Fiction Reviews: 10/5/2009
Reviews of New Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction and Comics

Oct 05, 2009

The AskSam Lipsyte. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25 (304p) ISBN 978-0-374-29891-3

Lipsyte’s pitch-black comedy takes aim at marriage, work, parenting, abject failure (the author’s signature soapbox) and a host of subjects you haven’t figured out how to feel bad about yet. This latest slice of mucked-up life follows Milo Burke, a washed-up painter living in Astoria, Queens, with his wife and three-year-old son, as he’s jerked in and out of employment at a mediocre university where Milo and his equally jaded cohorts solicit funding from the “Asks,” or those who financially support the art program. Milo’s latest target is Purdy Stuart, a former classmate turned nouveau aristocrat to whom Milo quickly becomes indentured. Purdy, it turns out, needs Milo to deliver payments to Purdy’s illegitimate son, a veteran of the Iraq War whose titanium legs are fodder for a disgruntlement that makes the chip on Milo’s shoulder a mere speck of dust by comparison. Submission is the order of the day, but where Home Land had a working-class trajectory, this takes its tone of lucid lament to the devastated white-collar sector; in its merciless assault on the duel between privilege and expectation, it arrives at a rare articulation of empire in decline. (Mar.)

Bone FireMark Spragg. Knopf, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-307-27275-1

Spragg’s disappointing third novel (after An Unfinished Life), a dry and unsatisfying contemporary western, lacks narrative momentum and a sense of purpose. Griff drops out of college to care for her ailing grandfather, Einar, on his Wyoming ranch. Einar, suffering from a mysterious illness, is unhappy with Griff throwing aside her life for his sake, so he summons home his estranged lesbian sister, Marin, to watch over him. Griff, a gifted sculptor whose works involve clay bones wired into exotic and fantastical skeletons, is also at odds with her alcoholic mother and faces the possibility of a long separation from her boyfriend, a graduate student about to leave to volunteer in Uganda. In a parallel plot, Griff’s stepfather, sheriff Crane Carlson, finds a dead body in a meth lab and receives a dreaded medical diagnosis that inspires him to reconnect with his first wife. Although there are some touching moments, most of the novel is humorless to the point of parody, and the attempt at tying together everything at the end feels forced. Despite all the issues it touches on, the overall effect of this modern western is oddly inconsequential. (Mar.)

Winter GardenKristin Hannah. St. Martin’s, $25.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-312-36412-0

Female bonding is always good for a good cry, as Hannah (True Colors ) proves in her latest. Pacific Northwest apple country provides a beautiful, chilly setting for this family drama ignited by the death of a loving father whose two daughters have grown apart from each other and from their acid-tongued, Russian-born mother. After assuming responsibility for the family business, 40-year-old empty-nester Meredith finds it difficult to carry out her father’s dying wish that she take care of her mother; Meredith’s troubled marriage, her troubled relationship with her mother and her mother’s increasingly troubled mind get in the way. Nina, Meredith’s younger sister, takes a break from her globe-trotting photojournalism career to return home to do her share for their mother. How these three women find each other and themselves with the help of vodka and a trip to Alaska competes for emotional attention with the story within a story of WWII Leningrad. Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time. (Feb.)

The Hungry SeasonT. Greenwood. Kensington, $15 paper (363p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2878-9

In her fifth novel, Greenwood calls grief by another name—starvation. The Mason family, devastated by the loss of 16-year-old Franny, spends the summer in Vermont, far from home in San Diego. Renowned novelist Sam Mason cannot conjure the words that used to come so easily to him before the death of his daughter: “the words are too thin, as fragile and brittle as bones.” Sam can no longer connect, especially not with his wife, Mena, and begins to waste away. Hunger proves to be a powerful metaphor for the family’s loss and desires although means of emotional escape are predictable: Mena considers adultery, while Finn, Franny’s twin, smokes marijuana. Saving this story from convention is Dale Edwards, a wacky college student and fan of Sam’s novels who writes letters telling Sam she has an advance from a publisher to be his biographer. Her gluttonous trek across the country to find her favorite author livens up the narrative, magnifying that this is intended as a deeply psychological read. But Greenwood’s epilogue wraps up the mess a little too neatly. (Feb.)

SleeplessCharlie HustonBallantine, $25 (368p) ISBN 978-0-345-50113-4

In Huston’s impressive, challenging thriller set in a postapocalyptic Los Angeles, a devastating illness renders the afflicted unable to sleep. In about a year, those with SLP (as the sleepless illness is known) deteriorate and die. Amid the city’s rampant violence and lawlessness, LAPD cop Parker “Park” Haas tries to persuade himself that a future exists for his newborn daughter. As the outside world becomes increasingly dangerous, Park pursues an undercover investigation that takes him deep into the milieu of an online game called Chasm Tide, into which many people have retreated. As in the author’s Joe Pitt vampire series (My Dead Body, etc.), this book has at its heart a love story: Park’s wife is dying from SLP, and Park begins to fear he may be getting it, too. Can the mysterious mercenary known only as Jasper help? Some fans of Huston’s crime fiction may not be comfortable with a novel that itself resembles a role-playing game, but it will gain him a whole new readership. (Jan.)

The Lock ArtistSteve HamiltonMinotaur, $24.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-38042-7

At the start of this offbeat thriller from Edgar-winner Hamilton (A Stolen Season and six other titles in the Alex McKnight PI series), the book’s intriguing narrator, Mike (aka the Golden Boy, the Young Ghost, the Lock Artist, etc.), confesses that a traumatic experience at age eight left him unable to speak and that he has been in prison for nine years. His strange odyssey, which hops around in time, takes Mike and his twin talents, art and lock breaking, from his Michigan home to both coasts while in thrall to a mysterious man in Detroit whom he doesn’t dare cross. Propelled by an aching desire to recover his voice, Mike has brushes with the law, flirts with romance and makes alliances with criminals, from rank amateurs to consummate professionals. Along the way, Hamilton drops tantalizing clues about Mike’s troubled past and his uncertain future. Readers will hope to hear more from Mike. 75,000 first printing; author tour. (Jan.)

The Betrayal of the Blood LilyLauren Willig. Dutton, $25.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-525-95150-6

The latest sure-to-please installment to the popular Pink Carnation series transports the action to colonial India. Lady Frederick Staines, née Penelope Deveraux, averts a scandal in early 19th-century London with a hasty marriage and a posting for her louche husband as special envoy to the court of Hyderabad. In India, Penelope discovers dangerous intrigue having to do with the overthrow of British rule and a spy called the Marigold. After demonstrating considerable bravery uncharacteristic to ladies of her rank, she finds an ally in the honorable Capt. Alex Reid. Together they chase traitors, travel the countryside on horseback, dodge assassination attempts, challenge each other to duels, wrestle with long skirts and numerous buttonholes (crucial in the love scenes), battle cobras and unravel the mystery of Marigold. As in other books in the series, the story is presented by a contemporary narrator, another strong-willed woman involved with an English aristocrat. Willig hasn’t lost her touch; this outing has all the charm of the previous books in the series. (Jan.)

My Before and After LifeRisa Miller. St. Martin’s, $24.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-36013-9

In her sophomore effort, Miller (Welcome to Heavenly Heights) focuses on an unrelentingly introspective attorney and her struggle with spirituality in the wake of her father’s sudden religious awakening. Honey Black and her sister, Susan, travel to Israel with the intention of bringing back their father, newly inducted into Orthodox Judaism, whose extended vacation they believe has plunged him into “temporary madness.” After they return home, without their father, Honey continues to brood over her time in Israel, specifically her experience praying in the caves of the countryside. Meanwhile, she’s taken on a case defending her predominantly Jewish (not necessarily Orthodox) neighborhood against the expansion of the Orthodox Brookline Hebrew Day School, bringing to light questions of spirituality as well as community division and religious prejudice. Though Honey is a satisfyingly complex character, her father, husband and sister never quite come to life. Still, Miller is extremely skilled in her exploration of religion as a personal decision, a profound experience and a source of surprise and wonder. (Jan.)

The Book of FiresJane Borodale. Viking/Pamela Dorman, $26.95 (360p) ISBN 978-0-670-02106-2

Borodale’s enjoyable debut is the story of Agnes Trussel, who, in 1752, leaves the poverty-stricken countryside for London, intent on hiding her unwanted pregnancy and making a better life. On her journey, she meets Lettice Talbot, a beautiful young woman who promises to help her, but when Agnes loses track of her benefactress, she ends up as the apprentice to Mr. Blacklock, a moody pyrotechnist who is mourning his dead wife as he attempts to bring color to fireworks. Despite her difficulties with Blacklock’s other domestic staff, Agnes grows to feel at home in London and enjoys her work, but she is constantly threatened by the imminent exposure of her pregnancy and haunted by the guilt of her theft of the stash of coins that funded her trip. This menacing mood is Borodale’s greatest achievement: from the omnipresent hangings to the economic knife-edge upon which the working class lives, she builds a dark but human world that makes Agnes’s plight deeply sympathetic. When the story is neatly tied up with an unexpected resolution to Agnes’s problems, it’s surprising but not unbelievable, capping off a delightfully diverting book. (Jan.)

WenchDolen Perkins-Valdez. Amistad, $24.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-170654-7

In her debut, Perkins-Valdez eloquently plunges into a dark period of American history, chronicling the lives of four slave women—Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu—who are their masters’ mistresses. The women meet when their owners vacation at the same summer resort in Ohio. There, they see free blacks for the first time and hear rumors of abolition, sparking their own desires to be free. For everyone but Lizzie, that is, who believes she is really in love with her master, and he with her. An extended flashback in the middle of the novel delves into Lizzie’s life and vividly explores the complicated psychological dynamic between master and slave. Jumping back to the final summer in Ohio, the women all have a decision to make—will they run? Heart-wrenching, intriguing, original and suspenseful, this novel showcases Perkins-Valdez’s ability to bring the unfortunate past to life. (Jan.)

Victoire: My Mother’s MotherMaryse Condé, trans. from the French by Richard Philcox. Atria, $16 paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-4165-9276-1

Turning her historical fiction chops on her own family, novelist Condé (Story of the Cannibal Woman) looks at her grandmother Victoire’s hard life in Guadeloupe at the turn of the 19th century, “a prisoner of her illiteracy, her illegitimacy, her gender” who nevertheless gave Condé’s mother a life among the educated black bourgeoisie. Impregnated at 16 by a well-respected womanizer twice her age, Victoire was treated like a criminal, beaten by her father and run off from her home. After fleeing her shame, Victoire is taken on as a servant by a white Creole family, where she spent most of her life; there, her talent for cooking brings her the attention, admiration and business of prominent white Creoles. Condé proves just as impressive in her own medium: a tall man is “long as a day without bread”; the sea on a hot day shines “like a gold bar being smelted.” Deceptively slim, Condé’s 15th title is a savory, complex mix of Caribbean culture, black history and the lives of ordinary women. (Jan.)

The Late Work of Margaret Kroftis: A NovellaMark Gluth. Akashic, $14.95 paper (102p) ISBN 978-1-933354-94-1

Gluth probes the effects of death in his creepily enchanting debut, a delicate narrative consisting of a chain of lives connected by deaths. The first death concerns an elderly writer named Margaret Kroftis living alone with her dog; a fire starts in her house while she’s out for a walk, and she is devastated to learn that her dog, trapped in the house, has perished. Months later, completing the last scrap she will write (“My Watery Death”), Margaret dies in her bed. Margaret returns in the next section, involving a group of high school students: Beth is composing a script about Margaret in her first foray as a writer; however, she is distracted by her feverish attraction to Peter, a musician in a band whose singer, J, kills himself. Later, Beth and Peter, older and living together, befriend a waiflike neighbor and amateur photographer, Mira, who is killed in a car accident. The dead move among these meandering vignettes like ghosts with the lack of cohesiveness ably compensated by Gluth’s impressionistic and dreamy prose. (Jan.)

SnappedTracy Brown. St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.99 paper (464p) ISBN 978-0-312-55521-4

In Brown’s latest, four New York friends find money doesn’t buy happiness and love doesn’t either, especially when it’s confused with lust. Latoya Blake’s a fashionista realtor who’s flamboyantly single and distrustful of men because of a horrific secret in her past. Dominique Storms has a successful music industry job and a lovely 13-year-old daughter, but she’s obsessed with an incarcerated man. Former model Camille Bingham is married to Frankie B., the trusted associate of a dying Manhattan crime lord, Doug Nobles, and she rightfully suspects her honey’s getting far too close to Doug’s daughter, Gillian, who’s poised to take over after her father dies and Baron, her dangerously out-of-control brother, is out of the way. Camille’s younger sister, Misa, yearns to be rich like her sis, but is a neglectful single mother of a three-year-old pursuing a relationship with the sadistic Baron. Brown makes these desperate women amazingly sympathetic even as they make foolish choices, and the same goes for Frankie B., despite his appalling mistreatment of Camille. It all adds up to some seriously twisted problems leading to some cliffhanging shockeroos that undoubtedly mean a sequel is on its way. (Jan.)

Nanny ReturnsEmma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Atria, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4165-8567-1

Nan revisits 721 Park, home of the moneyed but morally bankrupt Xs, and the boy she guiltily left behind in their inept care in this smart and sassy sequel to The Nanny Diaries. And though Nan has grown up a bit, married “Harvard Hottie” Ryan and traveled the world, the plight of the rich and stupid continues, as does Nan’s new crusade to save former charge Grayer and his younger brother Stilton, renovate a crumbling East Harlem mansion and stick it out at a soulless Manhattan private school. Outcomes are deeply uncertain, though Nan is nothing if not a natural-born cheerleader: “I know what I’m worth. Because I care for these kids, I do, right down to my toes,” she says of her young charges in and out of school. There’s still one fear, however—whether she’ll ever be able to make the leap from nanny to mommy. McLaughlin and Kraus leave no dry eyes as they once again wield a razor-sharp wit that cuts down the most uppity mortals even as it lifts up their vulnerable children. You could safely bet your first born that this’ll be another smash hit. (Dec.)

I, Sniper: A Bob Lee Swagger NovelStephen HunterSimon & Schuster, $26 (432p) ISBN 978-1-4165-6515-4

Bestseller Hunter keeps Bob Lee Swagger, his home-spun, hard-charging hero, doing what Swagger does best in his sixth novel to feature the former Marine sniper: thwarting the authorities, staying loyal to a disappearing code of honor and hunting down evildoers who deserve everything they get. When a sniper shoots dead Joan Flanders (think Jane Fonda) and three other victims associated with the 1960s peace movement, the FBI decides the killer is “the most famous sniper in America,” Carl Hitchcock, who’s gone nuts and decided to up his total number of kills. Swagger soon realizes that Hitchcock, a fellow ex-Marine and Vietnam vet, is innocent, while the real killer, who’s using cutting-edge, electronic sniper gear, is still at large. After two inferior Bob Lee Swagger books, The 47th Samurai (2007) and Night of Thunder (2008), Hunter is back at the top of his game. He’s the best on the subject of guns and what damage bullets can do to human flesh. (Dec.)

True ConfectionsKatharine Weber. Crown/Shaye Areheart, $22 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-39586-3

In this winning, offbeat tale, Weber unfurls Alice Tatnall’s insecure Unitarian adolescence, which leads to her approval-seeking adulthood as the wife of candy heir Howard “Howdy” Ziplinsky. Alice has felt ostracized by family and peers after accidentally burning down a classmate’s house as a teenager. As a result, her college acceptance is rescinded, and she ends up working at Zip’s Candies, where she meets and falls in love with the owner’s son, a Jewish man 10 years her senior. After marrying Howard, Alice takes to the candy business quickly and has two kids. Alice’s story, framed as an affidavit, is a pleasure to read and full of small and not so small surprises, including the near-tragedy at the candy company that has much to do with why she’s writing an affidavit in the first place. Alice is an immediately lovable narrator, and her narration eventually bears hints about its possible lack of credibility, giving readers even more of a reason to keep turning pages. This story of love, life and sweets is a genuine treat. (Dec.)

Burning DesireRelentless Aaron. St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.99 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-35938-6

In his 13th novel, Aaron (Rappers ’R in Danger) offers more of what his readers clamor for: deceit, drama, ironic plot twists and steamy sex scenes. Danté Garret, a Bronx repairman, has taken over the family business after his father and grandfather die of cancer. Still in mourning, Danté’s life changes when first he’s seduced by an older client and then falls for Stacy, the niece of another client. But little does he know that his infatuation with Stacy begins to ruin his life. During a trip to Atlanta, Stacy’s actions come back to haunt her and almost cause Danté’s demise. Although Aaron’s latest effort is a quick-paced read with his usual blend of comedy, sex, betrayals and misunderstandings, it suffers from predictable plot twists, thanks to heavy-handed and obvious foreshadowing throughout, and implausible characters. Adding to the frustration is an ending that leaves too many loose ends. (Dec.)

Dead AirDeborah Shlian and Linda ReidOceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $25.95 (344p) ISBN 978-1-933515-50-2

Set in Vermont in the mid-1990s, this uneven thriller from physicians Shlian (Rabbit in the Moon with Joel Shlian) and Reid (Where Angels Fear to Tread) addresses some important medical ethics issues. Sammy Greene, a communications major at Ellsford University, loves hosting her controversial radio show about campus events, such as an animal rights protest by a conservative Christian group. When the crusading student journalist pursues a scoop about the suspicious suicides of some Ellsford University students and faculty members (a genetics professor blows his brains out after Sammy attempts to interview him), Sammy whirls into Nancy Drew hyperdrive. The at times far-fetched plot leads to a pharmaceutical institute using unsuspecting students as guinea pigs. Readers should be prepared for a cartoonish bad guy. (Dec.)

Lost Souls: StoriesHwang Sunwon, trans. from the Korean by Bruce Ju-Chan Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton. Columbia Univ., $27.50 (336p) ISBN 978-0-231-14968-6

In this evocative collection, Korean novelist Hwang (1915—2000) depicts the struggle of everyman to survive in tumultuous mid—20th-century Korea. In “Bulls,” Pau is riddled with guilt after seeing men brutalized and imprisoned by a Japanese constable collecting grain tax. The darkly ironic “Booze” follows Chunho, a devoted steward of the Nakamura distillery in Pyongyang, as he fights to maintain control after property is redistributed following the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation in 1945. In the title story, Sogi witnesses his childhood love, Suni, sold as a concubine by her family. Sogi and Suni run away together only to discover that their love is true yet doomed. A distinction between North and South Korea in a contemporary sense is not obvious in Hwang’s stories, although the Korean War is the focal point of “Voices,” in which a disabled veteran returns home incapable of reintegrating into his rural society. Hwang beautifully depicts the lives of ordinary individuals, allowing a glimpse into a bygone era. (Dec.)

Love in TranslationWendy Nelson Tokunaga. St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.99 paper (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-37266-8

Tokunaga (Midori by Moonlight) proves her ability to describe Japanese culture in absorbing detail, though she’s less adept at bringing her characters to life. After aspiring San Jose singer Celeste Duncan learns her aunt Michiko has died and left her possessions to her long-lost sister, Hiromi, Celeste dumps her dud boyfriend and relocates to Tokyo to find Hiromi and, hopefully, the identity of her own father. Her quest introduces her to a bustling Tokyo, and the staples of its pop culture are explored as Celeste bounces from experience to experience—commuting as contact sport, romance with a Japanese man, karaoke and her participation in a music competition show. While it’s easy to see why Celeste would be taken with Tokyo, it’s less clear why readers should be taken with Celeste, who comes across less a convincing lead than a tour guide. (Dec.)

FoolproofBarbara D’Amato, Jeanne M. Dams and Mark ZubroForge, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2266-1

Mystery authors D’Amato, Dams and Zubro try their hand at a thriller with less than stellar results. After 9/11, Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson, who worked in the World Trade Center’s north tower but were in a nearby coffee shop when the first plane hit, start a security company secretly dedicated to stopping future terror attacks. Shortly before the 2008 presidential election (which bears no resemblance to the battle between Obama and McCain), an assailant kills Sarah Swettenham, a 32-year-old computer engineer Grant knew at college, by pushing her into Manhattan traffic. The day before, Swettenham had made an appointment to meet Grant. When the victim’s personal computers disappear, Grant gets really suspicious. Cartoonish characters, including a U.S. president who watches football on TV “all day on Saturdays and all day on Sundays,” don’t help the over-the-top plot, which builds to a dramatic denouement likely to elicit some unintended titters. (Dec.)

A Word to the WiseDavid HeinzmannFive Star, $25.95 (330p) ISBN 978-1-59414-847-7

Heinzmann’s so-so debut crime thriller introduces Augustine Flood, a former FBI agent who’s begun a new career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm. A senior partner assigns Flood to help a desperate client, Dan Westlake, find his missing wife, Marcy, so he can get his hands on funds kept under her name in an offshore account. Flood later is disappointed to learn that the senior partner failed to reveal Westlake’s link to a controversial, mob-connected casino project that’s under federal investigation. Flood’s contacts in law enforcement lead him to a brutalized corpse whose features match those of Marcy, placing his obligation to his client in conflict with the police. Heinzmann, a veteran crime reporter for the Chicago Tribune, tries with little success to humanize Flood by giving him a love interest and a talent for cooking. The plot builds to a clichéd hostage situation that can be seen coming a mile off. (Dec.)

LitertureCatfish Karkowsky. Livingston, $26 (165p) ISBN 978-1-60489-039-6; $15.95 paper ISBN 978-1-60489-040-2

Karkowsky’s debut collection is as quirky as its misspelled title and his folksy nom de plume suggest. With deft use of second-person perspective, “Real Creamy Ice Cream” dips the reader into the consciousness of an amnesiac obsessed with the very dessert that causes his condition. In the playful allegory “The Baby Store,” a couple considers purchasing a “courtroombaby” or a “churchbaby,” while a poorer man and wife embrace the opportunity to buy a “junkbaby.” In “Listening to My Son,” a softening prison lifer beseeches his newly incarcerated son: “Don’t get killed in an ugly way!” And in “Jimmy Dreams,” former president Carter “urges himself toward purposelessness” as he fights insomnia and shares a moment of existential dread with Rosalyn. Other stories—like the paranoid rant of “Breakfast Sex,” in which the art of miming and “that old Quaker Oats guy” are discussed in relation to sex addiction—flout the conventions of “literture” (including plot, resolution and character), but consistently project voices as strong as the laughs they elicit. (Dec.)

Other Men’s HorsesElmer Kelton. Forge, $24.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2051-3

Longtime fans of the late Kelton, who died this summer, will welcome the return of Texas Ranger Andy Pickard to the saddle. In 1880s Texas, newlywed Ranger Pickard is on the trail of Donley Bannister, wanted for the murder of low-down Cletus Slocum. Bannister won’t be an easy fugitive to nab, because most folks think Bannister did a good deed by killing Cletus. Pickard shares these sentiments to an extent, but as a dutiful lawman, he will not rest until he has captured Bannister. Pickard’s grueling pursuit takes him all over Texas, and along the way he’s shot, saved by Bannister, aided by a black army deserter and constantly dealing with frontier lowlifes and owlhoots. Bannister’s wife, Geneva, also pursues Bannister, enduring her own suffering, but not before dishing out her particular brand of justice to those who cheat or harm her. When the big showdown arrives, Kelton tosses in some dramatic and satisfying plot twists to give this tale extra punch. This is an exciting oater, with Kelton’s signature western authenticity and characters drawn outside the typical western formula. (Nov.)

Mystery

Assassins of AthensJeffrey SigerPoisoned Pen, $24.95 (286p) ISBN 978-1-59058-689-1; $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-59058-707-2

Beware of Greeks bearing grudges, especially when they’re as rich, resourceful and ruthless as the killers who dog Athens Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis in Siger’s speedboat-paced second mystery (after 2009’s Murder in Mykonos). The case detonates with a sensational discovery: the body of golden boy Sotiris Kostopoulos, the teenage son of one of Greece’s wealthiest wheeler-dealers, dumped behind a seedy gay bar. Within days his family flees the country. As bodies start dropping from Mykonos to Sardinia, Kaldis finds it increasingly difficult to dismiss hints of a colossal conspiracy—one that might stretch to the loftiest levels of Athenian society as well as way back into its bloodstained past. Readers may not totally buy the book’s audacious premise or the spontaneous combustion between the straight-arrow inspector and a wealthy socialite, but that shouldn’t spoil this suspenseful trip through the rarely seen darker strata of complex, contemporary Greece. (Jan.)

The Red Velvet TurnshoeCassandra ClarkMinotaur, $24.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-53736-4

Set in 1383, Clark’s compelling second historical (after Feb. 2009’s Hangman Blind) takes Sister Hildegard, healer and sleuth, to Italy on a secret mission “to bring back the legendary cross of Constantine,” a powerful relic coveted by the archbishop of York. In the guise of a pilgrim, Hildegard joins an armed baggage train that includes a shipment of wool. When the stinking corpse of a clerk with his throat slashed turns up in a crate of wool on the travelers’ arrival in Flanders, Hildegard has to wonder who would want to murder a lowly clerk. With England in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War and Europe divided between rival popes, everyone’s allegiances and loyalties are uncertain. The author paints an authentic picture of late medieval life as Hildegard journeys from the Yorkshire moors to thriving Flemish towns and on to alpine passes leading to the wealth of early Renaissance Italy. Enough questions remain at the end to leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment. (Dec.)

A Dead Man in NaplesMichael PearceSoho Constable, $25 (202p) ISBN 978-1-56947-607-9

Pearce’s sixth mystery to feature Scotland Yard’s Sandor Seymour (after 2008’s A Dead Man in Barcelona) deftly mixes humor with a whodunit plot. A couple of years before WWI, the Foreign Office sends Seymour to Italy to unofficially investigate the stabbing death of Lionel Scampion, a British consular representative. As a diplomat, Scampion wasn’t altogether satisfactory, going so far in his enthusiasm as to volunteer to fight for Italy in its war with Libya. Seymour must consider a hypothesis raised at the inquest that Scampion’s murder had to do with a rivalry between bicycling clubs as well as the possibility that the killer acted from political or personal motives. As in the author’s better-known Mamur Zapt series (The Mark of the Pasha, etc.), Pearce does better at clever word play and investing his characters with charming foibles than establishing clues to buttress a fair-play solution. Still, this entry stands as the best to date in the Dead Man series. (Dec.)

Murder on the Cliffs: A Daphne du Maurier MysteryJoanna ChallisMinotaur, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-36714-5

At the start of Australian author Challis’s U.S. debut, the uneven first in a new series to feature literary icon Daphne du Maurier as sleuth, 21-year-old Daphne, who’s visiting Cornwall to research local history, encounters a teenage girl, Lianne Hartley, leaning over a beautiful young woman’s body on the beach during a storm. Lianne reluctantly identifies the dead woman as Victoria Bastion, a former kitchen maid who was about to marry Lianne’s brother. Daphne soon meets other members of the aristocratic Hartley family, whose complex relationships and great house, an Elizabethan mansion called Padthaway, fascinate her. When Daphne learns that Victoria died by poison rather than accident, she vows to solve the mystery of her murder. Despite a clunky plot and some labored prose (“Sea spray foamed at the mouth of the restless sea”), Challis (Eye of the Serpent) gives du Maurier fans an appealing vision of the novelist’s early womanhood and the inspiration for her classic Rebecca.(Dec.)

Out Cold: A Duffy Dombrowski MysteryTom SchreckEchelon (www.echelonpress.com), $14.99 paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-59080-622-7

Schreck stumbles in round three of his series featuring guidance counselor and ex-boxer Duffy Dombrowski (after 2008’s TKO). When a client of Duffy’s at Jewish Unified Services, 28-year-old paranoid schizophrenic Karl Greene, starts to predict terrorist attacks that actually happen, Duffy and Karl set out to stop evildoers intent on spoiling the Notre Dame football season opener as well as executing a Columbine-style massacre at either McDonough High or Vorhees High, Duffy’s and Karl’s respective alma maters. Worried about his own sanity after a recent hit to the head during a casual boxing bout, Duffy also enlists Karl in an effort to liberate the poor young dogs at a basset-hound puppy mill. Duffy’s basset, Al, lends a paw in this operation. The humor in this far-fetched mystery jars too often with the decidedly unfunny topic of domestic terrorism. (Dec.)

Dancing for the HangmanMartin EdwardsFive Star, $25.95 (344p) ISBN 978-1-59414-848-4

While this fictional recreation of one of the early 20th century’s most notorious crimes ranks among Edwards’s best work, it has the misfortune to follow two superior books on the subject: Erik Larson’s nonfiction Thunderstruck (2006) and John Boyne’s Crippen: A Novel of Murder (2007). In a nice framing device, Dr. Hawley Crippen, as he sits in his jail cell in 1910 awaiting his date with the executioner, describes his life and the events that are bringing him to the scaffold, in particular the vicissitudes of his marriage to his second wife, Cora, of whose murder he was convicted. Edwards (Waterloo Sunset) offers an alternative, if somewhat implausible version of how Cora died that supports Crippen’s claim of innocence. Many readers, however, will find Crippen, who abandoned his son and took up with his mistress shortly after Cora’s death, a far from sympathetic narrator. Those looking for more depth should turn to Larson and Boyne. (Dec.)

Souvenirs of a MurderMargaret DuffySevern, $28.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6810-7

Two cases—one engrossing, the other less so—figure in Duffy’s 13th mystery to feature Patrick Gillard and his wife, Ingrid Langley (after 2008’s Blood Substitute). When Patrick’s latest undercover assignment for SOCA, the Serious Organized Crime Agency, results in the shooting deaths of criminal Andrea Pangborne, members of her gang and her innocent daughter, the former MI5 agent looks guilty of their murders. The problem is, he doesn’t recall what happened because he was drugged. Ingrid, though she’s recently given birth to their son, rushes to clear Patrick. Complicating matters is the “Case of the Man Who Tried to Take Over a Village and Ended up Dead,” involving a rectory being renovated for Patrick’s parents, but this serves mainly as filler. Of far more interest is the investigation into the Pangborne slayings, especially after Ingrid discovers a vital clue at the crime scene that others missed. (Dec.)

His Warranty Expired When He Did: A Con and Sindy Detective Series, Book 1A.T.RAllen A. Knoll, $23 (162p) ISBN 978-1-888310-05-4

Those who finish this slight mystery set in St. Margaret’s, Calif., the first in a new series, will understand why the writer, billed as “an established author who has written more than thirty-five books,” chooses to use a pseudonym. The police regard Lexington Concord Bissle VI, a sculptor, as the prime suspect in the shooting death of his neighbor, Fred Moggar, since Con filed a lawsuit against Moggar over the incessant barking of Moggar’s dog. Aided by his assistant, Sindy Duguid, Con turns amateur sleuth to clear his name. The jokey narration alternates between Con and Sindy, as Con attempts to ascertain which of the women in Moggar’s life might have had motive, means and opportunity. The lame humor matches the unengaging detective work. (Dec.)

Mrs. Jeffries and the Yuletide WeddingEmily BrightwellBerkley Prime Crime, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-425-23046-6

Two weddings provide the backdrop for Brightwell’s enjoyable 26th Victorian mystery, the first of the series in hardcover, featuring mild-mannered Insp. Gerald Witherspoon and his indomitable housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries (after Mar. 2009’s Mrs. Jeffries and the Nick of Time). As Christmas approaches, the inspector’s servants are busy preparing for the marriage between Smythe, the coachman, and Betsy, the maid. Meanwhile, Rosemary Evans and her older fiancé, Sir Madison Lowery, are celebrating their impending nuptials with a formal tea, which is interrupted by the discovery of a former governess of Rosemary’s lying dead with a knife in her chest outside the Evanses’ house in a posh London neighborhood. As usual, Mrs. Jeffries and her fellow servants gather and sort through clues while their sometimes dilatory master investigates. Cozy fans will be well satisfied. (Nov.)

SF/Fantasy/Horror

Starship: FlagshipMike ResnickPyr, $26 (328p) ISBN 978-1-59102-788-1

Hugo-winner Resnick sets his fifth Starship novel, a classic sprawling space opera, in the vast Birthright universe. Newcomers would probably prefer having the informative appendix shifted to a prologue, but even those who skip ahead will find themselves drawn in by the valiant struggle waged by Wilson Cole and his motley assortment of allies (including an alien convinced he is the real David Copperfield, and an eight-handed criminal kingpin) against the nameless interstellar Republic. The odds are appropriately daunting: while their foes have three and a half million ships, Cole can only muster about 800, forcing the rebel leader to rely on his wits rather than strength to prevail. The cleverness of his schemes and the interesting political struggles will remind genre TV fans of Babylon 5. The only real flaw is a rather contrived conclusion. (Dec.)

Dating Outside Your DNAKaren KelleyBrava, $14 paper (279p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2576-4

Kelley (My Favorite Phantom) whips up a frothy, competent paranormal romance. Special agent Roan Hendrix is training other agents while recovering from an injury. He doesn’t like the alien Nerakians, but if he agrees to train gorgeous young half-Nerakian Lyraka, he can go back on active duty. Their mutual dislike swiftly turns to attraction, but Lyraka resists, worried that her superpowered Nerakian sex drive will lead her to injure Roan. Danger enters with vain Prince Banyon of Rovertia, who loves torturing women and wants revenge on Lyraka’s mother for resisting him and marring his beauty with a scar. When Lyraka is captured, Roan and a team of similarly sexy agents must go to dangerous Rovertia to rescue her. Though characters and plot are predictable, the sex is steamy and the pacing gallops along in this readable romp. (Dec.)

Burning ShadowsChelsea Quinn YarbroTor, $27.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1982-1

A passionate wartime love affair haunts Yarbro’s 21st Saint-Germain novel (after 2008’s A Dangerous Climate). Yarbro returns to her heroic vampire in 438 C.E., when he was known as Dom Feranescus Rakoczy Sanctu-Germainios, Regional Guard of Apulum Inferior. Series fans will welcome the reappearance of Atta Olivia Clemens, the count’s former lover, but she soon departs the Carpathians for Constantinople. More compelling is Nicoris, an attractive refugee whom Rakoczy meets en route to Sanctu-Eustachios, a hermit monastery where slaves, soldiers and refugees hope to survive the impending Hun attack. Nicoris quickly falls under Rakoczy’s spell, fascinated by the revelation of his true nature, but she has a dangerous secret that may spell doom for their future. Yarbro’s impeccable research enhances but doesn’t distract from the romance, which is diminished only by the sad, too-brief epilogue. (Dec.)

Claimed by the WolfCharlene TegliaSt. Martin’s Griffin, $13.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-53742-5

Romance author Teglia (Wicked Hot) introduces the Shadow Guardians paranormal romance series with a sizzling story. Sybil Ames is a frustrated apprentice witch whose coven won’t teach her any magic. Then she unwittingly becomes the host for demonic magic sealed in a grimoire she finds at an estate sale. After being rescued by handsome werewolf Kenric, Sybil learns she can control and use the magic boiling in her veins by receiving the mark of Inanna, which can only be obtained by having sex with the goddess’s five servants: taciturn Kenric, easygoing dragon Kadar, forceful demon Abaran, considerate vampire Adrian and dominant elf Ronan. The plot is sparse, but Teglia’s prose is snappy; Sybil is a determined, witty heroine; the men are likable and distinct; and their erotic misadventures are a feast for the senses. (Dec.)

The ChangedB.J. BurrowApex (www.apexbookcompany.com), $15.95 paper (248p) ISBN 978-0-9821596-7-5

Burrow’s debut is a swift-moving, pathos-free, creatively amusing riff on zombies from the zombie perspective. On a day like any other, the newly dead just stop dying, and the world learns that zombie movies have gotten everything wrong. Christian Scott and his fiancée, Erin, have uncomfortable run-ins with the zombies, who call themselves “changed”; then Christian joins their ranks, as does Erin’s favorite shock jock, Nicholas Buckman. Disturbed that the living can call the military in to flambé any of the changed for any reason, Christian and Nicholas decide to start their own political party. While running for senator, Christian must constantly duck his gun-toting father’s attempts to put him down. In hilarious interludes, Paula Dean cooks a zombie fish and Elmo reconciles with a zombie Zoë on Sesame Street. The prose styling is nonexistent, but there’s plenty of charm. (Dec.)

Collected StoriesLewis ShinerSubterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (496p) ISBN 978-1-59606-252-8

These 41 powerful stories cover Shiner’s career across three decades and multiple genres, showcasing hard-edged, often political genre fiction at its finest. The oft-reprinted “The War at Home,” “The Circle” and “Till Human Voices Wake Us” remain worth reading, but the less familiar tales really make this collection stand out. The best include the Brady Bunch—tweaking “Sitcom,” deft alternate history “The Death of Che Guevara” (original to this volume) and creepy horror story “Love in Vain.” Several short-shorts, a trio of early mysteries, a western and some mainstream stories showcase Shiner’s versatility. Perhaps the best tales have only a hint of the supernatural, like the opening tale, “Perfidia,” a look at the “real” death of Glenn Miller in light of post-9/11 politics. Shiner never fails to astound, and this collection highlights everything that makes him one of today’s best storytellers. (Dec.)

Mass Market

UntraceableLaura GriffinPocket Star, $7.99 (374p) ISBN 978-1-4391-4919-5

Taut drama and constant action surge through the engrossing first book in Griffin’s Tracers series. Austin PI Alex Lovell helps people escape their lives and start fresh. She helped Melanie Bess get away from her abusive police officer husband, Craig Coghan, but Melanie didn’t follow the rules, and now she has truly disappeared. Alex believes Melanie is dead and Craig’s to blame, so she enlists the help of sexy, skeptical police detective Nathan Devereaux and “tracer” Mia Voss of the high-tech Delphi Center. When Alex uncovers more of Craig’s secrets, she finds herself both fighting her attraction to Nathan and fighting for her life. Alex is fully realized, flawed yet admirable, and Griffin (Thread of Fear) keeps the suspense high and the pace quick. A perfect combination of forensic science, mystery, romance and action make this series one to watch. (Dec.)

The Better Part of DarknessKelly GayPocket, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4391-0965-6

Gay debuts with this captivating urban fantasy. Thirteen years ago, mankind officially recognized the existence of paradisiacal Elysia and hellish Charbydon, and the multitude of mythical beings inhabiting them. Now Atlanta is a crossroads for all sorts of creatures, and the Integration Task Force keeps tabs on them all. Recently resurrected single mom Charlie Madigan juggles her personal life with her career as an ITF officer, searching for the source of a deadly narcotic called ash. When her family and friends are caught in the middle of her investigation, Charlie discovers powers she never knew, and a destiny that could destroy the entire world. How far will she go to save her child and her city? Intricate world-building and richly complex characters mix with a fast-paced plot to create a standout start to a new series. (Dec.)

The Sweethearts’ Knitting ClubLori WildeAvon, $6.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-180889-0

Wilde (All of Me) pays homage to The Gilmore Girls in this lighthearted romance. The small town of Twilight, Tex., is known for reuniting high school sweethearts, and when girl-next-door Flynn MacGregor finally agrees to marry straitlaced sheriff Beau Trainer, she thinks she’s settling down with her first love. Then Flynn’s old flame Jesse Calloway rolls in, fresh from 10 years in prison, and rekindles “chemistry that time and circumstances had not erased.” As Flynn struggles to stop mothering everyone around her, Jesse helps her realize her highly controlled life has not been so different from his in prison. Full of colorful characters, pleasant descriptions and sexual tension, this romance is slow to get started and overloaded with campy Southern charm, but once it gains momentum it’s as satisfying as a glass of lemonade on a hot day. (Dec.)

Like No One ElseMaureen SmithDafina, $6.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2741-6

Readers who like a pinch of plot to a pound of seduction will love Smith’s sizzling suspense novel, which reads like the screenplay for an erotic film. There’s not a lot of romance but plenty of sex as dance teacher Tomasina “Tommie” Purnell and homicide cop Paulo Sanchez strut their unbelievably hot bodies through a couple of murders. Smith (No One but You) takes a refreshingly casual, low-key approach to interracial dating. Paulo and his partner, Julius Donovan, are well drawn and the minor characters are memorable, but Smith goes over the top with Tommie, a former stripper with sexy curves who improbably became a prima ballerina at age 29. The investigation is written in a smooth, flowing style, but the prose turns purple whenever Tommie and Paulo get together, and sex often overrides suspense. (Dec.)

Comics

The Best American Comics, 2009 Edited by Charles Burns, Jessica Abel and Matt MaddenHoughton Mifflin, $22 (352p) ISBN 978-0-618-98965-2

In his introduction, guest editor Burns admits that most of the artists therein “were already well known to me... if you’re a reasonably talented cartoonist, it’s hard to stay under the radar for long.” So many of the usual suspects are in this volume. There’s Adrian Tomine, with a particularly funny excerpt from his charged epic of postmillennial self-hatred, Shortcomings. Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb deliver one of their droll, kvetchy riffs on anachronisms, from the New Yorker. Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, Peter Bagge, Tony Millionaire and Gilbert Hernandez are all present. Whereas this recitation of familiar names would in most other circumstances prove to be a minus, here it seems simply a recognition that the comics world may just be small enough that the core of truly excellent artists can (unlike print fiction) still be counted in the dozens, not the hundreds. Still, Burns and Co. have also dug up less expected pieces, including a number of Tim Hensley’s wildly subversive Archie-esque deconstructions from Mome and Kevin Huizenga’s surprisingly heartfelt take on the dot-com bust, “Glenn Ganges in Pulverize.” A collection of the mostly expected, maybe, but never less than satisfying. (Oct.)

The Incredibles: Family MattersMark Waid and Marcio TakaraBoom! $9.99 paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-934506-83-7

Kingdom Come writer Waid lends his considerable talents to Disney/Pixar’s superpowered family and comes up with a brisk and fun story for all ages, ably aided by Takara’s appealing animation-influenced artwork. Publicly in action following the events of their hit film, the Parr family—aka the Incredibles—tackle the assorted diabolical villains and disasters that are part of the superheroic job description. But there’s a big problem: Bob, better known to the world at large as Mr. Incredible, is losing his powers and no one can figure out why, not even physician to the metahuman community, Doc Sunbright, cousin to Edna Mode, the memorable superhero costume designer par excellence seen in the film. Bob is unwillingly sidelined and left to care for infant Jack-Jack while the rest of his family carries on the heroing without him. Along the way, the Parrs meet their new neighbors; Violet discovers first love; and an unexpected enemy from Elasti-Girl’s past returns to wreak havoc. With Waid’s script perfectly nailing the characters, this collected edition is loads of fun and leaves readers eager for future installments. (Oct.)

West Coast BluesJacques Tardi and Jean-Patrick ManchetteFantagraphics, $18.99 (80p) ISBN 978-1-60699-295-1

Maybe it’s because blood and brain matter look somewhat more disturbing in the chunky, primitive black and white favored by famed French cartoonist Tardi, but there’s something particularly creepy about his adaptation of the late Manchette’s crime novel that wouldn’t have been well served by color. The protagonist, George Gerfaut, is a dead-souled Parisian businessman who’s just about as irritated by his work as he is by his family. There’s little he seems to like but for booze, cigarettes and West Coast—style jazz. His foul demeanor seems to serve him in good stead, though, when he becomes an accidental witness to a murder and has to fend off a determined assault by a pair of hit men who happen to be lovers. Not only does his mood leave him with fewer compunctions about resorting to violence but it also ensures that when a bloody shootout at a gas station leaves him wounded, he’s not too broken up about not seeing his wife and children for a while. Manchette’s plot is pure pulp, with a driving engine for a plot and a Lee Marvin—like inclination toward swift and unreflective action. Tardi’s art delivers the action with admirable punch and attitude to spare. (Oct.)

The Toon Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics Edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly. Abrams, $40 (352p) ISBN 978-0-8109-5730-5

Spiegelman and Mouly reinvented comics as pop art in their classic anthology RAW. This time out, they’re reclaiming comics as a medium of far gentler thrills in a bountiful collection of story gems from a more whimsical era of graphic storytelling. Cartoonists little known to nonscholars are standouts: Sheldon Mayer’s Sugar and Spike—toddler pals who speak their own language, much to the consternation of grownups—are a delight with their sweet hijinks. Andre LeBlanc’s oddball “Intellectual Amos” marries lush artwork to a bald boy who mysteriously soliloquizes about science to his silent imp companion. Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein is a gentle freak who longs to play the tuba. But the genius triumvirate of John Stanley, Carl Barks and Walt Kelly dominates—the first two with their wry fables of greed, revenge and childhood hubris. Kelly is simply one of the most endearing cartoonists of all time—every line he draws or character he creates exudes charm. Adults and comics fans will pore over this revelatory treasury for the stunning art; kids will simply pore over it, immersed in worlds of fantasy that are worth visiting again and again. (Sept.)