A first thriller by a 20-year veteran of the Washington police force, George Shuman, was bought for S&S by roving editor Rob Weisbach. It's called 18 Seconds and has as its unusual heroine a blind woman who can "see" the last 18 seconds of a murder victim's life, and uses her gift to help a new police lieutenant hunt down a repeat killer. World rights were sold by Trident's Paul Fedorko, who reports strong movie interest.... Rodale's Pete Fornatale bought a book that offers a combined portrait of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, called Endless Summer: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, by pop culture critic Peter Ames Carlin; this was a six-figure purchase from Simon Lipskar at Writers House.... Little, Brown's Judy Clain bought a new comic novel by former Frasier writer and producer Joe Keenan: My Lucky Star, about three has-beens trying to make it in Hollywood; she bought North American rights from Geri Thoma at Elaine Markson.... A new book by science author David Bodanis (E=mc²) about Voltaire's 10-year affair with Emilie du Chatelet, a great 18th-century mathematician, was bought at Crown by Rachel Klayman from Katinka Matson at John Brockman.... At Random, Will Murphy bought a new book, with much previously unavailable material, about the daring Israeli raid on Entebbe to rescue hijacked airline passengers in 1976; the author is Rodger W. Claire (Raid on the Sun) and the buy of world rights was from David Halpern at the Robbins Office.... A history of crooked electioneering in America called Deliver the Vote by U. of Kentucky history professor Tracy Campbell was bought for Carroll & Graf by Philip Turner from agent John W. Wright.... African-American novelist (and Essence bestseller) Mary Monroe has signed for four new books with Kensington editorial director Karen Thomas for the house's Dafina imprint, where she originally made her mark with God Don't Like Ugly. The deal was signed with agent Andrew Stuart.