Fiction Reviews
Reviews of new Fiction, Thrillers, Mysteries, Science Fiction, and Graphic Novels

Mar 08, 2010

The Lovers Vendela Vida. Ecco, $23.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-06-082839-4

The overwrought latest from Vida (Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name) concerns itself with paradoxes of intimacy: isolation within a closely tied family and the unexpected affection between strangers from different cultures. Twenty-six years after her honeymoon in Datça, Turkey, recently widowed Yvonne returns to the Turkish peninsula not to relive the early happy days of her marriage but “to remember” them. Instead, she finds herself haunted by the many struggles she and her husband faced, above all the wedge driven between them by the antics of their alcoholic daughter, Aurelia. As Yvonne explores the town and its surrounding beaches, she starts to settle into her new identity as a widow and finds herself under a microscope as an American tourist traveling alone. A fast friendship with a young Turkish boy eases Yvonne's loneliness, but it also sparks the disapproval of several locals, leading to a climactic conversation and a quiet epiphany. It's a slow, self-involved story, nearly every page of which is marred by Vida's strained attempts to create high art. (July)

The Cookbook Collector Allegra Goodman. Dial, $25 (416p) ISBN 978-0-385-34085-4 If any contemporary author deserves to wear the mantel of Jane Austen, it's Goodman, whose subtle, astute social comedies perfectly capture the quirks of human nature. This dazzling novel is Austen updated for the dot-com era, played out between 1999 and 2001 among a group of brilliant risk takers and truth seekers. Still in her 20s, Emily Bach is the CEO of Veritech, a Web-based data-storage startup in trendy Berkeley. Her boyfriend, charismatic Jonathan Tilghman, is in a race to catch up at his data-security company, ISIS, in Cambridge, Mass. Emily is low-key, pragmatic, kind, serene-the polar opposite of her beloved younger sister, Jess, a crazed postgrad who works at an antiquarian bookstore owned by a retired Microsoft millionaire. When Emily confides her company's new secret project to Jonathan as a proof of her love, the stage is set for issues of loyalty and trust, greed, and the allure of power. What is actually valuable, Goodman's characters ponder: a company's stock, a person's promise, a forest of redwoods, a collection of rare cookbooks? Goodman creates a bubble of suspense as both Veritech and ISIS issue IPOs, career paths collide, social values clash, ironies multiply, and misjudgments threaten to destroy romantic desire. Enjoyable and satisfying, this is Goodman's (Intuition) most robust, fully realized and trenchantly meaningful work yet. (July)

As Husbands Go Susan Isaacs. Scribner, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-7301-2

Bestseller Isaacs draws on tony Long Island, gritty New York City, and a tabloid-friendly murder for this smart-alecky whodunit/surprisingly sweet love story. Susan is left alone with her three boys, big suburban house, and nagging questions when plastic surgeon hubby Jonah Gersten turns up dead in a hooker's Upper East Side apartment. Though the police and prosecutors wind up their case against call girl Dorinda Dillon, it's far from settled for Susan. “It simply didn't add up, in either my head or my heart,” she confesses. And what better sidekick to track down the truth than Susan's rogue granny, Ethel. What follows is an intricate and fascinating dissection of Susan's marriage, family, husband's medical practice and partners, and the unwitting call girl at the center of it all. Isaacs (Past Perfect) brings it all together in this fast and furious ride through wanton greed, fragile relationships, and love worth fighting for. (July)

Beautiful María of My Soul Oscar Hijuelos. Hyperion, $25.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4013-2334-9

In a sequel of sorts to The Mambo King Play Songs of Love, Hijuelos examines the life of the muse of that novel as she moves from childhood to the fast lane in mid-20th century Cuba. María enchants whether she's dancing in clubs, appearing in advertisements, or walking the sweltering streets of Havana. Her story is one of fierce love, luscious sex, and otherworldly beauty, but also of heartbreak and hardness, as she carries painful memories of the death of her sister and her dear mother. The two main men in her life are Ignacio, a nefarious, strong-willed businessman who provides poor María with extravagant clothes and an apartment, and Nestor, a poor musician whom she loves passionately. Less prominent but still present is María's daughter, Teresa, and her growing up in America. Hijuelos's Havana is as much a full-fleshed character as María as it endures the rise of Castro and the mass exodus of Cubans to Miami in the 1960s. An intelligent and playful ending caps off a vivid story that should delight readers of The Mambo Kings and enthrall those new to Hijuelos's imaginative and florid voice. (June)

Beach Week Susan Coll. Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25 (304p) ISBN 978-0-374-10925-7

The looming specter of Beach Week—the traditional weeklong party held by recent high school graduates—drives the anxieties and recklessness of the characters in Coll's middling comedy. Despite their parents' close involvement, a group of girls from the D.C. suburbs proceed with their plans for debauchery at a Delaware rental house. Rudderless housewife Leah Adler and her increasingly distant husband, Charles, have not decided whether to let their daughter, Jordan, go, yet Leah becomes involved in the parental bureaucracy and controversy, and soon pins her hopes on being a chaperone. Jordan, meanwhile, falls into a mostly one-sided relationship with Khalid, a handsome college student who appears only marginally interested. Meanwhile, Noah, the owner of the girls' rented beach house, battles his increasingly odd inner world in an attempt to stay connected with his young son. Though well-written and occasionally incisive in its depiction of Facebook-era rites of passage, the novel contains few surprises, and the hurdles are both expected and easily overcome. (June)

The Good Son Michael Gruber. Holt, $26 (400p) ISBN 978-0-8050-9128-1

Bestseller Gruber (Forgery of Venus) explores America's political involvement in South Asia and the bloody religious and ethnic fanaticism associated with the region in his superb seventh novel. Sonia Laghari, a Pakistani-American writer and psychologist, sets up a conference on peace in Kashmir, “the most terrorist-infested place on earth,” only to have her and her small group of pacifists abducted and held captive by terrorists, who may or may not be manufacturing nuclear weapons. All but doomed to a public beheading, Sonia uses her familiarity with Islamic doctrine as well as her knowledge of Jungian psychology in an attempt to enlighten her deeply conflicted captors. Though the numerous bombshells at the end may strain credulity, the brilliant character development and labyrinthine plot line, not to mention the absorbing history of modern jihadism and the U.S. war on terrorism, make this a provocative thriller that readers won't soon forget. (May)

Arm Candy Jill Kargman. Dutton, $25.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-525-95159-9

She's “as perfect as it gets,” the tabloids blare, but suddenly, Eden, the heroine of Kargman's fun and flashy if not exactly groundbreaking latest, is staring at middle age, a dead-end relationship, and regrets about the one who got away. Still, the biggest downer for the downtown arts-scene beauty is her upcoming 40th birthday. So she does what any tasty piece of arm candy does—finds a rich, charming, 28-year-old hunk of her own. “Don't be afraid to cougar out,” best friend Allison urges. Not everyone is happy with the choice, least of all art-king Otto, who still needs the leggy beauty for his muse. But when young Chase falls hard for Eden, she finds herself thinking more and more about her first, perfect love, Wes. The ending is a foregone conclusion, but Kargman's quick wit and fast-moving story bounce along agreeably, assisted by the amusing quotes that kick off each chapter (“Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician”). Kargman (The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund) gets it, even if her heroine doesn't. (May)

Half Life Roopa Farooki. St. Martin's, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-312-57790-2

In this compelling tale, novelist Farooki (Bitter Sweets) follows Bengali doctor Aruna Ahmed Jones, who has impulsively married a British physician, hoping to forget a tragic romance with her old friend Ejaz “Jazz” Ahsan, who she left behind in Singapore's Little India. A recovering drug addict, Aruna has suffered from bipolar disorder and had a string of miscarriages during her time with Jazz, leaving her in a delicate state of mind; inspired by a letter from Jazz's adopted dad, who, in a parallel plot, is dying in a hospital in Malaysia, Aruna decides to leave her husband and return to Singapore to face Jazz and the terrible news that tore them apart. Farooki's hypnotic narrative is driven by a delicate, probing intensity, full of grace and poignancy. (May)

City of Fear David Hewson. Delacorte, $25 (384p) ISBN 978-0-385-34150-9

A threatened terrorist attack during a G8 conference spells trouble both personal and professional for sovrintendente Nic Costa in Hewson's assured eighth novel to feature the Roman police detective (after Dante's Numbers). Italian president Dario Sordi, a former friend of Costa's late father, asks Costa to look into the re-emergence of the Blue Demon, a strange terrorist group fascinated with Etruscan civilization, which is linked to past and present-day murders of bland civil servants and an imminent strike against the conference delegates. As Costa and his team of investigators examine the trails of evidence more closely, what they find does not match the official facts and reveals uneasy connections to the government and other agents that may point to a larger conspiracy. Well-drawn characters, a brisk pace, and some unexpected plot twists provide a satisfying read for the political thriller fan. (May)

The Scent of Rain and Lightning Nancy Pickard. Ballantine, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-0-345-47101-7

With exquisite sensitivity, Edgar-finalist Pickard (The Virgin of Small Plains) probes a smoldering cold case involving the Linders, a cattle ranching family that's ruled the small, tight-knit community of Rose, Kans., for generations. One stormy night in 1986, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his discontented young wife, disappears. The authorities arrest Billy Crosby, a disgruntled ex-employee of High Rock Ranch with a drunk-driving record, in whose abandoned truck Laurie's bloodied sundress is found. In 2009, Billy's lawyer son, Collin, who's certain of his dad's innocence, secures Billy's release from prison and a new trial. Father and son return to Rose, where 25-year-old Jody Linder, the victims' daughter, works as a teacher. Collin's pursuit of justice will force Jody and other members of her family, including her three uncles and her grandparents, to finally confront what really happened on that long ago fatal night and deal with the consequences. (May)

Presumed Innocent Redux The hero of Scott Turow's first novel faces yet another murder charge involving a woman with whom he had an intimate relationship. Innocent Scott Turow. Grand Central, $27.99 (406p) ISBN 978-0-446-56242-3 Mesmerizing prose and intricate plotting lift Turow's superlative legal thriller, his best novel since his bestselling debut, Presumed Innocent, to which this is a sequel. In 2008, 22 years after the events of the earlier book, former lawyer Rusty Sabich, now a Kindle County, Ill., chief appellate judge, is again suspected of murdering a woman close to him. His wife, Barbara, has died in her bed of what appear to be natural causes, yet Rusty comes under scrutiny from his old nemesis, acting prosecuting attorney Tommy Molto, who unsuccessfully prosecuted him for killing his mistress decades earlier. Tommy's chief deputy, Jim Brand, is suspicious because Rusty chose to keep Barbara's death a secret, even from their son, Nat, for almost an entire day, which could have allowed traces of poison to disappear. Rusty's candidacy for a higher court in an imminent election; his recent clandestine affair with his attractive law clerk, Anna Vostic; and a breach of judicial ethics complicate matters further. Once again, Turow displays an uncanny ability for making the passions and contradictions of his main characters accessible and understandable. (May)

The God of the Hive: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes Laurie R. King. Bantam, $25 (368p) ISBN 978-0-553-80554-3

Those who enjoyed the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. may appreciate bestseller King's heavy-on-action, light-on-deduction 10th novel featuring Mary Russell and her much older husband, Conan Doyle's iconic detective. The plot picks up in the summer of 1924 right after the previous entry in the series, The Language of Bees. A religious fanatic, Rev. Thomas Brothers, who seeks to unleash psychic energies through human sacrifice, has shot Holmes's artist son, Damian Adler, seriously wounding the young man. Holmes's desperate quest for medical help to save his son's life takes him to Holland, while Mary travels throughout Britain in an effort to keep Damian's half-Chinese daughter, Estelle, safe from Brothers and his allies. Cliffhanging situations abound as both leads benefit from the convenient appearance of extremely helpful strangers. (May)

The Whole Wide Beauty Emily Woof. Norton, $23.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-393-07658-5

In this stirring debut, the indefatigable David Freeman struggles to maintain his faltering poetry foundation while his daughter, Katherine, adrift after giving up life as a dancer to become a wife, mother, and part-time music teacher, strives to regain a sense of herself. David is a charismatic dynamo when it comes to his work, but he is far removed from his family, in part because of a long-held secret. When Katherine begins a wild affair with married-with-children poet Stephen Jericho, the couple's passion for each other reawakens them both: Stephen progresses with his epic poem and Katherine breaks through her numbing inertia. Meanwhile, David is diagnosed with cancer, which spurs him even more to find a deep-pocketed philanthropist for the foundation, while drawing him farther away from his family. Katherine's sudden admission of her affair to her parents becomes an unlikely bridge to reconnection, but she still must choose between Stephen and her husband. Though Woof's English characters outwardly maintain the stiffest of upper lips, their tumultuous inner worlds make for a sensuous, moving drama of love and family. (May)

Try to Remember Iris Gomez. Grand Central, $13.99 paper (368p) ISBN 978-0-446-55619-4

Poet and immigration lawyer Gomez (When Comets Rained) mines her own experiences in her enthralling fiction debut, the story of a family of Colombian immigrants adjusting to life in '70s-era Florida. Gabriela De la Paz has earned the nickname Auxiliadora (“the Helper”) for all her efforts translating and interpreting American culture for her parents. The frustrated daughter of Roberto and Evangelina, Gabi must act far older than her teen years when her Papi, schizophrenic and untreated, can't keep a job and gets into trouble with the police because of his violent behavior. Evangelina must hide her sewing and cleaning jobs to avoid Roberto's wrath (he disapproves of women working) while Gabi's brothers, Manolo and Pablo, fear his physical abuse. Gomez charts Gabi's challenges as she gains confidence, educates herself, and finds inspiration from Lara, a “modern” woman for whom she babysits, in this intense and sensitive tale with crossover YA appeal. (May)

Point Dume Katie Arnoldi. Overlook, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-59020-329-3

Arnoldi (The Wentworths) relies on one red-blooded character to conceal that the rest are archetypes in this ripped-from-the-headlines drama. Ellis Gardner is the surfing queen of Point Dume, Calif., feared, lusted after, and envied by the yuppie moms who filter down from the mansions overlooking the ocean to take surfing lessons. Ellis's childhood friend Pablo is the hunky surfing instructor, but he's also been amassing a small fortune finding and robbing small marijuana crops planted by Mexican cartels on the slopes of unsuspecting property owners, then selling his harvest. His current rival for Ellis's affections is one of those absentee owners, Frank, a rich midlife surfing convert who's unaware that his wife is one of Pablo's best customers. Meanwhile, Felix Duarte crosses the Mexican border for the dangerous but lucrative job of guarding one of the secret patches from which Pablo steals. Arnoldi hothouses the concerns of all equally, so Frank's existential crisis ranks as highly as Felix's hunger- and isolation-induced hallucinations up on the ridge and Ellis's unexpected pregnancy. The prose style is spare and powerful and the pages turn effortlessly. (May)

Agaat Marlene van Niekerk, trans. from the Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns. Tin House (PGW, dist.), $19.95 (600p) ISBN 978-0-9825030-9-6

Van Niekerk follows the widely lauded Triomf with a dark, innovative epic that trudges through the depths of a South African farmwife's soul. In 1947, Milla Redelinghuys is determined to turn her wealthy new husband, Jak, into the latest salt-of-the-earth farmer in her family's line. But her demands and manipulative personality cause an early marital rift that only worsens with time. As Van Niekerk follows young Milla through the decades, the author parallels it with the last days of an elderly Milla in 1996—miserable, afflicted with ALS, and reliant on her black maid, Agaat, for survival. Slowly, Milla's story—her abandonment and her masochistic relationship with Agaat—is revealed in all its ugliness. Clearly an allegory for race relations in South Africa, the novel succeeds on numerous other grounds: a rich evocation of family dynamics ; a chilling portrait of bodily and mental decay; and a successful experiment in combining diaries, the second-person, and stream of consciousness. Van Niekerk marshals it all to evoke the resigned mind of a dying woman who realizes, too late, the horrible mistakes that have made her life a waste. (May)

The Ark Boyd Morrison. Touchstone, $24.99 (448p) ISBN 978-1-4391-8179-9

At the start of Morrison's debut, a routine quest thriller that attracted attention through Amazon's self-publishing Kindle program, combat engineer Tyler Locke executes a daring rescue after the helicopter carrying archeologist Dilara Kenner crash-lands in the sea near the floating oil rig where Tyler is working 200 miles off the Newfoundland coast. Dilara has come to enlist Tyler's help in finding Noah's ark, previously discovered by her father, Hasad Arvadi, who was murdered before he could announce this momentous find. Arvadi's killer, Sebastian Ulric, the head of a religious cult, plans to use a prion disease found on the ark as a weapon. Tyler, Dilara, and Tyler's sidekick, Grant Westfield, are all that stands between Ulric and the death of virtually every human on earth. Morrison breaks the story into several main sections involving various battles before finally honing in on what impatient readers will have been awaiting, the actual discovery of the ark. 5-city author tour. (May)

Orion, You Came and You Took All My Marbles Kira Henehan. Milkweed (PGW, dist.), $16 paper (264p) ISBN 978-1-57131-075-0

Finley—red-haired, yellow-eyed, sometimes unreliable—narrates a sublime and cryptic debut in the vein of Sam Lipsyte's The Subject Steve about a group of detectives (or maybe they're not detectives) investigating a peculiar professor. Among the group is Murphy, with his pockets full of marbles and a tendency to be inexplicably smelly; Binelli, the almost omniscient leader of the crew; and the Lamb, who is beautiful and brilliant, or possibly just great at acting brilliant. The dreamy plotlike chain of events at the novel's center revolves around the four detectives trying to find some information of some sort about Professor Uppal and his amazing puppets, though the goals, specifically, are never quite clear, and Henehan finds plenty of time for bizarre asides. At its heart, the novel is an impressionistic tale propelled by Henehan's gorgeously arch prose and a constant stream of droll humor. The ephemeral plotting will either be frustrating or fabulous, depending on the reader, but there's no doubt that Henehan is a talent. (May)

Glorious Bernice L. McFadden. Akashic, $15.95 paper (250p) ISBN 978-1-936070-11-4

McFadden, in her powerful seventh novel, tells the story of Easter Bartlett as she journeys from the violent Jim Crow South to the promise of the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement. Along the way, Easter forms relationships with both products of McFadden's imagination and actual historical figures: Rain, the sensuous and passionate dancer in Slocum's Traveling Brigade, a troupe that traveled the backwoods “entertaining negroes”; Colin, Easter's husband, who is provoked by a duplicitous friend into assassinating the Universal Negro Improvement Association leader, Marcus Garvey; Meredith, Easter's untrustworthy benefactor; and many more, including poet Langston Hughes, pianist Fats Waller, and shipping heiress Nancy Cunard. McFadden (Sugar) weaves rich historical detail with Easter's struggle to find peace in a racially polarized country, and she brings Harlem to astounding life: “The air up there, up south, up in Harlem, was sticky sweet and peppered with perfume, sweat, sex, curry, salt meat, sautéed chicken livers, and fresh baked breads.” Easter's hope for love to overthrow hate—and her intense exposure to both—cogently stands for America's potential, and McFadden's novel is a triumphant portrayal of the ongoing quest. (May)

Savor the Moment Nora Roberts. Berkley, $16 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-425-23368-9

Happily-ever-afters continue to bloom in book three of Roberts's sugary Bride Quartet (after Bed of Roses) as the spotlight shines on pastry chef extraordinaire Laurel McBane. Vows, the Greenwich, Conn., wedding business run by the four BFFs, is also a hotbed for romance, as two of the friends have already found true love and dream of their upcoming nuptials. Laurel, meanwhile, sets her sights on Del, the older brother of Vows partner Parker, a handsome lawyer she's secretly loved since they were teens. Passion erupts, but will they be able to make it last? Laurel's tart fairy tale romance offers few surprises, but it's impossible to deny Roberts's flair for sketching likable couples. (May)

The Queen of Palmyra Minrose Gwin. Harper Perennial, $14.99 paper (432p) ISBN 978-0-06-184032-6

The protagonist of this affecting and disturbing bildungsroman, Florence Forrest, lives in Millwood, Miss., the small segregated town where her father, Win, a burial insurance salesman, is the proud leader of the local Klansmen. It's 1963, and Florence can't figure out why her mother, Martha, fears Win and focuses her attention on making runs to bootleggers. Florence spends days at her grandparents' house where she irritates the surly black housekeeper, Zenie (named for Zenobia, the queen of ancient Palmyra), and the afternoons with Zenie's family in Shake Rag, the neighborhood on the black side of town. Zenie has no particular affection for Florence or her kin, but tolerates the lot of them out of necessity. The civil rights movement is sweeping through the South, and when Zenie's pretty, ambitious niece, Eva, comes to town to sell insurance to earn money for college, Millwood will never be the same. This thought-provoking novel shows the terror and tragedy in one divided Southern community whose residents have no interest in reconciling. The blacks want their equal rights while Win and his followers would rather kill than relinquish power. (May)

Elysiana Chris Knopf. Permanent, $28 (304p) ISBN 978-1-57962-198-8

Smart dialogue and sharp social observations distinguish this stand-alone thriller from Knopf (Short Squeeze and four other Hamptons mysteries). In the summer of 1969, life on the sunny New Jersey resort island of Elysiana simmers as town cops feud with the beach patrol, fed-up wives elude their slimy husbands, local politicians double-cross each other, lots of dope flows everywhere, and various needy, wounded people—such as a brain-damaged lifeguard, a young woman from Chicago who fled her lecherous dad, and a smalltime criminal who's also a maniac surfer—look for reasons to go on. Knopf sets up a lot of competing characters capable of semiclever scheming to get what they want, then shows a massive hurricane ripping their plans and their island apart. Like John D. Macdonald or Charles Willeford in a lighter mood, he's unsentimentally fond of his characters and tentatively hopeful about their ability to salvage something from the wreckage around them. (May)

Stettin Station David Downing. Soho, $25 (304p) ISBN 978-1-56947-634-5

Fans of the intelligent WWII thrillers of Alan Furst and Philip Kerr should enjoy Downing's atmospheric and tension-filled third novel featuring Anglo-American journalist John Russell (after Silesian Station). By November 1941, Russell has decided that he and his German actress girlfriend, Effi Koenen, need to leave Berlin while they still can, but given Koenen's high public profile, he must find an illegal way to do so. His planning coincides with the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Japan as well as growing evidence that the Nazis have begun carrying out the Final Solution with the forced transport of Berlin's Jewish community. Russell's complicated life, which includes serving as a courier for the Wehrmacht intelligence service, makes him an obvious candidate for extra scrutiny by the Gestapo, a further obstacle to escaping Germany. With strong, vivid prose, the author maintains a high level of suspense throughout, and makes the reader care about his leads. (May)

The Astronomer Lawrence Goldstone. Walker, $24 (304p) ISBN 978-0-8027-1986-7

Set in 1534, Goldstone's uneven novel of historical suspense, his second after The Anatomy of Deception, finds the Inquisition taking corrective measures against the unremitting attacks on Catholic orthodoxy: namely the rack, the stake, and that old crowd pleaser, the gibbet. But there are other, equally pernicious forms of heresy. Consider a dangerous free-thinker like the much too famous astronomer Copernicus, for instance, and his bizarre insistence that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the universe. In Paris, young Amaury de Faverges is getting unsettling whiffs of the heady aroma of intellectual ferment. Though successfully recruited by the Inquisition, Amaury eventually turns against his draconian masters, giving the beset Copernicus reason to thank his lucky stars. Goldstone brings the sights, sounds, and furious politics of 16th-century France to vivid life, but his major characters are under-imagined—stick figures out of historical fiction central casting. (May)

The Big Bang Symphony Lucy Jane Bledsoe. Univ. of Wisconsin/Terrace, $24.95 (340p) ISBN 978-0-299-23500-0

The raw emotions of three women in Bledsoe's fifth novel (after Biting the Apple) lead to often explosive interactions among scientists, artists, and other lost souls marooned in Antarctica. A crash-landing and the discovery of a frozen body bonds Mikala Wilbo, a composer, to Rosie Moore, a cook beginning her third season at McMurdo research station. Rosie, a woman with nomadic tendencies and no familial ties, longs for a real home and swears this season will be her last. Mikala, meanwhile, is in Antarctica on an artist's grant but also has a powerful secret motive. After the crash survivors are rescued and transported via snowmobiles to McMurdo, Mikala acknowledges her crush on Rosie, who is lusting after someone else. Then arrives Alice Neilson, a geologist who rooms with Rosie to perhaps untoward results. Bledsoe digs into themes of individuality and lonesomeness, and the idea of safety in numbers, and though the narrative's introspectiveness can at times be as daunting as the Antarctic's harsh climate, Bledsoe finds the spark of life amid the ice and desolation. (May)

Daughters of Fortune Tara Hyland. Atria, $16 paper (480p) ISBN 978-1-4391-6506-5

In Hyland's sprawling debut, sparkling with Gossip Girl sizzle and Barbara Taylor Bradford melodrama, 15-year-old Irish lassie Caitlin O'Dwyer learns the shocking truth about her father's identity from her dying mother: a London retail magnate named William Melville, who broke things off before Caitlin's birth. Unsurprisingly, the successful businessman arrives in Valleymount, County Wicklow, for the funeral and informs Caitlin that she's moving in with his family at their posh Somerset estate. Besides problems fitting in with William's wife, Isabelle, and their two pampered daughters, Elizabeth and Amber, Caitlin is drugged and gang-raped at her new school. Caitlin fails to press charges and eventually graduates to study fashion in Paris and become an award-winning New York designer. Meanwhile, Elizabeth grows into a driven business whiz, and Amber becomes an unstable supermodel. Hyland juggles the sisters' fortunes smoothly, reconnecting them convincingly, but occasionally overextends, as in a subplot involving William's jealous brother. (May)

Diamond Ruby Joseph Wallace. Touchstone, $16 paper (480p) ISBN 978-1-4391-6005-3

Based on the true story of a lady pitcher who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in exhibition play, this debut novel from nonfiction author Wallace (Grand Old Game) is a diverting sports tale. In 1923, 18-year-old New Yorker Ruby Lee Thomas is forced to raise her two small nieces, Amanda and Allie, after the 1918 Spanish influenza devastates her family. Blessed (or cursed) with elongated arms that make for blazing fastballs, the southpaw is hired by the Fantasyland Circus Sideshow as “Diamond Ruby.” The Jewish pitcher draws the violent attention of the Klan, but also the admiration of Babe Ruth (a pitcher early in his career), who teaches her a few new throws, and boxing champion Jack Dempsey. The Brooklyn Typhoons eventually sign Ruby to pitch, where her amazing feats stir trouble with a charismatic gangster angling to fix her games; subsequent clashes and close calls with Prohibition-era hoodlums generate as much drama as her distinctive baseball prowess. Sharply sketched, convincing historical characters like Ruth and Dempsey add to the considerable appeal of Wallace's gritty but fun period baseball tale. (May)

The Life and Times of Homer Sincere: Whose Amazing Adventures Are Documented by His True and Trusted Friend Rigby Canfield Nathaniel Lande. Overlook, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-1-59020-328-6

Journalist, author, and filmmaker Lande (The 10 Best of Everything), former creative director for Time Inc. magazines, follows two imaginative boys from post-WWII New Orleans to 1970s Hollywood. After meeting in the French Quarter over a game of marbles, privileged Rigby Canfield and polio-stricken Homer Sincere take up an 8mm movie camera and begin recording the magic of their neighborhood, including the “best vegetable vendor in the Quarter,” who becomes the boys' first mentor. When his mother dies, Homer is sent to La Vielle Maison, a foster home run by Father Rivage, an ex-con who funds the establishment with forged art and hard cider; he also introduces Homer to literary classics like The Odyssey and Huckleberry Finn, urging him to become a “Soldier of the Word.” Later, both Rigby and Homer land at Henry Luce's Time-Life in New York, where their friendship is tested by a common love interest, as well as news stories taking them from Iowa to Israel; still, neither can shake dreams of moviemaking. Lande employs quirky plotting and characters like John Irving, along with Doctorowesque historical cameos, but the result is flat-footed and unconvincing. (May)

Leaving Bayberry House Ann L. McLaughlin. John Daniel (SCB, dist.), $14.95 paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-56474-495-1

Two sisters revisit wartime tragedy while closing the family's summer house in McLaughlin's inert sixth novel (after Maiden Voyage). Set in 1973, the novel drags along over the course of one August week as the Carlson sisters, now in their mid-40s, pack up the family house in preparation for its sale. Angie, a potter and mother of two living in Ann Arbor, Mich., has not visited the house in the 28 years since discovering their minister father, depressed by events of WWII, hanging dead in the basement. Her older sister, Liz, a Farsi translator for the State Department, is on her second rocky marriage, living in New York, and worried that asking Angie to help with the house might trigger another mental breakdown. Gradually, the two open up, assisted and hindered by the visit of their sharp-tongued aunt and the surprise arrival of Angie's 18-year-old daughter and her hippie friends. McLaughlin injects some texture with WWII-era flashbacks, but the long-winded, dawdling narrative has little to recommend it. (May)

They Almost Always Come Home Cynthia Ruchti. Abingdon, $13.99 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-4267-0238-9

In Ruchti's debut faith-based novel, Libby and Greg's marriage is sputtering in the wake of their daughter's death. Libby's thinking about leaving—until she's faced with the prospect of becoming a widow when Greg fails to return from a solo trip to the Canadian wilderness. As Libby, her best friend Jen, and father-in-law Frank go after Greg to bring him back or learn his fate, Libby also learns about herself, family, and faith. It's a great premise, and Ruchti has enough energy to make the suspense last for just about the whole book, even as she unpacks the marriage troubles in the background and the character interplay among the searchers in the foreground. A lot of readers will like Libby, who is flawed enough to be humble and teachable; a few might find her brittle and defensive wit (“rocks with bad toupees of lichen”) a little much. Libby's friend Jen, however, is improbably saintly. Crisp dialogue propels the story forward unobtrusively. Ruchti shows imagination and promise. (May)

A Splendid Conspiracy Albert Cossery, trans. from the French by Alyson Waters. New Directions, $14.95 paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-8112-1779-8

The idleness of young men finds devilish outlets in this queasy novel by late Egyptian author Cossery (1913—2008). A young rake, having left home six years before, ostensibly to study abroad, reluctantly returns to his un-named provincial Egypt hometown at the behest of his father. However, young Teymour, who never enrolled in a university and bought a fake diploma, finds plotting seductions of young girls with his old friends much more fun than working in the family business, and soon Teymour and his friends, Medhat and Imtaz, are acting as procurers of schoolgirls for a rich dupe named Chawki. Throw in a flimsy element of mystery involving the inexplicable disap-pearance of certain prominent male citizens, a police chief who suspects the young idlers of plotting rebellion, and a thriving brothel with a bawdy advertising campaign, and you've got a prurient, over-the-top throwback that's some-times hard to take seriously. Fluidly translated, this novel reads much like a horny old goat's fantasy, and its appeal will likely be limited to the Henry Miller set. (May)

Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder Travis Nichols. Coffeehouse, $14.95 paper (260p) ISBN 978-1-56689-241-4

Nichols takes the simple plot of a road trip and turns it upside down and sideways, with the structure more inter-esting than the content. The unnamed narrator writes a series of letters to a Polish woman named Luddie as the nar-rator takes his girlfriend and his grandfather back to the Polish village where “The Bombardier” as his grandfather was called was shot down during WWII, and where Luddie helped him survive. The three continually tell each other stories the narrator retells to Luddie. Nichols handles beautifully the hidden meanings in old family tales heard a hundred times, but suddenly seen in the light of the casual racism and sexism prevalent in the decades after the war. It's as though a set of nesting dolls exploded into thousands of puzzle pieces that won't quite fit together anymore. One way it seems like “the truth” and then another detail comes up in another story that changes that truth. Tightly structured, with many repetitive phrases serving as a choral backdrop to the action, the novel often reads like a piece of music that is wonderfully original. (May)

Truth Peter Temple. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26 (400p) ISBN 978-0-374-27937-0

The death of a nameless prostitute in a glitzy Melbourne high-rise is the first in a series of crimes that Insp. Stephen Villani discovers are all tied to protecting the interests of the city's elite in this brutal tale of corruption, greed, and revenge from Australian author (and Ned Kelly Award—winner) Temple (The Broken Shore). Burdened by a shaky marriage and an increasingly rebellious teenage daughter while trying to stay afloat in Melbourne's treacherous political climate, Villani doesn't know where to turn. The discovery of three savagely tortured men with ties to one of the city's biggest crime bosses only adds another layer to the already twisted case, and makes Villani question eve-rything he thought he knew about the line between cop and criminal. Temple's elliptical storytelling—the past and the present are often interchangeable—fits the slippery subject of deeply ingrained police corruption and one man's determination to uncover the truth. (May)

Fever Dream Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Grand Central, $26.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-446-55496-1

Preston and Child up the emotional ante considerably in their 10th thriller featuring brilliant and eccentric FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast (after Cemetery Dance), one of the best in the series. For 12 years, Pendergast has believed that the death of his wife, Helen, in the jaws of a ferocious red-maned lion in Zambia was just a tragedy, but his chance examination of the gun she carried on the fateful day reveals that someone loaded it with blanks. Pendergast drags his longtime NYPD ally, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, into a leave of absence that includes travel to Africa as well as the American South. The motive for Helen's murder appears to be linked to her fascination with John James Audubon and her quest for a mysterious lost Audubon painting. Once again, the bestselling authors show they have few peers at creating taut scenes of suspense. Their restraint in the book's early sections make the payoffs all the more compelling. (May)

Neverland Douglas Clegg. Perseus/Vanguard, $15.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-59315-541-4

An adolescent's cruel mischief proves a pathway to a dimension of otherworldly terrors in this creepy supernatural thriller, first published as a mass-market paperback in 1991. One summer on Gull Island off the coast of Georgia, Sumter Monroe indoctrinates his cousin Beau Jackson into the marvels of “Neverland,” Sumter's name for a tumble-down shack on their mutual maternal grandmother's property that's a shrine to a god he names “Lucy.” In Neverland, reality and illusion blur eerily, and the spirit of fun takes a malevolent turn as Sumter begin offering “sacrifices” of an increasingly disturbing nature to placate Lucy and sustain his special relationship with her. Clegg (The Vampyricon) crafts a haunting story redolent with the influence of Arthur Machen, H.P. Lovecraft, and other classic horror writers. His credible rendering of the internal lives of children and their imaginations give this flight of dark fancy a firm and frightening foothold in reality. (Apr.)

Mystery

The Silent Places James Patrick Hunt. Minotaur, $25.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-54579-6

Thin characterization mars Hunt's formulaic fourth novel featuring St. Louis homicide detective George Hastings (after 2009's The Assailant). After a falling-out with the police brass, Hastings gets assigned to the security detail of presidential aspirant Sen. Alan Preston, a Missouri Republican and former federal prosecutor. When John Reese, an ex-CIA operative Preston convicted for selling arms to Syria more than a decade earlier, escapes from prison bent on revenge, Preston declines FBI protection because he fears attracting unfavorable national media attention. Hastings, who takes an instant dislike to the politician, soon suspects Preston is being less than frank. Hunt adds nothing new to the familiar device of alternating between the perspectives of the would-be assassin and the person working frantically to thwart him. Since Preston comes across as such an unlikable phony, readers may root more for the assassin than the senator. (June)

When Winter Returns Kathryn Miller Haines. Harper, $14.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-157957-8

Set in the fall of 1943, Haines's captivating fourth Rosie Winter mystery (after 2009's Winter in June) finds Rosie and her best pal, Jayne Hamilton, back in New York after a harrowing South Pacific U.S.O. tour. First, they pay a call upstate on the parents of Jayne's late fiancé, Billy DeMille, who was killed in action two months earlier. To their surprise, they discover the Billy they knew stole the identity of the DeMilles' son, who died in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Back in Manhattan at the George Bernard Shaw Home for Women Pursuing Theatrical Vocations, Rosie must share rooms with her nemesis, Ruby Priest, and Jayne with weird Ann Fremont. At fake Billy's old digs, they uncover German letters written in disappearing ink and a stash of cash. To add to their woes, Jayne's ex-mobster honey, Tony, is causing trouble, and they can't land roles because another mobster has blackballed them. Haines vividly recreates WWII-era New York City, while daring Rosie never loses her “can do” attitude. (May)

Rolling Thunder: A John Ceepak Mystery Chris Grabenstein. Pegasus (Norton, dist.), $25 (304p) ISBN 978-1-60598-098-8

At the start of Anthony Award—winner Grabenstein's enjoyable sixth John Ceepak mystery (after 2009's Mind Scrambler), the wife of Paddy O'Malley, an entrepreneur whose company has just built a roller coaster on the shore of the struggling resort town of Sea Haven, N.J., suffers a fatal heart attack on the new ride during the grand opening. As supercop Ceepak and his less obsessively straight-arrow partner, Danny Boyle, begin to doubt whether Mrs. O'Malley died of natural causes, the dismembered body of a party girl turns up in two suitcases. Since the most obvious suspect is too conveniently set up, the two cops must wade through a rancid swamp of local politics, sleazy sex, and family hatred for the truth. The corruption Ceepak sees drives him to be even more vigilantly upright. Vivid local color and sharply drawn characters—especially as dramatized in the contrast between the partners' attitudes—help make the pages fly. (May)

Deadline Man Jon Talton. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-1-59058-714-0; $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-59058-723-2

Talton (The Pain Nurse) brings his journalism expertise to this fine mystery narrated by an unnamed columnist for a Seattle newspaper. Shortly after “the columnist” has a routine meeting with sometime source and heavy-hitting hedge fund manager Troy Hardesty at the man's downtown office, Troy falls 20 stories to his death on the street below. Back at the columnist's office, the paper's managers announce the company will be sold or closed in 60 days. Despite the uproar, the columnist is more concerned with juggling his three lovers than his future—until he's accosted by a streetwalker who shouts,“Eleven-eleven!” Later, sinister men claiming to be “federal officers” ask the columnist what Troy told him at their meeting. The columnist joins forces with Amber Burke, a cub reporter who wants to prove herself with a big story, in an effort to find out what's really going on. Well-rounded characters and a lightning-paced plot raise this well above the average global conspiracy story. (May)

The Pull of the Moon Diane Janes. Soho Constable, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-1-56947-639-0

In British author Janes's solid debut, Kate Mayfield, a retired teacher, has tried to forget about the summer of 1972, when she stayed at an isolated country house in Herefordshire with her then boyfriend, Danny Ivanisovic, and Danny's friend from university, Simon Willis. Tasked with landscaping for Simon's uncle, who owns the house, the trio spend most of the time lounging and drinking. The dynamic irrevocably shifts after they meet Trudie Finch during a trip to the beach and invite her to stay at the house. Though the boys are entranced by Trudie, Kate is suspicious of their evasive guest. When tragedy inevitably strikes, Kate buries her past until three decades later Danny's elderly mother, desperate to know the truth about her son, sends her a note, imploring her to visit. While fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will be able to predict developments, all readers will appreciate the prickly and intriguing Kate. (May)

Lethal Rage Brent Pilkey. ECW (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (248p) ISBN 978-1-55022-925-7

Canadian policeman Pilkey writes from firsthand experience in his gritty procedural debut, which introduces Jack Warren, a six-year veteran of the Toronto force who moves from a relatively quiet sector to the violent 51 Division. Drugs, prostitution, robberies, and domestic abuse are rampant, Jack soon discovers, while an aggressive new crack cocaine dealer, who's calling his product “Black,” is exacerbating the violence. Pilkey charts the stresses the dangerous job puts on Jack's marriage, the us-against-them mentality that binds patrol cops, the off-duty cop parties to blow off steam, and the way the 51 can change good cops to bad. A deadly confrontation with the chief suspect responsible for Black forces Jack to face the inadequacy of the legal system as well as the possibility of taking the law into his own hands. Pilkey's insider knowledge and his restraint in romanticizing Jack and his comrades more than compensate for the at times stilted narrative. (May)

Photo Snap Shot: A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Joanna Campbell Slan. Midnight Ink (www.midnightinkbooks.com), $14.95 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-7387-1976-4

In Agatha-finalist Slan's diverting third scrapbooking mystery (after 2009's Cut, Crop & Die), Kiki Lowenstein's 12-year-old daughter, Anya, a student at St. Louis's fancy Charles and Anne Lindbergh Academy, ventures with another girl into the balcony of the school theater, where they stumble on the dead body of an unpopular teacher, Sissy Gilchrist. Hired on the basis of her family's social standing, Sissy was dating a black man—an act that may have given someone motive for murder. Kiki teams again with her crush, the unfortunately married Det. Chad Detweiler, who investigated her husband's still unsolved murder in the first book in the series, Paper, Scissors, Death (2008). Kiki's job at Time in a Bottle, a scrapbooking store, sometimes distracts from the murder investigation, but the subject of racial prejudice makes this a cut above the usual craft-themed cozy. (May)

Mercy Killing Stephen Solomita. Severn, $27.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6853-4

Solomita (Cracker Bling) deserves credit for dealing with end-of-life issues, but he could've done a better job addressing the serious ethical implications of euthanasia in this mediocre contemporary procedural set in New York City. After many years in a vegetative state, wealthy Joyce Hauptman dies at home in Queens, but the city's death investigator suspects the widower, Charles, may have helped end her suffering. A political appointee at the medical examiner's office, who discounts this suspicion, releases the body before an autopsy can be performed. NYPD Det. Lenny Shaw, who pursues the case even after the corpse is cremated, retrieves bone fragments that contain traces of poison. When Lenny learns that Joyce's father stands to benefit if Charles is convicted of murder, the detective realizes the case isn't so clear-cut. The resolution of the story line may strike some readers as less than satisfactory. (May)

SF/Fantasy/Horror

Retromancer Robert Rankin. Gollancz (IPG/Trafalgar Square, dist.), $24.95 paper (346p) ISBN 978-0-575-08497-1

Mr. Hugo Rune, Rankin's rambunctious occult adventurer, and his fervent acolyte, Rizla, return for another fear-lessly far-fetched escapade (after 2008's Necrophenia). One morning, they awaken to a 1967 that's harrowingly differ-ent. Nazis rule the U.K., the U.S. was nuked during WWII, and Rizla can't find a satisfying full English breakfast. Rune pulls Rizla back to 1944, where they must suss out the Twelve Cosmic Conundra “in order to defeat the Nazi peril, save America, save Mankind, [and] secure a future for England that is free and liberated.” A dozen Tarot cards lead them into the madcap “weirdery” that Rankin excels at, though his extremely British jokes (such as Alan Tur-ing's pet robot going haywire and deciding he's King Arthur) may baffle American audiences. Rune's explosive and satisfying smackdown with his eternally evil nemesis, Count Otto Black, will please his longtime fans. (June)

The Thief of Broken Toys Tim Lebbon. ChiZine (Diamond, dist.), $10.95 paper (150p) ISBN 978-0-9812978-9-7

A father's inconsolable grief over his son's untimely death opens a door to a potentially redemptive supernatural experience in this poignant but meandering novella. Since young Toby died in his sleep, Ray has wandered the streets of the little Cornish fishing village of Skentipple in a fog of misery, watching his ex-wife rebuild her life. A chance encounter with an enigmatic old man seems to hold out the prospect of Ray's own emotional healing—though, as becomes apparent, at a very dear price. Lebbon (Bar None) superbly captures the thoughts and feelings of a man whose misery so unhinges him that an encounter with the uncanny is unavoidable, but too often Ray's self-pity comes across as artlessly repetitive and padded. An idea that might have made a haunting short story seems underde-veloped at this greater length. (May)

Whitby Vampyrrhic Simon Clark. Severn, $28.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6831-2

Readers looking for the imaginative plotting and exploration of character that Clark displayed in The Night of the Triffids, his clever sequel to John Wyndham's classic The Day of the Triffids, will be disappointed by this cookie-cutter story of an English town infested by the undead, set during WWII. Two friends, Beth Layne and Sally Wainwright, come to Whitby, which figures prominently in Bram Stoker's Dracula, to act in a film whose purpose, according to its director, Alec Reed, “is to explain what it is like to live in the Britain of 1942.” Instead, the two actresses and Reed wind up engaging in heroic efforts to slay all the vampires who are plaguing the area. Clark fails to generate many chills, nor does he make the most of his idea that these English bloodsuckers are somehow connected to the Norse gods. (May)

Lesser Demons Norman Partridge. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $25 (280p) ISBN 978-1-59606-294-8

Partridge (Slippin' into Darkness) mixes hard-boiled detective fiction and pulp action horror with a touch of spaghetti westerns in this collection of 10 unsubtle and occasionally unskilled stories (all but one reprinted). His images can slip into the absurd at the wrong moment, and his prose is often clumsy, but his tales of zombie sheriffs (“Lesser Demons”), murderous vultures (“Carrion”), a criminal who encounters his idealized doppelgänger (“Second Chance”), and gigantic radioactive mutants (“The Big Man”) have plenty of entertainment value. Considerable inventiveness, an uninhibited sense of the gruesome, and vigorous pacing make this a collection of B-movies for the printed page, and though Partridge never quite equals the wit and strangeness of Joe R. Lansdale, his work will easily appeal to Lansdale's audience. (May)

The Bradbury Report Steven Polansky. Weinstein (Hachette, dist.), $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-1-60286-122-0

Polansky's debut features well-developed characters and strong writing, but the science is simplistic and the moral of the tale is pounded home with a hammer. In 2071, most Americans routinely use their cloned “copies” for spare parts, never thinking of them as human. Retired teacher Raymond Bradbury is contacted by his ex-girlfriend Anna, who has joined the anti-cloning underground. For the first time this group has rescued a clone from a heavily guarded government compound; by chance, it's Ray's. Anna enlists Ray to turn the copy, whom they name Alan, into an anti-cloning spokesman. As the three hide in Canada, they begin to doubt the motives of Anna's compatriots. The contrived setting will hold little appeal to genre fans familiar with Kazuo Ishiguro's superior Never Let Me Go and other, more nuanced examinations of this morally and scientifically fraught topic. (May)

Cold Magics Erik Buchanan. Hades/Dragon Moon (www.dragonmoonpress.com), $24.95 paper (366p) ISBN 978-1-897492-06-2

This uninspired sequel to 2007's Small Magics continues the adventures of 18-year-old Thomas Flarety, a student at the prestigious Royal Academy of Learning who has the unique ability to see magic and the rare talent of using it. The tyrannical leaders of the Church of the High Father call his abilities witchcraft, and Flarety soon faces a difficult decision: use his talents to help a northern duchy under attack from magic-wielding raiders, thereby marking himself and his friends as enemies of the Church, or stay in school and do nothing as hundreds of innocents die. Though some action sequences toward the novel's conclusion are well developed and engaging, the uneven pacing, trite characterization, and drab world-building make this a pedestrian adventure fantasy at best. (May)

The Legions of Fire David Drake. Tor, $25.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2078-0

Drake (Lord of the Isles) vividly recreates the attitudes of patrician Romans in this fantasy tale, the first of a projected quartet. When Senator Saxa's bookish teenage son, Varus, suddenly channels a mystical prediction of the end of days while reciting an epic poem, Saxa's young wife, Hedia, blames the wizard Nemastes, who's been scheming after Saxa's money. Varus's best friend, Corylus, and sister, Alphena, also caught up in strange visions during the recitation, suspect there may be more going on than Roman political wrangling. Alphena adds her skill with arms and sense for magic to Hedia's keen intelligence and deadly temper, Varus's mysterious connection to the lands of dreams and death, and Corylus's military instincts and good sense as they tangle with magicians trying to destroy the world. Fans of fantasy and historical fiction will enjoy the decidedly noncontemporary characters and their adventures. (May)

Mass Market

Chasing Perfect Susan Mallery. HQN, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-373-77452-4

For her first Fool's Gold romance, Mallery (Hot on Her Heels) eschews her tried-and-true formula of a passionate heroine and arrogant alpha male hero linked by a tumultuous past, setting up two wary strangers instead. The mayor of Fool's Gold, Calif., is determined to match-make between Charity Jones, a city planner hired to create jobs that will keep the town's men from moving away, and Josh Golden, a professional cyclist and reputed womanizer. Charity, a veteran of romantic disaster, is skeptical of Josh, who's always surrounded by cute female fans. Josh, traumatized by a teammate's death and no longer able to race, feels too broken to maintain a relationship. The book brims with quick-witted, good-natured characters, and though Charity and Josh occasionally verge on blandness, their romance grows poignantly and with chemistry to spare. (May)

In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady Gayle Callen. Avon, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-178341-8

Veteran historical romance writer Callen (Never Marry a Stranger) begins this 1840s romance with a painting depicting two items of interest to Julian Delane, earl of Parkhurst: a gorgeous naked woman, rumored to be one of the ton, and her diamond necklace, stolen from Julian's father a decade earlier. Demure debutante Rebecca Leland was recently seen sporting the diamond, but when Julian catches her and her sister and cousin trying to steal the painting, all three young ladies claim to be the model. Threats from another gem seeker send Rebecca off on a wild journey across the countryside; lustful, curious Julian soon catches up, and they're quick to take advantage of their unchaperoned solitude. Though the tale sports only the thinnest veneer of historical verisimilitude, the hero and heroine are engaging, making this a pleasantly spicy early beach read. (May)

Feed Mira Grant. Orbit, $9.99 (608p) ISBN 978-0-316-08105-4

Urban fantasist Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue) picks up a new pen name for this gripping, thrilling, and brutal depiction of a postapocalyptic 2039. Twin bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason and their colleague Buffy are thrilled when Sen. Peter Ryman, the first presidential candidate to come of age since social media saved the world from a virus that reanimates the dead, invites them to cover his campaign. Then an event is attacked by zombies, and Ryman's daughter is killed. As the bloggers wield the newfound power of new media, they tangle with the CDC, a scheming vice presidential candidate, and mysterious conspirators who want more than the Oval Office. Shunning misogynistic horror tropes in favor of genuine drama and pure creepiness, McGuire has crafted a masterpiece of suspense with engaging, appealing characters who conduct a soul-shredding examination of what's true and what's reported. (May)

The Covenant of Genesis Andy McDermott. Bantam, $7.99 (570p) ISBN 978-0-553-59296-2

Archeological danger duo Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase, now engaged to be married, dodge bullets in pursuit of another fabled object in their fourth adventure (after 2010's The Secret of Excalibur). Nina isn't actually certain what she's looking for, but she knows the vastly powerful, resourceful, and mysterious consortium known as the Covenant of Genesis wants to destroy it, which provides incentive enough for her to disregard expense, ethics, and personal safety while pursuing it. She and Eddie escape marauding henchmen seeking to destroy their entire crew and all evidence of an ancient stone tablet they found in Indonesia, only to be attacked back at Nina's New York office. They immediately commence an intercontinental game of hunt and be hunted, cracking heads, wise, and the occasional Indiana Jones—style whip amid plenty of action and gore. (May)

Comics

Body World Dash Shaw. Pantheon, $27.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-307-37842-2

A fantastic follow-up to Shaw's widely praised first full-length graphic novel, 2008's Bottomless Bellybutton, Body World treads very different territory. Boney Borough is a pastoral planned community in a dystopic future, where everyone knows each other's names and young romance blossoms at the high school “die-ball” games. But like all idyllic suburban communities, Boney Borough has a drug problem, and a newcomer, tweaked-out drug “researcher” Paulie Panther, takes advantage of it. Panther discovers a new kind of plant in the woods outside town, that, when smoked, allows people to telepathically experience one another's bodies and minds. Introduced to the local youth, the drug wreaks havoc with Boney Borough in some very unusual ways. First published as a serial comic on the author's Web site, the print version has added scenes, with gorgeous full-color pages to be read from top to bottom, as if you were scrolling through the story from beginning to end. This is key for the climactic scene, which unfurls in one extended panel. Shaw's willingness to experiment with his drawing style pays off particularly in pages portraying the effects of the drug with abstract blurring and melding of images. Another brilliant work that is sure to attract loads of attention and praise this year. (Apr.)

The Littlest Bitch David Quinn, Michael Davies, and Devin Devereaux. Sellers (www.rsvp.com), $14.95 paper (64p) ISBN 978-1-4162-0568-5

As the debut for Sellers's new comics line—Not-for-Children Children's Books—David Quinn and Michael Davis's The Littlest Bitch makes for an odd kind of statement, and not one that is likely to catch on with either adults or the children who buy it by mistake. The titular protagonist, Isabel, is a preternaturally mature little girl who rules her family's house with the iron fist of the spoiled brat. Isabel is not just an overindulged child, she's also a kind of early-blooming corporate raider (she writes a note to herself to have a family holiday photo “incinerated before Business Week profiles me on my first IPO”). Once she's grown up, Isabel doesn't manage to grow any taller. She does get even meaner and tougher, executing corporate synergies from a corner office where she sits like an evil little doll, her feet not even touching the floor. Isabel of course gets her comeuppance, but that's essentially what passes for satire in Quinn and Davis's heavy-handed tale, related with glimmers of faux bedtime-story charm. Although Devereaux delivers the full-page illustrations with the correct level of Grimmsian exaggeration, the perfunctory story doesn't live up to its dark comedic promises.(Apr.)

Market Day James Sturm. Drawn & Quarterly, $21.95 (96p) ISBN 978-1-897299-97-5

Cartoonist and educator Sturm turns in a tightly woven graphic novella about a shtetl craftsman whose life and livelihood shatter against the rising industrial behemoth of the early 20th century. Mendleman is a nervous rug weaver with a child on the way. His devotion to his craft brings him to the brink of art, but when he suddenly loses his major client to modernization, he finds himself, effectively, patronless. Suddenly a castaway amid economic forces that render his virtues meaningless, he collapses as his previously unnamable anxieties find specific and destructive form. Sturm's tale comprises a day's cycle, and the magnitude of Mendleman's radical descent must sometimes be stated or inferred. But most of the book's important details are effectively portrayed as part of the quotidian warp and woof of life's patterns and relationships. Sturm has infused his reliably disciplined storytelling style with slow pacing and spare graphics, but some bravura sequences give the story impact. Although the details of rural Eastern European Jewish life at the turn of the century ring true, the book is less rooted in a specifically explicated setting than some of Sturm's previous historical fictions, allowing Mendleman's dilemma to function as a broader metaphor for the perpetual struggle between independent creativity and impersonal market forces. (Apr.)

Unknown Soldier, Vol. 2: Easy Kill Joshua Dysart, Alberto Ponticelli, and Pat Masioni. DC/Vertigo, $17.99 paper (200p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2600-8

The second volume of this unflinchingly intense series set in war-torn Uganda continues to deliver a powerful mix of action, espionage, and real life—inspired tragedy. Dr. Moses Lwanga was once a pacifist doctor who left America and returned to his birthplace to help those caught in the middle of Uganda's civil war. But horrible events and mysterious voices in his head have changed him into a one-man army out to stop rebel leader Joseph Kony and his forces. In this volume, Lwanga is approached by a militant cell and drawn into a plot to kill a Hollywood actress making charity visits to the country. In the second story, Lwanga guides an escaped child soldier named Paul back to his home village. Both sections examine the series' recurring theme, Lwanga's belief that Africans must be able to solve their own problems rather than relying on First World nations for aid. Dysart's writing is thought provoking, tense, and holds nothing back. Ponticelli and Masioni, the latter a political refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, both excel at using characters' expression to convey the desperation, fear, and hope driving the story. (Mar.)

Classics Illustrated Deluxe: Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson, David Chauvel, Fred Simon, and Jean-Luc Simon. NBM/Papercutz, $17.99 (144p) ISBN 978-1-59707-185-7

The classic pirate novel is even more fun to read accompanied by well-done pictures. By capturing the feel of another time and place, readers are easily transported into the long-ago seafaring adventure. The art also helps readers become more comfortable with the old-fashioned language and phrasing. The European-styled thin line art is welcoming and approachable. Although cartoony, there's enough detail to stand up to Stevenson's textual imagery. The story is full of all the elements expected: mysterious omens, frightening strangers, a treasure map, seafaring adventure, murderous mutiny, and a boy's first journey to becoming a man. With up to 14 panels per page, this graphic novel is dense but not crowded, although the pages open up to show the ship, with full-page panels conveying the vista of the open ocean. This is a substantial adaptation, given the number of panels, inclusion of the original text, and the length of the book, much longer than the usual classic comic adaptation. The handsome hardcover will stand up to multiple readings, making this a fine choice for libraries or children's gifts. (Mar.)