Fiction Reviews

Nov 03, 2008

WavelandFrederick Barthelme. Doubleday, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-385-52729-3

In his first novel since PEN/Faulkner finalist Elroy Nights, Barthelme offers a strangely detached exploration of the post-Katrina Mississippi Gulf Coast. One year after the hurricane and a divorce, Vaughn Williams has more or less recovered from the shock of both. Renting a room from a younger woman who was widowed under mysterious circumstances, Vaughn slides into a low-key romance with his landlady. Their cordial yet detached friendship with Vaughn's ex-wife, Gail, is put to the test when Gail asks Vaughn and his girlfriend, Greta, to move in with her after she's assaulted by her new boyfriend. The change of scenery does little to simplify Vaughn's love life, and his strange new role stirs up his guilt surrounding the death of his father and estrangement from his brother. Oddly, though, Vaughn never seems overly concerned about the developments around him; Gail's new beau never emerges as a threat; and Greta does not seem bothered by the living arrangement. There are some beautifully written passages, but Barthelme's reluctance to break his characters' cozy familiarity makes it difficult for readers to engage with Vaughn's apparent struggles. (Apr.)

Love or Something Like ItDeirdre Shaw. Random, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6770-1

In Shaw's bright and promising first novel, love lures Lacey Brennan from New York to Hollywood, where she and Toby, a TV writer, shack up in a Laurel Canyon cottage. When he proposes, 30-year-old Lacey sees the happily-ever-after she's sought since her parents' divorce, but she's vexed at every turn: the absence of her brother casts a pall over the wedding; the honeymoon is marred by arguments and stomach ailments. Professional life is no rosier: after her editor spikes her tax-evasion exposé, Lacey quits her newspaper job and takes an assistant gig at a lame sitcom. Toby loses his job and wonders aloud, “Maybe I was too young to get married.” First comes marriage counseling, then divorce, after which Lacey coasts into an affair with her egomaniac boss, takes a stab at screenplay writing and tries to unite her family. Only after deciding to move back to Manhattan and adopting a “spring break” attitude toward L.A. does she feel something like satisfaction. Shaw's first novel unfolds easily, with well-crafted prose and vivid detail, and even if some of the interpersonal drama can feel TV-thin, this is a great young-in-L.A. novel. (Apr.)

SerendipityLouise Shaffer. Ballantine, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-345-50209-4

Shaffer's ho-hum latest (after Family Acts) chronicles a neurotic New Yorker's quest to learn more about her recently deceased and famous mother. Carrie Manning, the daughter of philanthropist Rose and legendary playwright Bobby Manning, uncovers some secrets about mother while cleaning out her apartment. Reluctant to contact her estranged grandmother, celebrated stage actress Lu Lawson, Carrie talks to her great-uncle Paulie, who relays the story of Carrie's great-grandmother Mifalda, an illegitimate child raised by nuns. Fearing her “bad blood” corrupted Lu, Mifalda does her best to prevent Lu from becoming a singer, but when Lu eventually has a baby out of wedlock, Mifalda raises the child as Lu pursues her Broadway career. While Shaffer conveys how Rose's constant criticism plunged Carrie into an unhappy life, Carrie comes off as ditzy and simple, and Bobby and Rose feel stock. Often heavy-handed and prone to stating the obvious (“The thing about smiling and pretending—and tongue biting—year after year is that eventually it takes its toll”), Shaffer gets in the way of a promising premise. (Apr.)

The Tricking of FreyaChristina Sunley. St. Martin's, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-37877-6

Sunley's debut novel is an intricate family travelogue, based in the present of Icelandic-Canadian life and the half-mythical world of her grandparents' Iceland. Sunley gives narrative reins to the granddaughter of a famous Icelandic poet, young Freya, whose memoir begins with the summer she first meets her mom's family in the Icelandic-Canadian village of Gimli. The bitter tension Freya discovers between her sensible mother and her unpredictable aunt goes deeper than personality differences, apparently tied to Aunt Birdie's role as family history keeper, her insistence that the children learn their Icelandic heritage, Norse mythology and language: “Icelandic words are tricksters. Acrobats. Masters of disguise. Shape-shifters.” Equally capricious are Sunley's characters who, over 20 years of family storms and mental illnesses, pull Freya across the globe, landing her more than once in beautiful, beguiling Iceland itself. This grand coming-of-age-novel boasts a dynamic set of characters and a rich bank of cultural and personal lore, making this dark, cold family tale a surprisingly lush experience. (Mar.)

Sleepwalking in DaylightElizabeth Flock. Mira, $21.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2513-0

Bestseller Flock's downer latest takes a glimpse inside a dysfunctional and affluent Chicago family. Samantha Friedman is an unhappy stay-at-home mother of three and wife to her distant and despondent husband, Bob. Their adopted 17-year-old daughter, Cammy, as unhappy as her mother, has found goth, drugs and sex. The unhappy flailings of the two provide the narrative momentum; Cammy's mopey journals (which include, for better or for worse, her poetry) document her pain and reckless behavior, and Samantha's narration explores her affair with a married man. When Cammy learns the truth about her birth mother and the circumstances of her adoption, she sinks further into despair, and Samantha attempts to connect with her while teetering on the brink of abandoning her marriage. Flock's plot is heavy on the sorrow, though there's a requisitely redemptive ending to lighten the familiar and melancholy arc. (Mar.)

CallistoTorsten Krol. Harper Perennial, $14.95 paper (464p) ISBN 978-0-06-167294-1

Krol's bizarre novel mires a “big dumb hick” in a small town, where he is targeted for aiding and abetting terrorists. Gentle giant Odell Deefus is driving to an army recruitment center when his car breaks down along a country road. But he gets much more than he bargained for with his rescuer, Dean Mowry. Turns out that Dean has been studying Islam, had more than a little to do with his aunt's recent disappearance and is somehow involved with a shady character who goes by “Donnie Darko.” Soon enough, Odell accidentally kills Dean and becomes a surveillance magnet after he reports the discovery of a body (not Dean's) in the house. Meanwhile, Odell's story is so preposterous that it has the FBI thinking he is a member of a terrorist cell who can lead them to Dean. Though Odell is initially difficult to connect with, his naïveté becomes a sharpened satirical tool as he confronts the flaws in the institutions he treasures. The plot has its patently absurd moments, but readers of a certain demographic (hint: they're not driving to the recruiter's office) will enjoy the romp. (Mar.)

Very ValentineAdriana Trigiani. Harper, $25.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-125705-6

This first-in-a-trilogy is a frilly valentine to Manhattan's picturesque West Village, starring a boisterous and charmingly contentious Italian-American family. Valentine Roncalli, adrift after a failed relationship and an aborted teaching career, becomes an apprentice to her 80-year-old grandmother, Teodora Angelini, at the tiny family shoe business. While Valentine struggles to come up with a financial plan—and shoe design—to bring the Old World operation into the 21st century, her brother, Alfred, is pushing Gram to retire and sell her building for $6 million. It's not all business for Valentine, of course: handsome and sophisticated Roman Falconi, owner and chef at a posh restaurant, is vying for her heart. Bestselling Trigiani channels ambition and girl-power, but is surprisingly reserved—and retro—when it comes to romance: “[O]ur relationship has to build slowly and beautifully in order to hold all the joy and misery that lies ahead,” thinks Valentine. Still, this genteel and lush tale of soles and souls has loads of charm and will leave readers eager for the sequel. (Feb.)

Nuclear JellyfishTim Dorsey. Morrow, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-143266-8

Fasten your seatbelts: Serge A. Storms, Florida's manic tour and history guide as well as its most inventive and prolific serial killer, cruises at warp(ed) speed through bestseller Dorsey's 11th thriller (after Atomic Lobster). Serge's primary target is a tattooed thug called Jellyfish (behind his back) or Eel (to his face), whose gang rips off diamond couriers. But along the frantic way, Serge and his pal, the always-buzzed Coleman, remove a variety of societal pests, including skinheads beating a homeless man, auto repair shysters preying on tourists and bargain motels that don't deliver on their bargains. Serge's instruments of vengeance include garden hoses, pigs, aerosol sprays and lots of duct tape. Dorsey's inspired insanity certainly won't appeal to everyone, but Serge's antics give vicarious satisfaction to those who too often see misdeeds go unpunished. In short, Serge continues to pummel convention and evildoers with exuberant abandon and wit. 9-city author tour. (Feb.)

While My Sister SleepsBarbara Delinsky. Doubleday, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-385-52492-6

Delinsky flounders on her latest, a chronicle of how a family deals with a tragedy that befalls its favorite daughter. An Olympic marathon contender, self-centered Robin Snow often rubs her younger sister, Molly, the wrong way. After many years in her sister's shadow, Molly takes out her resentment with petty actions, such as refusing to accompany Robin on a run. Fatefully, Robin has a heart attack while training and falls into a coma. As Robin's condition fails to improve, Delinsky digs tediously into the family's woes: Molly's touchy relationship with Robin's ambitious reporter ex-boyfriend; middle son Chris's dealings with a would-be blackmailer; mother Kathryn's trouble coming to terms with Robin's dire prognosis. Delinsky litters the narrative with momentum-crippling scene-setting minutiae, and the Snow family, while theatrically intense in their interactions, make for flat characters. Delinsky is adept as portraying angst, but her story would have greatly benefited from a tighter telling and more complex characters. (Feb.)

Above the LawTim Green. Grand Central, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-446-40150-0

Last seen in bestseller Green's The Letter of the Law (2000), feisty Dallas lawyer Casey Jordan must contend with illegal immigrants, abuse of power and pure unadulterated evil in this rousing legal thriller. When a U.S. senator from Texas known only as Chase, the kind of guy who frequents coke whores and kills puppies, suspects one of his undocumented workers, Elijandro “Ellie” Torres, of messing with his wife, Chase shoots Ellie and fakes the death as a hunting accident. Casey, who practices law out of an abandoned gas station, takes on the case of Ellie's widow, Isadora, and baby, Paquita, who are taken into custody by immigration officials and then deported. Casey's hunky love interest, PI Jose O'Brien, aids her in the ever-broadening investigation. Most of the characters are pretty much off-the-shelf, but Green throws in enough unexpected twists to distract readers from the plot's overly familiar aspects. Fans of Green's 12 previous novels will be perfectly satisfied. (Feb.)

Sum: Forty Tales from the AfterlivesDavid Eagleman. Pantheon, $20 (128p) ISBN 978-0-307-37734-0

A clever little book by a neuroscientist translates lofty concepts of infinity and death into accessible human terms. What happens after we die? Eagleman wonders in each of these brief, evocative segments. Are we consigned to replay a lifetime's worth of accumulated acts, as he suggests in “Sum,” spending six days clipping your nails or six weeks waiting for a green light? Is heaven a bureaucracy, as in “Reins,” where God has lost control of the workload? Will we download our consciousnesses into a computer to live in a virtual world, as suggested in “Great Expectations,” where “God exists after all and has gone through great trouble and expense to construct an afterlife for us”? Or is God actually the size of a bacterium, battling good and evil on the “battlefield of surface proteins,” and thus unaware of humans, who are merely the “nutritional substrate”? Mostly, the author underscores in “Will-'o-the-Wisp,” humans desperately want to matter, and in afterlife search out the “ripples left in our wake.” Eagleman's turned out a well-executed and thought-provoking book. (Feb.)

1942Robert Conroy. Ballantine, $15 paper (368p) ISBN 978-0-345-50607-8

U.S. Army captain and intelligence officer Jake Novacek leads the charge against Japanese forces in the latest historical thriller from Conroy (1945), a speculative narrative in which the Imperial Army attacks and occupies the Hawaiian Islands. Soon after the invasion, Jake is secretly sent to the Big Island to ensure the safety of Comdr. Joe Rochefort, a code breaker who is instrumental in U.S. efforts to take back Hawaii. Jake leaves behind a budding friendship with Alexa Sanderson, a Pearl Harbor widow and pacifist, who, during the occupation, is chosen to be the mistress of Col. Shigenori Omori, leader of the Japanese secret police. As the U.S. Navy plans a counterattack led by physically compromised President Roosevelt, Jake and Alexa struggle to stay alive. Multiple passages devoted to military strategy distract from the far more effective action sequences, especially Jake's guerrilla actions in occupied Hawaii. The book ends up an engaging alternative history lesson, but its many harrowing scenes of torture and brutality border on the distasteful; fans of Tom Clancy and Agent Jack Bauer should find a lot to like here. (Feb.)

Critical MassWhitley Strieber. Forge, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2253-1

In this overheated thriller about nuclear terrorism from bestseller Strieber (2012: The War for Souls), Jim Deutsch, a CIA contract employee whose expertise is counterproliferation, has the world's fate in his hands as he races to foil the Islamic master-terrorist known as the Madhi. When Deutsch learns that some plutonium has been smuggled over the U.S. border from Mexico, he begins to suspect that America's elaborate homeland security apparatus has been compromised. His valiant efforts, alas, aren't enough to prevent the destruction of Las Vegas. As U.S. president William Fitzgerald ponders whether to launch devastating counterattacks aimed at much of the Muslim world, the tension rises, but the impact is undercut by some uneven prose (“She looked back at him as if from another dimension, her gaze resplendent with the unquenchable hope of youth, her mother's proud lips, determined, supremely confident that her dad was the great man she believed him to be”). (Feb.)

Never Tell a LieHallie Ephron. Morrow, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-156715-5

An innocent yard sale jump-starts this stunning stand-alone thriller from Ephron, author of Amnesia and four other mysteries written with Donald Davidoff under the name G.H. Ephron (and one of the Ephron writing sisters), as well as two nonfiction books. Ivy and David Rose, happily married high school sweethearts, are trying to clear out the junk the previous owner left in their glorious Victorian in Brush Hills, Mass., before the birth of their first child. Among the bargain hunters is Melinda White, a high school classmate who's also pregnant. Considered an oddball in school, Melinda worries about “more bad luck” after nearly knocking over a large mirror. When Melinda disappears and no one can remember seeing her leave the sale, the evidence suggests the couple murdered her. Ephron doesn't miss a searing beat as she plunges the Roses into an abyss of suspicion. A surprise toward the end provides the perfect twist to this deliciously creepy tale of obsession. (Jan.)

The Fire GospelMichel Faber. Canongate, $18.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-84767-183-7

The author of The Crimson Petal and the White sends up the publishing industry in this stillborn satire. Visiting an Iraqi museum in the present-day, Aramaic scholar Theo Grieppenkerl discovers nine preserved parchment scrolls. After smuggling the documents home, he discerns that he has discovered a 2,000-year-old gospel composed by an associate of Jesus named Malchus that throws into doubt the New Testament's narrative of Jesus' last days and final words. Theo approaches (and is rejected by) every commercial publisher in America, eventually taking a $250,000 advance from an academic house called Elysium and undergoing the standard indignities of book promotion: reviews from ignorant readers on Amazon, humiliating interviews by bland media personalities and, of course, the eager attention of disturbed readers. The novel takes a dark turn after allowing its feckless protagonist to temporarily hobnob with high-flying literary types, but the scenes featuring Theo in danger are as unlikely as the humorous chapters are strained. The end product is less than the sum of its could-be interesting parts. (Jan.)

The StripE. Duke Vincent. Bloomsbury, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59691-615-9

Clunky pacing and cartoonish characters weigh down Vincent's third crime thriller, set in Las Vegas in 1980. Amid efforts by Nick Conti, the producer and chief writer of The Strip, a popular PI TV series, to keep the local Mafia from interfering and getting a cut of the show's action, Conti finds time to do it all. He negotiates with Hollywood moguls, soothes wounded TV star egos, offers his irresistible self up to fawning actresses and slugs it out with mobsters with names like Carlo and Fats. The rapid-fire two- and three-page chapters give the book a cut-and-paste feel that may work on film, but leaves readers with too little explanation for what just happened. Worse, most of the characters talk the same way—clipped, jaded and very, very with it. Himself a former writer and producer at Spelling Productions, Vincent (Mafia Summer) includes many real-life details and personages of Vegas's past, but the result is a story that reads like a superficial TV script. (Jan.)

The Plunder RoomJohn Jeter. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-38065-6

War, secrets and father-son dynamics haunt a South Carolina family estate in Jeter's middling debut. The novel's wheelchair-bound narrator, Randol Duncan, seeks to unlock his grandfather's war chest, or Plunder Room, at the top of a steep staircase. While Randol's desire develops, present-day problems crash into the old house: his half-brother, Jerod, arrives with a gorgeous Yankee whose “azure eyes dance like Fred and Ginger” and who sparks frequent controversy. And while Randol and his son, Eddie, may share some laughs over family hijinks and an interest in rock music, the boy's teenage rebellion swoops from the use of “guyliner” to resisting his father's wish that he date a girl from school. But the big news that shocks Randol has to do with the true nature of his father's business. Add in a mysterious African-American caller and an Internet sex scandal, and you've got an overplotted tangle that builds toward a thin anticlimax. Randol is engaging enough as a narrator, but the story he tells is a letdown. (Jan.)

Basketball JonesE. Lynn Harris. Doubleday, $22.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-7679-2627-0

AJ Richardson, the hero of Harris's raucous latest, has been the secret boyfriend of NBA star Drayton Jones for seven years. AJ is only too happy to keep their relationship under wraps—after all, with European trips and spending sprees financed by Dray, what's there to complain about? But when gold-digger Judi Ledbetter nets Dray and his fat wallet, things get tricky. Soon, they're married, Judi gets pregnant, and she's gunning to drive AJ out of Dray's life permanently. Blackmail, intrigue and double-crosses round out this fun little romp. (Jan.)

Random Acts of Heroic LoveDanny Scheinmann. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-312-53833-0

Young Leo Deakin wakes in a hospital in Ecuador in 1992 to discover that his girlfriend, Eleni, has died in a bus crash. Overwhelmed with guilt and grief, Leo returns to life seeking the meaning behind his new predicament: left behind, haunted by his dead lover and ambivalent over whether he should shake her hold on him. In an effort to break through his son's grief, Leo's dad imparts the tale of Leo's grandfather Moritz Daniecki, who as a WWI POW escaped across the Siberian wasteland to make it back to the woman he loved. The parallel powers of love and grief form the meeting points of these mirror sagas, which Scheinmann combines to remarkable effect. Leo and Moritz are tender, deeply feeling, put-upon characters who never descend into mawkishness; indeed, readers will feel most for Leo when he's at his worst. Dotted with strange scientific trivia, this beautiful debut novel provides deft moments of poignancy and surprise. (Jan.)

SilenceChristopher Brookhouse. Permanent, $26 (152p) ISBN 978-1-57962-179-7

Novelist and poet Brookhouse underwhelmingly examines the repressed desires of the Groh family and its community in Jeffrey, N.H., following the disappearance of teenage daughter Nicki. Set to graduate high school and attend Princeton, Nicki runs away the morning after a classmate, Willie Boots, tries to rape her during a boat ride. The novel becomes less about the circumstances surrounding Nicki's departure and more about the people she leaves in her wake—her outwardly distant but loving father; her sexually and emotionally conflicted mother; the young teacher with whom Nicki had been having an affair; Willie, who continues to pine for Nicki; and other minor townsfolk whose gossip peppers the novel. Told in sparse, economic prose that echoes the self-protective silences the characters employ to protect their secrets, Brookhouse's slim book has moments of revelatory power, but overall, the narrative simplicity lends the project an air of banality. (Jan.)

KissTed Dekker and Erin Healy. Thomas Nelson, $24.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59554-470-4

Master of evangelical Christian suspense, Dekker (Thr3e; Blink; Skin) joins first-time author Healy in this thriller, no less fast-moving than the Christy Award—winning author's solo prose, but also more gripping as it plunges into the life of a woman with frayed and painful family relationships. When a tragic auto accident leaves Shauna McAllister's brother brain-damaged and erases her recent memories, she discovers she has a paranormal ability to steal memories from others, a capability that will either get her killed or unveil hidden sides of the very people she thought she could trust. Against this background, she attempts to uncover the ugly truth about her father's dark secrets and to upend his run for president of the United States. True to Dekker's penchant for twists that keep you guessing till the very last page, Kiss also attempts to return to snappier dialogue and more logical plotting than Skin. A psychological suspense thriller that shines light into black-market child trafficking, Dekker's latest will satisfy Christian fiction lovers who want complex characters and who believe in the stark realities of true good and heinous evil. (Jan.)

Only PleasureLora Leigh. St. Martin's Griffin, $14.95 paper (355p) ISBN 978-0-312-36873-9

Chase Falladay returns to initiate Kia Stanton into the Club, where ménage à trois is the rule, in Leigh's sensual newest book. When Kia's husband, Drew, and his friend attempt to rape her, Kia discovers that Drew is part of the secret swingers club whose members are many of Washington's elite. Chase persuades Kia to say publicly that the Club does not exist, in exchange for protecting her from Drew. Kia agrees to stay silent, but withdraws from her usual social life for two years until she meets Chase at a party and leaves with him and his “third,” Khalid, knowing she is agreeing to a club ritual: a steamy threesome. While the immediate goal is uninhibited pleasure, Chase and Kia find themselves falling in love. Unfortunately, there is a jealous psychopath determined to hurt Chase, and killing Kia seems the best way to do it. Kia is a superior heroine: strong, sexy and vulnerable. The stalker's identity comes as a surprise that will doubtless please long-term fans of the series. New readers will take a little while to understand the nuances of Club rules and may find the explicit kink a titillating surprise in a usually demure genre. They would be better served picking up at the start of the series. (Jan.)

The Spy Who Wants MeLucy Monroe. Kensington/Brava, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2915-1

Monroe's absurd latest features studly chemist Beau Ruston and sexy spy Elle Gray. When security is compromised in Ruston's lab, the government sends in Gray with cover as a security consultant. While both are instantly attracted to each other, Gray must conceal her true identity, and Ruston must conceal that he already knows it. The layers of deception are compounded when Elle discovers that her brother, Matej, is working at the laboratory as well. When smugglers bent on stealing an antigravity prototype start threatening Matej's girlfriend, Gray makes it personal. There's nothing that hasn't been done better elsewhere; the characters are woefully caricatured types; the sex scenes are dreadful (“But her vaginal walls were spasming with desire”) and the plot has a distant, nodding acquaintance with reality. (Jan.)

The Pushcart Prize XXXIII: Best of the Small Presses Edited by Bill Henderson with the Pushcart Prize Editors. Pushcart (Norton, dist.), $35 (620p) ISBN 978-1-888889-50-5; $16.95 paper ISBN 978-1-888889-51-2

The 33rd Pushcart anthology demonstrates that independent presses still publish much of the world's most engaging literature. McSweeney's nominated Wells Tower's standout story, “Retreat,” in which aging property developer Matthew Lattimore seeks assistance from (while simultaneously antagonizing) his brother, his carpenter and the very wilds of Maine. “Man and Wife,” Katie Chase's piece from the Missouri Review, tells the story of Mary Ellen, whose parents and neighbors marry off nine-year-old girls in a world eerily similar to our own. In her AGNI essay, “Bendithion,” Harrison Solow considers the “enigmatic otherworldliness” of the world-class tenor and Welsh postmaster, Timothy Evans. And Sylvester Stallone shows aspiring novelist Jeremy Collins something about the artist's life in the funny and moving Georgia Review essay, “Shadow Boxing.” Poems by emerging and established poets such as Ciaran Barry, Bruce Smith and Derek Walcott pepper this must-have book for contemporary literature lovers. (Dec.)

Mystery

Pleasing the DeadDeborah Turrell Atkinson. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59058-597-9

Rich with Hawaiian folklore, Atkinson's convoluted fourth mystery to feature attorney Storm Kayama (after 2007's Fire Prayer) explores the dark side of paradise. Soon after Storm arrives in Kahului, Maui, where she's handling the legalities of setting up a new dive shop for a client, Lara Farrell, she hears of a deadly explosion at a town restaurant. At Lara's dive shop, which is still under construction, Storm witnesses a Japanese workman, Hiroki, being reprimanded for drunkenness and, later, another employee sobbing. When Hiroki kills himself and one of his two daughters, Storm reaches out to the second daughter, who survived the attack. Drawing on her knowledge of local customs and the “coconut wireless,” Hawaii's gossip chain, Storm finds links between the recent tragedies and the yakuza, a Japanese crime organization active in the islands. Readers will root for the strong, likable Storm as she uncovers secrets on an island that's only idyllic on the surface. (Feb.)

A Matter of JusticeCharles Todd. Morrow, $23.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-123359-3

In the stellar 11th Insp. Ian Rutledge mystery (after 2007's A Pale Horse), Todd (the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team) seamlessly combines a fair-play whodunit with a nuanced look into the heart of darkness in the human soul. During the Boer War, Pvt. Harold Quarles takes advantage of a Boer attack on a British military train to enrich himself. When two decades later his battered corpse is found grotesquely displayed at his country residence in Somerset, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge must sift through the plethora of lies, omissions and motives surrounding Quarles, who had become a successful investment adviser in London. Because the victim was almost universally despised in Somerset, Rutledge has no shortage of suspects. The inspector's own inner struggles, stemming from his guilt over his morally questionable actions during WWI, make him a more human and complicated protagonist than most other series sleuths. (Jan.)

Living the Vida Lola: A Lola Cruz MysteryMisa Ramirez. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-38402-9

Ramirez's muy caliente debut introduces Dolores “Lola” Falcón Cruz, a Sacramento, Calif., PI whose kung fu moves are only part of her chica charm. A missing persons case—the disappearance of 42-year-old Emily Diggs, who left her six-year-old son, Sean, stranded at school—turns into a murder investigation after a boater finds Emily's body near Riverbank Marina. Lola's old high school crush, Jack Callaghan, now a Sacramento Bee reporter, provides some unexpected help. Emily had approached Jack about her 18-year-old son Garrett's recent death—from what Emily believed was a “heart infection” due to a faulty tattoo. Lola's determined to uncover the facts and catch the killer, even if it means, gulp, getting a girly belly-button piercing. Ramirez keeps the action tight, the plot smart and humor light in this spicy blend of crime solving and romance. Lola's latina perspective adds extra sizzle. (Jan.)

Leopard's Prey: A Jade del Cameron MysterySuzanne Arruda. NAL/Obsidian, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-451-22586-3

Spunky Jade del Cameron, animal wrangler, photojournalist and neophyte pilot, predictably tames man and beast in Arruda's middling fourth mystery set in 1920 Kenya (after 2008's The Serpent's Daughter). When a local merchant's body turns up on a coffee plantation, the authorities deem it a case of murder. The chief suspect is Sam Featherstone, wounded American war hero, now filmmaker and Jade's flying mentor, who torments Jade with that age-old female dilemma, marriage or independence. In between solving crimes and rescuing baby animals, Jade laments the passing of old Africa and promotes nascent African independence. Her charming cheetah, Biscuit, and Jade's indomitable can-do spirit reinforce the author's relish for describing the Kenyan landscape, its animal life and its native Kikuyu and Masai tribesmen, saving this otherwise conventional novel from banality. (Jan.)

The Last GigNorman Green. St. Martin's Minotaur, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-38542-2

While there's nothing particularly original about Alessandra “Al” Martillo, Green's new hard-boiled PI, this series debut suggests she may have a long fictional life ahead of her. Al works as the assistant to Marty Stiles, a New York City ex-cop turned PI, who does a fair amount of repo work. The ante gets upped for both of them when Daniel “Mickey” Caughlan, a leading Irish mobster, hires Stiles to find out who's using his trucking company to move drugs. Al soon learns that another mystery surrounds the death of Caughlan's 20-year-old son, ostensibly from an overdose, just six months earlier. Green (Way Past Legal) convincingly conveys the city's underbelly and keeps the action moving through various subplots, including a search for a sex tape that could destroy a pop diva's reputation. Some may quibble that the indestructible Al is a bit too larger-than-life, but she's well-rounded enough to help readers suspend disbelief at her surviving numerous violent encounters. (Jan.)

The Wisdom of Father DowlingRalph McInerny. Five Star, $25.95 (344p) ISBN 978-1-59414-679-4

Fans of McInerny's Father Dowling novels (Ash Wednesday, etc.) will welcome this collection of 15 short stories featuring the compassionate priest of St. Hilary's church in Fox River, Ill., and such beloved supporting characters as his feisty indispensable housekeeper, Marie, and his friend, police captain Phil Keegan. Included are tales of murder and betrayal, long hidden crimes and secrets that are discovered when bodies are found—or in some cases unearthed from old graves. The motives vary from calculated greed to embarrassment, and are as human as Father Dowling. Among the highlights are “The Giveaway,” “The Dunne Deal” and “Hic Jacet.” Maintaining his sense of humor throughout, Father Dowling is never satisfied until he discovers the truth and understands the motive behind every crime he encounters. (Jan.)

SF/Fantasy/Horror

Mind over ShipDavid Marusek. Tor, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1749-0

Marusek's wide-ranging and creative imagination is very much in evidence in this ambitious second novel. In 2007's Counting Heads, a rocket ship crash, apparently sabotage, killed powerful financier Eleanor Starke and left her adult daughter, Ellen, gravely injured. Ellen, whose damaged head has been grafted onto the body of an infant, insists her mother is still alive, an apparent delusion that complicates her efforts to assert control over the family business empire. As clones and artificial intelligences begin to redefine humanity and sentience, powerful executives derail a space colonization plan for their own profit. While newcomers might wish for a short prologue or a glossary, those omissions don't significantly detract. With ambitious narrative scope and small moments of perfect prose, this tale of 22nd-century politics repays the close reading necessary to follow its many interweaving plots. (Jan.)

Woods and Waters WildCharles de Lint. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59606-229-0

Completing Subterranean's series of urban fantasist de Lint's early stories, this collection comprises 17 tales inspired by the quirky high fantasies that dominated before the Tolkien tidal wave. In brocaded prose, bejeweled and stiff (“the stars sent their hearts to dream as they lay bespeckling the midnight skies”), de Lint pays homage to Lord Dunsany in “Nareth the Questioner” and William Morris in “Llew the Homeless.” A tribute to Andre Norton's Witch World (“The White Road”) and stories for Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress collections (“Cold Blows the Wind,” “The Weeping Oak” and “Into the Green”) show him learning from modern masters as well. Though undisguised jabs at organized religion may put some readers off, fans will treasure the rare material and snap up the simultaneously released $200 limited edition. (Jan.)

The Steel RemainsRichard K. Morgan. Del Rey, $26 (432p) ISBN 978-0-345-49303-3

Noir SF author Morgan (Thirteen) delivers a promising but obscenity-laden epic fantasy trilogy opener. As the Yhelteth Empire recovers from a devastating war, embittered veterans Archeth, Egar and Ringil embark on parallel but vastly different journeys. The emperor sends drug-abusing Archeth to gather details about a rumored invasion. Egar becomes a steppes clanmaster, but the other horsemen despise him for seducing teenagers rather than leading. Ringil attempts to locate and free a cousin sold into slavery. All three soon discover the dwenda, a race of magical beings thought long dead. Despite stereotypical plot elements, including a prophecy that states “A dark lord will rise,” the well-developed characters and realistic battle scenes ring true, as do some gruesomely explicit sex scenes. The intriguing conclusion to the dark, gritty tale will have readers hoping for a more plot-heavy and less visceral sequel. (Jan.)

GreensWord: A Tale of Extreme Global WarmingDonald J. Bingle. Five Star, $25.95 (262p) ISBN 978-1-59414-728-9

This heavy-handed take on environmentalism neither amuses nor provokes. The three core members of an obscure environmental group, GreensWord, are desperate to save their floundering organization. Using a million-dollar donation, Milo, Zeke and Brandon decide to buy a nuke on the black market and detonate it in Mount Rainier Park. They hope the chain reaction from the volcano will set off a nuclear winter that will eliminate global warming, at least until a permanent solution can be developed. The would-be ecoterrorists are remarkably untroubled by the anticipated loss of life (“Man is a blight on the planet,” Milo declares), and the government experts trying to stop them are conveniently incompetent. Unfortunately, Bingle (Conversion) lacks the deft touch that would turn a saga of clumsy single-mindedness into effective satire. (Jan.)

The Judging Eye: The Aspect-Emperor, Book OneR. Scott Bakker. Overlook, $26.95 (448p) ISBN 978-1-59020-169-5

Twenty years after the events of 2007's The Thousandfold Thought, nations unite in a holy war to prevent the No-God's apocalyptic resurrection. Aspect-Emperor Kellhus seems a benevolent messiah, but may be only a power-hungry demagogue. Exiled wizard Drusas Achamian's quest to expose Kellhus as a fraud could be a bitter cuckold's folly or the world's best hope. The Empress Esmenet juggles belief in her husband's godhead with grief for his lack of human attachment. Her bitter, abandoned daughter Mimara—an ex-prostitute, like her mother—begs Achamian to teach her sorcery, though the Judging Eye curse sends her visions of damnation. Bakker's lush language sometimes achieves poetry, but his plotting is less original; minor and nonsexualized female characters are conspicuously absent; and new readers will struggle with the intricate politics and history. (Jan.)

Mass Market

Die Before I WakeLaurie Breton. Mira, $6.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2590-1

Breton's high-tension tale follows 30-year-old Julie Larkin as she settles into her marriage to heartthrob doctor Tom. In the harsh light of his Newmarket, Maine, hometown, the whirlwind romance and impromptu Bahamas wedding look a bit silly. Tom's mother, Jeanette, is openly cold to Julie. Then questions come up about the demise of Tom's first wife, Beth. He claims it was an accident. The cops call it a suicide. Beth's sister is certain Tom killed her. Tom's young daughters have serious issues around their mother's death, which one of them witnessed. There's no one Julie can trust in Newmarket, so she tries to solve the mystery herself, endangering her own life. Breton (Point of Departure) has a light touch that belies the sinister forces at work just beneath the surface of this extremely successful thriller. (Jan.)

Night of the Loving DeadCasey Daniels. Berkley Prime Crime, $6.99 (300p) ISBN 978-0-425-22555-4

Sass and the supernatural cross paths in the entertaining fourth Penelope “Pepper” Martin mystery (after 2007's Tombs of Endearment). Perky, fashion-conscious Pepper, a Cleveland cemetery tour guide and PI for the dead, hopes for a reprieve from ghostly visitors while at a cemetery conference in Chicago. Instead, she lands a gig representing the ghost of snide researcher Madeline Tremayne. Madeline warns that saintly psychologist Dr. Hilton Gerard is working on a shady study—patients go in but they don't come out—and Dan Callahan, his assistant and Pepper's occasional savior, is unwittingly poised to take the fall. Pepper proves once again that great style, quick wit and a sharp eye can solve any mystery, though the rushed conclusion is a little over the top and may disappoint series fans. (Jan.)

Talk Me DownVictoria Dahl. HQN, $6.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-373-77356-5

Historical romance author Dahl (To Tempt a Scotsman) delivers a fun, feisty and relentlessly sexy adventure in her first contemporary. Beautiful Molly Jennings, secretly an erotica author, returns to her hometown of Tumble Creek, Colo., and finds her desire for handsome police chief Ben Lawson hasn't waned during her 10-year absence. Ben can't deny the chemistry, but he fears gossip and vows to remain hands-off until Molly explains just how she earns a living. Snoopy questions from a journalist, stalker-like behavior from Molly's ex and a series of disconcerting incidents lead Ben to decide that Molly's safety is paramount, even if that means very personally protecting her. Despite some lingering questions, Dahl smartly wraps up a winning tale full of endearing oddballs, light mystery and plenty of innuendo and passion. (Jan.)

Stolen FuryElisabeth Naughton. Dorchester/Love Spell, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-505-52793-6

In Naughton's rock-solid debut, the first of a trilogy, a duo searching for three magnificent bas-reliefs of the Greek Furies find romance and danger as well. For 15 years, since the death of her lover, Dr. Lisa Maxwell has been obsessed with reuniting the sculptures of Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone. She's furious when art thief Rafe Sullivan drugs her, almost seduces her and steals Alecto from her hotel room safe. With the help of her twin brother, Chicago detective Shane Maxwell, Lisa locates Rafe in Key West, Fla., where he has a line on Megaera. They reluctantly join forces and race to find Tisiphone before another treasure hunter picks them off. Naughton's intelligent adventure plot is intensified by the blazing heat that builds from Lisa and Rafe's first erotic encounter. (Jan.)

Warrior of the HighlandsVeronica Wolff. Berkley Sensation, $7.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-425-22675-9

Despite an unoriginal starting point, Wolff's passionate and magical third Highland romance (after 2008's Master of the Highlands) proves compelling. When Harvard student Haley Fitzpatrick is inexplicably transported to 17th-century Scotland, war hero Alasdair MacColla assumes she's one of the enemy Campbells. He keeps a wary eye on her, but her atypical strength and beauty slowly disarm him, just as his courage and larger-than-life physique arouse Haley's tender and romantic feelings. She knows that Alasdair will be betrayed in battle and decides to do whatever it takes to save him, even if it means creating a new version of history. Wolff brings the violent and territorial era to life and mixes in a passionate love story that is certain to please fans and entice new readers. (Jan.)

Comics

TravelYuichi Yokoyama. PictureBox (www.pictureboxinc.com), $19.95 paper (202p) ISBN 978-0-9815622-0-9

One of the weirdest and most startlingly original volumes of manga yet published in America, this wordless graphic novel has no plot to speak of: three men board a train and walk through it until they find seats, then ride through changing scenery until they reach their destination, a waterfront. That's it. The point of the book is Yokoyama's outlandish, hyperstylized designs for characters, architecture and landscapes. Everything and everyone is abstracted until nothing is left but a few identifying features; some sequences, as when the train passes through a rain shower, are almost pure pattern. (No other cartoonist likes drawing antislip flooring as much.) Read it quickly, and it zooms by like light poles past a speeding train's window. Linger over any page, though, and Yokoyama's diagrams of antiwind cigarette lighters and 20-lane highways, symmetrical buildings and identical trees start to make a bizarre kind of sense. His visions all seem invented rather than observed—they're a blueprint for a more orderly reality, rather than an interpretation of something that already exists—but there's something riveting about his endless, madly energetic variety of environments and perspective. And his end notes are hilarious, interpreting almost every page as if he's not certain what he drew: “The landscape seems to symbolize something.” (Nov.)

Tank Girl: Visions of BoogaAlan C. Martin and Rufus Dayglo. IDW (Diamond, dist.), $17.99 (104p) ISBN 978-1-60010-280-6

In a perfect world, everybody would be able to live like Tank Girl, even if just for a day. The snarl-lipped, occasional tank-driving, semi-postapocalyptic punk scamp and her kangaroo lover, Booga, seem to be having a good time even when they're racing hell-bent across the outback with guns blazing and cigarettes askew, with bloodthirsty madmen on their tail. This time out, Tank Girl and Booga have run afoul of the Aussie mob on a robbery job and are fleeing for their lives as usual, only to come across the ultra-rare “Book of Hipster Gold,” a lost beatnik epic that has the potential to save the world. Martin's text makes sense in its own cockeyed way, with the slangy references flying thick as the exhaust and gunfire, livening up one fist fight where the characters announce each punch with Z-movie flair (“Wesley Snipes!” “Christopher Walken!” “Vinnie Jones!”). Dayglo's art has spit and sawdust galore, with sunset tones fitting the desert outback setting, and sharp angles to punctuate the frequent action. It's an electric crackle of a book with modish postpunk zip to spare. (Nov.)

Scalped: Dead MothersJason Aaron, R.M. Guéra, John Paul Leon and Davide Furno. DC/Vertigo, $17.99 paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-4012-1919-2

A fantastic combination of art and story, this book is a nasty noir story that could exist as a stand-alone (albeit a very mysterious and existential one). Scalped follows ex-con and war vet Dashiell Bad Horse as he goes undercover at his tribal reservation for the FBI. Being a cop is his cover as he seeks to bust Red Crow, the tribe's chief and the local crime boss—and former boyfriend of Dashiell's mom. As this book, the third collection of the ongoing comic begins, a major character has been brutally murdered, but Dashiell is more obsessed with searching for the killer of a local prostitute and caring for her revenge-obsessed preteen son. Several story lines are juggled, but Aaron provides a tight, twisting script, with sparse, effective dialogue. With the beautiful and deranged artwork, we are treated to a kick-ass mystery, like the movie Seven set on an evil Indian reservation. Giulia Brusco's coloring is indispensable to the story and helps mesh the three contributing artists without wiping out their individual stylistic flourishes. (Oct.)

Che: A Graphic BiographySpain Rodriguez. Verso, $16.95 paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-84467-168-7

There are few members of the 1960s underground comics wave whose names inspire more awe and respect than that of Rodriguez (Zap, Nightmare Alley). Unfortunately, relatively little of that class's avant-garde flash or humor shows up in his worshipful graphic biography of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Rodriguez tracks Guevara's development from adventurous but asthmatic middle-class Argentinean medical student to messianic revolutionary with aplomb. Guevara's by-now legendary motorcycle and hitchhiking wanderings around South America are portrayed with some levity, while the Cuban revolution and its aftermath are covered with an impressive command of the event's sociopolitical context. By folding Guevara's biographical narrative (already well-traveled by multiple other sources) into one that draws out his growing political awareness, Rodriguez keeps Guevara's beliefs front and center throughout this eventful but thickly worded book. While Rodriguez allows hints of criticism to seep in here and there, this is for the most part unalloyed hagiography, which can seem more like something produced by revolutionary committee than an artist. His art is muscular and unfussy, though oddly square, as if Mark Trail had suddenly discovered the genius of Karl Marx and Simón Bolívar. (Oct.)

Blank SlateAya Kanno. Viz/Shojo Beat, $8.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-4215-1924-1

Kanno, creator of the popular series Soul Rescue, brings fans a compelling story of identity and intrigue in Blank Slate. Zen is a world-class criminal who awakens with no memory of the past. But with his boundless charisma, Zen attracts many different characters as the story progresses. Bounty hunter Russo sets out to find Zen, knowing that this kill will be his biggest yet. But instead of controlling Zen as he had planned, Russo finds himself taken in by the mysterious man and soon becomes his unwilling partner. On one caper, Zen kidnaps a general's daughter, Rian, who becomes smitten with him and feels grateful for him destroying her sheltered world. The story is very lyrical and at the same time harsh, seeming to perfectly mirror the art. Kano's art is beautiful; her characters are androgynous and soft with a truly charming aura. Their actions, though, are harsh and cruel, their demeanor aloof. Blank Slate is unusual, a fresh and exhilarating take on the shojo formula. (Oct.)

Nevermore

With Edgar Allan Poe turning 200 on January 19, 2009, publishers are paying tribute to him with anthologies that recognize his contribution to both the mystery and the horror genres.

In the Shadow of the Master Edited by Michael Connelly. Morrow, $24.95 paper (416p) ISBN 978-0-06-169039-6

The Mystery Writers of America presents a collection of Poe tales with afterwords by 20 distinguished writers who honor Poe's powerful influence on the modern crime story. Stephen King, reflecting on “The Tell-tale Heart,” credits Poe with writing “the first tale of criminal sociopathy.” Lisa Scottoline, in her perceptive appreciation of “William Wilson,” cites a score of contemporary works that silently acknowledge its influence in their exploration of “the spookiness that comes from the fragmenting or doubling of the self, and the splintering of identity.” P.J. Parrish, writing reverently on “The Black Cat,” praises it as, among other things, “an early example of genre-crossing” in its splice of horror and detection. Contributions from Lawrence Block, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Tess Gerritsen and others—many of them Edgar winners—vary in their appreciation from the deeply personal to the respectfully analytical, and from the lightly humorous to the deadly earnest. (Jan.)

On a Raven's Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe Edited by Stuart M. Kaminsky. Harper, $14.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-169042-6

The Mystery Writers of America also presents an anthology of 20 new short stories, ranging from the uninterestingly derivative to the truly memorable. Fortunately, the volume boasts more hits than misses, most impressively Dorothy Salisbury Davis's chilling “Emily's Time,” the tale of an intellectual's descent into isolation and madness with an appropriately ambiguous ending. The always reliable Peter Lovesey easily blends the real-life questions surrounding Poe's early death into “The Deadliest Tale of All.” Daniel Stashower, who's written the definitive study of the Mary Rogers murder case (The Beautiful Cigar Girl) that inspired one of Poe's detective tales, creatively reinterprets the master in “Challenger,” a coming-of-age story set in Ohio. Other notable contributors include Thomas H. Cook, S.J. Rozan and the late Edward D. Hoch. (Jan.)

Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe Edited by Ellen Datlow. Solaris (www.solarisbooks.com), $15 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-84416-595-7

This anthology's title notwithstanding, the 19 original stories commissioned for it seem largely devoid of the Poe principle. Kim Newman (“Illimitable Domain”) contributes a gleefully subversive alternate history in which Poe movie adaptations take over American culture; John Langan (“Technicolor”) offers an incisive deconstruction of Poe's “Masque of the Red Death” that also functions as a magnificently creepy horror tale; and Delia Sherman (“The Red Piano”) proffers a horror romance whose villain is clearly modeled on Poe's sound-sensitive Roderick Usher. For the most part, however, readers will have to work toward the explanatory note each author provides at the story's end to see which Poesque resonance he or she intended. Still, Datlow (Inferno) has assembled an all-star lineup and chosen inventive stories whose quality are certainly an extension of Poe's tradition of excellent weird fiction. (Jan.)