier series hero, Ray Garcia-Strickland, is glad for any excuse to escape her job as the Martian consul in California, but the news calling her home is dire: her great grandmother is ill and about to go into suspended animation. After a family reunion, Podkayne heads to Europa, where a disaster forces her own suspension. The solar system she awakens to 10 years later is radically different. Podkayne learns of looming trials threatening the survival of mankind and tackles them with undiminished determination. Varley has deliberately made Podkayne an uncomplicated figure who lets major events and traumas roll right off her, rendering her a less than satisfying protagonist despite her heroics. (Mar.)

This far-ranging debut collection, featuring 12 reprints, highlights Melko's adaptability as he shifts from multiple universes to caped crusaders and from captured aliens to pet cats. Highlights include “Doctor Mighty and the Case of Ennui,” where a superhero suffers a humorously human bout of depression, and the title story, which wields the concept of parallel universes like a sharpened knife dissecting the choices we make and their consequences. The deft and refreshing “The Summer of the Seven” and “Singletons in Love” tie into “Strength Alone,” the opener for Melko's forthcoming novel, Singularity's Ring (Reviews, Dec. 10, 2007). The changes in tone and style from one piece to the next make the collection a little uneven, but almost any reader will find a story that particularly appeals. As Melko grows further into his talent, he'll be one to watch. (Mar.)

The fast-paced sixth adventure of Republic of Cinnabar Space Navy officers Daniel Leary and Lady Adele Mundy (after 2006's Some Golden Harbor) finds Leary in a precarious position. When his patron falls ill and is replaced as chief of the Navy Board by a hostile admiral, Leary expects to be placed on the inactive list despite the ongoing war between Cinnabar and the Alliance of Free Stars. Instead he finds himself assigned to shore up the navy of the Independent Republic of Bagaria, a frontier system that broke away from the Alliance and now looks to Cinnabar for aid. With no resources other than his own ship and crew, shackled with allies more dangerous than the enemy, Leary must find a way to relieve besieged Cinnabaran forces. Drake has always been known for his ultrarealistic depiction of combat and its aftermath, and he's at the top of his form. (Mar.)

With this compilation of the 24 stories appearing in the first 12 issues of online magazine Clarkesworld, Mamatas hits at least two of his three targets: brevity and popular appeal abound, while weirdness is less certain. Several stories equate “weird” with sexual deviance, while others mine folklore and fairy tales. Jeff VanderMeer's “The Third Bear” neatly balances avant-garde angst and Russian myth, while Elizabeth Bear's “Orm the Beautiful” is passionate and compelling, but not strange. The cleverest and most mild-mannered tale is Jenny Davidson's “The Other Amazon,” while the most emotionally gripping may be Caitlin R. Kiernan's nimble King Kong homage, “The Ape's Wife.” These last four are the collection's standout entries, but only Kiernan fully embraces both the esoteric and the broadly compelling. On balance, the anthology tilts slightly more toward accessibility than to the truly bizarre. (Mar.)

Jonah Gray Wolf comes to a small Alaskan town as a toddler, carried by wolves; as he grows, he displays a remarkable ability to communicate with animals and to heal. When he heals millionaire Major Bourdain from a fatal wound, Bourdain becomes determined to bring Gray Wolf under his power so that he might live forever. He sends bounty hunters after the enigmatic healer, forcing Gray Wolf to stay on the move, ever a step ahead of his pursuers. The chase leads Gray Wolf to Little Top, W.Va., where he meets Lucia Andahar, a loner like him who is being tormented by a sadistic stalker. They fall in love and come to one another's aid almost immediately. When a spectacular rescue makes him media fodder, Gray Wolf is forced to make a stand to protect himself and the woman he loves. Veteran author Sala (Nine Lives, etc.) crafts two exciting leads bound by their love of animals and reluctance to trust people. (Apr.)

Phillips's involving domestic drama (after Last Bride Standing) follows L.A. career woman and New Orleans native Darian Cantrell, a 35-year-old with a dream job and a film-producer boyfriend. When she learns her little sister, Monique—a single mom with three daughters in what seems to be pre-Katrina New Orleans—has cancer, Darian rushes home to her sister's side. When Monique dies, their mother, Shirlee, who's married to a much younger man, thinks she's done enough parenting and expects Darian to assume responsibility for Monique's daughters. Darian's unexpected momhood involves multiple problems, but it brings her into contact with Brad, an old boyfriend, and now a divorced single dad who still adores her. It also brings her the unwanted attentions of a stalker. Amid all the drama, Phillips makes Darian courageous and worth rooting for. (Apr.)

Miller's got major storytelling mojo for the second adventure set in Cave Creek, Ariz. (after Deadly Gamble) starring Mary Josephine Mayhugh—aka Mojo Sheepshanks. A very green PI who blithely accepts her ability to talk to ghosts, Mojo is determined to help them resolve the issues that keep them hanging around and isn't above asking for their assistance in solving cases involving live people. When seven-year-old deaf-mute Gillian Pellaway is strangled leaving a ballet lesson with her stepdad, the latter is accused of the crime, and Gillian appears to ask Mojo for assistance. Then Alex, the cheating husband of Mojo's adopted sister, Greer Pennington, is brutally murdered, and Greer becomes a prime suspect. Tucker Darroch, a homicide cop who's crazy about Mojo, provides moral support for these parallel cases, and intriguing plot twists involving Greer's past and other ghosts keep the story tight, funny, sexy and cool. Miller makes Mojo much more than another cute, quirky crime solver who sees dead people. (Mar.)

This latest spinoff from Mignola's Hellboy franchise continues the high level of modern Weird Tales–influenced chills and adventure and at times even manages to outstrip its source in chronicling the exploits of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. More details of amphibious investigator Abe Sapien's murky origins fall into place as he answers a mysterious call to Indonesia, an invitation that brings him into direct confrontation with a cabal of dabblers in the dark arts whose machinations could spell the death of millions. As Abe unravels their sinister plot, he encounters many bizarre characters and situations, including robots, genetically manipulated hybrid creatures and perhaps the most charming mummy ever to grace the horror genre. Meanwhile, the ghostly visitations of B.P.R.D. fire-starter Liz Sherman escalate into hellish premonitions of a world dominated by misshapen monstrosities, and disembodied medium Johann Krauss makes a potentially ominous discovery about another team member. As per usual with this highly diverting series, the pacing is brisk, the artwork is quite appealing and rife with detail that effortlessly blends modern and retro aesthetics (Jan.)

Having already plundered Hitchcockian wrong-man scenarios (Why Are You Doing This?), zombie flicks (The Living and the Dead) and alternate history paradoxes (I Killed Adolf Hitler) for his own sardonic purposes, Jason goes this time for a multigenre mash-up that proves to be one of his most enjoyable books yet. In The Last Musketeer, Athos is still alive in modern-day Paris, a drunken has-been unable to let go of past glories. He proves surprisingly handy, though, at defending Earth after overpowering a couple of invading Martians, hitching a ride back to their planet and taking on the alien army singlehandedly. Swordplay, dungeons, a princess, ray guns and daring escapes follow, all drawn with Jason's usual sharp and colorful vibrancy. In the hands of most other comic artists, mixing up this goofy Dumas riff with Edgar Rice Burroughs–style pulp (and caped costumes right out of Flash Gordon) would have seemed like desperation, overreaching or mockery. But as done by the supremely confident Jason—who has always paired a cool abstraction with a sharp comic streak—it comes off as a genuinely appreciative lark, albeit one veined with a rare sense of mortality. (Jan.)

This anthology of tight, horrific tales stars Kurumi, a girl who never received a birthday present and therefore never ages. Thereafter, she drops into people's lives with gifts that often lead to death while exposing people for their shallow attributes. This second volume offers more twists and turns to these vignettes, giving them unexpected, if not morbid, outcomes. Inuki (School Yard) uses Kurumi as more of a narrator in this volume, with a less active role, and introducing other key characters in an array of plot lines: vengeful Santas and jealous girls competing for attention. Inuki's “be careful of what you wish for” message from the previous volume is still strong but isn't overbearing. There always seems to be a moral to the story or a lesson learned, without heavy moralizing. There is also more graphic violence and macabre detail this time around. Her style is very much in line with horror godfather Umezu, and the classic aesthetic does well in depicting these fascinating, almost perverse, stories. (Jan.)

Almost too clever and poignant, Amulet is, on the surface, about navigating the murky waters of adolescence and, beneath that, an exploration of abandonment and survival. Emily and Navin are lost children, literally lost in a dark, new world and struggling to save their mother, who has been kidnapped by a drooling, tentacled beast. With stellar artwork, imaginative character design, moody color and consistent pacing, this first volume's weakness lies in its largely disjointed storytelling. There is the strong, young, heroine; cute, furry, sidekicks; scary monsters—all extraordinary components, but pieced together in a patchwork manner. There is little hope in his dark world as Kibuishi removes Emily and Navin's frame of safety. Their hopes rest in a magic amulet that seems to be working in the interest of the children—until it suddenly isn't. The most frightening element of Amulet is the sense of insecurity we feel for Emily, fighting her way through uncharted terrain with no guide and no support system. This first volume of Amulet isn't a disappointment, but it does feel like a warmup to the main event. If anything, it's a clear indication that Kibuishi has just begun skimming the surface of his own talent. (Jan.)

Signature

Reviewed by Jeff VanderMeer

Original genre anthologies have been a mixed bag in recent years, with an overreliance on established household names at the expense of nurturing new talent. At times, too restrictive themes have tended to create a sense of sameness. Not so with urban fantasy. As Jess Nevins points out in his excellent introduction, urban fantasy is “a mode of storytelling rather than a subgenre, and as such accommodates a variety of themes and approaches.” This idea of variety, along with a willingness to publish new and established writers alike, helps explain the considerable appeal of this ambitious and entertaining anthology.

Stand-out contributions include Richard Parks's folktale-influenced “Courting the Lady Scythe,” Cat Rambo's ethereal “The Bumblety's Marble,” Jay Lake's sometimes brutal “Promises; A Tale of the City Imperishable” (set in the same milieu as his novel A Trial of Flowers), Ben Peek's more contemporary “The Funeral, Ruined” and Anna Tambour's indefinable but brilliant “The Age of Fish, Post-Flowers.” In Tambour's story, man-eating “orms” threaten New York City, despite the presence of an iconic wall. The nameless narrator's account of her group's attempts to survive is both matter-of-fact and mysterious. Similar elements power many of the other stories: a keen underlying intelligence and an easy acceptance of fantasy, with little explanation of that element, wedded to strangely resonant images and situations.

Not every tale in the anthology is successful. Hal Duncan's “The Tower of Morning's Bones” continues his trend of excessive symbolism, summary and posturing in short fiction. Forrest Aguirre's “Andretto Walks the King's Way,” a forced march of a story illuminating different aspects of a feudal-era society, is an honest effort that never really comes to life. The editor also might have been better served excluding a couple of ill-advised short-shorts like Vylar Kaftan's workplace fantasy, “Godivy.” Yet for all of their flaws, even these stories display a high level of technical expertise and ambition.

Rounded out by very good contributions from Mark Teppo, David Schwartz, Barth Anderson, Catherynne M. Valente and Cat Sparks, Paper Cities is a delightful and absorbing read. In coming years—as the talents collected herein, including editor Sedia, become better known—this quirky anthology may take on even greater significance. (Apr.)

World Fantasy Award–winner Jeff VanderMeer's latest novel is Shriek: An Afterword (Tor, 2007).