Fiction Reviews

The sketchy details of the life of Etta Place, outlaw and paramour of Harry “Sundance Kid” Longbaugh, are imaginatively filled in by first-time novelist Kolpan in this winning tale of the Wild West. After her wealthy father's disgrace and demise, Etta departs Philadelphia society and heads west to become a Harvey Girl on the railroad in Colorado, where a series of misadventures leads her to the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. Romanced by Longbaugh and the fugitive lifestyle, Place earns an integral part in the gang through her shooting and riding skills as well as her beauty and sophistication. Pursued by the police, Pinkertons, the Black Hand and rival desperado Kid Curry, Etta and the Sundance Kid make their way across the country, diving from one daring adventure to another. The novel is not without its flaws: Etta's friendship with a young Eleanor Roosevelt and her encounters with other luminaries can seem precious, and her proto-feminism feels too canned. But the wide-screen drama of Etta's life makes these choices forgivable, and Kolpan's snappy storytelling makes it impossible not to want to ride along as the characters careen toward their tragic ends. (Apr.)

The Spy Game Georgina Harding. Bloomsbury, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-1-59691-589-3

A British woman returns to the childhood loss of her German émigré mother in this moody, gloomy novel by the author of The Solitude of Thomas Cave. Anna is eight years old and living in London in 1961 when her mother dies in a car accident. As children, Anna and her brother, Peter, intuit something suspicious about their mother's death, and together they conclude that their mother must not be dead, and that she must be a Soviet spy. Peter, on holiday from boarding school, teaches Anna about cryptography, while Anna searches out irregularities in the behavior of her mother's former friends. As they spy on their neighbors, their paranoia grows out of hand. Interwoven throughout is a plot in the present day, when Anna, dissatisfied with her understanding of her mother's life and death, digs into her mother's past. Harding is a fine portraitist when it comes to sketching the children, their father and friends, but the shifts between present and past never fully integrate the suggestion of espionage into the otherwise effective story of children coping with loss. (Apr.)

In her charming new novel, Dallas (The Persian Pickle Club; Tallgrass; etc.) offers up the unconventional friendship between Hennie Comfort, a natural storyteller entering the twilight of her life, and Nit Spindle, a naïve young newlywed, forged in the isolated mining town of Middle Swan, Colo., in 1936. When the two meet, Hennie recognizes her younger self in Nit, and she's immediately struck with a desire to nurture and guide Nit, who is lonely and adrift in her new hometown and her brand-new marriage. As Hennie regales Nit with stories and advice, the two become inseparable and pass several seasons huddled around their quilting with the other women of Middle Swan. Even though Hennie maintains an air of c'est la vie as she unravels her life story, Nit and the reader soon realize there are tragedies and secrets hidden behind Hennie's tranquil demeanor. This satisfying novel will immediately draw readers into Hennie and Nit's lives, and the unexpected twists will keep them hooked through to the bittersweet denouement. (Apr.)

From London to Cairo, in the glittery world of high society before WWII, Dean taps into an exotic and distant world in her page-turning debut. After 18-year-old Virginia belle Delia marries older British aristocrat Ivor Conisborough, they decamp to London and get to work on producing an heir for the aging viscount. Delia is agog at her new friends in high places, but her idyll is trampled when she learns a painful secret about Ivor. Even so, Delia is endlessly infatuated with London, and she eventually has two girls, Petronella and Davina. The family, to Delia's chagrin, is relocated to Cairo on a long diplomatic mission, and here the novel really sings, as Hitler's campaign hits closer to home and everyone seems to have ulterior motives. Davina and Petronella, meanwhile, grow into young women who think of Cairo as home and fall in love with men they meet there. Dean beautifully captures the mood and color of the era—her descriptive passages are marvelous and complement the layered intrigue, romance and deception. (Mar.)

An Appalachian coming-of-age novel detours through a migrant workers camp for an intensely lyrical, emotional debut. Raised on Crooked Top Mountain, Mercy Heron was raised by her grandparents, crazy Rutha and cold church deacon Father Heron, after her unwed mother died in childbirth. Mercy, 18 and working as a diner waitress, falls in love with Trout, a migrant fruit picker who shares Rutha's connection to mountain magic. Echoing her mother's actions, Mercy tries to escape Father Heron's disapproval and goes on the run with Trout, and she's quickly thrown into the tumultuous life of a migrant worker. Despite her fortitude, Mercy finds she cannot avoid Father Heron's influence, and she returns to Crooked Top for a dangerous confrontation. Keener's vivid imagery and lush, folksy language evoke traditions about nature and mountain people, reality and myth, piety and sin. Though occasionally overwrought, the novel succeeds in bringing to life a slice of mountain life where old and new, foreign and native, real and imagined, poetic and mundane blend against a harsh and beautiful landscape. (Mar.)

For years, Asger Erikkson, the narrator of Ramsland's funny and touching novel, has struggled to keep his family history buried. But when Asger is called home to Denmark to the deathbed of his beloved Grandma Bjørk, the stories spill forth, out of order and out of control. First, they summon long-suppressed guilt (Asger caused his grandfather, who survived Buchenwald, to collapse by tricking him into drinking urine, for instance) and then spiral outward, filling in the many blanks from three generations of the Erikkson family. Nuttiness and depravity abound, as Asger's grandfather's many character flaws are revealed, a son is born in a filthy privy, cousins fall in love and an increasingly ill Bjørk begins to babble about a hidden fortune. In his first novel to be translated into English (it won the Danish Best Novel award), Ramsland masterfully captures a zigzagging litany of recollections across generations and the cold North Sea, revealing the family's true fortune: survival in the space between deep dysfunction and enduring love. (Feb.)

It's High Fidelity for the orchestra set in this slim, assured drama. Among the clerks and instructors of McCoy's music store is Pearl Swain, a recently divorced violin instructor and almost a great violinist who spends most of her time mourning her perceived failures—her marriage, her musical career and her various relationships. But when Pearl meets Hallie Bolaris, a promising young musician with a troubled history, she recognizes in her young student a natural ear, and soon Pearl convinces herself that Hallie is the world's next violin prodigy. She immediately hatches a plan to mentor and train Hallie for the life she herself never had, but Pearl's interest in her favored student soon diverges from her musical training and builds toward a more disheartening climax. Hall, who wrote for television shows Judging Amy and Joan of Arcadia, doesn't shy away from the sour notes of lost dreams, failed careers and misguided intentions, and her novel, despite its heavier than necessary dose of navel-gazing, rings true because of it. (Feb.)

Daniels's resolutely grim portrayal of “the unclassified the oversimplified the target market the failing demographic” early to mid-'90s first surfaced on Myspace and became something of a self-published hit. The “loosely autobiographical” narrative follows the tormented young Luke, a white kid with dreads who clings to a tattered copy of Black Boy throughout his passage from grungy teen to father of a “very fragile, sick little boy.” Saddled with a miserable home life, Luke attends Peckerbrook High and finds solace with Rocky Horror Picture Show fans, Nirvana freaks (who go into shock when Kurt Cobain kills himself), booze and drugs. He drops out and holds a series of dead-end jobs, gets high and prowls for girls, but manages, by the end, to learn how to “live again.” Though Daniels's prose often feels too self-satisfied, his characters' misanthropic adventures will speak to disenchanted youth. (Feb.)

British writer Duncan's cerebral, propulsive seventh novel (after The Bloodstone Papers) digs with philosophical intensity into the timely question of what makes both a terrorist and a torturer tick—with a twist: the terrorist is Augustus Rose, an African-Italian-American former journalist turned successful New York restaurateur. Rose, recruited during his naïve youth into an international organization that practices “vigilante democracy,” is imprisoned in Guantánamo, where Harper, an efficiently cruel U.S. operative, interrogates him, providing the main thread of the novel's three plot lines. The second recounts Rose's complex romance with Selina, which blossomed in 1968 when he was age 21 and ended three decades later with her death in a Barcelona bombing. The third sees a post-torture Rose retire to a bleak British island where he's awaiting death, until he's drawn into the violent world of a girl who befriends him. Duncan describes physical pain and emotional anguish with dramatically distilled, merciless prose, all the while carving a wondrous love story out of a tragic contemporary world where torture has become a numbing norm. (Jan.)

Originally self-published, Suarez's riveting debut would be a perfect gift for a favorite computer geek or anyone who appreciates thrills, chills and cyber suspense. Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity. When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity. Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan. Complicated jargon abounds, but most complexities are reasonably explained. A final twist that runs counter to expectations will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel. (Jan.)

After Janie LaMarche's husband, Robby, dies in a motorcycle accident, the 38-year-old Pelham, Mass., widow embarks on a year of transformations in Fay's wise and inspirational debut. Going through the bewildering and painful cycle of grief and anger while trying to hold it together for her children—preschooler Dylan and toddler Carly—is no walk in the park. Enter Tug Malinowski, an attractive contractor Robby had hired to build a screened-in porch to surprise Janie. Tug is divorced, childless and attracted to Janie while she's tempted by Fr. Jake Sweeney, who has “a secret life of misery” and fears casting aside his vow of celibacy. Fay's mingling of Janie's pithy journal excerpts with crisp traditional plotting adds a nice depth to Janie's journey to emotional healing. The concerns of single motherhood after sudden tragedy come vividly to life, and as Janie learns to appreciate everyday miracles, readers will be charmed. (Jan.)

After a nicely gritty opening (“Revenge is like any other religion: There's always a lot more preaching than there is practicing”), Vachss's 18th Burke thriller (after Terminal) goes off in disparate directions that never quite coalesce into a satisfying whole. When a sniper shoots Burke's father, the Prof, the Prof's uneasy relationship with the law means that his life-threatening wounds can't be treated at a hospital. While his father's fate remains uncertain, a shadowy figure connected with U.S. intelligence draws Burke, an ex-con turned avenging angel for hire, into a kidnapping case. Early one morning, somebody removed the infant son of a Saudi prince from his father's custom Rolls, parked near an abandoned pier near the Hudson River, after the prince was serviced by a prostitute, who didn't realize the child was in the back seat. Burke visits his usual seamy corners of New York City in the ensuing investigation. Those who enjoyed previous books in the series will find more of the same. (Dec.)

As in his memoirs The Speckled People and The Harbor Boys, Hamilton's dominant theme in this absorbing and introspective novel is identity. His protagonist, Gregor Liedmann, was a toddler when Nazi Germany surrendered, and he grew up in Nuremberg enveloped by the nation's shame. By the time he is in his 20s, a musician living in Berlin, Gregor has created a romantic persona for himself, that of a twice-orphaned Jew. The personal history he tells his friends, the woman he marries and his son, is based on denial and instinct, few facts and much supposition. He believes, because he wants to believe, that he was a refugee given to a woman who lost her only child in a bombing. Hamilton writes vividly about the frustration of a boy living with adults damaged by war, though his examination of the common embellishments individuals use while inventing and affirming their own histories can feel redundant. Even so, the questions he raises are fascinating. (Dec.)

After two light comedies with spiritual overtones, American Savior (2008) and Breakfast with Buddha (2007), Merullo mines far darker material to construct a powerful tale of modern-day, devastated Cuba and its all but indestructible dictator, Fidel Castro. Ex-CIA agent Carolina Anzar Perez, niece of Roberto Anzar, one of Miami's Cuban-born, anti-Castro expatriates, works for the White Orchid, a secret organization that has masterminded a complex assassination plot aimed at the ever-canny Fidel. In Cuba, Carlos Gutierrez, the minister of health, disaffected from his government, has become a major conspirator in the upcoming attempt. Guarding Fidel is the evil Col. Felix Olochon Marlos (aka the Dentist), head of the dreaded D-7 secret police. The suspense is as thick as an authentic café cubano, and the labyrinthine plot appears to point to a successful conclusion, until Merullo jams the knife in one last time and gives this timely thriller a final, chilling twist. (Dec.)

British author Lewis does a splendid job in this compelling thriller, his second novel (after Go), of dramatizing the challenges of strangers in a strange land. Inspector Ma Jian of the Chinese Public Security Bureau, whose wife died when the deeply flawed inspector was driving drunk, has let his only child, his daughter Wei Wei, attend Leeds University in England. When Jian receives a late-night phone call from a desperate-sounding Wei Wei that's interrupted, Jian travels to the U.K. At Leeds, Jian, who doesn't know English, learns that Wei Wei dropped out months before and her academic reports to him were lies. Eventually, he manages to ally himself with Ding Ming, an English-speaking illegal immigrant, whose wife was taken away by the human traffickers who got both of them to the U.K. A plot twist toward the end undermines the power of the book's earlier portions, but the corrupt and brutal Jian is an intriguing character many readers will want to see again. (Dec.)

Set in 1990, O'Shaughnessy's intriguing 12th legal thriller to feature crusading lawyer Nina Reilly (after Case of Lies) takes a look at Nina's early career. An attractive single mom, Nina lives with her preschool-age son, Bob, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., where she works as a paralegal while pursuing a law degree. She worries about her mother, Ginny, who's struggling with a circulatory disease and recovery from a botched acupuncture treatment. When Nina's ex-lover, criminal defense attorney Richard Filsen, resurfaces after four years, demanding a paternity test and shared custody of Bob, Nina seeks help from her current crush, Jack McIntyre, and his sexy girlfriend, Remy Sorensen, who's angling for a judgeship. Everything explodes when first Richard and then Ginny are murdered. The pseudonymous O'Shaughnessy (Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy) offers some surprising twists involving the ambitious Remy. Nina's first brush with a future love, detective Paul van Wagoner, adds spice. (Dec.)

Shaara's follow-up to Every Secret Thing tries to be many things—mystery, romance, Southern Gothic, scientific exploration—but remains a disjointed amalgam that fails to live up to its promise. Harry Sterling, a writer desperately in search of a book topic, is finishing his first year of university teaching and drinking away the failures of his past when a student's offhand comment—that local psychic Josie Dupree had hinted that the physicist Charles Ziegart was not responsible for the groundbreaking discovery that bears his name—reawakens Harry's investigative spirit. Harry's near-disastrous initial visit to Madame Dupree includes a chance meeting with her niece, Maggie Roth. Harry is strangely drawn to the young woman, despite her repeated rebuffs, and his pursuit of Maggie becomes tied up with his Ziegart investigation. But what could have been a provocative narrative devolves into a melodramatic, largely unnecessary revenge plot. Even the mystery that drives the novel will be transparent to most readers, who may wonder why Harry, a former investigative reporter, seems, for the most part, blind to everything. (Dec.)

This is the sixth and best in Blevins's exciting Rendezvous series (following A Long and Winding Road) featuring mountain man Sam Morgan. It's 1840 and Sam, seeing the end of his beloved fur trade, decides to head for California and a settled life with his friend, Hannibal, and Sam's daughter, Esperanza, raised on the Crow reservation since her mother died in childbirth. The three of them along with a party of friends and Indian relatives endure harsh weather and forbidding terrain on their journey from the Wyoming territory to the coast, but the situation goes from bad to worse after they find and care for a badly injured woman, Lei Palua, who has escaped from a psychopathic gang whose leader, Kanaka Boy, vows to get her back. When Sam and his group are bushwhacked, their herd of horses stolen and Esperanza kidnapped by Kanaka Boy, Sam embarks on a rage-filled orgy of bloody violence. Blevins, a masterful western storyteller, really piles on the torture, mutilation and rape, but the action is fast-paced and the details of frontier life, the fur trade and Indian lore authentic. (Dec.)

In this atmospheric quest through a nightmarish, right-wing–ruled France, an unnamed man discovers he's lost 12 years of his life and is wanted for a brutal murder. The National Party controls daily life, and the Ministry of Racial Differences doesn't allow nonwhites out during the day. Slowly the man learns that he's now a “Spirit,” casting no reflection, able to kill by allowing people to see into his eyes, with the authorities constantly on his trail. This scenario allows Pauvert to describe much of his country, from Nice to Paris, from the seaside into the Alps, as well as sing the praises of stolen motorcycles. Winner of the Prix Carrefour for Best First Novel, this episodic, poetic book takes an introspective look at identity and dim shadow worlds, where the Fugitive-like figure has the presence of mind to understand that he's “a ghost in a world of zombies.” Those expecting a traditional thriller with narrative drive will be disappointed. (Dec.)

A luxury cruise runs afoul of a terrorist plot in the less than stellar fourth entry in Morris's Edgar-nominated series featuring jack-of-all-trades Zack Chasteen (after Bermuda Schwartz). Chasteen, a former pro football player and ex-con who now runs a Florida palm tree nursery, and his eight-month pregnant significant other, travel magazine owner Barbara Pickering, are among the high-class crowd aboard the Royal Star, making its inaugural voyage to an unknown destination. Soon after the ship leaves Miami, gunmen mow down most of the crew, then separate the men and the women. Chasteen rallies his colleagues to fight back, but ends up overboard, where he draws on his Boy Scout training to survive. Morris ratchets up the tension by having Barbara go into labor amid the gunfire and explosions. Hollywood films like Speed 2 have effectively used analogous story lines, but Morris fails to replicate their tension and pacing. (Dec.)

Reconnecting with beautiful antiques dealer Leah Kolbe and her fiancé, Jonathan Hawatyne, Petit's sequel to The Fat Man's Daughter opens with a scene of Hong Kong splendor, complete with Ernest Hemingway at the Peninsula Hotel, setting the stage for the loss to come when the start of the second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 sends Jonathan into battle—right in the middle of a movie date. Heart-broken, Leah prepares for starvation on watery congee, but after Hong Kong surrenders manages to escape by boat. Landing in Macau's with nothing, she finds work with the British Consulate and then is recruited by a man named Benjamin Eldersen to get close to a Japanese businessman, the son of an ammunition and steel manufacturer. Espionage hijinx ensue, and Jonathan's gone missing. Throughout, readers are meant to feel Leah's anguish for Jonathan, but her interior life remains stubbornly two-dimensional. Still, the melodrama pulls readers through the streets of Hong Kong and Macau during a tempestuous period, making this war-time romantic suspenser a pleasant enough escape. (Dec.)

In Parker's latest portrait of urban angst (after The Tragic Flaw) a young African-American married couple in turmoil hurtle toward a violent showdown. College sweethearts Joshua and Kathryn, together for 12 years, with a young son, are haunted by the past and suffering in the present. Kathryn, a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon struggles to overcome an intense depression intensified by a car accident involving her family and her discovery that Joshua has been unfaithful. Joshua is equally upset by the knowledge that Kathryn was promiscuous before they married and by another college-era incident: the stabbing of his best friend, Diego. Parker depicts scenes from the couple's life with sporadic eloquence and grit, but fails to make a convincing argument for the lurid conclusion. Is the marriage afflicted by cultural malaise (Parker inserts descriptions of inane TV/film segments) or the strain parenthood can put upon troubled young parents? Parker's resolution is unsettling, the book too short and underdeveloped. (Dec.)

A dashing rogue and a fiery heroine spar in Ashworth's charming Regency-era historical romance debut. Sir Anthony Crenshaw reluctantly accompanies Ginny Delacourt into the countryside at the request of his grandmother, who is trying to play matchmaker. But Crenshaw's mask of etiquette drives the spitfire Delacourt mad, and they can barely stand each other. When highwaymen accost the pair and force them to seek shelter at a local estate, they meet Lucinda Barrington and Lord Avery, lovers destined to marry, if only they can get past their foolish need for drama. Crenshaw and Delacourt begin to fall for each other, though their courtship is complicated by the attentions of both Barrington and Avery. The subplot involving Lord Avery and Lucinda Barrington elevates Ashworth's story above the genre's usual fare and the couple is a natural foil to Delacourt and Crenshaw. Their presence provides genre fans the opportunity to laugh at familiar circumstances taken to absurd extremes. (Dec.)

The story of tyrant king Henry VIII is told from the perspective of his first wife, Spanish princess Katharine of Aragon, in this re-released 1969 novel. For many years Katherine enjoys the love of her husband and the people of England, until Henry's selfish nature and obsession with young Anne Boleyn threaten Katherine's reign. Her stubborn Catholic views won't allow her to give in to Henry's demand for a divorce, and this same sense of piety ultimately destroys her. While not a page-turner (there's a reason many historical novelists focus on Anne Boleyn rather than Katherine), Lofts's period details are vivid and precise. Despite a somewhat choppy narrative (Anne and Henry's four-year affair is treated more like an afterthought), Lofts drums up such sympathy for Katharine that even though the ending is certain, readers will find themselves praying right along with the queen for Henry's change of heart. (Dec.)

Kit, the scheming screenwriter at the center of Reed's latest novel, inhabits a future London where a militant Commissar is in power, the Japanese have immigrated to the city in droves, and a new treatment for AIDS has a perplexing side effect. After Kit undergoes treatment at a mysterious medical center known as the Grid, he begins to unearth memories that belong to none other than Christopher Marlowe, incidentally the subject of a screenplay Kit's under contract to write. As Marlowe's memories become overwhelming, other Grid patients begin contacting Kit to share recovered memories of their own, including all the key figures surrounding Marlowe's murder. As the memories become more vivid, threatening to swallow the men's current identities, the group seeks to unearth the true circumstances of Marlowe's death. Reed's zeal for Marlovian history bogs the narrative down in names, dates and facts, further strained by the book's dystopian backdrop and future-punk posturing, with lots of name-dropping and little explanation. (Dec.)

This well-crafted debut collection, five stories and a novella, from award-winning writer and memoirist Vann (A Mile Down) revolves obsessively around the suicide of an Alaskan father. Hopscotching through time, each tale examines the father's death from the perspective of his young son, Roy. The first story, “Ichthyology,” introduces the young protagonist and his troubled father, a tax-dodging dentist and fisherman who ends up shooting himself on the deck of his fishing boat. “Rhoda” finds the 12-year-old boy bonding with his new stepmother, a pretty young woman his father married before the tragedy. In “A Legend of Good Men,” Roy imagines a fantastically violent rampage in which he does away with his mother's suitors, à la Odysseus and Telemachus. The novella, “Sukkwan Island,” is an increasingly suspenseful story of survival, in which a 13-year-old Roy and his father brave the elements for months in an isolated mountain cabin. Vann uses startling powers of observation to create strong characters, tense scenes and genuine surprises, leading to a ghastly conclusion that's sure to linger. (Dec.)

Writer J.T. Green desperately wants to be taken seriously at national weekly Sports Today, both for her and her father (the Coach), but a locker-room mishap lands her a losing assignment covering a dead-end local baseball club, the Gilbeytown, Pa., Beavers. Unbeknownst to her and her editor, famous pitcher Tommy Bainbridge is in town, and he's determined to help the Beavers kick their losing streak. Tommy and J.T. fall for each other, but their careers and trust issues make it impossible for them to commit; soon, however, J.T. uncovers a conspiracy threatening the Beavers that could drag her and Tommy down with it. Bruce (Who Wants to Be a Sex Goddess?) is in good form with this sports romance, keeping the baseball in the forefront without getting technical. Tommy is an almost absurdly good guy—humble, honorable, an old school sportsman—and J.T. is a strong foil—independent, indomitable and sexily vulnerable. Though readers may wonder at some of the loose ends, the novel's smalltown setting, vibrant supporting characters and modest aspirations make this a charming exploration of love and baseball. (Dec.)

In Jacobs's third installment in her cream puff Everything But series, Hungarian matriarch Nana Vancy continues to worry about the Salo family wedding curse that's been the family scourge since Nana's groom-to-be inadvertently stood her up at their lavish wedding; two of her three grandchildren have already fallen victim to the same fate, leaving startup developer Dori Salo as the last great hope. But the recently dumped Dori would rather focus on her Erie Hazard Hills housing development than dwell on her lame luck in love. Enter architect Bill Hastings, who puts on airs as Carter Hastings IV to woo Dori into hiring his cousin's interior design firm to work on the development's model homes. Soon, sparks fly and Nana's hopes skyrocket for Dori and Bill. Can a happily ever after be far away, curses be damned? The book is undeniably sugary sweet and light as air, but it has a certain cuteness in its favor. (Dec.)

Plain's tepid latest focuses on two women—privileged but plain Gwen Wright and beautiful but poor Jewel Fairchild. Their lives occasionally intersect, and eventually Jewel marries a wealthy man and discovers that money can't buy happiness. Gwen, meanwhile, marries a poor but honest man—but she still finds herself drawn to Jewel's husband, and the foursome is soon tangled in a web of deceit. Unfortunately, Jewel and Gwen don't evolve throughout the novel; Gwen is a character that some readers might find intolerably perfect—smart, privileged, shy, well-spoken, with simple needs and a tragic past—but any irritation that one might have with her is eliminated by the calculating and shallow Jewel, who is too pathetic to be a legitimate antagonist and too tragic to really be hated. It functions well as a simplistic morality tale. (Nov.)

In Shamus-winner Fulmer's enjoyable fourth mystery to feature Valentin St. Cyr (after 2006's Rampart Street), the Creole detective must stop a crime wave in Storyville, New Orleans' legendary red-light district, in 1913. St. Cyr, who's been working for a respectable law firm in a better part of town, reluctantly decides to help his former employer, Tom Anderson (aka the king of Storyville), after a dead man with a bullet hole in his chest turns up in the parlor of one of Anderson's bordellos. Enter the contender for queen of Storyville, Evelyne Dallencort, a jaded society matron and her equally jaded young lover, Louis Jacob, and the body count rises. With his usual lucid prose, Fulmer details the grubby “crib” life that exploited scores of women prostitutes while padding rich men's wallets. At times, though, the cartoonish Dallencort sounds too much like a modern woman who's wandered into the wrong book. Still, those looking for some jazzy early 20th-century chills won't be disappointed. (Jan.)

Pearce's solid fifth pre-WWI historical to feature Sandor Seymour of Special Branch (after 2007's A Dead Man in Tangier) takes the Scotland Yard detective to Barcelona, Spain, to crack a two-year-old cold case—the death, while in a Spanish prison, of an English businessman, Sam Lockhart. Lockhart was arrested during the bloody riots that erupted in Barcelona in 1910 after reserve troops refused orders to serve in Spanish Morocco. Seymour's assignment enables him to reunite with Chantale de Lissac, his half-Arab, half-French romantic interest, who uses her people skills to help him learn more about the hidden personal and political passions that may have led to Lockhart's murder. As usual, Pearce is more concerned with—and more successful at—bringing his chosen milieu to life than stumping the reader with a puzzle. Fans of the author's Gareth Owen series (The Mark of the Pasha, etc.) will note similarities between Chantale and Owen's independent-minded Egyptian girlfriend-turned-wife. (Dec.)

Troubles abound for Hallie Ahern in Brogan's satisfying third mystery starring the intrepid Rhode Island reporter (after 2007's Yesterday's Fatal). A chance viewing of an online “teaser” featuring two teen girls on Rhode Island Buzz, a social networking Web site, prompts Ahern to pitch a story to her newspaper, the Providence Chronicle. She receives initial support from her bosses, who see it as an audience-catching exposé: “Online Dangers: Your teenager is prey.” That promising start is quashed when the investigation puts her in conflict with boyfriend Matt Cavanaugh, an assistant attorney general, and when the paper's editors unexpectedly decide to drop her story in favor of another. The death of one of her young contacts transforms Ahern's quest from news story to crusade, setting her on a course that could cost her job and her life. Brogan's newspaper background serves her nicely in the setup of Ahern's sleuthing, and readers should welcome further entries in the series. (Dec.)

Irascible homicide detective Thomas “Skin” Kadash battles cancer while drawn into investigating a string of suicides with a common link in Cameron's thinly plotted second novel. Officially on medical leave from the Portland, Ore., police department, Skin is called to a crime scene by his partner, Det. Susan Mulvaney, when she discovers that the deceased was being treated by Skin's oncologist and wasn't the first of the doctor's patients to kill themselves. A list of five men—including several who have already committed suicide—surfaces, but when the police look into the deaths, there's little to suggest they weren't the last acts of men with terminal illnesses. Unconvinced, Skin launches his own unofficial investigation, while trying to withstand the pain of bladder cancer. Though Cameron (Lost Dog) uses the moody Northwest locale to his advantage, the uneven plot and thoroughly dislikable protagonist make for a disappointing read. (Dec.)

In British author Duffy's 12th mystery to feature husband-wife team Ingrid Langley and Patrick Gillard (after 2007's Cobweb), the former MI5 agents now working for SOCA (the Serious and Organized Crime Agency) go in search of criminal Robert Kennedy, presumed long dead but apparently alive and, more disturbing, possibly connected to a series of ghastly gangland-style killings in which the initials “RK” are cut into the victims' bodies. As they get on the trail of the elusive Kennedy and a ruthless gang, Langley and Gillard begin to wonder if Kennedy himself might be a target. Duffy injects this crisp if sometimes too chatty police procedural with some great action scenes, including a wild horse ride for the newly pregnant Langley as she tries to evade her would-be killers. The author also nicely sets up the next installment with Gillard's sudden realization that maybe SOCA's not the only job he could pursue. (Dec.)

The savage murder of eight prostitutes at a London house of refuge provides Sebastian St. Cyr with yet another challenging puzzle in Harris's outstanding fourth mystery to feature the Regency-era gentleman sleuth. St. Cyr, who's been despondent ever since a stunning personal revelation toward the end of 2007's Why Mermaids Sing, is roused from his funk by Hero Jarvis, the fearless and independent daughter of his mortal enemy. Jarvis, who was doing research at the house of refuge at the time of the murders and barely survived the massacre herself, asks for St. Cyr's help in tracking down those responsible. The amateur detective finds no shortage of suspects, ranging from the pimp of some of the dead girls to Bow Street magistrate Sir William Hadley, who had patronized them. While the developing attraction between St. Cyr and Jarvis is a little too predictable, Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist. (Nov.)

At the start of Kingsbury's engaging fourth holiday Pennyfoot Hotel mystery set during the Edwardian era (after 2007's Shrouds of Holly), amateur sleuth Cecily Sinclair Baxter is hoping for a festive winter season at her hotel on England's windy southeast coast, but the Christmas curse strikes again. The speaker of the House of Lords, Sir Walter Hetherton, and his wife, Lady Clara, are killed by an explosive Yuletide cracker at the Pennyfoot Country Club, which Cecily now manages. Constable Sam Northcutt believes the explosion was caused by a malfunctioning gas lamp, but after Sam leaves for vacation, one of Cecily's employees alerts her to some disturbing evidence. Could Pennyfoot be harboring a murderer? Suspects include Hetherton's political rival, Roland Crossley. A scary, vanishing snowman heightens the suspense. While the murderer's motive might strike some as a bit unconvincing, cozy fans will be pleased to ring in the new year with this cheerful Kingsbury trifle. (Nov.)

“Cilled a thing heer—D. Boone” reads a message carved outside a spooky Kentucky cave in this slightly thin campfire tale. The “thing” is a bizarre creature with wings and a sharp beak, and despite Boone's declaration, she survives and spawns. By 1899, the cave is known as the Witch's Pit, and Heaster Wharton Junior—whose father accompanied Boone and fought the monster—hides his will there so his feuding descendants will have to work together to find it. Inevitably, the searchers tangle with the monster's bloodthirsty family. Humor enlivens the action, and Priest (Not Flesh nor Feathers) adds cool touches like Boone's ghost and an angry phantom woman, but the monster's origins remain a little too mysterious, giving the story a slightly undeveloped feel. Mark Geyer's illustrations lend old-fashioned atmosphere. (Dec.)

The second Opening of the World fantasy novel (after 2007's The Gap) can easily be enjoyed on its own terms. The rise of the Rulers, a powerful group who ride mammoths to war and wield potent magic powers, poses a major threat to the Raumsdalian Empire. Count Hamnet Thyssen, a master warrior, rallies a ragtag mix of magicians, shamans and soldiers against the Rulers, who deal them a crushing defeat. The survivors make a perilous escape over an enormous glacier, where they encounter a band of cannibals and acquire a new shaman, the lovely and skilled Marcovefa. Sparks fly between her and Hamnet as the Rulers threaten further battle. While the prolific Turtledove may be best known for his alternate history works, he demonstrates his versatility and considerable imagination in this fast-paced military fantasy. (Dec.)

Madness meets mystery in this lush, disjointed debut. Consigned to a sanitarium after leaping from a burning theater with a small red book in her arms, amnesiac Ange St. Loup battles the abusive warders as she tries to unravel memory fragments that sometimes move the story along and sometimes drag it to a halt. Somewhere in Ange's head, a company of thespians wallows in its group drama while she wallows in her miserable cell, kept company by a young inmate and her book, which may or may not be blank. Dense, rich and sometimes sparkling, the story moves jerkily and without warning between credibility and disbelief. Although Kornher-Stace's prose often dazzles, the story is littered with false reveals and deeply unreliable narrators, leading to a twist conclusion that feels like a cheap trick. (Dec.)

This brief sequel to 2008's The Voyage of the Proteus is less a conventional novella than an extended metaphor. The protagonist, who bears the name of the late author (1940–2008), inhabits a dystopian near-future New York where ground zero is a lagoon and activists blow up McDonald's. When Tom stumbles over the murdered body of his neighbor, he decides to solve the mystery. But don't expect a linear plot: Disch refuses to answer any of the questions he raises, including whether Tom is dead or insane. Themes of isolation and loss are particularly poignant in light of Disch's suicide, as are autobiographical details such as the eviction notice he calls a death warrant. As genre fiction it disappoints, but Disch's command of language is a delight, by turns casual, brutal and elegant. (Dec.)

Information overload sends a man over the edge in Laughlin's chilling debut. Karal Evender is only 15 when he arrives in Dreiden to be trained as a Datist. Karal's memory is so good that he's assigned to become a Cartist who helps preserve the world's knowledge for a manipulative organization called the Knowlodge. Although disappointed to learn his specialty will be toxicology, Karal nonetheless attains Cartist status and a job working for Superintendent Blixon, Dreiden's chief law enforcement officer. When he tries and fails to sustain a romantic relationship with Alenna, his landlady's daughter, the strain of knowing too much about poison and death leads Karal to a shocking decision. Laughlin uses a somber, dispassionate first-person narration that effectively suggests the gulf between knowledge and wisdom. (Dec.)

Despite two prologues explaining its long and complicated back story, the final volume in the Heartstone epic fantasy saga (following 2007's Mistress of Winter) will baffle anyone unfamiliar with the series. The Ohndarien Empire is threatened by the overwhelming forces of sorceress Issefyn, who has enslaved its inhabitants by infecting them with the magical “black emmeria.” Zelani priestess Shara strives to reunite with her soul mate, the former “Sleeping Warden” Brophy, but he has been infected and must fight the evil voice in his head even as he strives to save the world from corruption and find the Heartstone, a magical gem created long ago to contain the psychic illness. This plot-driven tangle puts its surprisingly flat characters through their paces with iron discipline, eventually concluding with plenty of blood and thunder. (Dec.)

Kenyon (Bloodstone) shifts smoothly between '80s-style supernatural horror and modern-day science thriller in this superb sophomore effort. Sarah Voorsanger's birth was so explosive that the hospital burned down. Her grandparents attempted to raise her, but after several episodes of psychokinesis, they decided she was the Antichrist and turned her over to the state. Now 10 years old, Sarah is virtually imprisoned in a Boston institution, where agents of Helix Pharmaceuticals experiment on her with drugs designed to activate psychic abilities. When psychology grad student Jess Chambers bonds with Sarah, first outraged by her condition and then shocked by her extraordinary paranormal talents, she knows she must rescue the child from Helix before the company awakens her most deadly powers. Readers, left breathless, will hope Kenyon makes good on hints of a sequel. (Dec.)

Both plot and historical ambience fall by the wayside in Caskie's Regency romance series launch. The seven Sinclair siblings, known collectively as the Seven Deadly Sins, are forced from their ancestral home in Scotland by their father, who insists they mend their ways in London or be disinherited. Sterling Sinclair's attempt to provide for his family by prizefighting is nearly derailed by his interest in—and disastrous encounters with—the beautiful Isobel Carrington. Unfortunately, the Sinclairs are nearly indistinguishable, despite each one's association with a different sin, and Isobel's interest in social causes is as unconvincing as her sudden emotional shifts and eccentric behavior. Caskie (How to Propose to a Prince) tosses in so many violations of period norms and etiquette that the Sinclairs' shock value drops to nil, leaving nothing to anchor the story. (Dec.)

Likable characters and an intriguing premise almost make up for gaping holes in the plot of Ambrose's debut romantic thriller. Eleanor Coggins breaks into the Westfield mansion, hoping to find evidence implicating Banner Westfield in the death of his wife, Eleanor's best friend. Instead she's caught by Banner's half-brother, Jack Payton, and forced to pose as his fiancée. Jack thinks Banner has gotten the family business into some illegal dealings, so he gets Ellie access to the mansion while she helps him secure custody of his daughter. Their relationship sizzles with delicious friction as they ruthlessly use each other to relieve pent-up sexual tension, while Banner investigates Ellie's fake background and sets a trap for the bogusly betrothed couple. A handful of unanswered questions will vex readers until the steamy love scenes distract them. (Dec.)

This action-packed contemporary romance suffers from a heroine imperiled by bad judgment and an otherwise terrific hero who can't seem to figure out the happily-ever-after that's staring him in the face. A shoot-out at the hotel where police have stashed murder witness Payton Vaughn leaves her protectors dead. She escapes into the night, and in desperation carjacks journalist Adriano Norwood. Payton tries to shield Adriano, but soon admits to managing a nightclub for notorious drug dealer Sherman Grazicky until she saw a hit he ordered. As Adriano's partner works to translate evidence Payton didn't even know she had, Grazicky's jealous wife plots Payton's death. White (Forever After) throws in some hot scenes, but strong chemistry can't mitigate Payton's willingness to advance her career by working for a mobster or Adriano's inability to see beyond the next five minutes. (Dec.)

Suihelibe!—subtitled “Hydrogen Helium Lithium Belium” (a play on the characters' names)—has almost no scientific content, despite the chemistry title and despite the plot, which centers on a middle school science club. Thirteen-year-old Tetsu Kobayashi meets an alien girl named Lan on his first day of class as she dislodges her crashed flying saucer from the side of the school. Like a cute-girl version of Doraemon, Lan produces magical alien devices that help Tetsu out of scrapes. Tetsu and Lan become friends quickly as they join the failing science club, which is about to be canceled by a clichéd power-hungry student council—unless they can recruit five new members soon. The plot rockets forward in an attention-deficit-disorder method of storytelling, with elements similar to both Pokémon and YuGiOh. The art is simple, cute and clean-cut, and there's no questionable content, although young newcomers to manga might find the panel layouts a little difficult to follow. A fairly forgettable manga outing, but in only two volumes, at least it's short and sweet. (Nov.)

Who are you going to send against invading aliens that look like cuddly kitties and bunnies and baby dolphins? Adorable eight-year-old girl soldiers! They're the only ones who can battle the attackers, fighting cuteness with cuteness. If the premise sounds like a cartoon, it was—a 26-episode anime, now adapted to print. Akamatsu, who provided the story and character designs, is well-known for his harem manga Negima! and Love Hina. In contrast, this story comes from the “magical girl” genre, with the girls transforming into what resemble band majorettes when they press their smiling clover pins, and winning based on determination and niceness. Akamatsu's slapstick comedy and the occasional panty shot are also included for his fans. Although the storytelling can be confusing, the little ones are always cute. There are also older girls to ogle, undercover half-aliens (humans with cat ears) trying to stop the kids, as well as interforce rivalry among the old men controlling the little girls. Best not to think at all about the underlying implications. The plan to release the book in double-sized editions is a good one, since too many volumes of this and the cuteness would become cloying. (Oct.)

Manga legend Tezuka fuses medical drama (think a manga House) with philosophy in this famed series about the adventures of the world's greatest surgeon, the eponymous Black Jack. Created in the '70s, Black Jack combines the episodic tension of Tezuka's early serials with the humanist concerns of his later work, like MW and Phoenix. Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure, with a scarred face and sinister black coat who is unlicensed despite his unparalleled healing skills. Operating outside normal society, Black Jack is called in for the most outré and serious cases: a rich man's son who needs a body transplant; a young woman who keeps seeing the face of a murderer through her newly transplanted cornea; an American superdoctor computer that decides it's sick. In one of his most bizarre cases, Black Jack removes from a woman a teratoid tumor containing an unborn twin and uses the removed bits and synthetic parts to create a lisping little girl named Pinoko who functions as his sidekick. With genre-spanning stories—horror, sci-fi, romance—and Tezuka's signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but extravagantly entertaining ride that's far more accessible than the author's novel-length epics. (Sept.)

Galago, the publisher of this b&w anthology, started as a Swedish political satire magazine three decades ago. Now, it showcases alternative comics inspired by Robert Crumb and Ingmar Bergman, with an emphasis on dark humor. Other adjectives that accurately describe the work are “melancholy” and “anguished.” This book was originally assembled as the catalogue for an art show focusing on 13 of these cartoonists, and similar others have been added. Thus, this collection brings unknown cartoonists to a wider audience. Contributors include David Liljemark, Marcus Ivarsson, Mats Jonsson, Knut Larsson, Kolbeinn Karlsson, Liv Strömquist and Loka Kanarp. Artistically, it's a wide-ranging sampler, with simple work reminiscent of Jeffrey Brown, nightmarish imagery, and thick, chunky, cartoony influences with bold toning. Thematically, it mostly tackles the usual alternative topics of quotidian incidents, sometimes using animal characters to make them more striking. If you're interested in finding new alternative comic work before it's widely known, this is perfect, guaranteed to be fresh just through unfamiliarity. (Sept.)

As with so many works of near-genius, the first reaction to reading Woodring's perplexing, bewitching Frank is bafflement, followed not long after by wonder and delight. The kind of cartoonist other cartoonists rave about like love-struck bobby-soxers (Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes hyperbolically blurb this collection), Woodring presents in these 14 almost entirely wordless tales a strange sort of wisdom, spun out of low humor and harsh but simple truths. His none-too-bright protagonist is a Mickey Mouse–like character living in a world of magic surreality that resembles a Grimm fairy tale gone horribly awry. Buildings sprout like onion-domed planets, and nightmare creatures (usually either dumb or malevolent) wander a landscape that frequently molts into cross-dimensional traps. Curious Frank goes wandering, often drawn by the promise of greener grass, and usually pays for his greed or callow cruelty. Lessons are taught but often ignored, with Woodring leaving the occasional gnomic clue in the bottom of a frame (“His father was a great machine”). A calamitous comedy that reads like silence, this concise edition is an ideal entry into Woodring's unique universe. (Sept.)