Volume 256 Issue 17 04/27/2009
Galley TalkApr 27, 2009
Karen West, events director, Book Passage, Corte Madera, Calif.
A riveting new work, A Trace of Smoke (Tor, May) seduced me immediately, drawing me into an intoxicating world of intimate violence, complicated family relationships and voluptuous intrigue set in a time and place steeped in duplicity. Nazism is on the rise and police work is rife as people go missing and newspapers cry out their stories. Mischief swirls about a singular Berlin nightclub that embraces those who would cross-dress and love men who are forbidden to love them in return. Our heroine, Hannah, plunges into this world with reckless and determined abandon in search of her brother's truth. I defy any reader to not fall fully for Hannah as she follows the bright satin thread that is her brother's bold, dangerous life, leading her through murder and mayhem, risking her heart the entire way. When a small child enters the picture, expect to give up your immediate plans in order to finish this stirring novel in one exhilarating inhalation.
Publishing news from across the Web
Ten employees will be affected. Clair Willcox, editor in chief, declined to comment but did note that neither he nor any of the staff knew about the change before a midmorning meeting.
As protesters rally in Seattle, Amazon tells shareholders it's cutting ties to a conservative public-policy group.
"Sesquipedalian." Just kidding.
The ABA has launched a new video campaign that captures unscripted and impromptu testimonials about independent bookstores from authors, customers, and indie supporters around the country. The initiative “Why Indies Matter” will debut under the IndieBound marketing umbrella during BEA.
| Guilty Wives | Audio Fiction |
| Killing Lincoln (unabr.) | Audio Nonfiction |
| Serpent's Shadow | Children's Fiction |
| Duckling Gets a Cookie!? | Children's Picture Book |
| Hunger Games | Children's Series & Tie-ins |
| Blue Exorcist, Volume 3 | Graphic Novels |
| Deadlocked: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel | Hardcover Fiction |
| Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson | Hardcover Nonfiction |
| The Lucky One | Mass Market Paper |
| Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | Trade Paper |
