Fiction Book Reviews: 6/29/2009

With a surprising degree of humor, Hage's second novel (after IMPAC Dublin-winner DeNiro's Game) explores the peculiar politics of Montreal's immigrant communities through the bleak obsessions of a misanthropic thief. After trying and failing to kill himself, an unnamed narrator who believes himself to be part cockroach is compelled to attend counseling sessions with an earnest and alluring therapist. As he unspools his personal history—from his apprenticeship with the thief Abou-Roro to the tragic miscalculation that led him to flee his home country—the narrator, reluctant to tell his story (we never learn where the narrator is from, and inconsistencies in his tale cast doubt upon his honesty), scuttles through the stories of others, recounting secrets both confidentially shared and invasively discovered. Unable to support himself on burglary alone, the narrator takes a job as a busboy, but runs into complications after discovering his lover's connection to the restaurant's most prominent customer. The novel's gritty back-alley world gives rise to a host of glorious rogues, each swindling the others at every opportunity, and yet each is capable of great empathy under just the right circumstances. (Oct.)

Blood's a Rover James Ellroy. Knopf, $27.95 (656p) ISBN 978-0-679-40393-7 Ellroy concludes the scorching trilogy begun with 1995's American Tabloid with a crushing bravura performance. As ever, his sentences are gems of concision, and his characters—many of whom readers will remember from The Cold Six Thousand and from American history classes—are a motley crew of grotesques often marked by an off-kilter sense of honor: stone bad-asses, in other words, though the women are stronger than the men who push the plot. The violence begins with an unsolved 1964 L.A. armored car heist that will come to have major repercussions later in the novel, as its effects ripple outward from a daring robbery into national and international affairs. There's Howard Hughes's takeover of Las Vegas, helped along by Wayne Tedrow Jr., who's working for the mob. The mob, meanwhile, is scouting casino locations in Central America and the Caribbean, and working to ensure Nixon defeats Humphrey in the 1968 election. Helping out is French-Corsican mercenary Mesplede, who first appeared in Tabloid as the shooter on the grassy knoll and who now takes under his wing Donald Crutchfield, an L.A. peeping Tom/wheelman (based, curiously, on a real-life private eye). Mesplede and Crutchfield eventually set up shop in the Dominican Republic, where the mob begins casino construction and Mesplede and Crutchfield run heroin from Haiti to raise money for their rogue nocturnal assaults on Cuba. In the middle and playing all sides against one another is FBI agent Dwight Holly, who has a direct line to a rapidly deteriorating J. Edgar Hoover (“the old girl”) and a tormented relationship with left-wing radical Karen Sitakis, and, later, Joan Klein, whose machinations bring the massive plot together and lead to more than one death. Though the book isn't without its faults (Crutchfield discovers a significant plot element because “something told him to get out and look”; Wayne's late-book transformation is too rushed), it's impossible not to read it with a sense of awe. The violence is as frequent as it is extreme, the treachery is tremendous, and the blending of cold ambition and colder political maneuvering is brazen, all of it filtered through diamond-cut prose. It's a stunning and crazy book that could only have been written by the premier lunatic of American letters. (Sept.)

Lindsay doesn't always maintain the balance between farce and something more serious in his fourth thriller to feature Dexter Morgan (after Dexter in the Dark). As fans of the hit Showtime TV series know, Dexter is a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami PD as well as a serial killer who targets killers who've evaded justice. When two eviscerated corpses turn up on a beach, Dexter investigates, as does his sister, Deborah, a sergeant with his department, who suffers serious injury after she's stabbed by a suspect, Alex Doncevic. Convinced Deborah's assailant is the person also responsible for the bodies on the beach, Dexter eliminates Doncevic, only to find that he's taken an innocent life. To Dexter's further dismay, someone begins posting videos of Doncevic's murder on YouTube. While the darkly witty Lindsay deserves credit for continuing to make imaginative use of his original concept, a contrived resolution disappoints. (Sept.)

Bestseller Kane's disappointing sequel to Twisted (2008) pays more attention to the romantic growing pains between FBI agent Sloane Burbank and her hunky former FBI colleague, Derek Parker, than the crime at hand. Dragon Head, boss of a Chinese triad, is targeting Sloane's father, Matthew, and his circle of friends in a years-old revenge plot that hinges on a stolen painting. Derek and his task force are already on the Dragon Head's scent for stateside crimes when Sloane's parents' Manhattan apartment is burglarized. Matthew privately hires Sloane to protect him while keeping the past hidden from the Feds and Derek. Despite a few incidents early on, the heart-racing action is relegated to Sloane and Derek's bedroom—and when the two aren't amorously engaged, they're arguing about who's hiding what from whom. They're not hiding anything from the reader, though: Kane tells us too much up front, and little is left for the big reveal. (Sept.)

Clichéd situations more typical of a stock romance novel mar Brown's historical set in post-WWII England. Charles Garland, of the newly formed National Trust, which is created to take over the operations of country houses whose owners can no longer afford their maintenance, travels from London to the Jago family's Devon home, Lizzah, to persuade the Jagos to put the property in the trust's hands. Kit, the son who was to inherit Lizzah, was killed in action at war's end, and his father, Myles, is in denial about the state of the family's finances. Romances, an unexpected pregnancy and domestic violence complicate Charles's efforts. Brown (Cat's Cradle) fails to make the reader feel the very real emotional impact of the social changes of the period on her characters' lives. Uninspired dialogue doesn't help (“The whole country's at a tipping point. So many of the old ways gone. So many unknowns waiting in the offing...”). (Sept.)

The queen of British historical fiction (The Other Boleyn Girl) kicks off a new series with the story of Elizabeth Woodville Grey, whose shifting alliances helped the War of the Roses take root. The marriage of 22-year-old Yorkist King Edward IV to 27-year-old widow Elizabeth brings a sea change in loyalties: Elizabeth's Lancastrian family becomes Edward's strongest supporters, while Edward's closest adviser, the ambitious earl of Warwick, joins with Edward's brother George to steal the English crown. History buffs from Shakespeare on have speculated about this fateful period, especially the end of Edward and Elizabeth's two sons, and Gregory invents plausible but provocative scenarios to explore those mysteries; she is especially poignant depicting Elizabeth in her later years, when her allegiance shifts toward Richard III (who may have killed her sons). Gregory earned her international reputation evoking sex, violence, love and betrayal among the Tudors; here she adds intimate relationships, political maneuvering and battlefield conflicts as well as some well-drawn supernatural elements. Gregory's newest may not be as fresh as earlier efforts, but she captures vividly the terrible inertia of war. (Aug.)

Crafting a dense, flashback-filled narrative that stutters across two summer outings to New England (and as many weddings), Russo (Empire Falls) convincingly depicts a life coming apart at the seams, but the effort falls short of the literary magic that earned him a Pulitzer. A professor in his 50s who aches to go back to screenwriting, Jack Griffin struggles to divest himself of his parents. Lugging around, first, his father's, then both his parents' urns in the trunk of his convertible, he hopes to find an appropriate spot to scatter their ashes while juggling family commitments—his daughter's wedding, a separation from his wife. Indeed, his parents—especially his mother, who calls her son incessantly before he starts hearing her from beyond the grave—occupy the narrative like capricious ghosts, and Griffin inherits “the worst attributes of both.” Though Russo can write gorgeous sentences and some situations are amazingly rendered—Griffin wading into the surf to try to scatter his father's ashes, his wheelchair-bound father-in-law plummeting off a ramp and into a yew—the navel-gazing interior monologues that constitute much of the novel lack the punch of Russo's earlier work. (Aug.)

In Barclay's new thriller, Tim Blake, a car salesman in a Honda dealership in Milford, Conn., has more troubles than a Yugo up for its inspection sticker: his wife has left him to shack up with a car dealer rival; he has a devil-wears-Prada–style boss; and, worst, his teenage daughter, Sydney, has disappeared from her summer job at the Just Inn Time hotel. Barclay does a decent job of depicting the fright, fantasies and rage of a parent whose child faces prolonged and uncertain danger, but the narrator exists chiefly as a sketch or plot device rather than a complex, compelling individual. The author explores a timely social issue, human trafficking, but the villains behind it are even less defined than the narrator. Still, Barclay (Bad Move) earns a solid A for his page-turning plot. In short, this is a functional stripped-down Civic of a book that gets you there. (Aug.)

Apocalyptic global climate change fuels Jensen's terrifying near-future tale about the human will to survive or, in the case of Bethany Krall, a psychic psychotic teen who stabbed her mother to death, the will to embrace death. Bethany, a patient at Oxsmith Adolescent Secure Psychiatric Hospital in Hadport, England, forms a strong bond with her wheelchair-bound psychologist, Gabrielle Fox. As Gabrielle treats her patient, the world outside the hospital suffers natural disasters foreseen by Bethany after ECT shock therapy. Meanwhile, Bethany has been traumatized by the “Faith Wave” views of her father, Rev. Leonard Krall, who believes the Rapture is approaching. Since Bethany is convinced she bears the mark of the beast, she fears she won't go to heaven. Gabrielle seeks help from Frazer Melville, a physicist who takes Bethany's catastrophe calendar seriously. In gorgeous prose, Jensen (Egg Dancing) paints a depressing but oddly hopeful portrait of a modern doomsday scenario. (Aug.)

In Shuman's smooth fourth thriller to feature blind psychic Sherry Moore (after Lost Girls), Sherry, who can “visualize the last memories of dead people,” is exposed to radioactive cesium 137 while trying to discern what caused an outbreak of possible hantavirus in New Mexico. Back in Philadelphia for tests and treatment, she touches the body of mental patient Thomas J. Monahan, an army private during the Korean War who was used in a government mind-control experiment in 1950. Thomas's residual memories concern Area 17, a secret base in Mount Tamathy, N.Y., where a weapon was developed by Nobel Prize–winner Edward Case. Edward's handsome sociopath stepson, Troy Weir, sets out to dispose of Sherry and anyone else who might squeal about Area 17. While Sherry investigates Thomas's past, she becomes attracted to Troy, much to the dismay of her Navy SEAL fiancé. Series fans will root for the likable Sherry, but they may find the ending too downbeat. (Aug.)

The third collaboration between bestseller Francis and son Felix (after Silks), a taut crime thriller, features an especially sympathetic hero. Bookmaker Ed Talbot is struggling with his wife's mental illness, even as technology threatens to give the big bookmaking outfits an insurmountable advantage over his small family business. Soon after a man shows up at Ascot and identifies himself as Ed's father, Peter, whom Ed believed long dead, a thug demanding money stabs Peter to death. Ed is in for even more shocks when he learns his father was the prime suspect in his mother's murder—and that Peter's killing, rather than a random act of violence, may be linked to a mysterious electronic device used in some horse-racing fraud. Ed must juggle his amateur investigations into past and present crimes with his demanding family responsibilities. Though some readers may find the ending overly pat, the authors make bookmaking intelligible while easily integrating it into the plot. (Aug.)

The history of Uruguay through the 20th century sparks personal tragedies amid political intrigues and cultural upheavals in this enchanting, funny and heartbreaking debut novel. Three generations of women populate this sweeping saga: Pajarita, the miracle child who at the dawn of the new century disappears and then reappears in a tree, born twice, as the residents of her small town say; Eva, Pajarita's daughter, who suffers a cruel childhood and learns to spin her painful experiences into a new life of art and adventure as a poet; and Salomé, seduced by communism and nearly losing everything fighting for the cause she believes will save her country. This novel is beautifully written yet deliberate in its storytelling. It gains momentum as the women's lives spin increasingly out of control while Uruguay sinks into war, economic instability and revolution. An extraordinary first effort whose epic scope and deft handling reverberate with the deep pull of ancestry, the powerful influence of one's country and the sacrifices of reinvention. (Aug.)

Hot times in Atlanta, Ga., keep the third installment of Morrison's erotic Honey Diaries blazing, as newly empowered Honey Thomas (formerly known as Lace) turns the tables on some seriously nasty kidnappers. Guns a-blazing, Honey manages to escape from her former pimp, Valentino James, and his dim sidekick, Benito (Honey's former flame), only to hitch a ride with a serial rapist and murderer. After learning of Honey's misadventures, her outrageous bisexual pal, tough Vegas cop Tiffany Davis (“I loved arresting men more than having sex with them”) rides to the rescue. Honey's girls, former escorts she's taken under her wing, also pitch in, but soon ex-stripper Red Velvet takes Honey's place as hostage. Morrison milks the overheated plot for all it's worth, dishing up one problem after another before readers can even catch their breath; unfortunately, the cascade of cliffhangers, while entertaining, makes the neatly wrapped happy ending all the more abrupt and unbelievable. (Aug.)

Virtual reality meets bloody reality in bestseller Rose's spine-tingling 10th thriller, which introduces the Minneapolis PD's “Hat Squad,” whose members earn snappy fedoras for successfully fighting crime. Almost six years have passed since Eve Wilson, a former runaway introduced in Rose's debut, Don't Tell (2003), moved from Chicago to the Twin Cities after a vicious assault. Plastic surgery has improved her looks, and she's begun researching a Web role-playing game, “Shadowland,” and how it can be used to build self-esteem. Eve also connects with a homicide detective investigating the Red Dress Killer, who finds some victims through Shadowland. Samantha Altman is the killer's first victim, but she's not identified until the second, Martha Brisbane, is found. When Eve learns Martha was a fellow research participant, she becomes a Hat Squad confidential informant. Rose keeps the action popping as the psycho claims more lives, hoping to add Eve to his list. (Aug.)

McCoy's unaffected, conversational debut sketches a year and a half in the life of Verdita Ortiz-Santiago, a Puerto Rican girl whose fascination with America overshadows her quiet life. The book opens in 1961, with Verdita's 11th birthday party, perhaps her last occasion of guileless joy. An indulged only child, Verdita gets a shock when, a few months later, she learns that her parents are expecting a baby: “I hated it, the baby.... And I despised them for making it.” Her fears that the baby will be a boy force her to confront the deeply patriarchal society in which she lives; she also uses the opportunity, in a more typical fashion, to aim all her anger and confusion at her mother (proud of her growing breasts, she's also ashamed of “becoming more like Mama”). Though McCoy's lyrical writing is absorbing, Verdita's trials are largely unexceptional (including a disastrous attempt to go blonde and taking on more responsibility, especially after the baby's birth), and her parents are underdeveloped, making this coming-of-age story a slight addition to the crowded genre. (Aug.)

Hart's previous five novels (Damage; Sin) addressed the disturbing power of love, and in her latest, she returns to the topic with mixed success. Hart opens with the stream-of-consciousness narration of a teenage boy's fatal accident in 1962 Ireland before shifting to the precise, nearly stifling voice of Thomas Middlehoff (aka “The German”) at the funeral. Distant and polite, Thomas orbits ever closer to the beleaguered O'Hara family: the boy's father, Tom, wants to buy a family heirloom from Thomas; he bumps into Olivia, the boy's sister, with his car (she sustains scrapes and bruises); and the boy's mother, Sissy, exposes her deep grief to him, spurring him into contemplations of his own secrets and horrors. After another Joycean interlude depicting Sissy's treatment in a mental hospital, Olivia takes over the story from the present day, and though outwardly successful, she refuses to let go of her anger at her brother's death. Unfortunately, revelations in the second half of this brief novel feel rushed, while the characters' proclivities for introspection do little to create narrative urgency. (Aug.)

Pak mines the South for cliché in his trifling, melodramatic coming-of-age debut. Samuel is a 10th-grade boy and the reader's guide through the fictional backwoods town of Sugweepo, Ga. The driving force is, ostensibly, the narrator's horror and fascination with a set of wildly deformed triplets. Eventually, Samuel's encounter with the babies reveals a latent violent streak within him. But between these moments lays a wasteland wherein Samuel goes about regular high school student business. These bland filler passages sometimes lead to go-nowhere developments, such as Samuel's dead mother's friend, whom Samuel is attracted to. There is some indication she might be trying to seduce him, but the idea is quickly abandoned. The prose, meanwhile, is mundane (opening sentence: “The sun sits flat against the blue sky like someone pressed it on there with a giant thumb”). The portions of the novel dealing with the deformed babies offer some respite, but are plagued by a sloppy hammering home of the book's unsubtle and uncomplicated themes. (Aug.)

In Carroll's conclusion to her Dark Queen series, Catherine de Medici returns, still eager to claim the knowledge of the Book of Shadows. Catherine enlists the ruthless Louis Xavier to kidnap Meg Wolfe, a sorceress who is reputed to have the knowledge, from Faire Isle where she is under the protection of Ariane Deauville. Xavier, who has unfinished family business on Faire Isle, wants nothing to do with the place, but washes ashore there when his ship veers off course in a storm. Once on the island, he falls in love with Lady Jane Danvers, Ariane's successor, but his peace is shattered by the reach of the Dark Queen, who must be destroyed if any of the women of Faire Isle are to survive. While the focus is mostly on Louis Xavier and Meg's stories, familiar characters from previous installments appear. The backdrop of political upheaval in France in 1588 is an exciting and extravagant setting, but the ending feels anticlimactic in light of the terrifying threat the Dark Queen has posed throughout the series. Carroll's fans, however, should be well satisfied. (Aug.)

Gossip Girl meets Dynasty in Bagshawe's compelling sequel to the late Sidney Sheldon's Master of the Game (1982), which chronicled the sticky power struggles of the Maxwells, America's richest family. A new generation of Maxwells includes Eve, an evil temptress brutally scarred by her controlling cosmetic surgeon husband, and her identical twin sister, Alexandra, an angel in comparison. Alexandra dies giving birth to a daughter, Lexi, while Eve survives the birth of her son, Max. Eve plots to take back the family's business empire, rearing Max to hate and, at age 10, kill his father. Lexi's father, Peter, and her big brother, Robbie, surround Lexi with love, but she's traumatized at age eight when she's kidnapped and raped. Years pass as Lexi and Max square off, while across the ocean “the most famous barrister in London” embarks on a quest that will eventually lead him to Lexi, but not without many shocking twists. Bagshawe (Adored) expertly channels Sheldon's lurid, feverish prose. (Aug.)

The first English translation of the 1934 novel by prolific Argentinean author Filloy (who died in 2000 at age 106) is a meandering day-in-the-life chronicle of Optimus Oloop, a Finnish statistician living in Buenos Aires, who is described as “method personified—an accomplished executioner of spontaneity.” His wanderings begin one morning when, on a routine trip to a Turkish-Roman bath, a minor traffic accident unglues him from his punctual reality. Filloy zips frantically between lengthy ruminations steeped in flowery, occasionally madeup language as Op unravels recklessly through his day. Like its main character in the throes of his breakdown, the narrative is at turns fascinating and impossible: Filloy shines in small moments when he displays his expert wordplay—Op's hilarious journal of the prostitutes he's known, or the occasional colorful aphorism—but more often the dense landscape of his language swallows the narrative and ditches the reader. (Aug.)

An extremely slender, sad tale by Bellatín recounts a gay man's reflections on the waning days of sexual excess and the specter of death wrought by AIDS, though here AIDS is a mysterious, nameless plague. Formerly a stylist in a beauty salon in an unnamed city, the narrator, a transvestite, has now transformed the salon into the Terminal, “where people who have nowhere to die end their days.” The Terminal has become a kind of hospice for dying gay men, the hair dryers and armchairs sold to buy cots and a cooker, the mirrors removed to avoid “multiplying the suffering.” The manager keeps exotic fish in aquariums, which he keenly observes as an allegory of what's happening in the larger world: as symptoms of the sickness become apparent on his own body, he notices a fungus growing on the angelfish that fatally infects the others. The narrator's brutal reasoning renders Bellatín's tale an unflinching allegory on death. (Aug.)

Acclaimed novelist Sijie has written another novel that has already caused a stir in France. Narrated by an unnamed Western student in China in the 1970s, the story begins centuries before, with the Emperor Huizong, a calligrapher and great art collector, who acquired a silk scroll with a Buddhist sutra written upon it in an ancient lost language. The last emperor of Japan inherits the scroll and then in 1952, Paul d'Ampère, a French linguist, becomes obsessed with translating the scroll and goes to prison for 25 years for illegally acquiring it. When the narrator falls in love with a greengrocer, Tumchooq, who tells her the story, she begins to witness the life-altering consequences of the scroll—consequences that will change her own life and send her on a journey to seek truth and understanding. Sijie's breathtaking story shows the beauty and horrors that make up China's history while the poetry of Sijie's words is revealed in Hunter's magnificent translation. It's fitting that a story of a love affair with language should be written so beautifully. (Aug.)

In Sakey's so-so thriller, four friends—travel agent Jenn Lacie, trader Ian Trevarian, hotel doorman Mitch McDonnell and bartender Alex Kern—meet every Thursday night at the Chicago restaurant where Alex bartends and commiserate over their unsatisfying lives. When Alex's boss, Johnny “Love” Loverin, asks him to act as muscle for a shady back-office deal, the group decides, almost on a whim, to steal Johnny's money. The heist goes smoothly until an altercation in the alley behind the bar leads to murder, and the four friends find themselves with $250,000 and a dead body. Making matters worse, Mitch and Jenn discover that the deal they interrupted wasn't about drugs or guns but something far more deadly. Sakey (Good People) does what he can with the weak premise, but his characters will elicit little sympathy from readers who won't care why the foursome carried out their poorly planned and executed scheme. (Aug.)

Set in an international apartment complex in Rwanda, Parkin's appealing but overstuffed debut throws together university professors, U.N. employees and CIA agents among a panoply of traditions and cultures. Heroine Angel Tungararza has moved from Tanzania with her husband, Pius, who's taken a job at the local university; before long, she develops a reputation as a masterful baker and a sagacious friend. Though haunted by the deaths of her grown daughter and son, Angel plunges back into motherhood, caring for her five grandchildren, tending to Pius, baking cakes and dispensing advice. Meanwhile, the sour undercurrents of AIDS and genocide play quiet but instrumental parts in shaping Angel's world. In Parkin's eagerness to introduce a rainbow of cultures and personalities, she crowds her enjoyable but terminally dedicated heroine, forcing Angel to take a saccharine supporting role in her own story; almost simultaneously, she's soothing survivors of Rwandan genocide, reconciling a local prostitute and her client, and serving as an honorary mother-of-the-bride. (Sept.)

The second Beltway thriller (following A Time to Run) from California senator Boxer offers an insider's perspective to her agreeably told if far-fetched narrative. The intrigue begins when the Republican White House nominates Carl Satcher, an old foe that protagonist Sen. Elizabeth Fischer Lind defeated for his Senate seat, to be secretary of homeland security. During confirmation hearings, Elizabeth tries to debate his extreme views on antiterrorism and draconian stance on civil liberties. Meanwhile, a story about the Linds' private finances is leaked, offering much fodder for Republicans and the media. As the fight escalates, Elizabeth's staff swings into crisis mode while FBI director Douglas Brewer suspects more ominous doings are afoot. The big reveal is a little too out there, and the wrap-up is overly tidy, but Boxer and Hayes manage a fast-paced narrative. (Aug.)

Dalby (Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly) rolls out his trademark Southern charm in his third foray into the Mississippi Delta town of Second Creek. More than half a century after they first meet and fall in love, Mayor Hale Dunbar Jr. (Mr. Choppy to the townsfolk) and his Chicago fiancée, wealthy widow Gaylie Girl Lyons, are ready to marry. Neither are spring chickens, but that's the least of their problems. The mayor's worried over a possible closing of the catfish processing plant, and Gaylie Girl's grown children are concerned about their inheritance. Their disapproval puts a damper on the couple's joy, but when the skeptical offspring visit Second Creek, Hale and Gaylie Girl's friends, the Nitwitts, plan a visit fit for royalty. Will Hale and the Nitwitts win the kids over? And how will Gaylie Girl, with her mansion in Chicago, feel about living in Hale's cramped bungalow? Naturally, it all works out, as things tend to do in the whimsical little town where everyone is happy—not just ever after—but pretty much 24/7. (Aug.)

Niven makes some memorable moonspun magic in her rich fiction debut (after two nonfiction books) about 10-year-old Velva Jean Hart, a North Carolina kid determined to drive and sing at the Grand Ole Opry. After Velva Jean is born again, her daddy leaves and her mother falls ill, and not even Velva's bargaining with God can save her. Her brother, Johnny Clay, is some comfort, but Velva Jean grows up fast after promising her dying mother to heal people with her singing. At 16, Velva marries charismatic Rev. Harley Bright, a moonshiner's son, railroad fireman and part-time evangelist who later resolves to become a full-time preacher. But Velva Jean's independent streak (she wants to learn to drive), her singing (which sounds sinful to Harley's ear) and her friendship with a half-Choctaw, half-Creole blues musician fire up Harley's controlling jealousy. It's a touching read, funny and wise, like a crazy blend of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, a less morose Flannery O'Connor and maybe a shot of Hank Williams. (Aug.)

Despite taking place in South Africa during the 1960s, the latest from Heyns (The Reluctant Passenger) treats the looming presence of apartheid cursorily, choosing instead to focus on the subtler conflict between the elite English and the much-despised Afrikaners. At Wesley College, an English-speaking boarding school, Simon, the teenage son of an English magistrate father and an Afrikaner mother, keeps quiet about his mixed ethnicity, but is forced to confront his past when a group of Afrikaner students from a nearby technical school arrive at Wesley for a tennis match and Simon recognizes Fanie van den Bergh, a primary school classmate. The book then alternates between the fated day of the tennis match and memories from Simon's childhood. All of these recollections chronicle Simon's attempt to establish his own sense of morality in the face of the racist conservatism of the adult world, but while the book successfully unveils the moral hypocrisy of the era, Simon's recollections lack the coherence needed to transform the mundane adolescent experience—sexual discoveries, troublesome friends, forging an identity—into a compelling story. (Aug.)

This fluffy Brit romance lopes along at a leisurely pace and provides a pleasant journey over the rocky shoals of mismatched love, enduring loyalties and improbably happy endings. Margolis, a master of cutesy titles (Apocalipstick), focuses on business-and-trend-savvy London florist Abby Crompton, who, true to genre form, has a gaggle of quaint acquaintances and relationship woes. She's engaged, but things with Toby aren't quite picture-perfect, and a disastrous dinner with her snooty mom-in-law-to-be leads to a flameout. Rebound Dan, a filmmaker who falls for Abby on first meet (it involves a stuck elevator and an inebriated Abby), is nearly cast aside for keeping parts of his background from the once-burned, twice-shy Abby. Dan proves far wiser than the chip-on-her-shoulder girl from Croydon. Light and quippy, Margolis's newest is perfectly agreeable. (Aug.)

Set in the early- to mid-20th century, the latest from Santos-Febres (Sirena Selena) brings to life the story of Isabel “La Negra” Luberza Oppenheimer, Puerto Rico's most infamous madam and owner of Elizabeth's Dancing Place. The daughter of a migrant worker, Isabel is abandoned as a baby and raised by a kindly godmother until her early teenage years, when she is sent to work as a servant for a local aristocratic family. Later, she becomes entangled with prominent bachelor Fernando Fornarís, and things heat up: a pregnancy, her foray into selling black market booze and an expansion into becoming “not a madam, an emancipated woman” at a very steep cost. A complicated look into the notorious woman's struggle for a liberated and independent life, the book takes a boldly feminist stance that, thankfully, is not a woeful account of maternal guilt. The style can be heavy-handed, but Isabel remains, to her tragic end, a marvelously constructed character. (Aug.)

Mazetti's debut, a bestseller in her native Sweden, centers on two lonely, 30-something singles living in rural Sweden as they attempt to overcome the inner obstacles keeping them apart. The dialogue-heavy story is told in breezy, alternating first-person accounts that paint a vivid portrait of life in northern Sweden. Desiree, better known as Shrimp, is a quiet librarian with an intellectual streak dealing with the recent death of her husband. Benny is a dairy farmer too busy tending the family farmland to realize his loneliness. The two have a serendipitous first encounter at the graveyard and find an instant, irresistible connection between them. Early chapters are charged with their passionate, intense affair, but the story fizzles as the two loners clash over their stubborn idiosyncrasies. Though the writing is charming and at times poetic, the plot becomes tedious and the characters predictable. Short though slow, the novel should hold appeal for fans of quirky women's fiction and Swedish novels like Astrid and Veronika. (Aug.)

Brit counselor Jaye offers a self-help manual dressed up as fiction in her debut. Lois's father, Kevin, died when she was five. Seven years later, she receives a book from Auntie Philomena on the day her mother remarries. The book, The Manual, is by her father and is chock-full of his advice for Lois, to be read one chapter per year, on her birthday. A list of seven rules includes a warning for Lois to not skip ahead, and she takes her dad's advice to heart, savoring the entries, the vast majority of which consist largely of standard self-help fare ( “Tomorrow's not guaranteed, so live today”; “allow yourself the chance to really feel”), while enduring the vicissitudes of life. It's decent if bland in its earnestness, and will likely find a place on more than a few bookshelves between Kübler-Ross and The Last Lecture. (Aug.)

May's fine sixth entry in his contemporary China series (The Firemaker, etc.) offers some fresh variations on the catch-the-serial-killer within an autocratic society plot. A fiend is copying Jack the Ripper's m.o. almost exactly—savagely butchering prostitutes, sending body parts in the mail and boasting of his atrocities in letters. The authorities' efforts to keep the pattern from the public are shattered when Lynn Pan, a Chinese-American, falls victim to the Beijing Ripper. Pan had just shown a new law enforcement tool to Beijing CID section chief Li Yan and his superiors, a brain scan that would make traditional lie detectors obsolete. Li suspects Pan discovered something during the demonstration that led to her murder. As Li pursues that theory, an unknown enemy in a position of power threatens his career and his family. May nicely handles the business of using mental fingerprints to identify the criminal. (Oct.)

Jane Austen fans will welcome Kiely's spirited debut, a contemporary cozy that introduces Elizabeth Parker, a fact-checker for a D.C.-area newspaper who's struggling to lead a healthier lifestyle. Elizabeth resolves to give up fatty foods, along with her two-timing lobbyist beau, before leaving northern Virginia for a restorative New Year's Eve at her great-aunt Winnie's bed-and-breakfast on Cape Cod. In tribute to Jane Austen, Winnie has named the property the Inn at Longbourn (Longbourn being the name of the Bennet family's residence in Pride and Prejudice). There Elizabeth encounters dashing, Darcyesque Peter McGowan, her childhood antagonist; a Clue-worthy clutch of guests gathered for Winnie's gala murder mystery fete; and then—you guessed it—an actual murder. That, and an abundance of clam chowder, are among the few predictable elements of an engaging adventure that will hopefully be but the first of many. (Sept.)

Simon's tepid brew of cat paranormal and academic chick lit, the first of a new series, may disappoint fans of her Theda Krakow mysteries (Probable Claws, etc.). Dulcie Schwartz, a 26-year-old Harvard doctoral candidate living in Cambridge, Mass., mourns the death of her beloved cat, Mr. Grey. She's also worried about keeping her temp job until September's grant money kicks in. Nothing, however, prepares her for the stabbing death of her roommate, Tim Worthington, not even hearing the eerie warning of Mr. Grey's ghost before finding Tim: “I wouldn't go in, if I were you.” Tim, a playboy who enjoyed partying more than studying, had a bit of a drug problem that could be related to his murder. While Dulcie is a likable enough heroine, some may feel she should focus more on crime-solving than her thesis and dating. Others will hope to see more of Mr. Grey, whose ghostly manifestations are relatively few, in subsequent outings. (Sept.)

For those whose view of India is shaped by The Jewel in the Crown, conversations with a call-in center or even Slumdog Millionaire, this anthology in Akashic's noir series will register simultaneously as a shock, an education and an entertainment. All 14 stories are briskly paced, beautifully written and populated by vivid, original characters. Standouts include “How I Lost My Clothes,” Radhika Jha's account of the bizarre robbery of a yuppie drug addict; “Hissing Cobras,” Nalinaksha Bhattacharya's tale of a meddlesome mother-in-law who meets her death in a temple; and Siddharth Chowdhury's “Hostel,” which concerns the horrific history of a piece of real estate. “Small Fry”—Meera Nair's unforgettable story of a young con artist—depicts the day he deserts his mentor/abuser and the scams they run in a city bus station. Few books can alter one's perception about the state of a society, but this does, while delivering noir that's first-class in any light. (Aug.)

Near the start of Fossum's chilling sixth Inspector Sejer mystery to be made available in the U.S. (after 2008's Black Seconds), Reinhardt and Kristine Ris are out for a Sunday walk when they stumble across the partially clothed body of seven-year-old Jonas Løwe and see a man limping away in the distance. When Insp. Konrad Sejer and his young partner, Jacob Skarre, begin interviewing the inhabitants of the small town of Huseby, they learn that a man in a white car has been spotted lurking outside the local elementary school and was also seen on the road where Jonas was snatched. In a particularly disturbing segment, they interview a convicted pedophile who eagerly suggests they're looking for a first-time offender. Splitting the narrative among the police investigation, the Rises' crumbling marriage and the nameless killer, Fossum sets in motion an inevitable collision that's as unsettling as it is unexpected. (Aug.)

Elias, a violinist and music professor, puts a priceless violin at the center of his taut debut. The violin in question is part of the highly exclusive Grimsley Competition, open only to child prodigies under the age of 13, held every 13 years at New York's Carnegie Hall. The winner receives cash, symphonic appearances and, most coveted, the use of the world's only three-quarter-size Stradivarius, the legendary Piccolino, for a Carnegie Hall performance. Daniel Jacobus, a former Grimsley contestant who eschews the modern music world in his belief that it destroys gifted children, is accused, first, of the theft of the Piccolino and, second, of a rival violin teacher's murder. Blind, bitter and determined to destroy those who have turned classical music into a greed-saturated industry, Jacobus sets out to find the Piccolino and clear his reputation. This richly plotted mystery will thrill music lovers, while those not so musically inclined will find it equally enjoyable. (Aug.)

Set in Australia, this offbeat crime novel from collaborators Broderick and Barnes (The Hunger of Time) strives for laughs at the expense of pretty much everything else, with uneven results. In the first chapter, someone drives a Mack truck into Feng Shui Solutions, the consulting office of the book's hero, Recherché Doubting Thomas Purdue, while Purdue is interviewing an attractive prospective female client. What starts out as satire eventually takes a serious turn with the revelation of Purdue's tragic backstory. A drug-sniffing dog foiled his attempt, at age 21, to smuggle dope seeds into the U.S. After his conviction, Purdue went out of his way to spend an extra half-year in prison to bulk himself up, unaware that his wife was dying. Racing-camel doping, UFO mutilations and cyber-stalking all play a part in the zany plot. (Aug.)

At the start of Hill's highly amusing third clerical mystery (after 2008's Bones in the Belfry), the Rev. Francis Oughterard, canon of St. Botolph's in Molehill, Surrey, is dismayed when Det. Sgt. Sidney Samson appears at his door and announces the reopening of the inquiry into the murder of one of his parishioners, Elizabeth Fotherington. Almost 18 months earlier (in 2007's A Load of Old Bones), Francis dispatched Mrs. Fotherington and got away with it. Now he must turn again to Nicholas Ingaza, who provided him an alibi in the initial investigation. Unfortunately, this means getting involved in one of Nicholas's dubious schemes. Matters really get complicated after the victim's daughter returns to Molehill to make certain claims. When another murder occurs, neither Francis's adopted cat, Maurice, nor dog, Bouncer, can do much to help their master. The outrageous plot will keep readers guessing until the end. (Aug.)

In Richardson's fierce fourth Greywalker novel (after 2008's Underground), Harper Blaine, Seattle's paranormal PI, receives a chilling phone call from Cary Malloy, her boyfriend who died eight years ago. He warns Harper “there're things... waiting for you” and tells her to look into her past. For Harper, that means flying to California to visit her overbearing mother and go through the papers of her father, who killed himself after his receptionist's suspicious death. Harper finds a suicide note addressed to her and disturbing journal entries about supernatural happenings. Once back in Seattle, Harper agrees to help local vampire Edward Kammerling fight off some London vampires, leading to a spirited smack-down with old foes. Richardson continues to develop strong, intriguing plots, and fans will enjoy learning about Harper's childhood and seeing some of her literal ghosts put to rest. (Aug.)

An artfully constructed alternate history setting, in which Earth and nearby worlds are ruled by an alliance of the Aztecs and the Japanese, serves as a tantalizing background to a breathless yet tedious stream of battle scenes and complex conspiracies in the third Time of the Sixth Sun installment (after 2005's House of Reeds). Archeologist Gretchen Anderssen, mysterious provocateur Green Hummingbird and other familiar characters find an unusual ancient artifact. Several military forces soon converge on it, with unknown forces behind the scenes pulling the strings, but the focus is not on the politics, intrigue and people behind this complex encounter. Instead, battles are described at length in technical jargon, spaceships explode with monotonous regularity and bodies pile up by the dozens, overwhelming the intriguing subtleties of the world. (Aug.)

Cultures collide in Granger's debut, an uneven space opera romance. Azralen soldier Cyani's final mission is derailed when she rescues Soren, a Byralen slave whose potent sex hormones have been used by the evil Garulen to create narcotics. Abandoned behind enemy lines, the pair must get Soren home to find the mate he needs to survive. Cyani's plan to help her family and achieve political power through military service is undermined first by her budding romance with Soren and then by her brother's machinations, which completely derail the plot in a rather bewildering fashion. Supposedly empowered Cyani never seems in control of her life, and nurturing hero Soren ends up rather bland, but the intriguing setting and some strong scenes of culture clash may draw readers back for a sequel. (Aug.)

Alternate historian Turtledove (The Man with the Iron Heart) brings the deprivations of war to life in this vision of a very different WWII. After Konrad Henlein is assassinated in Czechoslovakia in 1938, France and England refuse to condone Hitler's plans for annexation, so he invades instead. American Peggy Druce, caught behind the lines, gets a firsthand look at the period military hardware and nationalistic mindsets that Turtledove so expertly describes, though readers looking for more characterization or plotting may be disappointed. Action in the Spanish Civil War and on the Mongolian border muddy the waters, possibly setting up for a clearer plot in subsequent volumes. Until Turtledove reveals more of the direction this scenario will take, there is little to differentiate it from many of his other novels. (Aug.)

Haunting, lyrical and often uncomfortably realistic, this slim collection of eight short stories plunges the reader into the darker side of San Francisco. Altered states of consciousness—minds changed by grief, chemistry or too much hard living—are everywhere. In “Magic Words,” an advertising executive pays a homeless woman a high price for transient success. Poignant and plausible almost to a fault, “Tombstones in His Eyes” twists the horrors of drug addiction into something harder, sharper and scarier. In “The Apotheosis of Nathan McKee,” a brokenhearted father's descent into insanity—or is it merely invisibility?—makes normalcy seem all too tenuous. The best story of the bunch, “5150,” documents the final moments of a worn-out cop about to retire. O'Neill's deft, authentic prose resonates with the weight of sad reality, erasing the line between knowledge and fear. (Aug.)

Elliott delivers a solid, rousing conclusion to her sprawling Crossroads epic fantasy trilogy (after 2007's Spirit Gate). Charismatic foreign captain Anji, heralded as a savior, and reeve commander Joss, known more for bedding women than leading men, have defeated the army of the corrupted Guardians. Though the secrets of the Guardians are finally uncovered, Anji refuses to relinquish his belief that the Guardians are incurable demons. Meandering plot lines may initially confuse newcomers, but Elliott's hardworking prose quickly seals the gaps, and she expertly juggles an ever-expanding cast of memorable and racially diverse characters whose captivating superstitions, passions and fears are the highlights of this expansive and complicated tale. The conclusion's final twist won't surprise readers, and some remaining loose ends suggest an imminent return to this fascinating world. (Aug.)

Sagara swirls mystery and magical adventure together with unforgettable characters in the fifth Chronicles of Elantra installment (following 2008's Cast in Fury). Like the other Hawks—city guards who keep the peace on Elantra's lively streets—Pvt. Kaylin Neya wishes her mysterious magical abilities and Elantra's imperial mages would let her alone to do her job. When something old and powerful begins stirring in Ravellon, the heart of the fiefs, Kaylin is sent to investigate, a journey that will force her to confront unpleasant memories as well as the deadly secrets that threaten Ravellon and all of Elantra. Kaylin—“whose middle name was not exactly patience”—must rein in her temper and stay alive long enough to complete her mission. Fans will enjoy following her exploration of the fiefs and Elantra's history. (Aug.)

Fans of complex British police procedurals will find a great deal to like in Det. Insp. Tom Mariner's fourth investigation, the first available in the U.S. After a raid on an establishment where young female immigrants are held in sexual slavery, Mariner is looking forward to a holiday with his significant other, Anna, but the trip is postponed when Mariner's station receives an alert about infant Jessica Klinnemann, abducted from a reputable day-care center. Possible abductors include an infertile woman from the local hospital, an anti–day-care advocate, and an animal rights activist protesting Jessica's father's work. When a local vicar finds a happy, healthy Jessica on the church doorstep, Mariner knows the hard work is just beginning. Despite a disappointingly untidy ending, readers will enjoy the police work and look forward to future Mariner stories. (Sept.)

Superficial characters and a predictable plot make this romantic thriller a disappointment. Ten years after a savage attack destroyed her knee and her promising tennis career, Kylie McKay has returned to Kendall Falls, Fla., for a new start. As construction for her new tennis center gets underway, workers find the baseball bat used in her attack. In charge of the cold case investigation, police detective Chase Manning must be impartial even though Kylie broke his heart when she left town after the attack. As assaults on Kylie and her loved ones start to escalate and evidence points to Kylie's half-brother, Quinn, Chase and Kylie attempt to resurrect their relationship. Savvy readers will always be one step ahead of Chase, and characters who hold no sympathy or depth make for unsurprisingly repetitive sex scenes and bland romance. (Aug.)

This perfect beach book moves effortlessly from the green English countryside to bustling Paris to the glittering court of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich. Leonida, the czar's illegitimate daughter, travels to Surrey in search of incriminating correspondence in which her mother revealed state secrets to the previous Duchess of Huntley. Stefan, the current duke, can't figure out what she's up to, but that doesn't stop him from pursuing her. After Leonida flees with the letters, he tracks her all the way to St. Petersburg. The villain and hero are obvious, but other players' motives are less clear. Leonida is very easy to like, idealistic and loyal; Stefan, who declares it “a pity” that “women are no longer the property of men,” is more stereotypical and less sympathetic. The history is skimpy, but fans of Regency romance will enjoy the familiar story and unusual setting. (Aug.)

Australian author Bauer's third David Cavanaugh thriller (after 2008's Gospel) follows the hotshot Boston criminal defense attorney as he defends James Matheson, a young law student accused of murdering Jessica Nagoshi, the daughter of corporate powerhouse John Nagoshi. With the help of Sara Davis, his girlfriend and co-counsel, Cavanaugh goes head-to-head with ADA Roger Katz, who aims to further his own career by putting Matheson away. The well-plotted legal thrill ride is marred by two-dimensional characters and a complete lack of emotion. Poorly constructed and sometimes purple prose (“the solitude of dawn... when, somehow satisfied with their allocated allotment, the shadows gave way to a rising sun and the ever-promising possibilities of what lay ahead”) turns a would-be page turner into a slog. Fans of Bauer's previous books ought to give this one a chance, but John Grisham she ain't. (Aug.)

Soichi Negishi is a sweet, kind of “soft” young man who loves the bubblegum sounds of Swedish pop music and dreams of creating such treacly tunes himself. But in order to keep a roof over his head, he rocks out hard as the gaudy/ridiculous Lord Krauser II, a demonically styled death metal guitarist and singer whose looks owe an immeasurable debt to both Gene Simmons of Kiss and Danish satanic rocker King Diamond. Fronting the band Detroit Metal City, Soichi sees the group's popularity soar, but he loathes the unpleasantness of his stage persona and seeks to keep his real vocation from his friends and family while fruitlessly attempting to inject some of his own tender sensibilities into DMC's music, an aspiration that scores no points with DMC's manager (who gauges the merits of the band's songs by how much their lyrics sexually excite her). The art in this manga is no great shakes, but it's kind of beside the point since the real star is the dry yet very funny script that utterly skewers the nihilistic excesses of the death metal genre. It's a hilarious satire that, luckily, hasn't been lost in the translation. (June)

The first mass-marketed collection of Rosenberg's long-running sci-fi geek-comedy Web comic revels in its own weirdness—it plunges straight into a bar discussion between a chicken, a goat and some aliens, and keeps piling absurdity on absurdity. (“There is one steadfast maxim that I hold dear,” one character notes: “an immortal super intelligent combat-trained zombie cyborg goldfish with a machine gun can have whatever the hell he wants.”) The book's first sequence ends with human protagonists Jon and Phillip convincing God to turn himself into a pork chop, then eating Him. Halfway through this volume, there's a showdown between Good Hitler and the recursive space-cows of Space Hitler, and if you're scratching your head by now, that's probably the desired effect. Fortunately, Rosenberg tends to sneak at least a small punch line into every panel—a couple of quips are already notorious “Goats” T-shirts, like “what part of 'ninja' don't you understand?” Rosenberg's full-color art has a blobby, loony flair to it. And if his storytelling often seems to be afflicted with severe short-attention-span syndrome, its free-associative culture-reference overload lets him get away with gags like a drunken Buddha announcing “Your momma so fat, she travels the noble eightfold path all at once!” (June)

Here is an absolute delight, a volume that will be shelved with children's titles, but should definitely be sought out by superhero lovers of any age. Known for his “Mini Marvels” series, which lampooned Marvel's heroes, creator/illustrator Giarrusso starts his own world with Mikey, a little boy obsessed with learning how to fly. After making a cape from a magic blanket, he becomes G-Man—and his bully of an older brother fashions a magic belt with what's left of the blanket, dubbing himself Great Man. The bulk of the book is devoted to their origin story, set in a colorful world where kiddie superheroes can defeat the bad guys but can't play on their dad's lawn; a handful of short stories deal with runaway Christmas trees, the perils of brussels sprouts and a hilarious wink-and-nod tale of multiverses and parallel universes. The visual style is completely charming, creating an amusingly detailed world that young readers can explore over and over. (June)

Morrison's big, beautiful mess of an apocalypse is gathered in this deluxe volume, along with one of the spinoff mini-series that took place between issues. Darkseid, one of the New Gods of Apokolips, is taking over the universe, broadcasting his antilife equation—a mathematical spell that drains all hope and emotion from those who hear it—through every mass communication vehicle available. Reality starts breaking down, time itself is collapsing; meanwhile, Batman is taken out of action and Superman can't help out as he needs to stay by Lois's hospital bedside or she will die. To say that there's a lot going on is an understatement; the plot is byzantine, and DC newbies will likely find it confusing and require multiple reads. Fanboys, on the other hand, will relish spotting all of the references to DC canon. There is an awful lot of setup and not much in the way of payoff until the very end, but Morrison-philes will enjoy his characteristic wordplay and fearless invention the whole time. Jones and Mahnke split the main art with skill and vision. (June)