Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 2/18/08

-- Publishers Weekly, 2/18/2008

NONFICTION 

Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority
Michael Connery. IG Publishing, $14.95 (197p) ISBN 9780978843137
In this quick, matter-of-fact analysis of current youth participation in politics, Music for America co-founder, Connery argues that we are in the midst of a revival of youth civic involvement. Enabled by the internet, grassroots organizers are engaging youth and completing the work abandoned by the Democratic Party and mainstream progressives. Having organized get-out-the-vote efforts in 2004 and blogged about youth politics for various progressive web sites, Connery approaches his subject with an authority that is simultaneously his greatest strength and greatest liability. Insider knowledge informs stellar reporting of the rift between grassroots hip-hop activists and celebrity moguls such as Russell Simmons (“In more ways than one, Simmons was and still is quite literally selling civic engagement to black youth along with soft drinks and sneakers.”). However the author’s attachment to his topic also feeds a tendency to descend into lengthy, acronym-laden dissections of the histories of youth political organizations and their minute workings. Such sections may interest progressive organizers and politicians looking for an overview of the youth voting landscape—and with an election on the horizon, such a release is timely—but may put-off the casual reader. (Mar.)

Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want
Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. Bantam, $25 (336p) ISBN 9780553383751
According to Babcock and Laschever (Women Don’t Ask), women don’t ask for what they want and need in the workplace and end up suffering financially, earning less than their male counterparts who are more likely to bargain successfully for higher salaries and timely raises. To help women learn to negotiate, the authors have devised a four-phase program of strategies and exercises to determine what you want, what you’re worth and how to increase your bargaining power.   An appendix on teaching girls to negotiate offers hope that the next generation’s women will be better prepared to ask for—and receive—what they’re worth. Peppered with personal accounts of women bargaining their way to career and personal fulfillment, this book is a practical and empowering resource, invaluable to anyone, male or female, looking to gain an advantage at the negotiation table. (Mar.)

Managing the Dragon: How I’m Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China
Jack Perkowski. Crown, $27.50 (336p) ISBN 9780307393531
In 1990, the author left a successful Wall Street career at PaineWebber to take advantage of business opportunities in Asia. He had big-picture reasons: a desire for a new career direction and a general “Go East young man” sense, but little detailed knowledge and few plans. By 1994, he had moved to China and begun building an automobile components business, using capital raised privately in New York to buy majority stakes in existing Chinese factories and later to build his own. Today, his ASIMCO Technologies is a $500 million dollar company with a leading position in China and a growing global presence. At times it seems as if the author has little more than a can-do attitude and strong personal relationships with Chinese partners to surmount the many problems of a cross-cultural organization in a rapidly changing country with many impediments to modern business. In the end, more than any specific strategy it is mutual trust that makes things work,. This book can be read as an inspiring story of business success, a personal journey or a case study in building a business that combines the best features of global management and finance with Chinese entrepreneurial energy and talent. It’s a good story with some valuable morals about making money and friends. (Mar.)

Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider Man, The Magnificent Bastards and the American Combat Sniper
Hans Halberstadt. St. Martin's, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 9780312354565
Halberstadt (Roughneck Nine-One), a prolific chronicler of the U.S. military, pulls no punches in this uncompromising examination of the shadowy world of the combat sniper. Halberstadt warns forthrightly that this is a book about "the business of hunting people . . . and killing them in a calculated, methodical way" and "requires brave readers." Drawing on the observations of thirty military snipers and his own time shadowing Army Sniper Class 2006-3 through five weeks of grueling training, the author methodically surveys the training, weapons, traditions, and missions of modern military snipers. There is ample technical information about the snipers' primary weapons—the M24 and M40 sniper rifles—and the vagaries of engaging long-range targets—referred to as voodoo ballistics by practitioners.    There also is an insightful analysis—with first-person commentary from veterans of Iraq—of the changing role of the sniper on the modern urban battlefield. No longer the "unloved stepchild," today's sniper is a major part of the new battle space and is responsible for a disproportionate number of enemy casualties. As Halberstadt warns, this book is not for the squeamish, but for those looking for a thorough primer on the role of the military sniper in today's counterinsurgency missions, this is a solid introduction.  (Mar.) 

The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives
Nick Turse. Metropolitan, $23 (288p) ISBN 9780805078961
In his exhaustively researched first book concerning the extent to which the “military industrial complex” has infiltrated the life of the average American, journalist Turse starts off by documenting how many times supposedly innocent consumer choices support major Pentagon contractors then covers similar ground in greater detail. Turse has up-to-date information on a previously well-covered subject and casts a wide net, including the movie industry, video gaming and military recruitment tactics in his analysis. Many of Turse’s facts are purely economic, but some of them are astonishing. Who knew, for example, that in 2005, the Department of Defense spent $1.2 million on donuts in Kuwait? Or that Harvard received over $300 million in DoD funds in 2002, after being pressured, despite concerns about discrimination, to allow military recruiters access to its law school students? Though Turse offers plenty of interesting information, ultimately this book would have been more convincing if, instead of simply amassing and condensing such information, he had built a stronger argument about what it all means. (Mar.) 

FICTION

Brief Gaudy Hour: A Novel of Anne Boleyn
Margaret Campbell Barnes. Sourcebooks Landmark, $14.95 (400p) ISBN 9781402211751
The current Tudormania makes Barnes’ historical fiction (My Lady of Cleves, etc.) as welcome today as in 1949, when this novel first appeared. Barnes lucidly envisions the well-documented events of Henry VIII’s second wife’s brilliant short-lived career: her education in manners, dress and dance at the French court; her tutoring in political scheming by powerful relatives who wish to be more powerful still; her determination not to end up a discarded royal mistress like her older sister. She offers credible interpretations of undocumented aspects of the Boleyn legend (such as Anne’s sixth finger) and convincingly depicts Anne as she manipulates Henry to divorce Katherine, break with his chief advisor Cardinal Wolsley and abandon the Catholic Church. She’s less good on Anne’s relationship with poet-ambassador Thomas Wyatt, and on her loss of Henry’s affection: in Barnes’s old-school retelling of the journey from courtship to queenship to execution, sexual innuendo stops at innuendo. But she vividly depicts Anne’s hopes and fears in an age where royal marriages were brokered like a cattle fair, and beheading could befall even a Queen. (Mar.)

The Voice
Bill Myers. FaithWords, $13.99 paper (304p) ISBN 9780446697996
An unlikely premise propels Myers’s latest novel, which is long on car chases and shoot- ‘em-up action and short on execution, especially since the first 50 pages leave readers confused rather than intrigued. Emotionally withdrawn former Special Forces Op agent Charlie Madison’s deaf adolescent niece, Jazmin Lutzer, shows up in his California music store with a pack of gunmen at her heels. He’s immediately catapulted into mysterious events that will span the globe, which involve FBI agent Lisa Harmon, an Islamic terrorist cell, the Mossad, and some Catholic priests. Key to the plotline is “the Program,” a means of using sound vibrations to capture the “voiceprint” of God from ancient rocks, but its presence—and absence—may threaten various religious beliefs. In the wrong hands, it could also destroy the world. Myers, the author of more than 80 books, is also a screenwriter, which may explain the action-fueled plot and dialogue-heavy pages. Jazmin’s point of view is unsuccessful, some phrases seem odd (“With a rage greater than any diarrhea…”), and the contrived ending raises questions (if so many people have been healed by the voice, why is Jazmin still deaf?). Faith fiction aficionados may find the concept interesting, but its rendering lacks subtlety or depth. (Apr.)

Something Good
Fiona Gibson. Red Dress Ink, $13.95 paper (352p) ISBN 9780373895571
It’s all good in Gibson’s luminous portrait of a splintered family that still remains connected in spirit. After Jane Deakin catches husband Max cheating on her, she separates from him and she and daughter Hannah move out. Ten years later, Jane and Max are still not officially divorced, Jane works in childcare while nursing a stained glass sideline, and 15-year-old Hannah is a budding thespian with a crush on Ollie, a fellow workshop actor. As Max begins exclusively dating Veronica, a posh neighbor (with two children near Hannah’s age, Zoë and Dylan), Jane decides to attend a stained glass workshop led by an artist she admires in Scotland. Jane takes along Hannah and Zoë (who teaches Hannah the charms of minor teenage rebellion) plus Jane’s mum, Nancy, for an unexpectedly transformative experience. Gibson (Lucky Girl) lightly but perceptively handles both adult and adolescent characters, making this a great book for both mothers and teens. (Apr.)

The Secret Bride in the Court of Henry VIII
Diane Haeger. Penguin, $14 paper (416p) ISBN 9780451223135
Though it takes a long time to admit it to herself, Mary Tudor (1496–1553)—the headstrong, gorgeous, obedient, and favorite sister of Henry VIII—ardently loves the inappropriate but dashing Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Neither she nor Suffolk, however, can tell Henry, for it would seem a betrayal: Henry has arranged Mary’s marriage to France’s King Louis XII,and no one knows better than Mary that Henry he is not to be crossed. But it’s a long way to that point in the latest historical from Haeger (The Perfect Royal Mistress), who begins in Mary’s girlhood, and includes everyone from Katherine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey to Francois I of France and a young Anne Boleyn. While one doesn’t get a firm sense of passing time along the way, Haeger delivers complexities of court and duty plausibly and with aplomb. (Apr.) 

Ryder of the Hills
Robert J. Horton. Five Star, $25.95 (254p) ISBN 9781594145070
Horton, along with contemporaries Max Brand and Zane Grey, was a popular writer of western adventure novels that idealized the Old West’s rugged codes. In this 1927 reprint, available in paperback for the first time, Jess Sneed, rancher, gunslinger and leader of a notorious band of robbers, reveals a surprising tender side. When a man whom Sneed merely wanted to scare accidentally falls to his death, his 14 year old son Ted is left orphaned. Sneed takes the boy to his ranch where he is mothered by Lucy Ware, Sneed’s housekeeper, and taught the rudiments of cattle ranching by Buck, a trusted newer member of Sneed’s gang. These halcyon days end several years later when Ted quarrels with Lute Balmer, the foul-mouthed foreman for the neighboring ranch. Although Sneed prevents a fight, Balmer harbors bitter resentment and plans revenge. The denouement, complete with a gunfight, struggles against the harsh Western climate and a metaphorical ride into the sunset, contains all the classic hallmarks of this genre, but despite these clichés the book has an authentic voice that reveals the clear-cut iconic values of an earlier time. (Apr.) 

I Heart Bloomberg
Melody Carlson. David C. Cook, $13.99 paper (288p) ISBN 9781589191044
Carlson, author of more than 100 books, begins her 86 Bloomberg Place series with a novel that functions mostly to set up future storylines. Three women rent rooms at 86 Bloomberg Place: Lelani Porter is a lovely half-Hawaiian with a secret; Megan Abernathy is a Christian flirting with depression; and Hispanic Anna Mendez is anxious to escape a smothering mother. The advertised “luxurious” house, owned by Barbie doll clone Kendall Weis, is disappointingly in need of updating, and in exchange for a rent reduction, they redecorate and renovate the run-down home. Kendall turns out to be the landlord from hell, with entitlement issues, an eating disorder, a shopping addiction and a slew of (too many) other problems. It’s more than the trio bargained for, but nobly they try to be kind to Kendall. The Christian element is present in the story, but lightly handled. A subplot of young women gone missing seems at odds with the beauty makeovers and HGTV-type activities. Although Carlson is careful to explain the reasons behind Lelani’s absence from her home in the islands, readers may find her seemingly unemotional abdication of responsibility difficult to swallow, while Kendall’s character is one-dimensional. The novel ends abruptly without resolving enough loose ends—likely picked up in book two—but leaving readers dissatisfied rather than intrigued. (Apr.)

Come Get Some
Nane Quartay. Simon and Schuster/Strebor, $13 paper (244p) ISBN 9781593091767
In his fourth novel Nane Quartay, (Take Two and Pass) attempts to combine a coming of age story with social commentary through the experiences of four young protagonists: Truitt, Whiteboy Paul, Mugwump and Wilmon—all of whom have to deal with the morally ambiguous choices necessitated by life in the ghetto. Starting with the protagonists as they’re playing kickball and marveling at the exploits of the local pimp, Uncle Dope, the narrative quickly flashes forward to adolescence, when we’re re-introduced to Paul and Truitt through their sexual exploits—Paul starts an affair with his English teacher, Ms. Jones, while Truitt loses his virginity. When three of the boys are witnesses to a terrible incident between Ms. Jones and another teacher, it starts them down a path of unfulfilled relationships, violence and eventually murder. Quartay attempts to tackle the knotty issues of life in the modern inner city but the characters lack realism and the plot twists are also implausible. This might not stop the book from appealing to its primary audience: Zane fans and, if there are any, their male equivalents. (Apr.) 

Full Circle
Davis Bunn. Thomas Nelson, $14.99 paper (320p) ISBN 9781595542045
Bunn mixes romance and light suspense in a proficient but somewhat lackluster read. Protagonist Adam Wright is a formerly self-absorbed actor turned crack investment analyst who is bitter about his father’s abandonment. When he’s hired by investment house Oxford Ventures, he falls hard for the boss’s daughter, Kayla Austin. She has her own woes: her fiancé has embezzled the money from the African relief project she was spearheading, leaving her brokenhearted and her venture virtually bankrupt. Together, Kayla and Adam seek to heal past wounds and discover who’s sabotaging Kayla’s father’s company. Bunn (Heirs of Acadia series; The Lazarus Trap) successfully uses the rich backdrop of Oxford, England, as his setting, but the suspense never moves past a gentle simmer. The pacing slows in places; the romance between Kayla and Adam lacks much tension; and occasionally, Bunn resorts to stale prose such as “The air was spiced with Kayla’s fragrance, and the heady scent of a better tomorrow.” One bright spot is the story’s sensitive handling of faith: Much of the plot hinges on what various characters intuit about God’s leading, but in Bunn’s capable hands, this is less forced than one might think. Bunn is a proficient writer, and despite its flaws, his fans should find this a mostly smooth read with a redemptive conclusion. (Apr. 8) 

A Blonde in the Works
Barbara P. Parsons. Bunim and Bannigan (IPS, dist.), $21 (208p) ISBN 978-1933480183
This debut novel, an awkward hybrid of political drama, feminist text and chick lit, attempts to chronicle one woman’s self-awakening in the early ‘70s. Claire Chesterton is a British civil servant working in Bogota, Colombia. In her 40s, bored by her job as a typist and lonely, she embarks on a self-improvement plan, becoming the object of attraction for both British and local men. Tensions rise when a typographical error turns into an expensive diplomatic mistake, though Claire is oblivious as she (implausibly and unwisely) devotes all her attention to married Jeremy Jooning of the British Trade Delegation. The narrative jumps between Claire’s adolescent feelings of romance and the bureaucracy of office life, with an occasional declaration by Claire such as “there’ll be no more hiding my light under a bushel to please the likes of the boy’s network.” Amid political drama, Clare ends up following Jeremy to New York and finally achieves emancipation (of sorts) when she realizes that he’s just not that into her. Unfortunately, despite the novel’s intriguing premise, Claire’s statements are cliché and the flimsy characters are suspended in a confusing and chaotic historical narrative. (Apr.) 

After the Dance
Lori Johnson. Kensington/Dafina. $15 paper (320p) ISBN 9780758222374
In this lively debut romantic novel, Johnson creates an intimate portrait of two unlikely characters as they navigate the beginning of a relationship. In alternating first-person chapters entitled “Him” and “Her,” we hear from pharmacist and cynic Dr. Margaret Faye Abrahams and her neighbor, Carl, a paycheck-to-paycheck single guy with three kids to support. Faye and Carl are just getting comfortable with each other when Faye’s ex-boyfriend Scoobie reappears after a 12 year absence. Scoobie, now better known as Chef Vernard Payne, celebrity chef and cookbook author, admits to having been “a low-down, dirty dog” who once emptied Faye’s bank account and abandoned her when she got pregnant, but claims to be a changed man who wants to make things right. Faye is willing to forgive and forget, but only because she and Scoobie share a painful past. As she tries to make the relationship work, she learns that Scoobie plans to mold her into someone she isn’t, which, as Faye puts it in characteristically straight-forward urban language, is “some kind of skinny-ass Stepford wife.” There’s no surprise ending here, but Johnson’s humor, control of voice and down-to-earth characters will likely capture the hearts of readers, regardless of their familiarity with this genre. (Apr.) 

Adam
Ted Dekker. Thomas Nelson, $25.99 (400p) ISBN 9780849918919
In this supernatural horror story, prolific novelist Dekker (Skin; THR3E) explores themes of good and evil through a serial killer with mixed results. FBI special agent Daniel Clark’s obsession with his job has cost him his marriage, but he’s determined to find the serial killer known as “Eve.” He’s murdered 15 young women, each during a new moon, and is about to murder another. Daniel briefly sees the killer, but his memory glitches when he almost dies at the scene. In one of the novel’s less believable plot twists, Daniel decides that in order to recall the murderer’s face he must go into cardiac arrest several times to attempt to jump-start his memory. Dekker can’t resist lecturing his readers, but the pacing is swift and the point of view changes smooth. Moreover, Dekker’s use of monthly crime magazine stories as a technique of fleshing out the background of the killer works surprisingly well. But the story falls apart at the end: a multichapter conclusion features a too-long demon-possession scene with a strangely nonprofane demon (“You pathetic pile of excrement”), and some plot elements are not convincingly resolved. Conservative faith-based readers may find this novel too graphic, while general market readers will be perplexed at the awkward attempts to sidestep profanity. (Apr.) 

Catch a Shadow
Patricia Potter. Berkley Sensation, $7.99 (292p) ISBN 9780425221198
Former special forces commando Jake Kelly did time for theft of government property after cash and diamonds disappeared during a South American sting. Finally out of prison, Jake is in Atlanta to meet someone who claims to have evidence that will clear his name—and who is soon a hit-and-run victim. Looking on at the scene, Jake realizes that the victim is someone he thought had been killed in South America; he’s further startled to recognize a CIA agent who’s supposed to be dead. When Jake sees reporter-turned-paramedic Kirke Palmer take an envelope from the dying victim at the scene, he knows she’s in danger. He poses as the victim’s brother to gain her confidence, and there’s something about this attractive, silent man with guarded eyes that makes Kirke want to trust him. Full of well-timed action scenes and a believable cast (including an extraordinary African gray parrot named Merlin), the latest from Potter (Pure Pleasure) is a well-paced and smartly told romantic thriller. (Mar.) 

The Perfect Life
Robin Lee Hatcher. Thomas Nelson, $14.99 paper (302p) ISBN 9781595541482
Meet Katherine Clarkson, heroine of Christy Award-winning novelist Hatcher’s latest enjoyable, if not literarily distinguished, domestic tale. Katherine seems to have, as the title suggests, the perfect life—her two grown daughters are both pregnant, and her devoted and handsome husband Brad has just been named Humanitarian of the Year for his work at In Step, a ministry that rehabilitates houses for low-income people. Then disaster strikes—a beautiful young woman who once worked for Brad publicly accuses him of mishandling the ministry’s finances, and of having an affair with her. When Brad denies both accusations, Katherine struggles with whether to believe him. She wrestles, too, with the fact that her church community largely abandons her in the wake of the scandal. Meanwhile, Katherine’s two daughters clash over how to respond to their parents’ crisis. Hatcher (Whispers from Yesterday) is a dab hand with dialogue, which is one reason her characters are so well drawn: readers will feel empathy with all members of the family. Hatcher also gets kudos for creating, in Katherine’s best friend, a sympathetic non-Christian character, something all too rare in faith fiction. This will be a surefire hit with Hatcher’s many fans. (Feb.) 

Par For The Course
Ray Blackston. FaithWords, $13.99 paper (272p) ISBN 9780446178150
Light romance and an amusing golf theme keep Blackston’s latest inspirational lad lit novel percolating. Protagonist Chris Hackett is the likable owner of Hackett’s Golf Learning Center in Charleston, S.C., but his prowess on the golf course hasn’t translated to his social life, “a series of relational double bogeys.” When 30-something golf student Molly Cusack suggests combining golf and politics in a way that will ensure more business, he’s hooked. Customers line up to practice their golf swings and “whack a liberal” or “whack a conservative,” while business skyrockets. Soon, Chris wonders about the integrity of hiring out his range for “faux political vindication.” Disaster isn’t far behind. What’s amusing about Blackston’s first-person novel is Chris’s urgent desire for matrimony and kids—a refreshing swap from the usual chick-lit and lad-lit fare. A plotline about a feminist never goes anywhere, and faith notes are barely evident (Chris asks Molly to pray about their relationship without much context). Although the humor can become cheesy, there are plenty of laugh-aloud moments, including those provided by a farcical reading group guide. Better than his previous, A Pagan’s Nightmare, this is an enjoyable read. (Feb.)