November 01, 2012: Volume LXXX, No 21

243

KIRKUS V O L . L X X X , N O.

21

1

NOVEMBER

2012

REVIEWS

Also In This Issue Q&A with Victoria Bassetti on Electoral Dysfunction p. 2460 Q&A with Marissa Moss on Lost in Paris p. 2492

Jami Attenberg Midwestern Jews, Obesity and Happy Endings p. 2420

CHILDREN’S & TEEN

BELLY FLOP!

by Stephen McCranie The adventures of Mal and Chad just keep getting better. p. 2485

NONFICTION

The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix

by James D. Watson The classic is back in a fresh new version. p. 2470

FICTION

Swimming Home

by Deborah Levy An utterly beautiful tale p. 2422

Photo by Michael Sharkey

The Book That Wasn’t B Y VIC K Y SMI T H

A c o u p l e o f w e e k s a g o , I happened to notice a conversation on Child Lit, a children’sliterature listserv, about a book called Bear Story: Just a Silly Man Who Wears a Fur Coat and Needs a Shave, by Liz Scott and illustrated by Marju Rose. It had been reviewed and starred by Kirkus Indie, our review service for the self-publishing community, and we published the review in our July 15, 2012, issue.

This story about a bear that wakes up from hibernation to discover that a factory has been

Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N # President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N mkuehn@kirkus.com Editor E L A I N E S Z E WC Z Y K eszewczyk@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH

built around him and is continually mistaken for a worker rang a bell with a sharp-eyed librarian

Contributing Editor G R E G O RY M c N A M E E

who was struck by the similarity both plot summary and subtitle bore to an old 1940s-era classic:

Senior Indie Editor KAREN SCHECHNER kschechner@kirkus.com

The Bear That Wasn’t, by Frank Tashlin. In that book, the foreman tells the bear: “You’re not a Bear.

You’re a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat.”

Was this plagiarism?

Certainly the plot summaries and tag line were suspiciously similar. We picked up a copy of The Bear That Wasn’t from the library as soon as we could for comparison. There were some differences, most notably in an expanded ending and all-new illustrations, which updated the tale by placing computers in the background. Nevertheless, it was clear to us that Scott’s story was based on Tashlin’s satire.

This particular story has struck a chord through the generations. Chuck Jones made it into an animated short in 1967. German author Jörg Steiner retold it in 1976, with due credit to Tashlin, and it was translated into English. I myself first encountered it at a storytelling festival in the 1990s, where it was told by the great Kendall Morse, who credited Tashlin. Long out-of-print, it was brought back to the shelves by New York Review Books in 2010, so we can all enjoy the original.

It’s interesting and heartening that the central truth of the story holds fast—which, perhaps, makes it all the more vulnerable to appropriation. If I heard it at a storytelling festival, it’s entirely possible others have, too, with or without sourcing. Willy-nilly, the story is making its way into the oral tradition.

We don’t know much about Scott, her motives or how she came across the tale. Her author bio tells us that she “enjoys telling stories to her grandchildren,” so I like to believe that she acted out of naïveté, not a willful desire to appropriate somebody else’s words and ideas.

Nevertheless, willful or not, Scott did represent them as hers. Plagiarism is wrong, and we are deeply distressed that we abetted it, however unknowingly, just as we are enormously grateful to those who draw our attention to it. We have withdrawn our review and our star from our website, and we have worked with our licensees and business partners to remove our endorsement of the book from their products.

We take our responsibility to our readers and our industry seriously. We are grateful for the trust you have put in us for the past 80 years, and we’re honored to think we may enjoy it for decades to come. And we will work anew every day to be sure we have earned it.

for more re vi e ws and f eatures, vi si t u s on l i n e at kirkus.com.

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This Issue’s Contributors

Maude Adjarian • Mark Athitakis • Michael Autrey • Joseph Barbato • Amy Boaz • Lee E. Cart • Dave DeChristopher • Gregory F. DeLaurier • Kathleen Devereaux • Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer • Lisa Elliott • Peter Franck • Bob Garber • Michael Griffith • Jeff Hoffman • Robert M. Knight • Christina M. Kratzner • Paul Lamey • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Angela Leroux-Lindsey • Peter Lewis • Elsbeth Lindner • Joe Maniscalco • Gregory McNamee • Brett Milano • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Chris Morris • Liza Nelson • John Noffsinger • Mike Oppenheim • Jim Piechota • William E. Pike • Gary Presley • David Rapp • Kristen Bonardi Rapp • Karen Rigby • Lloyd Sachs • Sandra Sanchez • Michael Sandlin • William P. Shumaker • Rosanne Simeone • Clea Simon • Elaine Sioufi • Arthur Smith • Wendy Smith • Margot E. Spangenberg • Andria Spencer • Bill Thompson • Matthew Tiffany • Claire Trazenfeld • Carol White • Chris White • Joan Wilentz • Homa Zaryouni • Alex Zimmerman

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contents fiction Index to Starred Reviews.................................................. p. 2411 REVIEWS....................................................................................... p. 2411 Q&A WITH Jami Attenberg...................................................p. 2420

The Kirkus Star is awarded to books of remarkable merit, as determined by the impartial editors of Kirkus.

Mystery...................................................................................... p. 2437 Science Fiction & Fantasy................................................. p. 2444

nonfiction Index to Starred Reviews..................................................p. 2445 REVIEWS.......................................................................................p. 2445 Q&A WITH victoria bassetti.............................................. p. 2460

children’s & teen Index to Starred Reviews..................................................p. 2475 REVIEWS.......................................................................................p. 2475 Valentine’s Day roundup..................................................p. 2490 Q&A WITH marissa moss...................................................... p. 2492 interactive e-books............................................................p. 2494

indie Index to Starred Reviews..................................................p. 2499 REVIEWS.......................................................................................p. 2499 douglas nicholas: how I did it....................................... p. 2506

Manu Joseph returns with a witty, cunning and sympathetic new novel. See the starred review on p. 2418. | kirkus.com | contents | 1 november 2012 | 2409

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A few highlights from Kirkus’ online coverage this month...

Our romance expert, Sarah Wendell, discusses difficult heroines in a recent Smart Bitches, Trashy Books column: “For many romance readers (not me, but some), the heroine can serve as a place holder, a role for the reader to symbiotically inhabit while she reads the novel. Because of that role, the heroine was often bland and somewhat easy to empathize with: ‘[w]hen the heroine behaves in ways that the reader approves of, she is able to immerse herself as the heroine, and the world of the story is smooth. When the heroine behaves in a way the reader finds unacceptable, however, that particular heroine suddenly stops being strictly a placeh older and instead becomes a rival for the hero’s affections.’ ” Wendell cites Molly O’Keefe’s two recent titles, Can’t Buy Me Love and Can’t Hurry Love, as novels featuring complex, imperfect heroines, and urges readers to break the habit.

Kirkus called Cassandra Rose Clarke’s debut fantasy novel The Assassin’s Curse a “ripsnorting series opener,” with a sequel, The Pirate’s Wish, already in the works. The story features the likable and colorful Ananna, a “kick-ass pirate heroine” who’s fleeing an arranged marriage, with the help of some beginner’s magic. Kirkus’ Jessie Grearson recently spoke with Clarke about the pleasures of pirates, her writing process and inventing believable-sounding curses.

In her first book-length study, We Killed, Marie Claire contributing editor Yael Kohen takes a serious look at women in the funny business.

Carol Burnett descended the stair draped with a curtain rod, Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers lamented the throes of living with Fang and Edgar, Mary Tyler Moore tossed her beret into the Minneapolis sky, Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine set the switchboard alight, Roseanne Barr revealed the plight of the working-class ‘Domestic Goddess,’ Ellen DeGeneres came out on national television. And yet, in 2007, Vanity Fair published Christopher Hitchens’ now infamous article, “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” Kohen uses that incendiary piece as a springboard to dive into the world of American comedy, providing a riveting oral history told mostly by more than 200 comics, writers, and producers she interviewed. She takes a moment with Kirkus’ Erika Rohrbach to offer her own thoughts on the challenges facing America’s leading funny women.

And, finally, don’t forget to check out our Indie publishing series featuring some of today’s top self-publishing authors, including Christiana Miller and Melissa Foster, as well as signed authors like C.M. Wendleboe and Enid Shomer. Each week, we feature authors’ exclusive personal essays on how they achieved their success in publishing.

It’s a must-read resource for any aspiring author interested in getting their books out there.

For the latest news releases every day, please go online to Kirkus.com. It’s where our editors and contributing blog partners bring you the best in science fiction, mysteries and thrillers, literary fiction and nonfiction, teen books and children’s books, Indie publishing and more.

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2410 | 1 november 2012 | on the web | kirkus.com |

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fiction These titles earned the Kirkus Star: PHILIDA by André Brink............................................................ p. 2412 INDISCRETION by Charles Dubow........................................... p. 2413 MIDDLE MEN by Jim Gavin....................................................... p. 2415 THE BROKEN ONES by Stephen M. Irwin................................ p. 2417 THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE

by Manu Joseph............................................................................ p. 2418 DREAM EYES by Jayne Ann Krentz........................................... p. 2421 HERE I GO AGAIN by Jen Lancaster.......................................... p. 2421 THE GOOD HOUSE by Ann Leary.............................................. p. 2422 SWIMMING HOME by Deborah Levy........................................ p. 2422 THE TWELVE TRIBES OF HATTIE by Ayana Mathis............... p. 2424 THE LADY MOST WILLING... by Julia Quinn; Eloisa James; Connie Brockway......................................................................... p. 2429 NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY by Ron Rash................................ p. 2429 THE SIGN OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN by Alana White.......... p. 2443

THE GOOD HOUSE

Leary, Ann St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $24.99 Jan 15. 2013 978-1-250-01554-9

MERCILESS

Armstrong, Lori Touchstone/Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-4516-2536-3 Romance author turned thriller writer Armstrong continues to chronicle the adventures of former Army sniper turned law enforcement officer Mercy Gunderson in the latest tale set in western South Dakota.

Mercy served a couple of tours in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, but now she’s home fighting crime and her own demons. Part American Indian, Mercy works alongside FBI Special Agent Shay Turnbull to resolve the murder of Arlette Shooting Star, the niece of the newly elected tribal president. But the stars refuse to align for Mercy and Shay, and soon, there’s a second body to add to the first one. Tiptoeing through the peculiar dance required to investigate crimes involving the reservation and its residents, the two agents spar with tribal police as well as Mercy’s live-in love, Sheriff Mason Dawson. Meanwhile, there’s no love lost between brand-new cop Mercy and the more experienced Shay, either. As Mercy’s life grows more complicated, so does the case, with Mason’s son, Lex, joining them on the ranch and twist after twist piling up the suspects. Armstrong has a knack for presenting a strong sense of place and deftly brings readers onto the reservation to expose them to a culture and way of life that most will find virgin ground. She also has a way with dialogue, spicing both Mercy’s inner and outer voices with humor and a sense of irony. What doesn’t process, though, is her counterintuitive behavior as a cop. Mercy, and on at least one occasion, Shay, allows suspect after suspect to rough her up. Instead of tough, quirky and her own person, Mercy comes across as someone in need of a good psychiatrist and as lacking in moral character.

While Armstrong’s writing is spot on, the book suffers from the incorporation of reams of unexplained back story, which leaves the reader to puzzle through multiple references to past events.

| kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2411

“Extraordinary.” from philida

A TOWN OF EMPTY ROOMS

Bender, Karen E. Counterpoint (352 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-61902-069-6

Is it possible to know another person, even one you love, is the question posed in this novel by Bender (Like Normal People, 2000), which dissects a married couple in crisis.

Serena, a 37-year old Manhattan mother of two small children, loses her marketing job and barely escapes criminal charges after acting out her grief over her father’s death with an irrational, irresponsible buying spree on her employer’s credit card. Serena’s husband, Dan, who fell in love with Serena because she seemed to offer the security he lacked during a horrific childhood, doesn’t understand her behavior and no longer trusts her. Serena, drawn to Dan for his sunny optimism and self-assurance, now feels emotionally abandoned by him. She barely registers that Dan is also grieving, albeit more quietly, his long-estranged brother’s death.

When Dan gets a job as a publicist for a small North Carolina town, the Shines and their two small children grab the chance to start over.

But as culturally sophisticated, nonobservant New York Jews, they quickly find themselves isolated in culturally drab, blaringly Christian Waring, N.C., personified by the Shines’ elderly neighbor Forrest Sanders, head of the local Boy Scout troop. Dan, who always yearned to be a Scout like his older brother, enthusiastically signs up his son and volunteers as Forrest’s helper. Surrounded by Christians, Serena feels her Jewish identity more acutely and gravitates toward the small congregation of Temple Shalom, particularly charismatic but controversial Rabbi Josh Golden; placed on the Temple Board, she finds herself torn between loyalty to Rabbi Josh, for whom she feels genuine gratitude not to mention affection, and increasing evidence that he may be psychologically unfit for his job. Meanwhile, Dan refuses to take seriously Serena’s concern that Forrest’s pride in himself as a good Christian neighbor has turned into threatening hostility. The Shines both want community and intimacy, but can they achieve either together?

While sometimes annoyingly myopic—Waring’s African-Americans are invisible, the white Christians stereotypically one-dimensional—Bender portrays a marriage in crisis with heartbreaking accuracy.

THE DROWNING HOUSE

Black, Elizabeth Talese/Doubleday (288 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-385-53586-1

In this contemporary Southern gothic, a young artist returns home to Galveston, Texas, and uncovers a century’s worth of sordid secrets.

Clare hasn’t been back to Galveston since she was sent away at 14 to live with her grandmother. Now 2412 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

married (though she knows that won’t last long) and mourning the accidental death of her daughter, Clare is on the island to organize a photo exhibit for the historical society. But the novel, like Clare, is consumed with the past. Growing up on Galveston, an old pirate island with a reputation for dangerous charm, Clare lived in the historic Porterfield House, lovingly maintained by her unlovable father. In front of this house sits the Carraday Mansion, still the residence of the powerful Carraday family. Patriarch Will Carraday gave Clare her first camera as a child and is sponsoring the exhibition, asking Clare to rummage through the family’s personal archive. Clare splits her time between searching for Patrick Carraday, Will’s son and once upon a time the person who made her world, and the truth about Stella Carraday, the mysterious ancestor who allegedly died during the great flood, found naked and hanging from the chandelier. The truth about Patrick proves more elusive. As children and teenagers, they were inseparable, she a willing accomplice to all of his delinquent inclinations.

But even the heir to the Carraday fortune can’t overcome some scandals, and after a suspicious fire kills a girl, Clare is sent to the Midwest and Patrick to Europe. Clare has nothing but questions: Why is Patrick avoiding her? How long have her mother and the married Will been having an affair? What really happened to Stella? For someone who prefers the distance of a camera to a conversation, Galveston may well keep her secrets. But then the atmospheric novel, framed by Clare’s reticence, explodes in a thunderclap that exposes all the old wounds: incest, murder and the secret of Clare’s paternity.

Black’s tempered pace and moody vulnerability creates a rich debut: both sensitive and sensational.

PHILIDA

Brink, André Vintage (320 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-345-80503-4 Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this tale of slavery, identity and the wages of sin is based in part on Brink’s (A Fork in the Road, 2009, etc.) family history.

An impossible love story, it is not impossible in the traditional sense of love between mismatched partners, but because it shows how no love is possible between persons fundamentally unequal.

Philida’s voice is the first voice we hear, and hers is a voice to attend to: idiomatic, lyrical, querulous, searching. Philida is on her way to lodge a complaint against Frans. He made promises, among others, to seek her manumission. She bore his children.

But it appears he deceived her, when in fact he deceived himself. Francois “Frans” Brink, the feckless son of the hardheaded patriarch of Zandvliet, is not worthy of the slave Philida. How Frans responds to this complaint changes Philida’s mind and heart, but the larger socioeconomic conditions have the more lasting effect. The book begins in 1832; the slaves were “freed” in the colonies in 1834. Writing about his own family, Brink is silent, eloquently so, on its rampant hypocrisy, epitomized by

Petronella, known as Ouma Nella. She is Philida’s protector but also the mother of Cornelis Brink, Frans’ father and Philida’s owner. The book traces the lacerating trajectory of the sins of parents, parents’ scars like open wounds on their children’s bodies. There is an astonishing frankness about the facts of life and a visionary lyricism in relation to these cruel facts. The “Acknowledgements” section details the genesis of the novel. In its way, it is as thrilling as the book itself.

Extraordinary.

ALL THIS TALK OF LOVE

Castellani, Christopher Algonquin (320 pp.) $13.95 paperback | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-61620-170-8

“You have to tend to family like you tend to a garden,” writes Castellani (The Saint of Lost Things, 2005, etc.) in his third literary effort.

Matriarch Maddalena, “reporting and worrying and complaining and negotiating,” needs more care than any other flower in the Grasso family garden. Maddalena is 70-something, still beautiful, still grieving over the death of her first-born son, Tony, and very much the axis of life for husband Antonio, daughter Prima and son Francesco. Antonio is semiretired from his successful restaurant. Prima is well-married to prosperous Tom Buckley and mother of four strapping sons. Much to Maddalena’s distress, Frankie, born after Tony’s death, is a grad student in faraway Boston, “building additions to the sprawling mansion of his dissertation with the zeal of Bob Vila.” There is a certain equilibrium, even though Tony’s death was a suicide that left behind guilty secrets in the hearts of Antonio and Prima. Then, Prima uses the celebration of her youngest son’s religious confirmation to announce she has bought tickets for the entire family for a sojourn to her parents’ ancestral village, Santa Cecilia in Italy. Maddalena angrily dismisses the gift. Refusing to voice her objection, she fears returning to see the beauty of her youth ripped away by reality and to again meet Vito, her first love. Layered over this family conflict are other, more serious catastrophes. Prima and her youngest are seriously injured in an auto accident, an incident that turns her from nurturing and devoted to bitter and angry. Then, Maddalena begins a rapid descent into “old timer’s.”

Castellani writes movingly, affectingly of immigrant life, of the dichotomy of cultures, of the persistence of love across generations. (Agent: Janet Silver)

INDISCRETION

Dubow, Charles Morrow/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $24.99 | $11.99 e-book | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-06-220105-8 978-0-06-220107-2 e-book Dubow crafts an epic novel of friendship, betrayal and undying love. It’s a beautifully written debut.

Walter Gervais is a true gentleman and childhood friend of Harry Winslow’s wife, Maddy, and it’s through his eyes that the story is told. Unobtrusive and playing a rather peripheral role, at least in the beginning, he delivers a balanced and fascinating account of the events that invariably change not only his friends’ lives, but his own.

Renowned author Harry and financially independent Maddy are the quintessential New York couple: attractive, socially prominent and undeniably in love. They spend their summers in Maddy’s small house in East Hampton with their son, Johnny, surrounded by a circle of friends. One evening, a beautiful younger woman accompanies her lover to a party at the couple’s house, and she gradually insinuates herself into their lives and becomes a welcomed houseguest. Claire’s attracted to Harry, but he rebuffs her and makes light of the situation, reminding her he’s married and madly in love with his wife. At summer’s end, much to Claire’s disappointment, the Winslows move to Rome for a year so Harry can begin work on his new book. When Harry’s editor summons him back to New York for a meeting with the publishers a couple of months after the move, he runs into Claire at a club, and they engage in a steamy, passionate affair that continues after Harry returns to Rome. Harry’s dilemma is that he loves both women, but he never entertains the thought of leaving his wife. But Maddy eventually discovers the deceit and leaves Harry.

She returns to New York with Johnny, and Harry follows. Up to this point, the book has been an entertaining read, but it’s the latter half of the book that really seals the deal. As the couple struggles with the ruins of their relationship, the author chooses to add more unexpected layers to the story that elevate it from run-of-the-mill to outstanding.

Dubow’s book is a page turner that skillfully tugs at the heartstrings.

MIMI

Ellmann, Lucy Bloomsbury (352 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 14, 2013 978-1-62040-020-3 Another self-consciously erudite comedy from Ellmann (Doctors and Nurses, 2006, etc.), this time a romance about a plastic surgeon whose love for a good woman helps him take stock.

On Christmas Eve—the novel is organized by holidays—plastic surgeon Harrison Hanafan slips | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2413

on the ice in Midtown Manhattan and sprains his ankle. Having recently broken up with his girlfriend, Gertrude, a rich art lover with no redeeming characteristics except her son (born by parthenogenesis), Harrison recuperates at home for weeks with his newly adopted cat, Bubbles, playing music and making lists as is his wont. An invitation that arrives in the mail to give a speech at his old high school causes him to call his sister Bee, who escaped her abusive husband and is now a sculptor in England, and to ruminate about his unhappy childhood. Afraid of speechmaking, he hires a coach who turns out to be the plump, middle-aged mystery woman who saved him on Christmas Eve by putting him in a cab. Love blooms between Harrison and Mimi, full of bons mots and more lists that give the author a chance to share her sociological and cultural insights ad nauseam. The romance does face bumps in the road. Gertrude arrives and tries to seduce Harrison just as Mimi walks in. Then, there is the random murder of Bee, shot by a crazed ex-soldier in a rage against women. And Bubbles is run over but survives.

The skimpy plot of Harrison’s emotional and moral growth is encased in thick layers of social commentary, one-liner repartee and those endless lists. The sense of being preached to is strong throughout. And excepting the lyrics to some lovely old songs like “Joe Hill” and “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” the appendix with Harrison’s feminist manifesto is mostly annoying.

Ellman’s use of visuals and wordplay, as well as her comic sensibility, is very much a matter of taste, though her tone strongly implies that the readers who don’t get her are merely plebeians anyway.

SHAKEDOWN

Ellroy, James Byliner Inc. (60 pp.) $1.99 e-book | Oct. 1, 2012 Need paint peeled? Skin flensed?

Zombies repelled? Expose the problem to Ellroy’s scabrous, excoriating look behind the curtains of golden-era Los Angeles and presto—solved.

The big question is this: Is the novella a fit form for Ellroy (The Hilliker Curse, 2010, etc.)? He packs a tremendous dose of venom, after all, into a page. His latest outing warns of this at the outset, an interlocutor speaking from purgatory, that most Catholic of old-fashioned venues in the afterlife, where “guys like me—caustic cads that capitalized on a sick system and caused catastrophe” spend a few eons in the great big waiting room in the sky. (Anomic agents of alliteration, too.) Up on earth, it’s the time of the Black Dahlia and LA Confidential, a time when everybody in Hollywood is most definitely up to no good while making fortunes pretending to be squeaky-clean: Liberace, that “fey fucker,” does what, well, what Liberace does. Ditto Van Johnson, the “Semen Demon.” Burt Lancaster’s a sadist, Hitchcock a peeper, Natalie Wood “rumored to be ensconced at a dyke slave den near Hollywood High.” It’s to be noted that all these figures are dead, for the dead cannot sue for libel. All play 2414 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

a part in Ellroy’s vision of the nastiness that underlies the ordinary world, a Blue Velvet-ish kind of place where no one, especially a cop, approaches purity and where someone who bears the moniker Bondage Bob is about the closest thing to normal that there is, even if old Bondage Bob hangs out with Jean-Paul Sartre. By those lights, purgatory is closer than we think, its entrance some rummy den down on Sunset, the sign over the door a slogan from late in the book: “Fuck—my ass hurts!”

Most definitely not nice, though if you like your language salty enough to f loat on without ever hitting water, then this is just the thing. Just don’t let the person next to you on the bus or train catch a glimpse of what you’re reading.

A WINTER DREAM

Evans, Richard Paul Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $19.99 | Oct. 30, 2012 978-1-4516-2803-6 Best-selling author Evans takes the biblical story of Joseph and transposes it to contemporary times in Denver, Chicago and New York.

This novel turns biblical archetypes into authentic, believable characters and uses an interesting and credible plot to convey an important message. Joseph Jacobson, or J.J as he likes to be called, is his father’s 12th son, one of two sons born of his father’s fourth wife. His 11 brothers are jealous of him because he is also his father’s favorite. The biblical coat of many colors is, in this modern tale, the father’s Navy flight jacket from Vietnam decorated with the colorful patches of his deployment. Joseph’s father chose to give him this precious gift at a family dinner on the same night he celebrated his favorite son’s success in saving an account for the family advertising firm. And so the story begins. The oldest brothers find a way to banish their hated younger brother to a different company in Chicago, where he rises above hardships only to fall and rise again. Each chapter begins with one of the narrator’s dreams, and these dreams turn out to be symbolically prophetic, just as Joseph’s dreams in Egypt turned out to be. The first-person narrative voice feels familiar and endearing, and the conversations among the various characters are authentic. Readers will relate to these characters, be moved to tears and laughter by them, and most importantly, be inspired by them.

If you know how the biblical story ends, it won’t spoil anything for you to know that this book has a happy ending. Getting there is a journey you should definitely take.

(Agent: Laurie Liss)

“The best kind of satire.” from middle men

MIDDLE MEN Stories

Gavin, Jim Simon & Schuster (224 pp.) $22.00 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-4516-4931-4 Gavin’s exceptional debut collection, set mainly in southern California, harkens to an earlier literary Los Angeles, that of Nathanael West, who, in The Day of the Locust, called Hollywood a “dream dump...the Sargasso of the imagination.”

Gavin’s bleakly funny, inventive stories feature hapless men caught between dire, pitiless reality—busted loves, dead parents, stillborn careers—and a golden (or at least spray-paint–gilded) mythology of manhood and of success that they can neither believe in nor bring themselves (quite) to throw out. Several stories feature young men making disastrous decisions and then following them to their conclusions in a way that would seem bathetic

except that these young men, not having the consolation of delusion, steam toward misery with eyes open and mordant wit intact.

There’s the impoverished 20-something in “Bermuda” who gets himself fired from his job as a Meals on Wheels deliveryman so as to chase his reluctant beloved to her new job teaching music in paradise. He does this not to win her back—that’s not in the cards, and he knows it—but because he sees that the only way out of the narrative he’s foolishly invested so much in is to keep spiraling down to its humiliating end. In “Elephant Doors,” an assistant to a mercurial, Belgium-obsessed quiz-show host is made to wriggle through a doggy door in the house of his ex-wife on a commando mission that cannot end but badly. The protagonist of “Illuminati” is a battered screenwriter still trying, long after the glory has faded, to nourish both himself and the “exalted visions I had of my future” off the proceeds from his one payday—for a “multi-ethnic buddy cop adventure comedy” called Hyde & Sikh. The poignant finale is a diptych about father-and-son toilet salesmen, the old man a veteran who feels most at home traversing the freeways, the son a fish hopelessly out of water, both bereft after the slow death by cancer of the woman—mother and wife—they loved.

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The best kind of satire: barbed and hilarious, but suffused with compassion. (Agent: PJ Mark)

THE CONFIDANT

Grémillon, Hélène Translated by Anderson, Alison Penguin (256 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Oct. 30, 2012 978-0-14-312156-5 From French writer Grémillon, an impressive first novel, a tale of love, infidelity, jealousy and guilt presented in a manner that grows in suspense and surprises right up to the very end.

When Camille Werner’s mother dies in 1975, she finds among the condolence letters a long letter from a stranger narrating a story that bears no apparent relation to her or her mother, so she naturally thinks the writer must have made a mistake in addressing it to her.

As the letters continue coming regularly every week, she begins to believe it is a work of fiction that an aspiring author is sending her in epistolary installments as a way to get her attention. Camille is an editor at a publishing house, so she is intrigued by this unusual but plausible explanation. Then, as the story continues, she recognizes odd little clues that force her to realize the letters are indeed meant for her and are not fiction, but are in fact the story of her family and her conception, especially poignant insofar as she is herself pregnant.

The story of Camille’s family, set in France in the early years of World War II, is told by three authentic, distinct voices. The transitions flow naturally from one to the other with musical precision and harmony, until Camille adds her own reactions and revelations to move the narrative on to the next verse.

A poetic novel.

THE BEAUTIFUL INDIFFERENCE

Hall, Sarah Perennial/HarperCollins (208 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Jan. 29, 2013 978-0-06-220845-3 Seven stories populate award-winning English novelist (How to Paint a Dead Man, 2009, etc.) Hall’s first collection.

“Butcher’s Perfume” is set up against the Scottish border, “burnt farm, red-river, raping territory,” where motherless Kathleen falls in with the Slessors, a prosperous family with a “gipsy” mother. Intrigued by petite and blue-eyed, hard-bitten and combative Manda, Kathleen soon needs help from a brother, Aaron, who rights a wrong with a brutal fierceness. In the title story, an older-woman—younger-man couple meet for a tryst. The man is a doctor-in-training, and there are intimations the woman is mortally ill. Next comes “Bees,” rendered in second person. A woman, disgraced by her husband’s illegitimate child, leaves her beloved 2416 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

northland’s “great heathered fells” to seek refuge with a London friend, lingering there unemployed, unemployable, contemplating a garden filled with dead bees. In “The Agency,” a comfortable life, thriving children and a professorial husband are risked by a woman after a sophisticated friend introduces her to an elegant service willing to provide a companion “to meet all possible needs.” Lovers take a vacation to an isolated African resort in “She Murdered the Mortal He.” There is a fracture in the relationship, and frustrated, she walks to a nearby village, glimpsing “in a clean bolt of panic,” a white shape trailing her. It is but a dog, a beast that later returns with a bloodied muzzle. Most affecting is “The Nightlong River,” a story of north country girls shortly after the Great War. The land has been seized by winter so cold as to be an “inverse Eden.” Magda is ill. Dolly attempts to help, learning in the end the dead leave us in “the solid world upon which we find ourselves, and in which we reign.” The collection concludes with “Vuotjärvi.” A couple vacation at a remote Finnish lake, and on an idyllic summer outing, the man attempts to swim to an island and disappears.

Visual and vibrant. Literary and lyrical.

SCENES FROM EARLY LIFE

Hensher, Philip Faber & Faber/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) $27.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-865-47761-2 Events both immense—like the painful birth of a nation—and humdrum are observed through the eyes of a child from a wealthy Bengali family, in an unusual novel-as-memoir by a celebrated

British author.

Zaved Mahmood is the husband of writer Hensher (The Missing Ink, 2012, etc.), and it’s Zaved’s stories of childhood which feed this richly-detailed fiction evoking life in Dacca, Pakistan, in a large, comfortable, extended family, while also subtly introducing disturbing glimpses of a growing social divide. Zaved recalls his childhood years, playing in the garden of his grandfather, the president of the East Pakistan Income Tax Lawyers’ Association. Zaved’s father is a lawyer too and so, eventually, will the son become. We glimpse the boy’s parents, siblings, uncles and aunts, meet his pet chicken and journey with him to the village where the family originated. But these lowkey early scenes are threaded with hints of oppression. Zaved’s family is Bengali, and their culture is coming under increasingly suppression by the Urdu-speaking government. In 1971, after an election, violence flares into a terrible, eight-month war of independence. The family, huddled together for safety, witnesses the bloodshed firsthand but survives, and episodic family life, its dramas and feuds, resumes.

Neither history nor autobiography, this well-crafted, illustrated hybrid offers insight and warmth yet remains something of a literary curiosity. (Agent: Georgia Garrett)

ASH

Herbert, James Tor (704 pp.) $29.99 | Dec. 11, 2012 978-0-7653-2896-0 Curious blend of supernatural horror and conspiracy theory, from the veteran ghost-chaser (The Secret of Crickley Hall, 2006, etc.).

In his latest adventure, absintheswilling, deeply conflicted paranormal investigator David Ash tackles Comraich Castle in Scotland, an ancient, isolated pile whose sponsors, the Inner Court, comprise a secret organization of British royals and other superrich, shadowy movers and shakers. What’s going on at Comraich? Well, it turns out to be a sanctuary for war criminals, mass murderers, child molesters, insane dictators and others whose public presence might prove embarrassing or dangerous and who desire to vanish utterly (in some cases, involuntarily). Their sole common characteristic is that they are wealthy enough to afford the astronomical fees. Comraich’s problem, as Ash learns, is that an enormously powerful and hostile psychic presence has manifested itself in the dungeons where insane inmates are housed—so powerful, indeed, that it threatens to destroy the castle itself. Herbert pulls in a laundry list of real-life characters (used fictitiously, of course) who disappeared mysteriously or whose deaths gave rise to conspiracy theories (no Elvis, but there is the requisite Hitlerian connection).

Tasteful, however, it isn’t. The book opens with the thoughts of a dying Princess Diana—her connection to Comraich isn’t revealed until near the end—and trundles rapidly downhill into mayhem punctuated with bouts of sex and swathes of irrelevant detail. Plot and dialogue often verge on the ludicrous. Readers end up in the peculiar position of knowing what’s to come and actually approving it: Yes, many of the people here are that unpleasant. Herbert clearly intended to channel public anger at the way the superrich insulate themselves from reality, and in this, he succeeds, especially given the recent revelations about how the British royals meddle in politics to their own benefit.

A yarn that has almost everything wrong with it, yet still reveals a compelling truth.

KISS OF SURRENDER

Hill, Sandra Avon/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $7.99 paperback | Nov. 27, 2012 978-0-06-206462-2 Trond Sigurdsson, a Viking vampire angel, has been sent to train as a Navy SEAL in order to save some misguided servicemen targeted by the devil’s legions; falling for Nicole Tasso is a decidedly unwelcome side effect, even if she is the woman he’s been searching for across a millennium.

For their sinful, violent ways, Viking Trond Sigurdsson and his

brothers have been sentenced to serve as Viking vampire angels, fighting against the devil’s newest demon form, the Lucipire, a vampire who sucks the blood of humans just as they commit a mortal sin, forcing them into an eternity of suffering. Trond’s most recent mission is to train and serve as a Navy SEAL, saving two tainted colleagues and rooting out a diabolical plan that will wreak global havoc. But Trond is distracted by his growing attraction to Lt. Nicole Tasso, who is determined to overcome a wounded past.

As the mission gets more complex and Nicole is placed in real danger, Trond discovers emotions he’s never felt, and he must question everything he’s ever known about good and evil, love and sin and what it truly means to be a hero. Hill has created an intriguing new series with the Deadly Angels books, but her reach may be too long in this effort. There is too much going on, too many competing ideas and too many inconsistencies to carry a cohesive, powerful storyline. (Consider: Viking vampire angels.) Trond often comes across as a moronic goofball, and while there is some growth by the end of the book, it’s hard to be completely persuaded that he’s a hero. What develops between Nicole and Trond is more sexual than romantic, and an awkwardly leveraged Trond-pretends-to-begay-to-cover-for-all-the-other-things-he’s-hiding plot twist makes little sense, while undermining Nicole’s credibility. Toss in hotand-steamy sexual tension and bad language that will make some readers uncomfortable and maladroit discourses on spiritual and religious concepts that will confuse many paranormal fans expecting a lighthearted read, and you have a book with an undefined audience, a shaky narrative core and two main characters who don’t quite sell the high-stakes romance.

A confusing combination of too many elements without a commanding storyline or deeply convincing characters to pull it all together.

THE BROKEN ONES

Irwin, Stephen M. Doubleday (368 pp.) $26.00 | Aug. 7, 2012 978-0-385-53465-9

In the strange, devastating aftermath of Gray Wednesday, when the Earth’s poles suddenly switched, the world is in even greater chaos, climatic distress and financial ruin than it is now.

Not only are people struggling for survival, most of them are shadowed by a ghost. In most cases, it’s the ghost of a relative or friend, but for tormented Australian cop Oscar Mariani, the specter is an unknown 16-year-old boy. The son of a storied cop, Mariani works for forever dank and gloomy Brisbane’s special Nine-Ten unit, which determines whether a homicide suspect was driven to commit the crime by the maddening presence of a ghost. If so, it’s a pardonable offense. Oscar has a vested interest in solving the grisly killing of a girl found ripped apart in a sewage plant, a weird religious symbol carved into her stomach. He has never gotten over the guilt of maiming another teenage girl when he swerved to avoid a boy in the road—the boy, as it turns out, who is now haunting | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2417

“Love and family defy the expected in this engaging tale.” from calling me home

him. When Oscar’s dirty superiors order him to back off the case, which involves the abduction, torture and murder of disabled girls from a nursing home, he goes rogue, losing his loyal female partner on the force in the process. It’s not enough for him to get beat up, shot and hailed on. In a frightening scene, huge, vulturelike creatures maul him. In the striking retro future of this novel, bizarre and familiar comfortably coincide.

A flawlessly assembled thriller. (Agent: Selwa Anthony)

THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE

Joseph, Manu Norton (336 pp.) $15.95 paperback | Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-393-33862-1

Ousep Chacko searches for the meaning of the death of his son Unni, who three years earlier had fallen—or perhaps thrown himself?—off a balcony.

A reporter with United News of India, Ousep has become obsessed with discovering the events surrounding his son’s death. There’s no question that Unni had some strange quirks, but it’s not clear to Ousep whether his views and behavior were unconventional or bizarre enough to sustain a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Unni had died at the age of 17 and had shown some talent as an artist, especially as a cartoonist, so Ousep starts to scrutinize some of his son’s cartoons, hoping to find hints of his fate. In one disturbing series, Unni depicted friends and family as corpses, and he had cryptically confessed to a friend: “I know a corpse.” Another series also preys on Ousep’s mind, a sequence of cartoons with “bubbles” for dialogue, though Unni had not had time to ink in the words, so the story he intended to create remains forever perplexing and elusive. Ousep becomes convinced that the secret of his son’s demise lies with two of his friends, Sai and Somen, so he pursues them relentlessly, almost to the verge of stalking. He pumps them for information that they’re unwilling to yield—though perhaps they know nothing at all. Ousep begins to haunt Somen’s house at all hours, trying to catch a glimpse of him and engage him in conversation, but Somen’s parents continually deny that he’s home. Finally, at the end of the novel, Somen emerges from his room, where he’s remained for the previous two years, to explain to Ousep Unni’s unnerving and elliptical take on reality.

Joseph writes with extraordinary wit, cunning and sympathy about both family relationships and ultimate mysteries.

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THE HOUSE ON WILLOW STREET

Kelly, Cathy Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (496 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-4516-8140-6 A novel for and about women, a tapestry woven of romance and mystery, secrets kept and revealed, hearts broken and mended, dreams shattered and realized as destinies are rediscovered.

The author begins by taking the reader on a tour of the small town of Avalon on the Irish Coast, introducing her cast of characters, hinting at their secrets, letting them question, surprise and ultimately support one another. Danae, the postmistress, is kind and discreet, careful not to pry too much into the private lives of the people she serves, knowing from personal experience that some things are just too hard to talk about. Her niece Mara leaves small-town life for a career in the big city only to return to nurse a broken heart. Tess remains home to care for her dying father, marries, has two children and runs an antiques business. When her marriage to Kevin grows bland, she suggests a trial separation to see if absence will make their hearts grow fonder. Tess’ older sister Suki left home as soon as she could, seeking a bigger pond, and when her marriage into a famous, wealthy American family ended, she embarked upon an affair with a famous rock star.

Additionally, she made a name for herself as the author of a bestselling feminist work titled Women and Their Wars. By the time we meet her, Suki is alone, broke and dealing with writer’s block. She is also running from a scandalmonger seeking information about the famous family she was once a part of and decides to hide out with her sister back home.

The characters, with all their detailed idiosyncrasies, are authentically portrayed, and the peregrinations of the complex plot make for a fascinating journey and an excellent read.

CALLING ME HOME

Kibler, Julie St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $24.99 | $11.99 e-book | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-250-014528 978-1-250-01453-5 e-book From East Texas to Cincinnati, from present-day racism to 1930s segregation, Isabelle and Dorrie travel together, a most unlikely pair of companions, and their stories unfold.

After having been Isabelle’s hairdresser for a decade, Dorrie thinks she knows Isabelle pretty well, even though Isabelle is a 90-something white woman and she is a 30-something black woman and even though Isabelle grew up privileged and she has struggled to begin her own shop. Over time, the women have

bonded over shared stories, stories about Dorrie’s divorce and Isabelle’s favorite soap operas. And over time, they have become friends. Yet, when Isabelle asks Dorrie to drive her cross-country to a funeral, Dorrie is taken aback. It’s easy enough to ask her mother to care for her children, but telling Teague, her new boyfriend, is another matter. Their relationship is still new, still tentative, and Dorrie has been burned by men too often. Once on the road, Isabelle’s most secret story comes out. Growing up in a town that persecuted blacks who dared to stay after sunset, and under the thumb of a mother watching her daughter’s every movement, Isabelle was the last young woman the people of Shalerville, Ky., might have expected to fall in love with a black man. The repercussions of their love shattered their lives, their families, their futures.

Yet, their story isn’t finished, and Dorrie wonders what lingers and whose funeral they are headed toward. As she puts the puzzle of Isabelle together, Dorrie has worries of her own. Can she trust Teague? Why have her son and his girlfriend stopped planning for the prom? Kibler’s unsentimental eye makes the problems faced unflinchingly by these women ring true.

Love and family defy the expected in this engaging tale.

BLACK FLOWER

Kim, Young-Ha Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (320 pp.) $25.00 | Oct. 30, 2012 978-0-547-69113-8 Korean author Kim stumbled upon a little-known piece of history during a conversation on a trans-Pacific flight. This history was so fascinating, he wanted to base a novel on it. This is that novel.

In his author notes, he explains the title: “There is no such thing as a black flower; it exists only in imagination. In the same way the place that the characters in the novel hoped to go is a utopia that does not exist in reality.” He goes on to dedicate this work to the 1,033 people who made that fateful journey back in 1905. Kim has created a work that is rooted in this history. Koreans of varying background and social status facing the domination of the Japanese are enticed by Westerners into making an ocean journey to a land

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k i r ku s q & a w i t h ja m i at t e n b e r g THE MIDDLESTEINS

Attenberg, Jami Grand Central Publishing (288 pp.) $24.99 Oct. 23, 2012 978-1-4555-0721-4

The Middlesteins by Jami At tenberg is one of the funniest novels of the year. It is also one of the saddest, filled with sad characters doing sad things and meeting sad fates. The female protagonist, an accomplished lawyer in suburban Chicago, is in the process of eating herself to death, alienating her husband and exasperating her two children. “She was a smart woman,” writes Attenberg, “even though she was also so incredibly stupid.” The starred Kirkus review praised this as “a sharp-tongued, sweetnatured masterpiece of Jewish family life.”

Recently, Attenberg spoke with Kirkus about her propensity toward tragicomedy, on-the-nose book titles and the obesity epidemic.

Q: How much of a challenge was it to sustain the balance of tone? Did you envision this as tragicomedy from the start?

Q: Why did you decide to play hopscotch with the chronology, titling many chapters to indicate your protagonist’s weight fluctuations across the decades, rather than write the narrative in a more linear fashion?

A: I think Jews tend to have a sense of humor about themselves—even in the face of tragedy—so it would have been difficult to write this with a cold, sober attitude. It would have been untrue to the characters.

I feel like everything I write is a tragicomedy. It’s my worldview. Laugh and cry until you die. It’s one way to go, anyway.

A: Because I heard it in my head that way? I just find that time-shifting kind of thing so interesting—I was trying to create suspense for the reader as much as I was for myself. I felt like the information was coming out just when it needed to, even when I was writing it. The reader learns about her just when I did.

Q: How about the family’s name—was that there from the start? What does it signify, and why is it the title of the novel?

Q: Does this novel have a happy ending?

A: It was there pretty early on…. I remember asking people if it was too obvious, but everyone seemed to get it and find it amusing. Sometimes it’s OK to be on the nose. They’re a family of Midwestern Jews, and the title says exactly that. Although I do remember—this was just after I sold the book—talking to a literary agent I knew who said to me, “Wow, they’re letting you keep the name?” It might have been too Jewish for her. But it’s just Jewish enough for me.

A: I think it’s as happy as it could possibly be, given the subject matter. I’m always shooting to provide at least a little hope. At least it makes me feel better.

–By Don McLeese

Q: Obesity has become something of a political issue in recent years. Was your inspiration for the novel topical or social?

Was it a symbol for an obsession that goes well beyond the overconsumption of food?

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ph oto by mic ha el S h a rk e y

A: My inspiration was equally social and topical— though at a base level, I was interested in how a person could put her health on the line the way that Edie does. The Middlesteins could have been cigarettes or alcohol or drugs, I suppose, but those vices have less of an immediate physical manifestation. It needed to be something that couldn’t be hidden. There is a certain kind of helplessness that surrounds that from a family’s perspective.

of greater opportunity: not the United States, but Mexico. They embark upon the crowded ship, where two people die and one is born. They endure disease and all kinds of difficulties, only to learn after their arrival that they have been tricked and sold into indentured servitude. From the broad sweep of history to insightful and convincing individual instances of self-discovery, this book develops on many levels and shines a light on issues of gender, class, religious and racial conflicts, and the ways that disparate cultures clash and sometimes meld.

Readers who remember the historical fiction of Thomas B. Costain, Zoe Oldenbourg and Anya Seton will appreciate the extensive research and empathic imagination that went into this novel. (Author appearances in New York)

A KILLER IN THE WIND

Klavan, Andrew Mysterious Press (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-8021-2067-0

Dan Champion is a disgraced NYPD vice cop whose successful handling of an evil child-sex-trade operation was compromised by his pumping five bullets into a prime suspect while on powerful hallucinogens. Now working as a small-town detective, he is revisited by the case via ghosts, including that of a beguiling mystery woman who warns him to run for his life.

At least Champion thinks they’re ghosts. What starts out as a supernatural mystery turns into a chilling noir rooted in heightened realism when, spurred by his long-suffering girlfriend, Champion investigates repressed traumas in his own past. He was an orphan “adopted” along with other 6-year-olds by the infamous Fat Woman and headed for a terrible end. So powerful is Z, the drug he takes to recover mental images crucial to his investigation, that he spends a stretch of time not knowing whether what he’s seeing is real or imagined. Does there really exist this enormous blob of womanhood without a face? Did he ever know and fall in love with Samantha, the purest embodiment of love? And what about the skeleton-faced killer with the spine-tingling promises to subject Champion to a permanent state of torture? Streaked with violence and gloom, this stand-alone, from the author of the Weiss and Bishop series (Damnation Street, 2006, etc.) and the youth-oriented Homelanders series, evokes the gritty classics of Cornell Woolrich and Jim Thompson while spinning its own brand of hard-boiled psychological suspense.

Among its other distinctions, this book gives us a detective who is tough enough to outlast the most bizarre encounters but isn’t too tough to be gripped with fear.

(Agent: Robert Gottlieb)

DREAM EYES

Krentz, Jayne Ann Putnam (352 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-399-15895-7 When Gwen Frazier returns to Wilby, Ore., to investigate the death of her mentor, she knows she’s opening up psychic wounds she’d rather forget, and when her best friend sends in investigator Judson Coppersmith to help, she realizes she’s met her match, romantically and psychically. Will their attraction, skills and talent be enough, in time, to solve the mystery and save them both?

Psychic Gwen Frazier would just as soon avoid Wilby, Ore., since she was nearly the victim of a serial killer two years ago, when she was participating in a psychic research study. But when the researcher, Gwen’s friend and mentor Evelyn Ballinger, winds up dead, and names Gwen as her sole heir, she simply can’t stay away. Returning to the town opens Gwen up to even more danger, physically and psychically, and turns the sheriff ’s suspicious mind to Gwen as the prime suspect. Gwen’s friend sends her Judson Coppersmith, of the wealthy Coppersmith family, a renowned investigator who has some strong psychic talent himself, as well as a wildfire physical attraction. Judson might as well be the cavalry as far as Gwen is concerned, with his security and weapons skills, plus his psychic intuition toward violent crime. He’s just what she needs to solve the crime and stay alive. As bodies start piling up in Wilby, it becomes clear that Gwen is once again a target. Judson and Gwen must race to find a link between the past and the present to solve the mystery and catch the killer determined to take Gwen’s life. And as the two work toward answers, they’ll realize just how good they are together—in oh-so-many ways. This is the second novel in the Dark Legacy series from Krentz. The master storyteller once again creates authentic, well-drawn characters, a quick-paced, engrossing plot set against a backdrop of a psychic world imprinted effortlessly on our own and a relatable romance one can’t help but root for.

Romantic suspense with a psychic twist—or, a little bit of everything, all wrapped up in wonderful.

HERE I GO AGAIN

Lancaster, Jen NAL/Berkley (320 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 29, 2013 978-0-451-23672-2

In a whimsical twist on the Back to the Future scenario, a bully returns to her high school days to right some wrongs.

At 17, Lissy Ryder was the Mean Girl of Lyons Township High in suburban Chicago. As head cheerleader and girlfriend of the football team captain, Duke, she had a clique of cool girls in her thrall, and she persecuted anyone who was | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2421

different or nonconformist. Now 37, Lissy, a publicist, lives only to overspend. After she’s fired by her PR firm for shirking, her husband, Duke, stops covering her massive debts and asks for a divorce. She’s gained a few pounds since moving back to her parents’ house and is not looking forward to the 20-year reunion of LTH’s class of ’92. Hoping to network with her former sycophants, she’s appalled to find that, without exception, her victims have outclassed and outperformed her. Amy, a girl Lissy mocked for her long nose, is now a plastic surgeon to the stars.

One-time hippie outcast Debbie is now Deva, a New-Age entrepreneur. Brian, a dorky but attractive neighbor Lissy dumped for Duke, is an Internet couponing mogul. At the reunion, Lissy is the pariah. When Deva gives her a rare Incan potion, Lissy thinks it’s a hangover cure, until she wakes up in her parents’ house—in 1991! Lissy seizes this opportunity to avoid karmic missteps, dialing down the meanness. Back in the future, Lissy is not only happily hitched to Duke, but as the CEO of a thriving Chicago PR firm, is supporting him. She has it all, including the Birkin bag and the Gold Coast town house. However, now her victims are failures: Brian toils in a grim cubicle, the plastic surgeon is a trailer-trash drunk, etc. How can Lissy rectify the unintended consequences of her well-meaning do-over? The answer, while subject to many of the logical sinkholes typical of parallel-universe tales, is still unexpected enough for a fitting and none too treacly close.

Quantum physics was never funnier. A great read.

THE GOOD HOUSE

Leary, Ann St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-250-01554-9

A supposedly recovering alcoholic real estate agent tells her not-exactlytrustworthy version of life in her small New England town in this tragicomic novel by Leary (Outtakes from a Marriage, 2008, etc.).

Sixty-year-old Hildy Good, a divorced realtor who has lived all her life in Wendover on the Massachusetts North Shore, proudly points to having an ancestor burned at the stake at the Salem witch trials. In fact, her party trick is to do psychic readings using subtle suggestions and observational skills honed by selling homes. At first, the novel seems to center on Hildy’s insights about her Wendover neighbors, particularly her recent client Rebecca McAllister, a high-strung young woman who has moved into a local mansion with her businessman husband and two adopted sons. Hildy witnesses Rebecca having trouble fitting in with other mothers, visiting the local psychiatrist Peter Newbold, who rents an office above Hildy’s, and winning a local horse show on her expensive new mount. Hildy is acerbically funny and insightful about her neighbors; many, like her, are from old families whose wealth has evaporated. She becomes Rebecca’s confidante about the affair Rebecca is having with Peter, whom Hildy helped baby-sit when he was a lonely child.

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She helps another family who needs to sell their house to afford schooling for their special needs child. She begins an affair with local handyman Frankie Getchell, with whom she had a torrid romance as a teenager. But Hildy, who has recently spent a stint in rehab and joined AA after an intervention by her grown daughters, is not quite the jolly eccentric she appears. There are those glasses of wine she drinks alone at night, those morning headaches and memory lapses that are increasing in frequency.

As both Rebecca’s and Hildy’s lives spin out of control, the tone darkens until it approaches tragedy. Throughout, Hildy is original, irresistibly likable and thoroughly untrustworthy.

Despite getting a little preachy toward the end, Leary has largely achieved a genuinely funny novel about alcoholism.

SWIMMING HOME

Levy, Deborah Bloomsbury (176 pp.) $14.00 paperback | Oct. 16, 2012 978-1-62040-169-9 Naked came the stranger—and, oddly, no one’s in much of a hurry to get her clothed.

When Kitty Finch shows up at the door of a famous British poet’s tony vacation getaway in the South of France, she makes quite an impression. She is staggeringly beautiful and, as mentioned, unclothed. And then her eyes—well, “Kitty Finch’s eyes were grey like the tinted windows of Mitchell’s hire car, a Mercedes, parked on the gravel at the front of the villa.” She has skills as a botanist, is a would-be poet herself and has an odd fixation with the poet, who is a bit of an odd duck himself, a collector of bits and pieces of natural history, of bric-a-brac and allusion and especially of people, surrounded by other odd ducks such as a German hippie who “was never exact about anything” and keeps his nose and brain tucked inside Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha most of the time. As South African–born British writer Levy (Ophelia and the Great Idea, 1988, etc.) soon lets us know, Kitty Finch—her name is repeated like a mantra throughout the book—has designs on Joe Jacobs, who doesn’t mind at first, but soon comes to regret the dalliance. Who, after all, wouldn’t be just a little afraid of a girl who can wink with either eye? The bigger question, on which the book turns, is why Joe’s wife, Isabel, allows events to unfold as they do; is this all an experiment for her benefit and interest, too? Levy winds her characters up and watches them go, and they do as most humans do, which is to mess up in the face of desire. Her novel is utterly beautiful and lyrical throughout, even at the most tragic turns (“I have never got a grip on when the past begins or where it ends...as much as I try to make the past keep still and mind its manners, it moves and murmurs with me through every day”).

A shortlisted nominee for the Man Booker Prize, deserving of the widest readership.

“A love letter dripping with 1980s nostalgia.” from rage is back

RAGE IS BACK

Mansbach, Adam Viking (304 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 10, 2013 978-0-670-02612-8 In a postmodernist world of NYC graffiti artists driven underground, war is an act of art.

Mansbach (Go the F**k to Sleep, 2011, etc.) returns to fictionalizing the untidy corners of the New York City culture wars. Our admittedly unreliable narrator is Dondi Vance, a biracial scholarship student and part-time hydro dealer. He’s just been dumped by Kirsten, aka “The Uptown Girl,” who is furious that Dondi’s been expelled from “Whoopty Whoo Ivy League We’s A Comin’ Academy.” He’s also the product of mad genes, having been raised by his mother, Karen, after his papa, Billy Rage, the city’s most infamous graffiti artist, vanished in 1989 after his best friend’s murder. Now everyone on the

scene is clashing with Billy’s nemesis, corrupt transit authority bureaucrat Anastacio Bracken. As a narrator, Dondi wields a fantastic but implausible voice that is electric with rhythm, riddled with bullshit and wise beyond its years. One second, he has a professorial understanding of street culture; the next, he’s discovering a time warp in a tenement building. We get a good example of Dondi’s attitude when Billy returns from psychotropic exile in Mexico. “When you’re responsible for somebody with whom you’ve got so much unresolved shit, you’ve either gotta find the inner strength to make each act a tiny gesture of forgiveness, or else spend every stagnant, housebound hour pulsing with resentment.” Dondi’s story proves thrilling: The book is peppered with grandfatherly revolutionaries, slangslinging young bloods and an army of paint-wielding ninjas who unite with military precision on an ambitious plan to graffitibomb every single train car on the MTA. A love letter dripping with 1980s nostalgia that talks and talks and talks the talk. (Agent: Richard Abate)

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THREE GRAVES FULL

Mason, Jamie Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $24.99 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-4516-8503-9 Mason’s quirky debut novel deftly weaves dark humor into a plot that’s as complicated as a jigsaw puzzle but more fun to put together.

Jason Getty has a secret that’s come close to ruining his life. It’s colored everything he has said or done in the past year, even down to neglecting his suburban yard. As it turns out, he might have been better off leaving that yard of his alone, because that’s what ultimately undoes him in this entertaining story of a man and the three dead bodies buried outside his ordinary little house. Jason knows about one of the bodies because he put it there. A mild-mannered widower whose late wife wasn’t exactly his biggest fan, he ended up spending one long, terrible night digging a grave on the edge of his property’s woods, shoveling rich dirt over a man’s sheetcovered remains. Then, Jason tried to forget about the grave, ignoring his yard and allowing it to grow over with weeds and unkempt bushes. After enough time had passed, Jason began to feel safe, thinking his secret would remain undiscovered. That prompts him to abandon caution and hire a lawn-care company to install some new landscaping, but he covers himself by making certain the workers stay far away from the hidden body.

Turns out that body isn’t the problem; instead of unearthing Jason’s secret, they dig up not one, but two additional bodies in the yard, and Jason has no idea whom either corpse might be.

When a couple of police detectives with a very smart dog and a pair of interlopers show up to complicate matters, the stage is set for one of the strangest nights ever, much of it staged in Jason’s yard. Although the self-consciously clever prose threatens to overwhelm them, the characters keep the action rolling in a tale that is often very funny in a weird sort of way.

Mason’s written a dandy of a first outing with not a single boring moment. (Agent: Amy Moore-Benson)

THE TWELVE TRIBES OF HATTIE

Mathis, Ayana Knopf (256 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-307-95943-0

The legacy of the Great Migration from the 1920s to the 1980s infuses this cutting, emotional collection of linked stories.

The central figure of Mathis’ debut is Hattie, who arrived in Philadelphia in the 1920s as a teenager, awed by the everyday freedoms afforded blacks outside of her native Georgia. But the opening story, “Philadelphia and Jubilee,” is pure heartbreak, as pride 2424 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

and poverty keep her from saving her infant twin children from pneumonia. Though Mathis has inherited some of Alice Walker’s sentimentality and Toni Morrison’s poetic intonation, her own prose is appealingly earthbound and plainspoken, and the book’s structure is ingenious: It moves across the bulk of the 20th century, with each chapter spotlighting one of Hattie’s nine surviving children. (The title’s “twelve tribes” are those nine children, plus the infant twins and a granddaughter who’s central to the closing story.) Each child’s personal struggle is a function of the casual bigotry and economic challenges in the wake of Jim Crow.

Floyd is a jazz trumpeter and serial philanderer who awakens to his homosexuality; Six is a tent-revival preacher who comes at his profession cynically, as a way to escape his family; Alice is the well-off wife of a doctor with a co-dependent relationship with her brother, Billups; and so on. The longest and most disarming story features Bell, who in 1975 starts a relationship with one of Hattie’s former boyfriends, highlighting the themes of illness and oppressiveness of family. Mathis will occasionally oversimplify dialogue to build drama, but she’s remarkably deft at many more things for a first-timer: She gracefully shifts her narratives back and forth in time; has an eye for simple but resonant details; and possesses a generous empathy for Hattie, who is unlikable on the surface but carries plenty of complexity.

An excellent debut that finds layers of pathos within a troubled clan. (Author tour to Boston, Dallas, Iowa City, New Orleans and New York)

THE INBETWEEN PEOPLE

McEvoy, Emma Permanent Press (176 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-57962-311-1

A first novel that examines personal grief and political grievances in contemporary Israel.

Avi Goldberg is in prison, refusing to do his tour in the Israeli Defense Force reserves (he has already completed his active duty). Avi’s father, Daniel, is a kibbutznik, a believer in the communitarian ideals associated with the founding of the Israeli state. While Avi is the protagonist, writing all night in his cell about his dead Israeli-Arab friend Saleem and his family, Daniel’s articulate, dry voice is heard in letters to Avi’s mother, Sareet. Sareet left the family when Avi was a child and moved to the Netherlands. The perspective shifts, recording the loss of Saleem’s ancestral home and the curious position Saleem found himself occupying when he opted to serve in the IDF. To his family, this decision is at best an abdication and at worst a betrayal. Along with multiple voices and perspectives, there are numerous flashbacks. The overall effect is of fragmentation—of lives, of the past. Even the future appears to be in tatters, the characters alternately desperate and fatalistic. When Avi is victimized, he appears unwilling to exact vengeance. While Daniel records Avi’s injuries in almost clinical detail, he has nothing to say about the environment that

made such injuries routine. Deeply attuned to personal feelings, he is insulated from the climate of grief and resentment.

In prison, Avi receives regular visits from Saleem’s widow. The grasping form of Sahar and the tragic David are haunting figures. Another prisoner, David is a genuine conscientious objector. David is as lost as everyone else, but he is lost to his convictions, and this seems almost heroic in this arid miasma.

An impressive debut.

FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER

Meister, Ellen Putnam (320 pp.) $26.95 | Feb. 21, 2013 978-0-399-15907-7

The ghost of the eponymous 20thcentury wit visits a present-day movie reviewer who lacks Parker’s backbone in this mix of comedy and tear-jerker from Meister (The Other Life, 2011, etc.).

Violet displays a pungent wit as a writer of reviews, but in her personal life, she’s a wimp, and her paralyzing anxiety may cost her. After the death of her older sister and son-in-law in a car accident, Violet is in a custody battle for her 13-yearold niece, Delaney. Delaney wants to live with Violet, not her obnoxious grandparents, but Violet has recently failed to stand up for herself in front of the judge. She’s also finding it difficult to break up with a boyfriend she actively dislikes. Then, she visits the Algonquin Hotel and ends up walking out with a guest book signed by all the literary luminaries. When she opens the books, she releases the spirit of Dorothy Parker, who has chosen not to follow “the white light,” preferring to hang around drinking and making clever witticisms—her biographical information is awkwardly inserted into the story, clearly meant to be an homage to her talent and spirit. Dorothy befriends Violet, giving her advice and occasionally literally taking over her body, causing Violet to behave uncharacteristically to say the least.

Soon, Violet has dumped the boyfriend and come on strong to Michael, the African-American ex-Marine Kung Fu trainer she has a secret crush on. She also refuses to allow herself to be intimidated by the editorial assistant who has edited her work without permission. And she decides to fight harder for Delaney. But can Dorothy’s helpfulness go too far?

As self-empowerment romantic comedies go, this perfectly pleasant one hits all the predictable marks.

COVER OF SNOW

Milchman, Jenny Ballantine (336 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-345-53421-7

Milchman’s debut novel follows Nora Hamilton as she puzzles through the inexplicable and sudden suicide of her young husband, Brendan.

Nora awakens one morning to find her bed cold and empty and her husband, a police officer in a small town not too far from New York City, missing. She climbs out of bed with a sense of foreboding and discovers that Brendan has inexplicably hanged himself in their home. An outsider in the small village of Wedeskyull, Nora finds herself the object of intense scrutiny by his fellow police officers and targeted by the piercing scorn that radiates from Brendan’s mother, Eileen.

Soon, Nora begins to unravel the mystery of what could have compelled her husband to choose to end his life without any warning.

She unearths both a childhood filled with blame for an accident that took place many years before she came to town and a strange, autistic man-child named Dugger who offers Nora some cryptic clues into what might have driven Brendan to destroy himself and their marriage. Along the way, Nora picks up an ally or two in the form of a local newspaper reporter and her husband’s aunt but finds herself leaning more and more on her sister, Teggie, for moral support until the truth finally comes out. Milchman makes the reader feel the chill right down to their bones and casts a particularly effective mood in this stylish thriller; but her storytelling falters when placed under the microscope of logic. The clues with which Nora pieces together the mystery of what’s actually happening in Wedeskyull and why a happily married man like Brendan would kill himself are so obscure and easily overlooked that it’s difficult to believe a grieving widow would zero in on them with such unerring precision. The ensuing investigation seems illogical and disjointed with the introduction of characters whose only apparent function is to take up literary space.

Nice writing, but Nora’s meandering investigation only makes a confusing plot even more so in a tale populated by irrelevant details and vague side journeys. (Agent: Julia Kenny)

THE LABYRINTH OF DREAMING BOOKS

Moers, Walter Translated by Brownjohn, John Overlook (432 pp.) $26.95 | Nov. 8, 2012 978-1-4683-0126-7 Biblionauts of the world, unite— German fabulist Moers (City of Dreaming Books, 2007, etc.) is back with another goofy epic from the land of living books.

Apart from the occasional Minotaur, who doesn’t like a labyrinth—especially one that leads through stacks on stacks | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2425

“...this is uplift fiction at its best.” from me before you

of endless rare books? That’s the setup of Moers’ latest exercise in bibliofantasia, where the narrator turns out to have a certain distaste for the endless maze: “Even looking down the Bookholm Shafts makes me feel sick. I shall never again set foot in the Labyrinth—never!” Said narrator, whom Moers’ constant readers will recognize, enjoys a position as “Zamonia’s greatest writer,” honored by statues everywhere and streets named after him in every city—and he’s got an ego bigger than Mailer’s as a result. Comeuppance comes in the form of a mystery involving a forged document and, yes, books on books on books. Moers clearly loves them, and while one imagines that his private library rivals Umberto Eco’s, his vision of the perfect library is enough to upstage Borges’, a fabulous underworld of petrified books, stalagmitic books, books overflowing from shelves, even a book that “was the size of a coffin,” an eerie place of teetering bookcases, hastily built staircases, and of course, “beetles the size of cats and venomous albino rats” for good measure. The storyline is an afterthought in Moers’ visionary adventure; Tolkien it’s not. What matters are his engaging descriptions, zany scenarios and the weird critters that inhabit Zamonia, some of whom bear an uncanny resemblance to Barney the dinosaur.

A beguiling, bookish entertainment that ends on a cliffhanger promising—well, the prospect of many sequels to come. (75 b/w illustrations)

MARGARET FROM MAINE

Monninger, Joseph Plume (368 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Dec. 24, 2012 978-0-452-29868-2 With enemy fire slamming into his hand, leg and neck, Sgt. Thomas Kennedy instinctively uses his body to protect another soldier. Not because he is brave, but because he is a decent man from Maine.

Monninger (The World as We Know It, 2011, etc.) exquisitely evokes the horrific ballet of a body riddled by bullets, as well as the enchantment of snow falling on lilacs. His latest novel pits love and duty against each other in the tale of Margaret Kennedy. Six years after her husband, Thomas, was shot in Afghanistan, Margaret carries on her duties selflessly, day after day. On a Maine farm, she rises early to tend the cows with her fatherin-law and then turns to her 6-year-old son, Gordon, who has only ever known his father as a wounded, comatose veteran.

Although her beauty has faded from fiery to elegant, Margaret seeks nothing more than to do right by Thomas. Little does she suspect how her life will change when she accepts an invitation to Washington D.C., to show support for a bill sponsoring aid for wounded soldiers. A handsome, wounded warrior himself, Foreign Service officer Charlie King arrives to personally escort her to the capital. Astonishingly quickly, Margaret and Charlie fall in love and into bed. And so begins a love affair filled with beautiful words and beautiful places, including the blooming of the rhododendrons along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Yet their 2426 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

romance lives within a glass bubble. Can her love for Charlie keep Margaret from her loyalties back home?

Neither the consequences of war nor the ties that bind generate a satisfying conflict for this emotional tryst.

ME BEFORE YOU

Moyes, Jojo Pamela Dorman/Viking (384 pp.) $27.95 paperback | Dec. 31, 2012 978-0-670-02660-9 A young woman finds herself while caring for an embittered quadriplegic in this second novel from British author Moyes (The Last Letter from Your Lover, 2011).

Louisa has no apparent ambitions. At 26, she lives with her working-class family (portrayed with rollicking energy) in a small English town, carries on a ho-hum relationship with her dull boyfriend and works at a local cafe. Then, the cafe closes, and she must find a job fast to ease her family’s financial stress. Enter Will Traynor, a former world traveler, ladies’ man and business tycoon who’s been a quadriplegic since a traffic accident two years ago. Will’s magistrate mother hires Louisa at a relatively hefty salary to be Will’s caregiver and keep him company for the next six months— easygoing Nathan gives him his medical care and physiotherapy—but really Will’s mother wants Louisa to watch him so he doesn’t try to hurt himself. Will, once handsome and powerful, is not only embittered, but in constant pain. He has some use of one hand but is dependent on others for his basic needs, and recovery is not possible. Louisa, who can’t help speaking her mind and dresses thrift-store eccentric, thinks he hates her, but no surprise, Louisa’s sprightly, no-nonsense charms win him over. He even cheers her up on occasion. When Louisa overhears Will’s mother talking to his sister, she realizes that the Traynors have reluctantly agreed to let Will commit suicide at a facility in six months. Louisa decides to convince him to stay alive with a series of adventures. Meanwhile, Will, who senses something in her past has made Louisa fearful of adventure, is trying to broaden her experience through classical music and books. Their feelings for each other deepen. But Louisa is not Jane Eyre, and Will is not Mr. Rochester in a wheelchair, so don’t expect an easy romantic ending.

Despite some obviousness in the storyline, this is uplift fiction at its best, with fully drawn characters making difficult choices. (Agent: Sheila Crowley)

THE BATHING WOMEN

Ning, Tie Translated by Zhang, Hongling; Sommer, Jason Scribner (368 pp.) $25.00 | Oct. 9, 2012 978-1-4516-9484-0

While not a generic “romance” novel, this book focuses on the vicissitudes of romantic relationships.

Flashing back and tracking forward, the novel lays bare the intimate details of four modern Chinese women against a backdrop of cultural misogyny that survives and perhaps even worsens with the Cultural Revolution. The book includes several scenes of shocking cruelty as well as graphic descriptions of sexual encounters. Tiao and Fan are sisters who share both love and rivalry. They are introduced as young children in a preface that hints at a dark secret about the death of a third female sibling. Along the way, they become involved with Youyou and Fei, and readers watch as the four women learn from their experiences of love, abandonment, abuse and, again, love.

Readers most likely to appreciate this book, the author’s first to be translated into English, are those with an interest in feminist issues, as well as Chinese culture, politics and history.

loving way. In the midst of these developments, the neighbor’s dog discovers the bones in the garden, and the neighbor, in an effort to protect the girls he has come to love and cherish as his own children, moves the bones to his own garden and eventually claims to have murdered the pair. While dealing with this strange and surreal experience, the two girls also go through the more mundane trials of female adolescence—peer pressures at school, menstruation and the confusions that accompany awakening sexuality.

The author’s experience as a screenwriter is most definitely apparent, as the reader always hears the voices and can visualize the dramatic, sometimes appallingly grim scenes.

Recommended for readers who love film. (Author appearances in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Agent: Alex Chrisofi)

THE DEATH OF BEES

O’Donnell, Lisa Harper/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $25.99 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-06-220984-9 An unusual coming-of-age novel that features two sisters who survive years of abuse and neglect.

The story is set in Scotland, written with a distinct Scottish flavor, in very brief chapters told from the alternating points of view of the two girls and a neighbor who takes them in and ultimately covers for them when their dark secret is uncovered. The story starts when the older sister discovers both of her parents dead, her father suffocated in his bed and her mother hanging in an outdoor shed. She and her younger sister decide to bury their parents in the garden rather than risk a return to the foster care which they had previously endured and disliked. To anyone who asks, including a drug dealer to whom their father owed money, they say their parents are in Turkey, but eventually the drug dealer finds the passports the parents would have needed to travel abroad. The neighbor, who has his own secrets and heartache, looks after them, feeds them and takes them into his home. Meanwhile, the dead mother’s father, who had abandoned her not once but twice, comes looking for her to make amends since he got himself sober and discovered God. He does not, however, treat his granddaughters in a very | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2427

DADDY LOVE

Oates, Joyce Carol Mysterious Press (240 pp.) $24.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-8021-2099-1 Oates raises a troubling question here—whether moral fiction can emerge out of a morally reprehensible character.

Chester Cash, aka Daddy Love, is an itinerant preacher with a penchant for abducting and torturing young boys, and the novel begins with one such abduction. Five-year-old Robbie Whitcomb is doted on by his mother, Dinah, but one day, in the parking lot of a shopping mall, she neglects her son just long enough to have him spirited away by Daddy Love. In trying to prevent this horrifying act from occurring, Dinah is run over by Love’s van and never physically recovers. Love makes off with Robbie and eventually moves him from Michigan to New Jersey, where they live in virtual seclusion. Love gives out that he’s a widower who doesn’t want to talk about his late wife—a statement which is, by the way, true—and a suspicion lingers in our minds that he might well have murdered his wife, a well-to-do woman about 40 years older than Love. Through confinement and humiliation, Robbie is trained to see the preacher as his “real” father, although Love, like his ironic name, is obviously a grotesque perversion of paternal solicitude. He deprives Robbie of food, confines him in a “truth box” and sexually abuses him. After six years, Robbie is able to escape and reunite with his parents. Dinah is jubilant about this reunion, though Whit, Dinah’s husband, is somewhat less so, in part because his status as the father of a missing child made him a quasi-celebrity. But Robbie, of course, is not the same child at 11 that he was at 5, and their family reconnection is, to put it charitably, uneasy.

This is an uncomfortable novel to read; Oates makes us squirm as she forces us to see some of the action through Love’s twisted and warped perspective. (Agent: Warren Frazier)

THERE ONCE LIVED A GIRL WHO SEDUCED HER SISTER’S HUSBAND, AND HE HANGED HIMSELF

Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla Translated by Summers, Anna Penguin (192 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Jan. 29, 2013 978-0-14-312152-7

Petrushevskaya’s (There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby, 2009) short stories transform the mundane into the near surreal, pausing only to wink at the absurdity of it all.

The literary collection opens with an informed and knowledgeable introduction by translator Summers, a literary editor born in Moscow. Petrushevskaya, first celebrated as a journalist and a playwright with her prose only published after glasnost, 2428 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

here writes of characters, women most eloquently, mired in environs so dull as to focus their attention toward drink, sex and, most critical of all, a decent apartment in which to live.

In “A Murky Fate,” a lonely spinster pleads with her mother for privacy to entertain a lover; “insensitive and crude,” yet an assignation that brings fulfillment. In “The Goddess Parka,” a penniless provincial schoolteacher is seduced by his vacation landlord’s distant cousin. “Like Penelope” chronicles an alliance between Oksana, “a girl beloved by her mother but no one else,” and Mischa, whose hand-me-downs Oksana wore. In “Two Deities,” an older woman and young man contemplate their son, the product of a “few minutes of half-naked passion on the cramped kitchen sofa.” The most unconventional is “Hallelujah, Family!” four lives laid out in a list of the 45 notes. Then comes “Give Her to Me,” about a struggling composer and lyricist but beyond the starving artist cliché. In “Milgrom,” a Lithuanian beauty is robbed of her son. The four concluding stories are “The Adventures of Vera,” “Ero’s Way,” “Young Berries” and “A Happy Ending,” where an STD infects a marriage with hate. In these tales of pessimism and gloom, stoicism and resolution, life real and life absurd, Petrushevskaya delivers 17 stories in four groups, many of them cold, dark and vodka-drenched; some rampant with alcoholism and cruelty; and nearly all struggling in contemplation of soul-damaged men and maternal women.

Think Chekhov writing from a female perspective, burnished by the ennui of a soulless collectivist state, contemplating the influence of culture and politics on love and relationships.

FINDING CAMLANN

Pidgeon, Sean Norton (416 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-393-07329-4

Two middle-aged researchers discover romance as they strive to uncover the truth about Arthurian legend in this debut historical novel.

Donald is an archaeologist who’s in a bad spot: He’s recently divorced, and his editor dislikes his manuscript on King Arthur for indulging in too much speculation and too little factual assertion. Julia is a researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary who’s proud of her Welsh descent but increasingly concerned about what she’s learning about her husband’s and father’s involvement with violent Welsh separatists. That Donald and Julia will connect romantically is never in doubt—Pidgeon, a publishing executive, establishes their frustrations and compatibility early on, and he transparently nudges the narrative to put them together. Such manipulations are forgivable in historical romances—even the contrived boy-loses-girl plot turn is part of the genre’s essential mechanics. But the history in this novel is frustratingly plodding.

The couple’s hunt for Arthur focuses on a short poem packed with secrets about the medieval king, and between Donald’s archaeological fussbudgetry and Julia’s linguistic obsessions,

revelations that are intended to feel dramatic instead feel dry and academic. In particular scenes, Pidgeon can conjure up a warm, scholarly mood, entering wood-lined studies, pubs and Welsh landscapes while giving his characters poise and intelligence. (The book isn’t obviously set in the past, but Pidgeon has eliminated the intrusions of the Internet and cellphones from the story.) But his efforts to create a Possession-style blend of melodrama and literary intelligence falters at the sentence level, in paragraphs often clotted with actionless historical background, and at the level of characters, where nearly everybody surrounding Donald and Julia snap to stock roles as radicals, tweedy professors and bitter exes.

A disappointing example of how thorough research can hobble a novel.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF A LIFE IN RUSSIA

Prieto, José Manuel Black Cat/Grove (224 pp.) $15.95 paperback | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-8021-2077-9

As the title suggests, this is a novel in the form of an encyclopedia, so the narrative surges forward as the reader moves through alphabetical listings from “A” to “Z.” Prieto makes his major characters pseudonymous, and the pseudonyms he chooses reflect the fascination with American culture that lies at the heart of the story. “Thelonious Monk,” the compiler of the encyclopedia, has met a stunning woman, dubbed Linda Evangelista, and is convinced he can make her famous, at least in part because of the splendor of her red hair.

(He sees her as “the mathematical average of all the beautiful women [he’d] known in Russia, their profiles superimposed.”)

Through a series of encyclopedia articles, we follow their progress from St. Petersburg to Yalta, with plenty of stops along the way for philosophical musings on both classical and modern culture. Monk is interested in everything from Adam Smith to London dandies (and their distinction from beaux, following the lines of an argument Nabokov lays out about Pushkin) to spitting. He ruminates on the sound of his false name, believing that Thelonious “sound[s] like a Nordic mammal,” on organdy, and on Russian white nights. He cites sources in German, French, Latin and (of course) Russian—and fortunately for the reader, provides translations for all of them. At times, he displays the edgy cynicism of Ambrose Bierce: “OCCIDENT, THE. The mirror in which Russia gazes at itself each morning to touch up its own image.”

Offbeat and witty.

THE LADY MOST WILLING...

Quinn, Julia; James, Eloisa; Brockway, Connie Avon/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $7.99 paperback | Dec. 26, 2012 978-0-06-210738-1 Determined that his nephews will wed and gain him an heir, Taran Ferguson raids a ball to kidnap three heiresses as potential brides, but when he gets them back to his Scottish castle, he finds he’s mistakenly procured four lovely ladies—and a rather angry duke.

Mayhem and romance ensue. During a legendary storm, Scottish laird Taran Ferguson raids a neighbor’s ball and kidnaps four women and a duke, bustling them all back to his castle just in time for the roads to be blocked, impeding attempts from any would-be rescuers. Snowed in, the four ladies—Marilla, Fiona, Cecily and Catriona—become friends, share secrets and bare their bodies and souls to the men who are meant to love them. Labeled “a novel in three parts,” the book is broken up into an introduction, three novellas and an epilogue penned by talented romance authors Quinn, James and Brockway.

Chronologically integrated, with character and plot elements that move from story to story, the collection is well-balanced and brilliantly linked, and by the end, we are sold on this assortment of strangers and acquaintances who bond and mate in a few short days, yet in a classically fairy-tale way, complete with the hint of undefined enchantments and predestined romance.

Despite the shorter form, each character is well-defined, with distinct and compelling flaws and strengths, and the matchups, missteps and miscommunications are perfectly pitched to tug on heartstrings and cheer for the promise of happy-ever-afters.

Quinn, James and Brockway are all Regency legends, and they are at their best in this sexy, touching, powerful romance.

A great read for anyone who loves a good romance, a must-read for historical-romance fans.

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY Stories

Rash, Ron Ecco/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $24.99 | $11.99 e-book | Feb. 19, 2013 978-0-06-220271-0 978-0-06-220273-4 e-book Traps are embedded in the violencestreaked stories that comprise another fine collection from Rash (The Cove, 2012, etc.).

Take the excellent opening story: “The Trusty.” That’s Sinkler, the unshackled member of a chain gang in the North Carolina mountains (Rash’s invariable setting). While fetching water for the gang, the accomplished grifter sweet-talks a farmer’s young wife into eloping. She knows the hidden trails, and that’s | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2429

“A beautiful tale.” from the imposter bride

where the tables are turned, violently. In the title story, two petty criminals, hooked on pills, steal some gold teeth. They’re about to cash in, home free, but we know they’re trapped losers, sure to be busted. There’s an actual trap, a bear trap, in “A Sort of Miracle,” the story of three knuckleheads on a mountainside.

The unseen bear springs the trap and gets the ham, but the trapper dies as the black comedy intensifies. Of these 14 stories, it’s the two from the Civil War era that will haunt you. In “Where the Map Ends,” two runaway slaves are heading into the mountains, where many of the whites are Lincoln supporters.

How could they have known that the farm where they shelter belongs to a man unmoored by his wife’s suicide, slipping into madness? He helps the older slave but has a horrifying end in mind for his young mixed-race companion. In “The Dowry,” the war is eight months past. Ethan fought for the Union. Now, he seeks to marry the daughter of a Confederate colonel, implacable since losing a hand on the battlefield. The story ends with a second severed hand. Also notable are “The Magic Bus,” a ’60s story in which a naïve country teenager has her disastrous first encounter with hippies, and “A Servant of History.” Here, a very green Briton, researching ancient ballads in 1922, traps himself on a remote farm by bragging about his half-remembered Scottish ancestors. What had started out lightly satirical turns very grim indeed.

Rash’s oneness with the region and its people makes an indelible impression. (Author appearances in Asheville, Raleigh/Durham, Mississippi, Birmingham, Boca Raton and Miami)

THE IMPOSTER BRIDE

Richler, Nancy St. Martin’s (384 pp.) $24.99 | Jan. 29, 2013 978-1-250-01006-3

Richler’s glimpse into the complicated lives of members of a Canadian Jewish family following the end of World War II provides a retrospective of a bygone culture forever colored by a mystery that shapes the future of a young girl.

Lily Azerov Kramer came to Canada to marry Sol Kramer but ended up with his brother, Nathan, after Sol refused to go through with the nuptials. At the wedding, Sol meets Elka, the daughter of a woman who claims to have a cousin with the same name as Lily. As it turns out, Elka’s mother is right to be suspicious of Lily, since the new bride has appropriated the identity of a dead woman, along with her diary and an uncut gemstone she carried. Years later, Sol and Elka are married, and Lily has run off and left Nathan to raise their little girl. Ruth, who does not remember her mother and has no sense of who she really might be, studies Yiddish at school and makes friends with neighborhood children but finds herself longing for a connection to her mother. That connection grows out of an unexpected place; one day Ruth receives a package that contains a cryptic note and a rock. That rock is followed by others and leads Ruth to more 2430 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

closely examine the relationship she has with her own identity.

Taking down the diary Lily has left behind, she begins to read it, thinking she is on track to find her mother, but she’s really reading the words of the dead Lily, who is as much of a stranger to her as her own mother. Richler infuses her work with iconic images from the era she covers, painting a rich image of the Canadian Jewish community, their customs and family relationships, in a past century. Strong imagery and interesting characters populate the novel, but the story slips when it moves to Lily’s point of view.

A beautiful tale that weakens when it returns to Lily’s life and the words of the woman whose identity she has assumed.

SHIVER

Robards, Karen Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) $25.00 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-4516-7867-3 Samantha Jones, a repo driver, gets caught up in a dangerous FBI undercover operation when she inadvertently interrupts a torture in progress and must flee with the...victim? criminal? hero?... bloody guy in the trunk in order to keep her son safe.

All Sam wants to do is repossess the Beemer, collect her money and get home to her 4-year-old son, Tyler. But when the trunk flies open and she goes to investigate, she finds a wounded man, and the next thing she knows, she’s waking up next to him, apparently on the way to her execution. Lucky for Sam—and Marco, the bloody guy—she packs heat, so she’s able to save them both. Now, if only she could lose Marco, who for some reason is determined to keep her close. When she realizes that the bad guys have colleagues hellbent on finding them, and have gone after her son, she knows she’s out of her league. Against her better instincts, she and Tyler go into hiding with Marco, and the U.S. Marshals pledged to protect him.

Against her better judgment, she finds herself falling for Marco and placing way too much trust in him. After all, he’s a former federal agent turned traitor, and now he’s ratting out the drug cartel he’s been working for in order to save his own skin. So why does that story not ring true, no matter what the Marshals say? And how could anyone so deceitful promise to protect her? Or worse yet, make her believe that he actually will? Undercover agent Danny Panterro wants nothing more than to end his dangerous “Marco” charade and tell Sam he’s falling in love with her. But too much is at stake until the mission is truly over, and he’s determined not to lose the woman he’s been waiting for. Romantic suspense writer Robards grabs the reader by the throat in the first few scenes and doesn’t let up. A couple of abruptly handled twists slightly mar the last quarter of the book, but overall, this is a riveting, satisfying romantic suspense read.

Packed with fast-paced action, nail-biting suspense and blazing sexual tension, Shiver plays on a single mother’s tender love for her son and an FBI agent’s deep undercover assignment to keep the story taut and the romance conflicted.

LIVE AND LET LOVE

Robinson, Gina St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $7.99 paperback | Dec. 24, 2012 978-0-312-54241-2 As far as Willow Pierce is concerned, her husband, secret agent Jack Pierce, died two years ago, so why should her handsome new neighbor remind her so much of her late husband, and what exactly should she do about it?

Two years ago, secret agent Jack Pierce was nearly killed in an explosion on foreign soil, and by the time he made it back, barely alive, he’d been declared dead and already mourned by his wife, Willow. Jack, for once, did the right thing and let his tenderhearted ‘widow’ continue to believe he was dead, freeing her to find a new love and a new life uncomplicated by his deadly undercover work. After undergoing intensive reconstructive surgery to heal his wounds, he’s resurrected as a smoother, handsomer version of himself, completely unrecognizable. But now, his would-be assassin and archnemesis, a terrorist known as the Rooster, has heard rumors that Jack is alive, and he’s going after Willow. What better way to make certain Jack is well and truly dead than to go after his Achilles’ heel, his love for his wife? Now Jack is undercover and under wraps, and he’ll play the biggest role of his life—convincing his wife and his enemy that he’s Con Russo rather than Jack Pierce. Even if, suddenly, he doesn’t really want to be. And when the mission gets more complicated, the Rooster’s activities get more dangerous and Willow becomes more convinced that Jack is, indeed, her husband, well, what’s a guy to do but come clean and save the day—as well as his girl. Robinson pens a fun, fluffy read that combines secret-agent elements with a generally compelling romance in this third installment of her Agent Ex line.

Cute characters and a plot that could be easily mishandled, but for the most part hangs together, create a successful frame for a good story, supported by smooth writing and fun, quirky details that add texture to an entertaining concept. A few small inconsistencies, but overall, a light, engaging read.

Secret agents, mysterious identities and a love that just won’t die make for a sweet, clever escape from reality.

need help quitting what his wife of 15 years considers merely recreational drug use. Denise, unlike her husband, came from a “good” family, and as a nurse, she believes she understands and can control both their joint cocaine use and her increasing reliance on Vicodin. What Derrek doesn’t know is that Denise isn’t serious about giving up a habit that she doesn’t consider dangerous. What neither realizes is that both are vulnerable and that a family crisis will push them over the edge. Before long, they’re both using again and moving into harder drugs that not only endanger their livelihoods and their comfortable upper-middleclass lifestyle, but eventually the health and happiness of their daughters. Roby (The Reverend’s Wife, 2012, etc.) keeps to her fast, sexy, moralistic style; there is little doubt that love and faith will win out, especially for such an attractive couple. What keeps the adult fairy-tale formula from completely satisfying, however, is its sketchiness. The effects of the drugs, for example, are vague. The secondary characters, such as kindly old Lula from whom Denise steals drugs, are flat stereotypes. And details, like the health scare that starts Derrek using again, are mentioned after the fact, as if the author decided on a motive

THE PERFECT MARRIAGE

Roby, Kimberla Lawson Grand Central Publishing (192 pp.) $19.99 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-446-57250-7 Denise and Derrek appear to be the perfect couple, but can their love for each other and their family overcome their deepening drug addictions?

As this sketchy novella opens, Denise and Derrek are at a 12-step meeting. Derrek, whose parents were drug addicts, has decided that they | kirkus.com | fiction | 1 november 2012 | 2431

too late and didn’t want to bother going back. This might hold fans until the next installation of the author’s Reverend Curtis Black novels, but it won’t win over new readers.

An outline, rather than a fully drawn study, of a beautiful couple’s trials with addiction, their predictable redemption too easily won.

FEAR ITSELF

Rosenheim, Andrew Overlook (432 pp.) $25.95 | Oct. 25, 2012 978-1-4683-0072-7 Serviceable historical thriller from publishing veteran Rosenheim.

Junior FBI agent Jimmy Nessheim has a thorny problem on his hands: There are 40 million Americans of German descent, a great many of whom sympathize with the Nazis or at least want neutrality, and here the much-reviled Franklin Roosevelt is making noises that the U.S. might just have to go to war to contain Herr Hitler. Nessheim— and Roosevelt, for that matter—have reason to worry, for the German-American Bund, among other homegrown organizations, is chock-full of Nazi operatives, some of whom speak in sneers worthy of a Maj. Strasser (“Now tell me, Herr Werner, did you bring the weapon we sent you?”). Buried deep inside some nice leafy American suburb is a nasty Nazi Manchurian candidate called Dreiländer—“he of three countries,” that is—who’s ready to pop up and work some mischief, and so Nessheim and his fellow G-men are, naturally, up against the clock. Can they defeat the Gestapo when there are so many suspects to interrogate? (“I’ve got an uncle named Maier. He’s married to my mother’s sister.”) Maybe, and maybe not: Things could work out in a Philip Roth tangle. But Rosenheim’s more conventional than all that, and if he includes the nice touch of putting the oftneglected jurist Felix Frankfurter on stage—and Frankfurter just doesn’t get to star in enough Bogart-worthy thrillers—then he’s also not shy of layering in clichés and genre conventions to do his work for him: “...his immersion in the water had left him looking entirely peaceful. And dead, thought Nessheim with a jolt.” Why a jolt, one wonders? Did it only lately occur to Nessheim that the corpse was in fact dead?

A rich premise, with a readable if sometimes predictable and heavy-handed delivery.

AMERICAN TROPIC

Sanchez, Thomas Knopf (240 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-400-04232-6

A Southern gothic with a pro-environment veneer.

In the dead of night, in the waters off Key West, a pirate radio broadcaster rants, encouraging callers to “Show me your rage.” Cut to a house in town, where an early-rising woman fondles her lesbian partner before strapping on a loaded Glock. Cut to a corpse in the ocean, tied to a buoy, ears cut off, lips sewn together. Cut to a floating raft, bearing dead men, women and children. No one can accuse Sanchez (King Bongo, 2003, etc.) of being slow out of the gate in his sixth novel. The broadcaster, Noah Sax, is the novel’s flawed hero. The rum-sodden disbarred lawyer styles himself an “ecoshock jock,” railing against the destruction of the environment.

The woman is Luz Zamora, a fifth-generation Cuban-American and a Key West detective. The bodies on the raft are Haitian refugees. And the mutilated corpse was a partner in a huge new resort development which will harm the environment. There will be five more murder victims, all of them doing really bad things to Mother Nature. So there’s a serial killer on the loose, and through a microdigital recorder left in the mouth of the second victim, he identifies himself as Bizango, the Haitian voodoo avenger who punishes wrongdoers. This latest incarnation wears a full-body rubber suit painted with skeleton bones; his weapon is a steel spear. The bumbling police department briefly (and ludicrously) eyes the lone Haitian survivor, a terrified teenager, as the killer, before charging Noah (another blooper). Bizango outdoes himself by killing the captain of a cruise ship in his cabin and then invading the town’s Halloween parade, spearing the last of the resort partners on his float. The environmental theme is the junior partner in a bad marriage, overwhelmed by the blood and guts. When the killer’s identity is finally revealed, it will be the most improbable detail of all.

Even as a spoof, which is how it reads, this lurid work is less than entertaining.

THE WAY OF THE DOG

Savage, Sam Coffee House (152 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-56689-312-1 978-1-56689-318-3 e-book An aging, embittered art collector looks back on a life defined by his brief friendship with a successful painter.

Sardonic humor leavens what would otherwise seem like a solipsistic reckoning of Harold Nivenson’s injuries, beginning with mean siblings and culminating

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“Uncompromising and relentless in the demands it makes upon the reader.” from umbrella

with the death of his dog, Roy, some vague amount of time earlier. Harold lives in a decaying house in an urban area that has morphed from “a district of aging working-class white people drinking cheap beer on collapsing porches...[into] a neighborhood of middle-class breeders.” He thinks of himself as alone and friendless, though a woman named Moll (whose relationship to him is initially unclear) has moved in to care for him, and the son he calls Alfie (not his real name) pays frequent visits. Harold is unwilling to acknowledge any attachment save Roy’s; the routines of owning a dog gave his shattered life meaning, and he imagines Roy sharing the canine wisdom that “[e]very day is all there is.” By contrast, Harold believes Alfie has come only to get his art collection appraised, and his bitter memories of Peter Meininger—creator of the sole valuable painting, according to the appraiser—characterize the artist as a user who took refuge in Harold’s house, worked there and slept with Harold’s wife, then decamped, leaving Nude in Deck Chair as an insulting reminder of the wife’s infidelity. Harold is at first an alienating narrator, as he snipes at everyone from his neighbors to his relatives, but we gradually see that he has never been as detached from the world as he pretends and that he is in fact hungry for human contact. Though he decries even the stark basic scenario of “man is born, suffers, and dies” as “too much of a story,” Harold comes to accept love—maybe even to think about giving it in return.

Stream-of-consciousness fiction with a satisfying emotional weight: another intriguing experiment in narrative voice from Savage (Glass, 2011, etc.).

LOVE IS A CANOE

Schrank, Ben Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-374-19249-5 The revival of a classic self-help book reveals some raw emotions in this canny novel by Schrank (Consent, 2002, etc.).

Published in 1971, Peter Herman’s Marriage Is a Canoe became the kind of ’70s self-help book that everybody seemed to own yet nobody seemed to take seriously, in league with Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Peter’s folksy, prescriptive memoir about the lessons his grandparents delivered about happy marriages made him well-off, and in 2011, it’s inspired Stella, a young editor at the book’s publisher, to find a way to boost sales: A contest in which a couple with marriage troubles wins a weekend with Peter to talk out their issues. Enter Emily, a whip-smart Brooklynite who grew up loving the book and whose marriage with Eli is on the rocks after he’s confessed to a recent infidelity. Schrank is remarkably deft at imagining a book that is largely New-Age hokum—his “excerpts” overwork the canoe metaphor—while remaining sympathetic to the power this kind of evergreen wisdom has. Much of what the novel wrestles with is how much relationships can

be strengthened by simple advice and how much that advice provides license to avoid deeper problems. Schrank runs into trouble in the latter third of the novel as he works to balance Eli and Emily’s struggles (their “winner’s weekend” goes disastrously, of course) with Stella’s despairing efforts to save the contest (publishing industry insider baseball abounds), and Peter’s own romantic troubles as a widower become relatively underdrawn. But Schrank has firm command of the story, never letting the plot turns descend into farce, and the closing pages are a convincing portrait of how relationships shift in ways no self-help book can anticipate.

A wise imagining of modern-day love, unromantic but never cynical.

UMBRELLA

Self, Will Grove (448 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-8021-2072-4 Brainy and outlandish, though still in the mainstream of modernist fiction, this book captures a number of eccentric voices and sends the reader running to the dictionary.

The epigraph to the novel is, fittingly, from Joyce’s Ulysses: “A brother is as easily forgotten as an umbrella,” and Self offers us an account of Audrey Death and her two brothers, Albert and Stanley. Originally Audrey De’Ath, her name transmutes to Deerth and then to Dearth, a prime example of Self ’s—dare I say self-consciously?—Joycean word play. By whatever name, Audrey was born in 1890, came of age in the Edwardian era, involved herself in the suffragette movement, worked for a while in an umbrella shop, became ill with encephalitis lethargica (aka “sleeping sickness”) toward the end of World War I and was institutionalized in 1922 at a mental hospital in north London. Now it’s 1971, and Dr. Zachary Busner, a recurring character in Self ’s novels and stories, tries to treat her—and other sufferers from the illness—to bring them out of their catatonia. Self plunges the reader into the twisted conscious minds of both Audrey and Zach, a feat that’s in equal parts exhilarating and bewildering. Consider the following description of a pianist Audrey had heard in her past: “Ooh, yairs, isn’t it luvverly, such fine mahoggerny—while the fellow’s knees rose and fell as he trod in the melody, Doo-d’doo, doo d’doo, doo d’dooo, doo d’dooo, triplets of notes going up and down.” The novel disdains such literary conventions as chapters and just plunges us into the inner worlds of its characters.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this novel is uncompromising and relentless in the demands it makes upon the reader, yet there’s a lyrical, rhapsodic element that continually pulls one into and through the narrative.

(Agent: Andrew Wylie)

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THE PROMISE OF STARDUST

Sibley, Priscille Morrow/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $15.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-06-219417-6 978-0-06-219418-3 e-book

Personal tragedy becomes an ethical and legal quandary in Sibley’s debut literary fiction.

Dr. Matt Beaulieu is a Maine neurosurgeon. His college professor wife, Elle McClure, was once a hero astronaut. Matt and Elle grew up as neighbors, their two families intertwined into one. Now, they are best friends and blissfully in love, their marriage marred only by repeated miscarriages. One summer morning, Matt is off to work and Elle is off to help her acrophobic brother clean windows. She falls from a ladder and strikes her head. Emergency surgery reveals “subarachnoid bleeding and shearing.” But then during a trauma work-up to declare brain death, which would allow the devastated Matt to cease extraordinary care, Elle is discovered to be pregnant. Realizing a piece of Elle might live on, Matt enters a legal whirlwind. It seems Matt’s mother, Linney, holds Elle’s advanced care directive. As a teen, Elle had signed the directive after her own mother died slowly and painfully from cancer. Linney, an obstetrical nurse, wants to follow Elle’s directive to the letter. “It’s just wrong to keep her in this state, as an incubator for something that isn’t even a baby yet.”

Enter Jake Sutter, attorney, Matt’s college roommate, and incidentally, a pro-life advocate. The media circus begins, growing even more twisted when another advanced care directive is brought forth by Dr. Adam Cunningham, a NASA scientist with whom Elle had lived when she and Matt were estranged. While the novel is a fictionalized Schiavo-like intrafamily moral war, Sibley ups the ethical stakes by interweaving pregnancy with end-of-life issues.

Characters are well-drawn, although the arrogant vindictiveness of Cunningham may be overblown. While she does take the easy way out regarding the end-of-life question, Sibley translates medical and legal issues solidly, bringing both emotion and reason into an examination of our collective failure to agree upon when life begins and ends.

A literate and incandescent Nicholas Sparks-like love story complicated by intense moral and ethical questions.

(Agent: Laney Katz Becker)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF US

Sloss, Aria Beth Henry Holt (304 pp.) $25.00 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-8050-9455-8

What if the greatest love of your life were your best friend?

Since childhood, Rebecca Madden’s and Alexandra “Alex” Carrington’s lives have twined and twisted around each 2434 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

other’s, and the stories of their lives weave into a single autobiography. Told from Rebecca’s perspective, the tale fairly seeps with desire for the missing half, just as Rebecca yearns for Alex whenever she leaves. And she does leave. Despite her patrician mother’s reservations, Alex abandons Rebecca the summer before college to attend a theater arts camp. Letters come less and less often, leaving Rebecca to mourn until her suddenly very chic friend arrives to whisk both of them off to college.

Alex promptly disappears again, keeping late hours and drifting into a glamorous world of drama, men, drinks and cigarettes.

Although Rebecca tries to keep her moral compass as straight as her parents shaped it, she, too, has secrets. Dreaming of a career in medicine, Rebecca sneaks out of the dorm early and comes home late, hiding her studies from everyone who would point out the near impossibility of a woman becoming a doctor then. Yet again and again, Rebecca and Alex come together, drawn to each other like magnets. An early-summer wedding party brings catastrophe, however, when Rebecca finds Alex’s date, the enigmatic, charismatic Bertrand Lowell, impossible to ignore. The evening sets in motion a betrayal deep enough to send Rebecca and Alex careening wildly off their courses. Sloss’ debut novel sweeps across the tumultuous events of the late 1950s through the 1980s, navigating the characters through the fear of race riots, the loss of friends to the conflict in Vietnam and the battle for women’s rights.

Captivating, engrossing, surprising—the autobiography of Rebecca and Alex celebrates the terrible struggle to find one’s identity as it elegiacally rues the necessary losses.

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS

Sneed, Christine Bloomsbury (304 pp.) $25.00 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-60819-958-7

Sneed’s debut novel, which follows a short story collection (Portraits of a Few People I’ve Made Cry, 2010), goes beyond the tabloid headlines and chronicles the lives of those who orbit a famous actor.

Celebrity has its perks as well as its drawbacks, and revered movie icon Renn Ivins’ life is no exception. Adored by fans throughout the world, those closest to him also are affected by his aura and not necessarily in a positive way.

His earnings provide financial security for his children, ex-wives, family members and girlfriends, but Ivins’ fame is a doubleedged sword. Both of Ivins’ adult children become involved with lovers who secretly thrill at the chance to be connected to his inner circle. Will, his son, coasts through life engulfed in a sea of contradicting emotions. He loves Ivins and inwardly strives to please him, but he also resents his father’s interference and feels as if he will never measure up to his expectations, so he compensates in other not-so-healthy ways. At the same time, although he despises himself for it, he uses his father’s name to impress others. Anna, Will’s sister, is a brilliant but naïve medical student who rationalizes her questionable choices and has more

in common with her father than she realizes. Time has more or less softened Ivins’ first wife’s attitude toward him. A successful pediatrician who has lived a solitary life since their divorce 15 years earlier, she still watches all of his movies. And then there’s Ivins himself. Fodder for a bitter second wife’s book and a boon for his much younger girlfriend’s career, this author of two journals—one for posterity, the other more personal and destroyed each year—knows the allure of his public persona. It’s what he cultivates when he donates to charities and signs autographs.

And it’s much easier on the ego to believe his own press.

Sneed effectively blurs the line between fact and fiction and brings each character to life. (Author events in Chicago)

THE LIST

Tanabe, Karin Washington Square/Pocket (384 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-4516-9559-5 A wisecracking reporter sometimes can be downright annoying in Tanabe’s debut chick-lit offering.

Adrienne Brown, a 28-year-old graduate of Wellesley College, has spent the requisite time living in New York City and working her way up the journalistic ladder at a glossy publication. When she decides it’s time for a change, she applies for a position at the Capitolist, the hottest print publication and website in Washington, D.C. Although she takes a pay cut as a style reporter, works 14-hour days and lives in an apartment over her parents’ barn, more than an hour’s commute away, Adrienne’s irreverent humor gets her through each day. She quips her way through celebrity-filled parties, including the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where she verbally spears a celebrity or two and learns that the man of her dreams is married to a colleague: snotty political reporter Olivia Campo. Not only does Olivia seem to receive preferential treatment by the boss, her gorgeous hunk of a husband is devoted to her and they reside in a beautiful home in a desirable section of the city. When Adrienne discovers Olivia’s having an affair with a very married senator, she’s on it like a dog on a bone. The enterprising reporter snaps some extremely racy photos and then vacillates back and forth trying to decide whether to break the story or sit on it.

More information comes to light when Adrienne enlists the help of her equally witty older sister, and they uncover details that are more far-reaching than Adrienne at first thought. A former political and celebrity reporter, Tanabe’s plot contains everything a die-hard chick-lit fan could want: plenty of fluff, sibling rivalry, deceit and intrigue, and a spunky heroine.

Although the author’s attempts to inject humor into every situation may grind on some readers’ nerves, many fans of this genre will find it appealing. (Author appearances in New York and Washington, D.C.)

THE KASHMIR SHAWL

Thomas, Rosie Overlook (480 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 10, 2013 978-1-4683-0246-2

An intricately woven shawl is both memento and metaphor in Thomas’ meditative transgenerational tale.

In Wales, after the death of her father, Mair finds among his effects a finely crafted multicolored pashmina shawl, which her grandmother Nerys, who died before Mair’s birth, acquired during her days as a Presbyterian missionary in Kashmir. The origins of the shawl and the lock of hair folded in it must hold the key to Nerys’ veiled past, Mair assumes, and so she journeys to the Kashmiri town of Srinagar where Nerys lived during World War II. The story alternates between Mair’s present travels and Nerys’ Srinigar sojourn. Nerys’ straightlaced husband, Evan, is away preaching, and Nerys awaits his

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“A carefully crafted, touching historical.” from ashenden

return in a houseboat owned by fellow British expats, Myrtle and Archie. Nerys and Myrtle are drawn into the dilemma of a young Englishwoman, Caroline, whose marriage is celibate due to her husband’s closeted homosexuality. Caroline has had a forbidden affair with Ravi, an Indian nobleman, and is pregnant. Myrtle finds an ingenious way to hide the pregnancy from the insular, scandal-attuned European community, and from Ravi. Nerys, also love-starved thanks to Evan’s prudery, has a joyfully adulterous affair with a Swiss mountaineer and magician, Rainer, who helps her rescue the children of a dishonored and destitute woman who made a Kani shawl very like the one Mair found. (The prosperous but labor-intensive cottage industry of Kani shawls began, before WWII, to lose out to factorymade imitations, impoverishing the true practitioners.) When Mair encounters nonagenarian Caroline in Srinigar, she is now very close to uncovering all the braided and colorful secrets the shawl represents. The atmospheric detail brings the culture and gorgeous scenery of Kashmir to vivid life while also hinting at the political and religious strife that will soon overcome the region as India gains its independence.

Although the narrative drags in spots, and Nair’s anticlimactic investigation is less compelling than Nerys’ adventures, this is a finely wrought story of emotional and geographical displacement. (Agent: Jonathan Lloyd)

THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN

Webb, Wendy Hyperion (352 pp.) $15.99 paperback | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-4013-4193-0

In 1956, a summer solstice party at the Alban family’s elegant manor ends abruptly with the suicide of a renowned writer and the disappearance of Mercy Alban. The family closes ranks, and the secrets of that night lie hidden.

In the decline of old age, Adele Alban has decided to break the silence and reveal what she remembers about that night to a journalist. Before she can do so, however, she also disappears, only to be found in the garden, dead.

Her daughter Grace Alban had left the ancestral home on the shores of Lake Superior 20 years ago, escaping the waters that had murderously claimed the lives of her brothers and the guilt surrounding her father’s suicide in those same waters. Recently divorced and with her teenage daughter, Amity, in tow, Grace is quickly engaged by funeral arrangements, a task made less mournful by the attractive Reverend Matthew Parker. Soon, Grace discovers a cache of old love letters. Written to Adele, the letters not only reveal a secret love affair, but also tell of a lost novel about life at Alban House the summer before the tragic party. More sinisterly, the letters suggest that the very wood constructing Alban House is bespelled and the family witched.

And when a frightening and possibly mad woman crashes the funeral, accompanied by the reporter Adele had intended to meet, the curse of the Alban family can no longer be ignored.

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Webb (The Tale of Halcyon Crane, 2010) plots a tale rife with dark family secrets, hidden passageways, love, intrigue and witchcraft. Yet, the telling of the tale falls flat. Supernatural entities do invade the Albans’ lives, but the tale lacks a sustained gothic atmosphere of evil forces gathering and conspiring.

Less haunted house than detective story. (Agent: Jennifer Weltz)

THE TIME OF THE WOLF

Wilde, James Pegasus (336 pp.) $25.00 | Oct. 10, 2012 978-1-60598-416-2

From British author Wilde, a work of fantasy fiction based on real historical characters in 11th-century England on the eve of the Norman invasion.

The chapters go from one battle to another, and fans of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham and/or Jackie Chan will find this interesting. The author envisions and describes every blow, every slash, every twist and turn of the bloody fights, bringing to mind the heroes of movies and television programs that highlight a fit and clever good guy taking on a group of bad-guy bullies. What redeems the book from being nothing more than a series of fight descriptions is the growth of a friendship between the legendary warrior Hereward and the pious monk Alric. Thrown together through no choice of their own, the two initially evince a mutual disdain and dislike until circumstances that challenge them to act with loyalty and honor culminate in a mutual respect, concern and perhaps even love. From the mouth of Alric, when he is taken prisoner and threatened with torture if he does not give up Hereward, come the words that perhaps form the central message of this work: “ ‘Like all men,’ Alric interrupted in a loud voice, ‘he has good and evil within him, and like all men he can be saved and brought to God. Woe unto them that call Evil Good and Good Evil—’ ” A bit short on deep psychological insight and character development, but the author realizes his goal of turning an obscure historic character into a warrior legend.

ASHENDEN

Wilhide, Elizabeth Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $24.99 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-4516-8486-5 Episodes in the life of a grand British country house, with its upstairs and downstairs dramas, add up to an unusual, engaging, Downton Abbey-esque saga.

Fortunes are lost and gained, relationships forged and broken, individual fates briefly glimpsed then encountered again decades later as the

centuries melt into each other in U.K.-based Wilhide’s unusual debut. Architecture, social shifts, private lives and next generations are the running themes, with Ashenden Park, a magnificent Palladian stately home, as the beating heart and central location of the sequence of vignettes that starts in 2010, with the reluctant inheritance of the neglected pile by a brother and sister, and then shifts back to 1775 and the arrival of the golden Bath stone from which it will be built. Wilhide introduces Ashenden’s architect and his gifted apprentice, who is killed in an accident during construction, and then the various owners: a spendthrift noble; a thrifty haberdasher; a property developer. But the servants are included too, the pregnant chambermaids and unfairly dismissed housekeepers. While much of the historical background might seem routine, Wilhide brings freshness and emotional depth to the snapshots and links them astutely. Oddly, the most modern scenes, though tidily interleaved, are the least memorable.

A carefully crafted, touching historical that achieves exactly the right note of rewarding readability. (Agent: Anthony Goff)

CITY OF ANGELS Or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud

Wolf, Christa Translated by Searls, Damion Farrar, Straus and Giroux (336 pp.) $27.00 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-374-26935-7

The German novelist Wolf ’s final book opens with a disclaimer stating that none of the characters or situations in the book are true. But because the book is based on a real turn in Wolf ’s life—the discovery in 1992 that she once collaborated with East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi—the truth isn’t quite that straightforward. In fact, very little in this fascinating book is.

Wolf ’s actual collaboration took place in the early ’60s; by most accounts she provided little information and opposed the regime for the rest of her life. More relevant is the fact that Wolf had lost all memory of the incident and was as shocked by the revelation as the German public was. Originally published in Germany before her death in late 2011, this is an autobiographical novel with a hypnotically blurred sense of reality, documenting the author’s stay in Los Angeles when the scandal broke.

Even before the truth is revealed, the narrator lives as a refugee: Chance encounters and dinner-party conversation point out the distance between the author and her surroundings, as does one scene that finds her reading Thomas Mann’s diaries while Star Trek blares from the television. The unreliability of memory becomes a theme as the author’s narrative blurs with that of “L,” an older immigrant whose story she is researching.

The final sequence, a journey through a Native American dreamscape, finds the narrator facing the end of her life and making peace with uncertainty. The book’s poetry should appeal to an American audience even if the political context sometimes gets lost in translation.

Z-RATED Chocolate Flava 3

Zane--Ed. Atria (354 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Aug. 28, 2012 978-1-4516-8962-4 An eclectic collection of erotic short stories from Eroticanoir.com, the popular website from best-selling author Zane.

Twenty-seven authors take readers on a hot, steamy, erotic journey through sex in its many, varied facets, with an African-American bent.

From a young soldier losing his virginity with a classy prostitute to a woman cheating with her best friend’s husband, to a whole slew of erotic encounters—with one, two and multiple partners—the collection offers a variety of voices and perspectives on sexual prowess and pleasure. Not for the fainthearted, the stories are graphic, earthy and hard-core. From a writing and storytelling perspective, some are decidedly better written and more compelling than others. Most are more concerned with situational description than a particularly well-defined story arc; many show a distinct lack of concern for relationships, loyalty or marriage vows, but to be fair, these vignettes enter into the realm of sexual fantasy, and many fantasies include a release from current relationship or marital boundaries, even in fictional form. Often, descriptions of graphic sexual situations are accompanied by graphic language, slipping at times into the profane. But there is a market for this type of writing and storytelling, and that market will appreciate what this anthology has to offer.

For the right audience, much of Zane’s Z-Rated collection will be like a satisfying slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am sexual tryst with a fantasy lover—hot, quick and naughty.

m ys t e r y THE RAVEN’S SEAL

Baltakmens, Andrei Top Five Books (416 pp.) $14.00 paperback | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-9852787-5-5 A young hedonist falls under a false murder charge in 1776.

On a cold evening in the British city of Airenchester, Thaddeus Grainger attends a lavish ball at the town home of Lady Stepney. Despite the music and lively talk, he leaves early, more interested in drink and women than idle flirting. It takes him days to learn the name of the beautiful girl he spots in a public house: Cassie Redruth. Still, | kirkus.com | mystery | 1 november 2012 | 2437

he dutifully fulfills his many local obligations, including those to the family of Miranda Pears, whom many observers believe he is destined to wed. Airenchester is densely populated with faux Dickensian characters: Grainger’s best friend, the free-thinking William Quillby; Cassie’s ex-grenadier father, Silas; and Mr. Trounce, a starchy barrister. When Grainger’s self-appointed rival, righteous Piers Massingham, makes the mistake of manhandling Cassie, harsh speeches soon escalate into fighting words. At the duel that ensues, Massingham stabs Grainger in the thigh after the latter loses his footing. The strike is not serious, but still more angry words follow. And when a watchman finds Massingham murdered later that day, the news spreads with lightning speed. There seems little public doubt that rakish Grainger is guilty. Once he’s taken to dingy Bellstrom Gaol, Cassie seems carried away with her newfound celebrity, leaving Quillby to embark on an uphill quest for justice.

New Zealander Baltakmens (The Battleship Regal, 1996) captures the flavor and scope of classic British fiction.

Adventure overshadows mystery in his colorful yarn.

EXTRA CREDIT

Barbieri, Maggie Minotaur (336 pp.) $24.99 | Dec. 11, 2012 978-1-250-00188-7 A wacky stepfamily distracts a college professor from her boring job.

Most Ph.D.’s would kill for a tenuretrack position at a university in New York.

But Alison Bergeron (Physical Education, 2011, etc.) has a long litany of complaints about her post at St. Thomas University. The students are lazy, her boss, Sister Mary McLaughlin, is a martinet, and her colleagues wear ridiculous sweaters adorned with appliqué pumpkins and fail to appreciate her rapier wit. The only bright spot is Mary Lou Bannerman, an older creative-writing student who burns to pen a novel about her husband’s murder and who brings Alison coffee and muffins from really good bakeries. No wonder Alison gets sucked into the untimely death of her husband’s ex-wife’s brother. First, Chick Stepkowski disappears without a trace, resurfacing just in time to hand Alison’s twin stepdaughters, Erin and Meaghan, $5,000 apiece at their 19th birthday party. Days later, he’s found dead in his cheesy Mount Vernon apartment with $250,000 stuffed in his mattress.

Despite his suicide note, his sister Christine insists that Chick was murdered. When Chick’s ex-wife, 6-foot exotic dancer Sassy Du Pris, threatens to burn down the house Christine shares with her new husband, Tim, and his four troll-like children, Alison thinks maybe she’s right. Or right enough to talk her best friend, ex-priest Kevin McManus, into confronting Sassy at a strip show. Alison’s so absorbed in the Stepkowskis’ dysfunction that she neglects her other best friend, Max Rayfield, with disastrous results—although not as disastrous as her attempt to ferret out a killer.

Sorting out her priorities might not be such a bad idea for Alison, now on her seventh and least focused foray into amateur sleuthing.

2438 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

CRUISING IN YOUR EIGHTIES IS MURDER

Befeler, Mike Five Star (276 pp.) $25.95 | Dec. 19, 2012 978-1-4328-2581-2

A geezer with a short-term memory problem gets entangled in several murders.

Paul Jacobson wakes up most mornings not knowing where he is. Today, he’s in bed with a lovely older woman who turns out to be his new wife, Marion. His bride has come up with a plan to refresh his memory and keep him out of trouble, but when Paul goes out for a walk without reading the note she left, he gets into an argument with a panhandler whom he finds dead shortly thereafter. Although the police consider him a suspect, the honeymooners are allowed to leave on their cruise to Alaska. Not even reading his journal every morning to refresh his memory keeps Paul out of trouble. The ship’s security chief anoints him the leading suspect when a Latvian girl giving him a massage is murdered. He is also suspected of shoving several people, stealing a wallet and pushing a wealthy old lady from her balcony. This is not the first time Paul has been involved in a murder investigation (Senior Moments Are Murder, 2011, etc.), and despite his handicap, he’s determined to solve this one before he’s arrested—assuming that he survives his tussles with Latvian gangsters, bears and an annoyed group of oldsters from Reno.

The mystery keeps you guessing, and the subject of memory loss is sensitively treated, but enough with the geezer jokes.

HIT ME

Block, Lawrence Mulholland Books/Little, Brown (336 pp.) $26.99 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-0-316-12735-6 After a full-length novel starring John P. Keller (Hit and Run, 2008), Block retreats to the form he prefers for his peripatetic hit man’s outings (Hit Parade, 2006, etc.): a cycle of loosely linked stories.

Times are tough for Keller. The squeeze in the real estate market has hurt the rehab construction business he and his partner, Donny Wallings, run in New Orleans, and there’s his family to think of: his wife, Julia, who knows about his past even though he married her as Nicholas Edwards, and their daughter, Jenny, who’s too young to know a thing about Daddy. So, when a phone call from his old scheduler, Dot Harbison, offers him a job in Dallas just as he’s wondering how much he can afford to bid on a rare postage stamp he’s got his eye on in the same city, he accepts with scarcely a ripple, and he’s back in business again. Like the four commissions that follow, this one, the best of the five, seems simple but is rife with unexpected complications. Once he’s hit

his stride, and the target, Keller is ready to take out a Catholic abbot who got caught selling black-market kidneys, a wealthy informant headed for the Witness Protection Program, and in the longest and most intricate of these tales, a Denver stamp collector whose house burns to the ground with him inside before Keller can make his move. But can he break his own moral code and kill a likable 14-year-old philatelist whose scheming relatives have their eyes on his trust fund? “Keller’s Obligation,” the one serious letdown here, ends as it must but not in a way that’s going to please the hit man’s legion of fans.

As usual, the most perceptive insights here depend on the interplay between what’s said—endless discussions of early postal variations—and what’s pointedly left unsaid time after time. (Author appearances in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland and Dallas)

A DROP OF CHINESE BLOOD

Church, James Minotaur (304 pp.) $24.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-312-55063-9

DEAD WEIGHT

Cooper, Susan Rogers Severn House (208 pp.) $27.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8195-3 A Texas romance writer’s marriage may just be ruined by her inability to keep her nose out of mysterious deaths.

Now that E.J. Pugh (Full Circle, 2011, etc.) has dropped some serious pounds, she’s disquieted to learn that a member of her weight-loss group, Berta Harris, is dead under mysterious circumstances. Although she’s more than busy with her 18-year-old son, Graham; her rebellious 15-year-old daughter, Megan; Bess, the girl she and her husband Willis adopted when her parents were murdered; and Alicia, their former foster child, she can’t keep from sleuthing. Berta was living in a flip house belonging to her realtor friend Kerry Killian, who’s soon found brutally murdered. Not so for Berta, who turns up very

A hard-boiled Asian investigator probes the disappearance of “the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Maj. Bing Zong-yuan, State Security officer and the nephew of retired North Korean Inspector O (The Man With the Baltic Stare, 2010, etc.), is staying with his uncle when the(in)famous Madame Fang Mei-lin stops by unannounced. Bing is taken aback by the chemistry betwixt his uncle and the legendary beauty, but he stops short of asking about the nature of her notoriety, which seems to be political, or the details of the pair’s subsequent night out. There’s no doubt, however, that her visit stirs up strong feelings that the senior investigator has worked hard to control. Bing works for the government just over the border in China, and his superiors frequently subject him to awkward questions about his uncle’s activities. He receives the secret mission of shepherding an agent across the border into North Korea as Inspector O is probing a more concrete and bizarre case brought to him by a Miss Du. Claiming that her father’s remains are cut up and wrapped in the freezer of her brother’s restaurant, she becomes a regular visitor to the Inspector’s office. The vanishing of Madame Fang, along with a colleague, throw both uncle and nephew into turmoil, and Bing feels compelled to investigate, especially as Uncle O is being eyed as a suspect.

Church’s elegant ambiguity and frequent digressions get a facelift with his new hero Bing’s edgier first-person narrative, and he has great insight into Asian culture and politics. Casual readers, however, should be warned that the plot is tantalizingly complex.

| kirkus.com | mystery | 1 november 2012 | 2439

“More slow burn than thrill ride.” from a question of identity

much alive, with no memory of who she really is, where she came from or who might want her dead. Kerry’s husband, Ken, takes her in; E.J. is determined to discover her identity. After a fight with E.J., Willis goes home to his mother, leaving E.J with full hands but with nobody except Luna, the police officer next door, to look askance at her sleuthing. At length, the police arrest Berta, whom they’ve identified as Rosalee Bunch, for the murder of her mother in a trailer explosion they think Rosalee caused years ago. Uncovering the high school friendship between Rosalee and Kerry and finding the identity of several others always seen with them in pictures from their school days, E.J. hopes she’ll soon learn the answers she seeks.

E.J.’s fans, happy to see the continuing characters further fleshed out, will forgive the fact that this time the chase is more interesting than the capture.

WHACKED!

Corwin, Amy Five Star (278 pp.) $25.95 | Dec. 19, 2012 978-1-4328-2588-1 A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown agrees to housesit, only to be faced with murder.

Think you’re stressed? Cassie Edwards’ job working with computer servers has her fighting ulcers even before she arrives at little Peyton, N.C., to discover her uncle, a renowned botanist, sitting in a chair on a stream bank trying to share his cannabis with a dead man. Sure that gentle Uncle Frank would never murder anyone, she tries to clean up the crime scene before the police arrive and arrest the elderly stoner, who’s now back at the house baking the special brownies she can only hope do not contain a secret ingredient. The sheriff, Jim Fletcher, is the brother of Cassie’s best friend and her former high school crush. Although he still finds her attractive, both she and her uncle are on his list of suspects for killing the murdered man, a bodyguard for another high school classmate.

Things get even worse when Cassie discovers a hidden room in her uncle’s greenhouse packed with marijuana plants—far too many simply to help with his glaucoma. Fed up with his inability to give up pot, Frank’s wife, Sylvia, has left him. So Cassie’s the only one to protect Frank. When she burns her find in the backyard, she turns on the whole town and brings Jim to her door. Then, Frank is arrested by one of Jim’s ambitious deputies, and Cassie, determined to solve this case on her own, dredges up secrets that could put her next on the killer’s list.

Corwin, the veteran of many romance novels and historical romantic mysteries (A Rose Before Dying, 2011, etc.), adds a modern mystery, amusing but easy to solve.

2440 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

A QUESTION OF IDENTITY

Hill, Susan Overlook (336 pp.) $25.95 | Oct. 25, 2012 978-1-4683-0050-5

The murder of an old woman in a rest home finds DCI Serrailler tracking a killer.

Duchess of Cornwall Close is one of those newer, nicer rest homes that almost has an exclusive air about it—the perfect place to spend one’s golden years, or so it would seem.

So the community is shocked when one of their own is killed in the ritualistic manner of a serial killer. Lafferton’s DCI Simon Serrailler doesn’t have any leads until an old colleague digs up several similarities with a case from the past whose alleged perp walked on a technicality. Alan Keyes, the person of interest, is hard for Simon to pick up because he no longer officially exists.

Meanwhile, Simon’s romance with Rachel doesn’t seem to have much of a future, and his sister, Cat Deerbon, is having troubles of her own. Molly, Cat’s tenant and the surrogate older sister to Sam, Hannah and Felix, can’t seem to shake the memories of her run-in with the Dr. Death of Simon’s last case (The Betrayal of Trust, 2011, etc.). Heaped on top of these troubles, Cat and Simon’s father, Richard, and stepmother, Judith, appear to be having problems of their own. Cat tries to spare Simon from the worst as he desperately searches for a man who isn’t there.

More slow burn than thrill ride, with the real interest in the characters and the concealment of Keyes’ true identity.

NOT DEAD YET

James, Peter Minotaur (448 pp.) $25.99 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-0-312-64284-6 The return of a Brighton girl who made it big spells nothing but trouble for Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and his colleagues in the Sussex Police (Dead Man’s Grip, 2011, etc.).

Now that she’s returned to her birthplace to star as George IV’s mistress in The King’s Lover, everyone, it seems, wants a piece of rocker-turned-thespian Gaia Lafayette. An anonymous sender of emails who thinks the role should have gone to a more established actress has already shot Gaia’s assistant to death in LA. Failed playwright Drayton Wheeler, convinced that producer Larry Brooker stole the film’s idea from him, is plotting revenge. So is Anna Galicia, the fan who’s spent £275,000 on Gaia memorabilia only to be spurned when she tried to talk herself into a face-to-face with her idol. Kevin Spinella, chief crime reporter for the Brighton Argus, demands details on the latest threats to Gaia even though he’s on his honeymoon in the Maldives. Clearly, protecting a superstar who doesn’t want to surrender her freedom of

movement in a nation where practically no one, including the police, carries firearms will be a tall order for the Sussex Police.

Roy Grace, who’s in charge of the detail, has troubles of his own. An unidentifiable torso has turned up on Keith Winter’s chicken farm, and vicious gangster Amis Smallbone, whom Grace put away 12 years ago, has been released from prison bent on vengeance. And that doesn’t even exhaust the list of miscreants, who are so thick on the ground that there’s even a darkly humorous scene in which two of Gaia’s stalkers, unknown to each other, briefly meet James keeps the whole caravan lumbering efficiently along, though he never quite dispels the suspicion that not even a rock star could possibly have so many enemies independently determined to do her harm. (Agent: Carole Blake)

THE DEAD SEASON

Kent, Christobel Pegasus Crime (432 pp.) $25.00 | Nov. 15, 2012 978-1-60598-374-5

A pair of apparently unrelated men gone missing during the hottest month of the Florentine year pose another mystery for policeman-turned–private investigator Sandro Cellini (A Murder in Tuscany, 2011, etc.).

Very little happens in Florence in August. All the locals who have the means to do so have left while the city bakes in the summer heat. Among the departed, one man stands out: bank branch manager Claudio Josef Brunello, the lover of heavily pregnant chambermaid Anna Niescu, who’s frantic to find out what’s become of him since the last time he kissed her goodbye.

At first, it seems that Claudio has vanished for the best reason of all: because he’s dead, killed and dumped at the eastern edge of the city. Dramatically contradictory identifications by Anna and the bank manager’s unexpected wife, Irene, however, indicate that Anna’s lover disappeared for an even better reason: because he never existed, at least not as Claudio Brunello—he was only masquerading as him. While Sandro works to put a more accurate name to the father of Anna’s baby and track him down, Roxana Delfino, a teller in Claudio’s branch, becomes increasingly uneasy about the disappearance of the nameless man who came to the bank regularly to deposit the receipts from the Carnevale, the neighborhood’s pornographic cinema.

Apart from the elaborate parallels drawn between Sandro and Roxana, from their devotion to their jobs to their complicated feelings about their families, how are the two disappearances that concern them connected? Kent unfolds her tale so slowly and methodically, at least until the incongruously melodramatic ending, that many readers, presumably not laboring in the August heat, will beat both Sandro and Roxana to the solution.

Though she lacks Donna Leon’s sly humor and her keen insight into the political implications of individual bad behavior, Kent covers much of the same territory in even more ceremonious prose.

COLLARED

Kornetsky, L.A. Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Nov. 13, 2012 978-1-4516-7164-3 A bartender and one of his regulars find themselves out of their league when they agree to do a shot of private-eye work for a customer.

Virginia “Ginny” Mallard’s the kind of person who notices things, even little things like when her regular bartender, Teddy Tonica, shorts a patron a finger of booze in his vodka tonic. Usually, this skill in observing suits Ginny in her job as a private concierge—it helps her notice the details for coordination that her clients love—but it may have gotten her in trouble with her latest job. When Ginny overhears a man at her local bar complaining about his missing Uncle Joe, she figures that a little private investigation can’t be that much of a jump from her usual 9-to-5. To her surprise, Tonica agrees to help with the search. Walter “DubJay” Jacobs offers Ginny the basics on his uncle: The two run a corporate realty firm, and DubJay needs to find Joe in a few short days to file some paperwork. This all seems straightforward to Ginny, but when she receives a threatening text involving the case, she knows she’ll be relying on Tonica more than she’d expected. After all, her only other ally is Georgie, a canine who’s more cuddler than watchdog. Tonica’s got some animal assistance, too, though he maintains that Penny is the bar’s cat and not really his. As the case progresses, Ginny and Tonica find it more fraught than they anticipated. Thank goodness their pet pals have their backs.

Cloying talk from companion animals obscures the budding human relationship in Kornetsky’s bar cozy debut.

GOOD JUNK

Kovacs, Ed Minotaur (336 pp.) $25.99 | Dec. 11, 2012 978-0-312-60089-1 More hangs in the balance than he imagines when a private eye signs on to help a police friend solve her latest case.

New Orleans cop-turned-shamus Cliff St. James has been lying low since a routine mixed martial arts fight in his dojo ended with the accidental death of Bobby Perdue, his opponent. When asked by closest friend (and maybe more) Detective Honey Baybee to help out as an unpaid consultant to a hot case she’s working on, St. James can’t say no even though he’d rather be holed up at home. Mainly, he can’t believe that Chief Pointer would give him any power in the department after their long history together. Honey’s case involves the murder of two employees of local NASA federal offshoot Michoud.

Because of all the government clearances involved, it’s hard to | kirkus.com | mystery | 1 november 2012 | 2441

“A perfect nightcap.” from it was a very bad year

find out exactly what they did. What follows is a frequently murky but always compelling investigation into the world of a high-end “Buyers Club” of black projects goods that mixes a healthy dose of government agents with rogues from around the world. Kovacs (Storm Damage, 2011, etc.) lovingly paints a portrait of post-Katrina New Orleans as St. James tries to flush the perps out of wherever they might be hiding. His targets include people like Decon, who’s been implicated by some higher-ups and spends his nights sleeping in a graveyard crypt. By the time St. James is ready to solve the case, he’s bruised, battered and well aware that he may be a pawn in a game much bigger than he realized.

With so many twists and turns, even the most devoted noir fans may wish they had a map. But it’s well worth trying to find the way.

SMOKE ALARM

Masters, Priscilla Severn House (224 pp.) $28.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8199-1 When three people die in a tragic fire, is it an accident or murder? That’s a question for DI Alex Randall and coroner Martha Gunn.

Beautiful old Melverley Grange has been severely damaged by fire, and Christie Barton, her daughter Adelaide, and her father-in-law, William, have all died from smoke inhalation. Only her son Jude, who escaped via a rope ladder, is saved by a policeman with a taste for heroics. Jude, who had attempted to get back into the house, survives with his hands and arms burned. Randall learns that William Barton was suffering from dementia and had started a fire in the house once before. But would he have used petrol to soak the floors and locked the women in their rooms? Although her job as coroner does not involve detection, Martha, a widow with two teenage children, has a gift for nosing out facts that Randall respects and uses (Frozen Charlotte, 2011, etc.). The two are attracted to each other, but Randall is unhappily married and never discusses his wife. When a nurse who called the tip hotline loses her house to the same sort of blaze as Melverley, Randall’s team starts looking for a connection and finds it in a 40-year-old fire. The nurse worked at a mental institution where many inmates died in a fire, and William Barton was a fire officer on the scene. Because no body was found in the house, a massive search is launched for the nurse, who may have the answers to many questions.

A tasty combination of police procedural and forensics, with a touch of romance.

2442 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

ANGEL AMONG US

Munger, Katy Severn House (224 pp.) $28.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8201-1

A ghostly police officer and the comrades he left very much alive take on a difficult case rife with political complications.

In death, Kevin Fahey (Angel of Darkness, 2012, etc.) floats through the small Delaware town where he used to be a lazy, hard-drinking cop.

It’s the same place that a beautiful, well-liked, very pregnant Latina married to the mayor’s son vanished from. Maggie Gunn and Adrian Calvano are given the case by Cmdr. Gonzales, a politically ambitious Latino who dislikes his own people. Maggie and Calvano find the last two places Arcelia Gallagher was seen: a Catholic church and Delmonte House. Both places are home to many secrets. At the church, the priest and several nuns are secretly using the basement to care for a large group of illegal immigrants. The recently renovated Delmonte House is home to a famous Hollywood actor and his wife, a much younger actress soon to give birth. Fahey, who’s drifting along with the police as they investigate, knows that Delmonte is haunted and realizes that Arcelia is hidden somewhere on the grounds but can’t do anything about it. The baying tabloid press and reality TV, including Maggie’s obnoxious, self-centered ex, are quick to accuse Arcelia’s husband of murder, but Gonzales instead arrests a Mexican illegal whose pregnant wife has also vanished, leaving Fahey to seek salvation while Maggie and Calvano desperately search for the missing woman.

Another solid police procedural for the Dead Detective set apart by a touch of mysticism.

IT WAS A VERY BAD YEAR

Randisi, Robert J. Severn House (192 pp.) $27.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8191-5

For Americans who loved or admired John F. Kennedy, 1963 was indeed a very bad year, but it doesn’t seem to have been so hard on Kennedy’s friend Frank Sinatra, despite the kidnapping of his son Frank Jr. Though he’s a friend of Frank’s, it takes quite a while for Sands pit boss Eddie Gianelli to get a call from him. First, Eddie’s got to help Joey Bishop’s co-star Abby Dalton recover some indiscreet pictures photographer Barney Irwin had snapped of her when she was young, innocent and naked.

Backed up by Brooklyn behemoth Jerry Epstein, Eddie breaks into Barney’s place but finds nothing more risqué than cheesecake shots. So, when Barney holds out for more money than Abby’s willing to pay, Eddie gets Jerry to lean on Barney. This

whole contretemps, complete with gunsels and murder, is no more than a curtain raiser for the abduction of Frank Sinatra Jr. by a crew that demands $240,000(?!) for his safe return. Distraught, Frank begs Eddie to make the drop-off, and the result is gratifyingly routine for the good guys, though a little frustrating for thrill-seeking readers. Eddie steadfastly insists that he’s not a private eye, and indeed, this time his detection is limited to noticing and interpreting a list of names on a sheet of paper intriguingly headed “Nov. 22.”

Little mystery and less suspense. But Eddie’s relaxed recollections of his seventh canter around the Vegas nostalgia track (Fly Me to the Morgue, 2011, etc.) are a perfect nightcap for fans who don’t want to elevate their pulse rate before dropping off to sleep.

UNNATURAL WASTAGE

Rowlands, Betty Severn House (208 pp.) $28.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8214-1

Murder disrupts a block of upscale flats in Bristol.

Fenella Tremaine may have been tough and outspoken, but did her clashes with fellow tenants’ association member Marcus Ellerman or her criticisms of caretaker Frederick Wilkins lead one of them to stab her with an Oriental-patterned knife and heave her lifeless body into a Dumpster behind Sycamore Arms? Fellow tenants with their own theories include elderly Kate Springfield, who doesn’t want to jeopardize her second-floor flat with its view of the well-tended garden and the hills of Wales in the distance. But her cousin Patsy Godwin insists it’s her duty, so Kate tells DC Sukey Reynolds (Miss Minchin Dies, 2011, etc.) about the tall, well-muscled gentleman she saw by the rubbish bins the night of the murder. Kate’s is just one of the tantalizing bits of information that seem to lead Sukey nowhere. Learning that Fenella was to be called as a witness in a lawsuit against the Holmwood Care Home in the death of an elderly patient doesn’t move their investigation forward, even when it seems that she was having an affair with its owner. Nor does the knowledge that Fenella was Ellerman’s chief rival for promotion at Maxworth Foods, where they both worked. More deaths increase Sukey’s frustration with the case—frustration she deals with mainly by sharing endless bottles of wine and canoodling with reporter Harry Matthews.

Usually brisk Sukey hits the doldrums in her sluggish twelfth outing.

THE SANCTITY OF HATE

Royal, Priscilla Poisoned Pen (250 pp.) $24.95 | paper $14.95 | Lg. Prt. $22.95 Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-4642-0018-2 978-1-4642-0020-5 paperback 978-1-4642-0019-9 Lg. Prt. The death of an unpopular man exposes some ugly truths about the residents of Tyndal Village.

A newcomer to the area, the surly Kenelm has made no friends. But when his corpse is found floating in the millpond at Tyndal Priory, Prioress Eleanor and her friend Crowner Ralf join forces to find the guilty party. Most of the villagers have already picked out the killer: Jacob ben Asser, who, with his very pregnant wife and mother-in-law, is awaiting the birth of their child in a local stable. In 1276, King Edward I, having found an Italian source for money lending, has bled the Jewish population dry and restricted their habits to certain areas. Jacob had been on his way to one of the areas when he was forced to stop.

Harassed by the villagers stirred up by the baker, whose son is asking to join the priory, they are protected by the crowner and his staff. In the search for the killer, Eleanor looks closer to home at Brother Gwydo, the newest member of the priory, a mysterious but seemingly gentle beekeeper. When he is also killed, she must continue her search. Only the intervention of Brother Thomas saves the Jewish family when he explains to the skeptical and ignorant mob that the church and the pope have forbidden Christians to persecute or kill Jews. The prioress and the crowner must use the time his speech has bought to solve the murders before the town explodes in senseless hatred.

Royal’s ninth (A Killing Season, 2011, etc.), though certainly not her best mystery, includes some fascinating historical information that may come as a surprise to many readers.

THE SIGN OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN

White, Alana Five Star (384 pp.) $25.95 | Dec. 19, 2012 978-1-4328-2623-9

A Florentine lawyer must solve a murder to keep his city from imploding.

After spending two years in France on a diplomatic mission at the behest of his friend and the city’s leader, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Guid’Antonio Vespucci and his nephew Amerigo return in 1480 to find Italy split into many warring factions and Florence under an interdict of the pope, who wants to see Lorenzo ousted. As they arrive home, stories of a beautiful young woman abducted and either murdered or sold into slavery by marauding Turks are sweeping the city. At Guid’Antonio’s | kirkus.com | mystery | 1 november 2012 | 2443

parish church, a painting of the Virgin is weeping tears, a sign to the populace that God is angry with them for defying the pope.

Guid’Antonio is doubtful of the stories about the missing girl, a married woman with a much older husband. When her horse appears, its saddle covered in fresh blood, he scours the city for the slave and maid who had accompanied her on a trip to a spa in a nearby town. All the while, Guid’Antonio is plagued by nightmares about the violent murder of his dear friend, Lorenzo’s brother. The missing girl’s husband is murdered, and the slave found hidden in a fireplace. But he still will say nothing about what happened to his mistress. Guid’Antonio and Amerigo wander the byways of Florence, visiting churches, taverns and the workshops of Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli in search of a missing monk who may hold the answers to the mysteries.

One hopes that White’s clever tale, meticulously researched and pleasingly written, is the first in a series that will bring Florence and its many famous denizens to life.

science fiction and fantasy ANDROMEDA’S FALL

Dietz, William C. Ace/Berkley (352 pp.) $25.95 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-0-425-25625-1

Beginning a sort of prequel series to Dietz’s Legion of the Damned cycle (A Fighting Chance, 2011, etc.), these are the far-future exploits of what is currently known as the French Foreign Legion.

Humanity has established a galactic empire and come into conflict with aliens. Emperor Alfred Ordanus is working with Carletto Industries to develop affordable cyberbodies—hence a sort of immortality—for everyone.

Alfred’s sister Ophelia, however, has other ideas. Using her deadly synth warriors, she assassinates Alfred and ruthlessly sets about eliminating all of Alfred’s supporters, including the unsuspecting Carlettos. On planet Esparto, Lady Catherine Carletto luckily survives a bombing at an official function.

Friendless and desperate, Cat has only one chance: She must vanish. And the Legion is the only organization that will accept her without asking awkward questions about her real identity or the ugly knife wound she sustained to her face. In other ways, too, the Legion is an ideal sanctuary for new recruit Andromeda McKee. It will toughen her up and teach her survival skills, such as how to kill and how to plan, while allowing her to remain 2444 | 1 november 2012 | fiction | kirkus.com |

concealed as she nurtures her desire for revenge. So, on various planets, the Legion turns socialite Cat into soldier Andromeda.

What she doesn’t yet know is that Ophelia has a long list of people to be murdered by her all but indestructible synths—and Cat Carletto is number 2999. Don’t expect much of a plot, but Dietz develops his characters adequately within the limits of the story—and the action rarely lets up.

Mostly predictable, but no less of a page turner for all that.

THE FRACTAL PRINCE

Rajaniemi, Hannu Tor (320 pp.) $25.99 | Nov. 27, 2012 978-0-7653-2950-9

Intimidating sequel to The Quantum Thief (2011), Rajaniemi’s spectacular, paranoid-conspiracy, hard sci-fi whodunit debut.

Thief extraordinaire Jean le Flambeur owes his continued existence to the Oortian warrior Mieli, her intelligent spaceship Perhonen, and her mysterious patron, the pellegrini.

To pay the debt, he must execute another impossible heist: to loot the mind of a member of the Sobornost, the upload collective that rules Earth and whose ultimate goal is total control of reality itself. His target is Matjek Chen, the oldest of the Sobornost “chens,” or avatars. On Earth, meanwhile, the Lady Tawaddud of House Gomelez, rulers of the Sirr, a city built out of the Shard, the habitable fragments of a vast crashed Sobornost spaceship, must solve a murder that threatens the ruling council. She will need help from Sumanguru, a sort of detective Sobornost avatar who, like all his kind, is vulnerable to the wildcode which swarms in from the desert. Tawaddud’s father, Cassar, has selected a husband for her, but she trusts him even less than her sister Dunyazad, who seems less interested in solving the murder than keeping Tawaddud in her place. Above it all, seemingly, the Sobornost conduct their Great Game against the mysterious zoku, who manifest as magnificent jewels and have solved problems the Sobornost are unable to. This is all set forth within complex, intricately structured stories-withinstories, neologisms that yield meaning only after many repetitions and changes of context, and never a word of explication to smooth the way. Formidably challenging, with few of the thrills and spills that made the predecessor volume such a delight— would that Rajaniemi had kept at least some of his vast intellectual capacity tucked out of sight—but, mostly, rewarding.

Something like Ted Chiang meets John C. Wright, moderated by Stephen Hawking.

nonfiction These titles earned the Kirkus Star: THE REENACTMENTS by Nick Flynn........................................p. 2452 THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DIXIE by Bruce Levine.............p. 2459 THE HOLY OR THE BROKEN by Alan Light..............................p. 2459 THE DISASTER DIARIES by Sam Sheridan............................... p. 2466 THE BIG SCREEN by David Thomson....................................... p. 2469 WEIRD LIFE by David Toomey................................................... p. 2469 THE ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED DOUBLE HELIX

by James D. Watson.......................................................................p. 2470 NAKED STATISTICS by Charles Wheelan................................... p. 2471 THE ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED DOUBLE HELIX

Watson, James D. Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $30.00 Nov. 6, 2012 978-1-4767-1549-0

CORRECTION: In the October 15 issue review of Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton, we mistakenly wrote that the author used “you” throughout the book. Please note that Rushdie actually uses the third person throughout.

THE TERROR FACTORY Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism

Aaronson, Trevor Ig Publishing (256 pp.) $24.95 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-935439-61-5

Florida Center for Investigative Reporting co-founder Aaronson debuts with a shocking report on the FBI’s war

on terrorism.

The FBI, writes the author, spends $3 billion of its $5 billion annual budget fighting terrorism. Aaronson sets out to show that the “evidence in dozens of terrorism cases…suggests that today’s terrorists in the United States are nothing more than FBI creations, impressionable men living on the edges of society who become bomb-triggering would-be killers only because of the actions of FBI informants.” The author bases his conclusions on a database of 400 people prosecuted in the U.S. between 9/11 and March 2010, and his analysis of the kinds of threats represented, how many of the operations involved government stings using informants and whether the informants could be considered provocateurs. The author drew on the expertise of current and former FBI officials to interpret the data. His summary results show that the FBI has recruited a pool of about 15,000 informants, as it has pursued more than 500 prosecutions since 9/11. Three of these posed threats to people and property, 150 involved defendants caught conspiring with FBI informants and the others involved crimes like money laundering. Aaronson argues that the defendants may technically be terrorists, but the definition of the word is being stretched “to such a degree that credulity strains.” He discusses how the FBI recruits informants through its use of the criminal and immigration statutes, pressuring likely targets to cooperate.

He presents relevant case studies and provides detailed profiles of some of the key informants—e.g., Elie Asaad, who was paid $80,000 for his work in the Liberty City Seven case.

A real eye-opener that questions how well the country’s security is being protected.

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“The well-rendered, lucid back story explaining the current, ongoing deep distrust and suspicion between the U.S.and Iran.” from the coup

THE COUP 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations

Abrahamian, Ervand New Press (240 pp.) $26.95 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-59558-826-5 978-1-59558-862-3 e-book

A relevant, readable study of the foreign-engineered 1953 Iranian coup reminds us of the cause that won’t go away: oil.

Abrahamian (Iranian and Middle Eastern History and Politics/City Univ. of New York; A Modern History of Iran, 2008, etc.) clears away much of the nostalgic Cold War cobwebs surrounding the ouster of the popular Iranian reformer Muhammad Mossadeq, employing new oral history and pertinent memoirs published posthumously by Mossadeq’s advisers. Despite the lively spin put to the coup immediately and effectively by the Americans as a kind of spontaneous uprising against Mossadeq by people fearing his communist proclivities, his ability to pass oil nationalization by the democratically elected Iranian Parliament over the head of the Reza Shah had prompted the U.S. and Britain to panic. With an even, firm hand, Abrahamian revisits the early grab for oil in Iran by the British at the turn of the century. Eventually, the grievances against the British masters began stacking up, as they continued to practice massive ecological damage and frank discrimination against the Iranian workers, prompting strikes and intense anti-imperialist sentiment. The author treats Mossadeq’s rise to power as an organic nationalist reaction. From an old patrician Iranian family, a law scholar and reformist intellectual, he gained popular trust by his sympathy to the constitutional cause. Elected to the premiership by wild acclaim, Mossadeq quietly but firmly passed oil nationalization in 1951; Anglo-Iranian negotiations broke down, and the British and Americans engaged in subversive propaganda tactics such as casting aspersions on the Iranian character and leader. Abrahamian walks us chillingly through the July uprising and subsequent careful CIA-MI6 machinations.

The well-rendered, lucid back story explaining the current, ongoing deep distrust and suspicion between the U.S. and Iran.

SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives

Aikman, Becky Crown (352 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-307-59043-5

How to cope with tragedy with the help of good friends.

“I didn’t seem to fit anyone’s definition of a proper widow, least of all my 2446 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

own,” writes former Newsday writer Aikman, “you know, the Ingmar Bergman version, gloomy, pathetic, an all-around, ongoing downer.” Five years after her husband died after a long bout with cancer, the author realized she wasn’t ready to quit living just yet and surmised that there must be others just like her.

She gathered together five other women, all unknown to each other, and they formed a support group—not just to move past their grief, but hopefully, on to new and richly fulfilling lives. In this debut memoir, Aikman brings together the sad yet optimistic stories of these women, who were widowed at far too early an age. Faced with paying mortgages on their own, raising small children or not having someone to eat dinner with, these women managed to move beyond the initial shock and were ready to take new steps toward a different way of being.

Meeting once a month for a year, “on Saturday night, the most treacherous shoal for new widows, where untold spirits have sunk into gloom,” the group tried cooking together, going to an art museum, a day at a spa and other activities. Engaging and entertaining but not maudlin, Aikman shows a side of life that many readers probably don’t think about.

A compassionate narrative about how one group of friends helped each other thrive after the deaths of their spouses.

MAD SCIENCE Einstein’s Fridge, Dewar’s Flask, Mach’s Speed, and 362 Other Inventions and Discoveries that Made Our World

Alfred, Randy--Ed. Little, Brown (400 pp.) $19.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-316-20819-2

A mostly entertaining, random assemblage of inventions or discoveries (the safety pin, the Internet) sorted by day and year, reflecting advances that led to patents or widespread adoption.

This diary of deeds comes to print via the Wired blog This Day in Tech and includes some 40 contributors’ pun-filled entries that have been edited (and shortened) by Alfred, with additional notes of what else of technological interest happened on that day or in that year. The result may invoke in readers a combination of feel-good and gee-whiz sentiments. The subjects are widely varied: The Phillips screwdriver invented to automate screw turning on an assembly line (July 7, 1936), the debut of the first Horn and Hardart automat (June 9, 1902), the installation of the first jukebox (November 23, 1889, in San Francisco), the patent for the automatic railroad couple (April 29, 1873), the invention of commercial spam (April 12, 1994). The entries also record famous birthdays (Tesla, Heisenberg), major events (Einstein’s 1905 papers, the Curies’ discovery of radium), but much of the collection’s charm lies in the more mundane: the Mason jar, the Thermos flask and the internal combustion engine. Archaeology, space science, medicine and surgery get

their due, as do advances in weaponry that have led to bigger and better killing machines. This is not a text to be read in one sitting since there is no continuity from page to page, but one can imagine how useful those pages could be as a calendar in a classroom, where each day’s entry could spark a lively discussion of the science behind the discovery.

Edifying bathroom reading. (60 b/w photographs and illustrations)

DEADLINE ARTISTS Scandals, Tragedies, and Triumphs: More of America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns

Avlon, John P.; Angelo, Jesse; Louis, Errol--Eds. Overlook (432 pp.) $29.95 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-59020-429-0

Three journalists present a sequel to their Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns (2011) with a motley collection of pieces dating back to the 19th century.

Avlon, Angelo and Louis divide their collection into three major topics (see subtitle), each of which they arrange chronologically. The editorial apparatus is light—some introductions, a bit of information about the background of some of the stories—but for the most part, the stories stand on their own. In the “Scandals” section are pieces about long-ago murders and other depravities (the execution of Mata Hari makes for grim reading), including the liberation of Dachau, the Zodiac killer, Watergate and Bernhard Goetz. Included with these tales are pieces about Dennis Rodman, Monica Lewinsky and Bernie Madoff. The “Tragedies” range from the death of Lincoln to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (reported here by Jack London), Franco’s atrocities, the RFK assassination and a George Will piece about the difficulty of being a Cubs’ fan. Among the “Triumphs” are numerous sports pieces—victories by Joe Louis and young Cassius Clay, a perfect game by Don Larson, the maturation of Joe Namath, a key home run by Kirk Gibson—along with the bombing of Nagasaki, the anniversary of the Normandy invasion and pieces about a favorite teacher, a battle with cancer and 9/11. If the pieces seem incongruously chosen and juxtaposed (a baseball game, the atom bomb—both triumphs?), it’s because they are. Moreover, columnists from New York and Washington, D.C., are heavily represented, and the definition of “column” itself seems generous—a number of the pieces are clearly feature articles.

Engaging eyewitness pieces—often very oddly grouped together—that nonetheless elicit admiration, wonder and gasps of surprise.

BLINDSPOT Hidden Biases of Good People

Banaji, Mahzarin R. and Greenwald, Anthony G. Delacorte (352 pp.) $27.00 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-553-80464-5

An examination of how beliefs are shaped by hidden bias.

Banaji (Psychology/Harvard Univ.) and Greenwald (Psychology/Univ. of Washington) argue that the 4 percent divergence between Barack Obama’s actual white American votes in 2008 and pre-election polls is an indication of the racial factors involved. In their opinion, had Obama “been obliged to rely only on the white American electorate, he would have lost in a landslide.” The authors have collaborated since 1980 and have developed survey methods designed to reveal what they call “unconscious” or implicit cognition. The Implicit Association Test (developed by Greenwald in 1994) is one of these methods, which they and others have used to help understand the role that unconscious bias or prejudice plays in shaping attitudes. (On the Oprah Winfrey show, Malcolm Gladwell described how he took one of the tests and was shocked at the results: “I was biased—slightly biased—against Black people, toward White people, which horrified me because my mom’s Jamaican.”) Subjects taking the test are required to make rapid associations to reveal unconscious associations with race, gender and age. The authors discuss how, paradoxically, these associative mechanisms also confer cognitive benefits: “Stereotyping achieves the desirable effect of allowing us to rapidly perceive total strangers as distinctive individuals.” Their tests have produced a “large body of data” on the relationship between automatic associations and the reflective mind.

A stimulating treatment that should help readers deal with irrational biases that they would otherwise consciously reject.

ON POLITICS AND PARKS

Bristol, George Texas A&M Univ. (400 pp.) $30.00 | Sep. 3, 2012 978-1-60344-762-1

A small-town Texan looks back on a life in national politics and conservation.

A writer-in-residence at the Thinking Like a Mountain Foundation in Fort Davis, Texas, Bristol fell in love with America’s national parks while working one youthful summer on a trail crew at Glacier National Park.

He then spent years in politics and fundraising gaining the skills and experience that would later allow him to champion the national park system. Growing up in a political family, Bristol came of age in Austin in the “relatively gentle” 1950s. After | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2447

“Great read for those interested in events in the fashion industry and the personalities who shape it.” from grace

attending the University of Texas, he joined the young people flocking to the New Frontier in Washington, D.C., where he worked for years as a party activist in the shadows of Hubert Humphrey, Bob Strauss, Lloyd Bentsen and other Democratic figures. In the mid-1970s, Bristol discovered the National Park Foundation, which raises private funds for the parks, and decided he wanted to serve on its board. His eventual appointment, made by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 1994, came at a quiet time for the foundation, which had fallen into doldrums in the Reagan era. As Bristol explains, he seized the opportunity to help revitalize the group, attracting significant financial support from corporations and the Rockefeller family.

National parks reflect “all the best parts of our democracy,” he writes, revealing the passion that he brought as a consultant to the PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. He later created the Texas Coalition for Conservation, a nonprofit advocate for the parks of his home state.

A winning opening volume in the publisher’s new Conservation Leadership series.

NOBLE SAVAGES My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes—the Yanomamö and the Anthropologists Chagnon, Napoleon A. Simon & Schuster (544 pp.) $32.50 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-684-85510-3

A cultural anthropologist defends his deeply engaged lifetime of work with the

Amazon Indians.

Chagnon first arrived among the Yanomamö in the Amazon basin on the border of Venezuela and Brazil in 1964 as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, and his initial fieldwork yielded a seminal textbook on the tribe. Living among these isolated people, the author gained their trust; learned their language, customs and reproductive patterns; and patiently constructed their genealogies, history of wars, way of life and “village fissions.” He found right away that the Yanomamö were undergoing a significant transformation from a primitive societal system to a more complex, larger and political system. Chagnon draws from the work of theoretical biology to propound the importance of “kinship behaviors” among the Yanomamö, who were constantly stressed by the threat of attack from hostile tribes and practiced this form of reproductive selection in order to survive. Indeed, having closely observed these people, the author concludes that “maximizing political and personal security was the overwhelming driving force in human, social and cultural evolution.” Many of Chagnon’s observations—e.g., that the Yanomamö fought over women—did not jibe with the then– politically correct notions of native peoples, and his research was censured at home. Moreover, Chagnon’s work in the field coincided with enormous changes in the field of anthropology, such as the challenge by E.O. Wilson’s studies in “sociobiology,” 2448 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

which Chagnon embraced. His subsequent research ran afoul of various academic and political authorities and native rights groups, and the author was even accused of starting a lethal measles epidemic among the Yanomamö. In the last section of the book, the author tediously rebuts the “smear campaigns.”

More than two-thirds of this rehabilitative work is a fascinating, accessible study of a little-known people. (b/w photos throughout)

GRACE A Memoir

Coddington, Grace with Roberts, Michael Random House (304 pp.) $35.00 | Nov. 20, 2012 978-0-8129-9335-6 978-0-679-64521-4 e-book

A lively glimpse of the fashion industry and the characters behind it from American Vogue creative director Coddington.

The author begins with her childhood in Wales, but the memoir really comes to life when she describes her modeling days in London. Her big break came early, when a contest landed her in Vogue. Coddington expresses nostalgia for the carefree world of fashion in the 1960s, before the supermodels and celebrities arrived. During that time, there were no makeup artists, and models arrived with a suitcase of their own hair products and accessories. Coddington’s descriptions and illustrations bring that world to life. Even though her modeling career was interrupted with a disfiguring car accident, she dove back in once she healed. Her stylist career started with British Vogue, and she later moved to Calvin Klein in America and then to American Vogue when Anna Wintour became the editor-inchief. The author provides intriguing portraits of Karl Lagerfeld and other big names, but she focuses mostly on Wintour’s public persona. Coddington’s personal life plays second fiddle to her role in the fashion industry. She mentions her boyfriends and her two husbands, but she glides through her relationships with them. Coddington’s tone is incredibly blunt. For example, she lets her envy of Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, another stylist at American Vogue who was also in favor with Wintour, seep through the narrative.

Great read for those interested in events in the fashion industry and the personalities who shape it. (photographs and illustrations)

BROTHERS On His Brothers and Brothers in History

Colt, George Howe Scribner (320 pp.) $30.00 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-1-4165-4777-8

An often entertaining but ultimately unproductive rumination on brotherhood.

Brothers are expected to be close to and supportive of one another, but brotherhood is complex, often difficult and sometimes violent, as Colt (Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home, 2004, etc.) demonstrates in this personal and historical narrative. The second of four brothers, the author perceptively explores his fraught relationships with them—the competitiveness and conflicts, the yearning for a closeness that would not come until several decades had passed—in the context of an often wistful memoir of a generally unremarkable American

family in the 1950s and ’60s. Interleaved within his personal story are diverting and lively biographies of other brothers, presenting widely varying examples of brotherly interaction: John and Will Kellogg of cereal fame, who spent much of their adult lives suing each other; Theo van Gogh, supporting (or enabling) his insufferable brother Vincent; the “good” and “bad” brothers Edwin and John Wilkes Booth; the five Marx brothers; and many more. While citing the occasional psychologist, Colt wisely goes easy on the scholarly theory and largely permits the brothers’ histories to speak for themselves about the tensions that bedevil even the closest of siblings. He struggles to understand why his relationships with his brothers were so difficult for so long, perhaps presenting the other biographies so that he might look to other brothers’ examples to help him make sense of his own family history. Unfortunately, it is not clear whether it helped, or if so, how.

Includes some illuminating bits but has the feel of two different books uncomfortably fitted together—much the way brothers often feel about each other.

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THE ART OF BETRAYAL The Secret History of MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service Corera, Gordon Pegasus (496 pp.) $35.00 | Jan. 9, 2013 978-1-60598-398-1

A study of the British intelligence service in which the author ponders an important question: Did the Cold War threat really warrant the grand drama and danger required in betraying country and friendships?

As security correspondent for BBC News, Corera is wellpositioned to examine the overall arc of British intelligence since the close of World War II and the characters who have had the biggest impact and most lasting legacy. The author advances his stately narrative of the British overseas intelligence service, MI6 (a sister service to the domestic MI5), chronologically, from the first glimmers of panic felt in war-torn Vienna as the Iron Curtain descended over Eastern Europe through the heyday of the Moscow watchers in the 1960s. He then moves on to subsequent hysterical mole hunts and the shift in the 1990s to intelligence monitoring of terrorist cells and rogue governments. In refugee-flooded Vienna, the British security agents Kim Philby, Graham Greene and David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) all got their first taste of the risky commodity of intelligence at a time when there was virtually no knowledge of insider Soviet activity. The British and CIA scoured the émigré groups in search of agents and intelligence, with the first efforts involved in supporting partisans in oppressed Baltic states like Albania and Latvia. The two functions of MI6 and the CIA, information gathering and covert action, would converge uneasily in efforts to destabilize governments in Eastern Europe, Egypt, the Congo, Afghanistan and, much later, hauntingly, in Iraq. Corera also looks at some of the significant unsung female agents like Daphne Park and Eliza Manningham-Buller.

An absorbing study focused on the questionable cost of gathering secrets. (16 pages of b/w photographs)

THE GREAT PEARL HEIST London’s Greatest Thief and Scotland Yard’s Hunt for the World’s Most Valuable Necklace

Crosby, Molly Caldwell Berkley (304 pp.) $25.95 | Nov. 27, 2012 978-0-425-25280-2

A World War I–era true-crime tale about the theft of the world’s most valu-

able necklace.

Heist stories have an enduring fascination for the public, and Crosby (Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of

2450 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

Medicine’s Greatest Mysteries, 2010, etc.) offers an exhaustively detailed reconstruction of one all but forgotten by history. The setting is the underworld of London’s Hatton Garden jewelry district in the days before the war, and the object of desire is a pink pearl necklace worth around $750,000—by one estimate, nearly $20 million in today’s currency. Criminal mastermind Joseph Grizzard, the “King of Fences,” had his eye on the necklace, and he concocted a plan to intercept it as it traveled by mail between two dealers. Despite the colorful setting and cast of characters, the narrative is slowed by the author’s efforts to explain every detail of life in London, giving it the feel of a history textbook at times. In the aftermath of the clever— though not particularly exciting—theft, the story picks up a bit of steam as the thieves attempt to cash in, with Scotland Yard and its ace detective, Inspector Alfred Ward, hot on the trail. Crosby leaves no aspect of the case unexamined, and the book will be extremely valuable as a reference material on 1913 London. But none of the characters truly come to life, and the necklace, beautiful and valuable though it may be, doesn’t have the romance and mystery of the Hope Diamond or Star of India.

Lacks the excitement of a truly thrilling heist caper, but offers an illuminating glimpse into England’s criminal past.

JUJITSU RABBI AND THE GODLESS BLONDE A True Story Dana, Rebecca Amy Einhorn/Putnam (288 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-399-15877-3

Coming-of-age memoir from Newsweek and Daily Beast senior correspondent Dana.

The author, a leggy transplant from Pittsburgh, had snagged a great apartment and a great boyfriend in New York City. She had great hair, great clothes and a great job reporting for Daily Beast. Tina Brown, no less, was her mentor. Her way was lit by Joan Didion, Nora Ephron and, of course, Carrie Bradshaw. Brainy, hip and looking good, all was going according to plan until a spoiled romance ended in a classic breakup. And so our clever princess left the joint Manhattan apartment to share a place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, land of the orthodox Jewish community of Lubavitch. There was Cosmo, her roommate, a bright rabbi, given to acting not at all like a Jewish, or even a jujitsu, rabbi. What was Rabbi Cosmo doing, after all, chewing on raw bacon or wrestling with a girl?

No wonder Dana, deracinated in Brooklyn, became a tad confused. She loved cake and clothes and was in thrall to the gods of glamor. Her Good Book was Vogue. Her High Holy Days took place during Fashion Week; its rituals were celebrated. And yet, with the warm family life and the heartfelt spirit she encountered, there was undeniably something wonderful going on in Crown Heights. Readers will find Dana’s depiction of Lubavitch life quite accessible, despite her frequent use of sparsely translated terms like shidduch, treyf, nudzhing or tznius.

Finding nourishment, kosher-style, clever chick lit expands its usual boundaries.

UNFINISHED EMPIRE The Global Expansion of Britain Darwin, John Bloomsbury (416 pp.) $35.00 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-1-62040-037-1

A sweeping, nondogmatic study of the gradual and not always secure development of the British Empire.

Darwin (After Tamerlane, 2007, etc.) looks fairly at both sides of the scholarly debate over the rightness of British imperialism, as both a civilizing force and imposition of a “cruel yoke of economic dependency.” Versatility seemed to be the key to Britain’s success in fashioning mercantile strongholds in the Americas, Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, China and Africa. The Tudor conquest of Ireland imparted some rough, lasting lessons in British territorial security, while British seamen, latecomers to Atlantic exploration, played catch-up against the exclusionary Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, insisting on the universal right of “freedom of the seas.” Private entrepreneurs, such as the leaders of the companies that first made contact in Virginia, West Africa and India, took the first steps; from possession by government charter, the privateers needed protection and assurance from London in luring settlers to the regions who would then enjoy the same civil rights as they had at home. Darwin moves steadily from this “assertion of sovereignty” to annexation to resorting to war in order to retain possession and quell rebellion, with more or less success (read: American colonies). The author does an excellent job delineating the remarkable British rule in India, which succeeded by “sheer bureaucratic persistence.” Scottish missionary David Livingstone’s formula for empire success—“commerce, Christianity and civilization”— gives a good idea of the myriad evolving colonies Darwin pursues in this vigorous but restrained historical survey.

An evenhanded, erudite book that finds the work of empire building more nuanced than catastrophic.

TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING 100 More Mistakes that Lost Elections, Ended Empires, and Made the World What It Is Today

Fawcett, Bill Berkley (400 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Dec. 4, 2012 978-0-425-25736-4

A lively sequel to Fawcett’s 100 Mistakes that Changed History (2010), with few surprises.

From the first ancient Chinese emperor’s vainglorious quest for immortality to the Japanese building of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant directly over a fault line, the author plucks out of a long historical dateline some of the glaring follies in leadership that, if handled differently, just might have changed history. Had Qin Shi Huang properly educated his son for succession rather than jealously isolating him, the first great Chinese empire might have survived and thrived. Had the Japanese updated rather than denied safety regulations, the nuclear fallout after the 2011 tsunami might have been minimized. If Hannibal hadn’t insisted on crossing the Alps with elephants in 218 B.C., he would not have destroyed his Carthaginian army. If Harold II had not precipitously declared himself king of Britain and rushed into battle, he might have been able to withstand the onslaught of William of Normandy at the decisive Battle of Hastings. Fawcett examines myriad shoulda-woulda-coulda examples concerning history’s great names, narrated in fairly flat-footed prose but supported by proficient research. How would history have changed had France and England challenged Hitler immediately on the occupation of the Rhineland; had Hitler not given a stop order at Dunkirk in 1940; or had he not invaded Russia? What if the United States had not underestimated the Japanese military threat before being tested at Pearl Harbor? And how would the world have turned out today if President George W. Bush had heeded ominous terrorist signs well before 9/11?

An effortless, accessible way to learn history.

INSIDE REHAB The Surprising Truth about Addiction Treatment—and How to Get Help That Works

Fletcher, Anne M. Viking (448 pp.) $27.95 | Feb. 11, 2013 978-0-670-02522-0

An extensive, critical overview of modern treatment methods for substance abuse.

Health and medical writer Fletcher (Weight Loss Confidential: How Teens Lose Weight and Keep It Off—and What They Wish Parents Knew, 2008, etc.) conducted interviews with patients and the administrators and staff of addiction programs, visiting more than a dozen such programs (both residential and outpatient). The author challenges the notion that an addict is powerless to overcome an addiction on his or her own or with minimal professional counseling. She found that little had changed since 2002, when her book Sober for Good was published. At that time, more than 90 percent of U.S. rehab facilities were based on the 12-step method pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous. Today, the figure is similar, despite evidence that “the twelve-step approach isn’t for everyone, and many people overcome addiction using other methods.” Even patients who relapse several times are offered no alternative treatment options. Fletcher documents the many difficulties facing addicts in regard to | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2451

“Flynn’s determination to better understand his life through the act of writing and remembering has yielded a truly insightful, original work.” from the reenactments

receiving replacement medications, and among other surprising conclusions, she found little significant difference in the quality of care offered at high-end celebrity rehab centers and those at the low end of the economic spectrum. For those looking for a structured program, Fletcher includes tips on how to choose the best fit and check out facilities, including anecdotes and advice garnered from people who report having benefited from programs and others whose experiences were not positive.

A valuable guide for individuals seeking help and for their families, as well as for policymakers.

FRIENDFLUENCE The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are Flora, Carlin Doubleday (288 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-385-53543-4

A wide-ranging look at the many forms of friendships and how those relationships can affect our lives.

There was a time when “friend” wasn’t a verb, but Facebook has put an end to that, and with the number of users topping 1 billion, it’s unlikely to be reversed.

Facebook has also broadened the definition of a “friend” to include acquaintances, business associates, high school buddies, parents and others. Former Psychology Today features editor Flora argues that what some critics decry as a watering down of what used to be a significant relationship is actually not as simple as the “Internet is good/bad” dichotomy suggests. Drawing from interviews, academic studies and sociological research, the author explores the nature of not just online friendships, but also friendships in a variety of other contexts. How do we respond to “good friends” who withhold difficult truths to preserve the relationship? What roles do friendships fill that spouses, family and other relationships do not? Is pairing up with “bad seeds” a necessary part of a well-rounded adolescence, or should it sound alarms? Flora explores the criteria that we use to determine who our friends will be. The research is mostly intriguing, and the author cites sources from Cicero to Mark Zuckerberg, explores the friendship of Gabriel García Márquez and Fidel Castro, and provides anecdotes from her own experiences. “The closest of friendships contain the mysterious spark of attraction and connection as well as drama, tension, envy, sacrifice, and love,” writes the author. “For some, it’s the highest form of love there is.”

A convincing case for nurturing friendships in many of the same ways we nurture relationships with partners and other family—both online and off.

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THE REENACTMENTS A Memoir

Flynn, Nick Norton (224 pp.) $15.95 paperback | Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-393-34435-6

Flynn (The Ticking Is the Bomb, 2010, etc.) writes about having his memoir made into a movie.

In Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (2004), Flynn told the story of reconnecting with his homeless and alcoholic father when the author was working at a Boston homeless shelter in the late 1980s, after Flynn’s mother had committed suicide years earlier. That memoir became the basis for a movie, Being Flynn, filmed in 2011 and released this year, starring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore as his parents. (Actor Paul Dano, of There Will Be Blood fame, portrayed Flynn himself.) This new memoir is told as a series of short, almost pointillist vignettes—most a page or less—creating a complex patchwork of thoughts and ruminations on memory. Flynn systematically tries to make sense of his roiling emotions as he cycles through episodes from his and his parents’ lives. The inherent surreality of having your life portrayed by actors is a major theme. Describing a table reading of the film script, Flynn writes, “De Niro opens his mouth and my father comes out, then Dano opens his mouth and I come out, then Julianne opens her mouth.” Several times, Flynn uses a quote from another writer—Joan Didion, Friedrich Nietzsche, Simone Weil and others—as a springboard to a new thought or to sharpen a previous one. He also analyzes other works of art, from glass flowers to a scene from The Godfather Part II to an obscure Samuel Beckett/Buster Keaton film.

Flynn’s determination to better understand his life through the act of writing and remembering has yielded a truly insightful, original work. (Author tour to Boston, New York, Houston)

MY ESCAPE An Autobiography

Groult, Benoîte Translated by Gleisner, Nichole Other Press (352 pp.) $17.95 paperback | Oct. 23, 2012 978-1-59051-543-3 Frank, no-nonsense reflections by the French novelist about her gradual road to feminism through World War II, three husbands and the embrace of the

writing life.

Describing herself as docile and untalented as a child, Groult became a “timorous teenager” by 1939. She writes that it took the next 20 years for her to awaken the “deep sleep of [her] intelligence” and sexuality. In these warm, outspoken reflections on her coming-of-age and maturity, Groult blames

the deep-seated misogyny of the time for her early feelings of insignificance: the patriarchal Catholic schools, the lack of strong female role models, the pressure on young women to find husbands, the lack of meaningful careers and derision generally held for women with education. Like her literary model, Simone de Beauvoir, Groult was bookish and conflicted continually by the tension to achieve as well as be attractive to men.

Confined to occupied Paris with her family, she writes unreservedly about French anti-Semitism (“The Jews had their own fate which didn’t concern me”), her brief first marriage to a dying consumptive poet and her sexual enlightenment thanks to a newly liberated Paris full of American soldiers. Her marriage to the dashing journalist Georges de Caunes opened doors as a radio journalist during a frightening time when she had to seek abortions every few months. A new marriage and the women’s movement spurred her breakthrough best-seller Ainsi soit-elle in 1975, inspired by stories of female circumcision. A questionand-answer format with journalist and biographer Josyane Savigneau marks the later chapters.

A cleareyed memoir by a writer resolved to claim her “place on the battlefield of feminism.”

discoveries in the ever-more-accessible Arctic.

A useful, readable primer in a specialized but strategically important corner of geopolitics. (3 maps; 7 charts; 2 tables)

LOUIS AGASSIZ Creator of American Science

Irmscher, Christoph Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (448 pp.) $35.00 | Feb. 5, 2013 978-0-547-57767-8

A thoroughly satisfying biography of the almost but not quite forgotten Swiss-born Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), who moved to the United States in 1846 to become a combination of educator, media star and beloved science guru.

Though Agassiz’s genuine scientific contributions, such as the classification of extinct fish, had little popular appeal, his

WHEEL OF FORTUNE The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia Gustafson, Thane Belknap/Harvard Univ. (660 pp.) $39.95 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-0-674-06647-2 978-0-674-06801-8 e-book

Peak oil’s not just a capitalist conspiracy, and Vladimir Putin is vexed and peeved.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, writes Gustafson (Government/Georgetown Univ.; Capitalism Russian-Style, 1999, etc.), the Soviet oil system went with it. In the 1980s, it was the world’s leading producer of oil, but a decade later, production had fallen by half. Oil shored up the system, and by Gustafson’s lights, it made Putin what he is today: Formerly a shabby bureaucrat, once fed a constant diet of oil rubles, his “standard of living clearly improved, even before he became president.” Yet Putin is not the guarantor of a system under which capitalist Russia’s new rich can safely continue to collect billions, for Putin seems to view oil as a means to an end, that end being a well-funded military. “His basic view,” writes the author, “that revenues from oil should be channeled by the state to support Russia’s other strategic industries, remains essentially unchanged from those views he first expressed in the 1990s when he first came to power.” Gustafson notes that the Russian oil economy is at a crossroads, with no clear signal ahead. It might well revert to state control, or it might become a free-market leader, though the likelihood seems to tend in the direction of the former. What seems more certain is that the glory days have passed, since there’s a rule of thumb in oil that the biggest and richest fields have likely been discovered and since production seems destined to dwindle, barring fantastic | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2453

contemporaries thrilled at his assertion that great ice sheets had once covered the continents. Others had the idea earlier; the fiercely ambitious Agassiz took credit, but Irmscher (English/Indiana Univ.; Longfellow Redux, 2006) adds that his energetic research, writing and lectures won over the scientific community. Nowadays, Agassiz is mostly known for stubbornly opposing Darwinian evolution, preferring his version of a glorious nature filled with unchanging, divinely created species. This had no effect on his immense popularity but marginalized him among scientists. Sympathetic to his subject, Irmscher recounts the surprising amount of ridicule he received from evolutionists, including the usually benign Darwin. While admitting that Agassiz missed the boat, the author maintains that, for all his posturing and self-promotion and the offensive, pseudo-scientific racism fashionable at the time, he was an inspirational, insightful and unwearying scientific observer. His voluminous collection and publications remain impressive achievements.

Irmscher makes a convincing case that this egotistical, often wrongheaded figure deserves his reputation as a founder and first great popularizer of American science.

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IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S BRIE Unwrapping America’s Unique Culture of Cheese

Jackson, Kirstin Illus. by Pierre, Summer Perigee/Penguin (272 pp.) $19.00 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-0-399-53766-0

A varied exploration of some of America’s most delightful artisan cheeses.

Experiencing the many different kinds of specialty cheeses available in the United States is a challenging task, but Jackson ably catalogs some of her favorites, separating them into 16 intriguing categories that stoke the taste buds and fire the imagination.

The author vigorously melds the historic and cultural influences of her subject with a strikingly sensuous appeal that is hard to resist. But there’s no need to, as Jackson provides recipes that capture each delicacy in all its glory. Finely rendered descriptions of Lioni Latticini Mozzarella, Delice de La Vallee Fromage Blanc and others convey the essence of particular cheeses that have as much to do with the people who make them as the processes used in their creation. The fascinating interplay between the regional influences and the flavors produced is so absorbing that readers whose only appreciation of cheese extends as far as their next slice at the corner pizzeria are likely to find something here that captivates. The author is a bona fide foodie, but she sets a table that is warm and accessible to all, regardless of their level of cheese expertise. Readers might not even be aware of Bohemian Creamery Caproncino, but having already savored the inviting prose used in describing the California creation, they’ll probably want to start exploring. Those who have already rolled a few cheese wheels in their time will 2454 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

still want to experience the adventure.

A wonderfully rich dip into American cheese, which, contrary to what many may think, “has more styles than the pope has gilded white robes in his Vatican armoire.”

MAKING THE EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION

James, Harold Belknap/Harvard Univ. (480 pp.) $35.00 | Nov. 19, 2012 978-0-674-06683-0

Who knew that the run-up to the big-government, one-worldish euro was the darling of the American right wing?

Let’s unpack that, as James (History/ Princeton Univ.) does: The European Central Bank was designed as a nongovernmental (though definitely with a governmental element) institution whose chief purpose was to issue money, “the kind of institution that had basically only been imagined before the 1990s by antistatist liberal economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek and some of his wilder disciples.” Hayek, famed for Austrian austerity, had long advocated some mechanism whereby a fiscal authority could issue money without being beholden to the state; thus free from political pressures, it could respond with sensible monetary policies that addressed money, not power. The result, though, was less a nonstate bank than a network of cross-state banks, and these, like banks in the United States and elsewhere in the world, did what banks did back in the carefree days of the late 20th century—they acquired, grew and spent. The result,

by James’ long account, was near-failure through exposure to various crises, such as the Asian crisis of 1998, the subprime meltdown of 2007 and the European crisis of 1992. The last was marked by wild speculation, and in reading James, it helps to be versed in monetary policy and tolerant of the language of the discipline—e.g., “On November 19 the Swedish Riksbank raised its marginal lending rate to 20 percent, but the defense was unsuccessful, the speculative attack continued, and the krona was floated and the interest rate reduced to 12.5 percent.”

Of considerable interest to the economically inclined; a thoroughgoing demonstration of how fragile are monetary unions “without some measure of fiscal union.” (17 graphs)

“An outspoken wordsmith offers more intelligent, humorous and against-the-grain perspectives.” from every day is an atheist holiday!

EVERY DAY IS AN ATHEIST HOLIDAY!

Jillette, Penn Blue Rider Press (288 pp.) $25.95 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-399-16156-8

Jillette (God, No!, 2011, etc.) nails holidays with sarcasm and sensibility.

When the author’s opening chapter skewers the Christmas classic “Joy to the World” as a schlocky, joyless yuletide anthem, readers will recognize who and what they’re reading. What follows are chapters of mixed-focus essays; some are rambling, some are supremely anecdotal, and others acerbically mock Christian beliefs and steamroll religious politicians. Jillette allows readers a glimpse into his personal life with side chapters on a Houdini-influenced upbringing in Massachusetts, a quirky bath-taking obsession in his 20s, the rise of Penn & Teller from high school buddies to internationally popular stage magicians, and some rather bloated narration about an extortion attempt.

Additionally, there’s insider commentary of his time on The Celebrity Apprentice (“junior high with a better brand of acne cover up”), an in-depth discussion on his atheistic orientation, lessons learned from an acrimonious interview with Piers Morgan and thoughtful ruminations on gay rights and his two children.

Jillette is strongest when poking fun at his own foibles and in a touching, posthumous nod to friendships with author Christopher Hitchens and rock drummer Tommy Ardolino. As an unrepentant nonbeliever in organized religion, Jillette’s message may come off as snide and profane, but to the open-minded, his words are funny, dignified and make perfect sense.

An outspoken wordsmith offers more intelligent, humorous and against-the-grain perspectives.

THE LAST REFUGE Yemen, Al-qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia Johnsen, Gregory D. Norton (352 pp.) $27.95 | Nov. 19, 2012 978-0-393-08242-5

The first book-length treatment in English of al-Qaida’s operations in Yemen.

As increasingly more of the Middle East descends into chaos, the situation in Yemen has never been more pertinent. Johnsen, who has lived in and studied the country for years, posits that it represents the single most important battleground in the war between the West and Islamist militants. In a staccato page turner liberally peppered with bursts of gunfire and splatters of blood, he details the organizational structure of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and the spy-vs.-spy intrigues that have plagued the nation for three decades. Johnsen delves into the personal lives and motivations of al-Qaida commanders and foot soldiers and

incorporates troves of documents recovered from insurgent hideouts, but he necessarily gives way at the margins to speculation and creative reconstruction. Bearing more resemblance to a John le Carré potboiler than a political or historical primer, the book includes pages of operational details of plots hatched both by the militants and the intelligence agents working to capture them. Johnsen includes little of what could be considered deep background—analysis of the social, political and religious factors that have made Yemen such a hospitable home base for jihadists. In the end, neither side comes out looking especially impressive, and the plotlines of many misadventures could have been lifted from an episode of the Keystone Kops.

An entertaining, if a bit fluffy primer on the hold of terrorism in the more desolate reaches of the Middle East.

BLEEDING TALENT How the U.S. Military Mismanages Great Leaders and Why It’s Time for a Revolution

Kane, Tim Palgrave Macmillan (288 pp.) $30.00 | Dec. 11, 2012 978-0-230-39127-7

Hudson Institute chief economist Kane proposes the use of market-based methods to reform the military’s personnel and pay policies.

The author, a former officer in the U.S. Air Force, argues that the military is losing talent from the officer corps. The institutional structure legislated into effect beginning in the late 1970s has morphed into an unwieldy and counterproductive system that is increasingly abandoned by a number of junior officers. Kane is raising a warning flag about the future quality of the officer corps and the future of the military itself. For him, the problem is located in the promotion system, which is based on seniority, not merit, and “leads to a less competent generalofficer corps.” Promotion from the junior-officer level is tied to service, and at each level of advance, the percentage of officers who can move up to the next grade is fixed by law. In the author’s view, the ensuing problem is compounded by pension qualifications. Kane advocates a merit-based, entrepreneurial alternative driven by market considerations, and he draws from conservative economists such as Friedrich Hayek to support his case. He favors introducing competition over assignments and requirements and putting control in the hands of the unit commanders, who intimately know their needs. Kane discusses what his ideas of “entrepreneurial” officers would look like, referencing George Washington, George Marshall and Gen. Eisenhower as examples.

The author also calls for junior officers to be able to leave service and return later without losing pension rights.

National-budget stringencies will no doubt amplify this intriguing discussion.

| kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2455

THE YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER 1816 and the Volcano that Darkened the World and Changed History

Klingaman, William K. and Klingaman, Nicholas P. St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $27.99 | Feb. 26, 2013 978-0-312-67645-2 978-1-250-01206-7 e-book

A panoramic overview of the wideranging social and political effects of a climatic catastrophe.

Historian William Klingaman (Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 2001, etc.) and meteorologist Nicholas P. Klingaman join forces to document the atmospheric pollution from the massive eruption of an Indonesian volcano, Mount Tambora, in 1815. Black ash spread over nearby villages, and a cloud of sulfuric acid first moved over the Indian subcontinent and China and then spread to North America and Europe the following year, with disastrous consequences. Abnormally cold temperatures, respiratory problems, disease and crop failure followed in its wake. The authors begin their detailed account of the volcano in the winter of 1815–1816 as the aerosol cloud cooled temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere.

The consequences were devastating because of crop damage and ensuing famine, most notably in Ireland but also in France and England and, to a lesser degree, on the Eastern Seaboard in America. Heavy snows in winter were followed by unusually volatile weather that affected crops adversely; a cold summer with barely any sunlight was worse. European grain stores were already depleted as a result of the Napoleonic wars, and commerce was disrupted by the transition from a war economy to peacetime. The Klingamans document the famine and social unrest that followed over the following year. At the same time, many lives were relatively untouched by the calamity—not only monarchs and the politicians who wrestled with problems of poor relief, but also Jane Austen and poets such as Byron and Shelley. One long-term result of the volcanic eruption was the increase in emigration to the U.S. and of more marginal American farmers westward.

An intriguing sidelight on the effects of climate change.

GEORGETTE HEYER

Kloester, Jennifer Sourcebooks (464 pp.) $16.99 paperback | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-4022-7175-5 A detailed, yet sometimes-plodding study of the life and work of Georgette Heyer (1902–1974), the best-selling British Regency romance writer.

Kloester (Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, 2005) spent 10 years researching this book, which draws from “new and untapped archives 2456 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

of [Heyer’s] letters,” as well as the author’s notebooks and other private papers. The result is a carefully crafted, narrowly focused biography that concentrates on Heyer and her novels to the near exclusion of the times in which she was writing. The woman whom the Daily Telegraph called the “20th Century Jane Austen” was “born an Edwardian.” But Kloester points out that Heyer’s upper-middle-class world and many of the traditions that informed it—“servants, horses and carriages, good manners, correct speech, the right clothing and a certain level of education and cultural literacy”—were products of the English Regency. Encouraged from an early age by her literature-loving father to read widely and write, Heyer produced her first novel when she was just 17. However, it would be more than 20 years before she would focus exclusively on the Regency romances for which she is best remembered. Until that time, she dabbled in historical, contemporary and detective fiction writing and experienced modest, but steadily increasing, success with each novel she published. After her father died in 1925, Heyer supported her mother and two brothers on her literary earnings. Until her husband could practice as an attorney, she had to support her own household as well, factors that Kloester believes contributed to her all-consuming drive to write. Heyer produced more than 50 novels in her lifetime, in addition to numerous short stories. Unable to see her work as being on par with “serious” writers, she would assert that her books sold because they were historical romances “that [didn’t] date.” But as Kloester observes, the literary legacy Heyer could not fully own still “endures.”

Meticulously researched, but with limited audience appeal.

THE MYTH OF MARTYRDOM What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

Lankford, Adam Palgrave Macmillan (272 pp.) $27.00 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-230-34213-2

A fierce attack on the view that suicide terrorists are true martyrs to a cause, worthy of respect or honor because of their commitment.

Lankford (Criminal Justice/Univ. of Alabama) argues that most suicide terrorists suffer from depression, grief, shame and rage, and they are seeking a way out of an existence they find unbearable. Religion and politics may affect the form of suicide and provide the target for rage, but they are not the underlying causes. The author cites studies and psychological assessments of suicide terrorists to support his position. He tabulates the similarities between rampage shooters, school shooters and suicide terrorists, notes their differences from workplace shooters, and examines different types of suicides—e.g., coerced (Kamikaze pilots), escapist (high-ranking Nazis) and indirect (players of Russian roulette). Lankford takes close looks at Mohamed Atta, leader of the 9/11 attack; Nidal Hasan, the Fort

“A horrifying cautionary tale that reveals the vast dimensions of our vulnerability in the cyber age.” from give me everything you have

Hood shooter; the Columbine killers; and the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik. The author believes that to call suicide terrorists martyrs is to fall victim to terrorist propaganda that glorifies their acts. Instead, Lankford counsels, we must stigmatize their acts, expose them as psychologically damaged individuals and use the accumulated knowledge of risk factors and warning signs to identify potential perpetrators before they strike. Three appendices provide lists of attackers along with their known risk factors for suicide, names and dates of attacks between 1990 and 2010 in the United States, and countermeasures for dealing with different types of suicide terrorists.

Lankford presents some persuasive evidence, but the scorn he displays for those with differing views significantly detracts from his message.

GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE On Being Stalked

Lasdun, James Farrar, Straus and Giroux (224 pp.) $25.00 | Feb. 12, 2013 978-0-374-21907-9

CHANEL BONFIRE A Memoir

Lawless, Wendy Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-4516-7536-8

The eldest daughter of a disturbed socialite details a 1970s childhood in the shadow of excess and mental illness.

“Even half-dead, Mother was beautiful,” writes Lawless, who, as a child, watched her mother suffer an intentional Seconal overdose. The author’s dour memoir of life with Georgann Rea doesn’t get much sunnier. Rea’s premature, unsatisfying marriage to theater actor James Lawless bore two daughters and instigated relocations to North Carolina and then Minneapolis, where Mother melodramatically pronounced her newfound love for Broadway producer Oliver Rea. But he soon abandoned Georgann, leaving her to dejectedly

The story of a 30-something college student who employed an array of digital weapons to attack her writing professor, who loved her writing but rejected her

amorous advances.

In a tale that sometimes seems more like a script for a horror film, novelist and short story writer Lasdun (It’s Beginning to Hurt, 2009, etc.) approaches his subject from a variety of perspectives.

First, he provides a brisk narrative of the principal events: In the fall of 2003, he was a part-time teacher at a New York college (he changed the name); he greatly encouraged one of his students, an Iranian immigrant he calls Nasreen; after the course was over, they became email correspondents, and he helped her look for an agent and a publisher for her work; when her interest became more romantic, he backed off. And with her continued harassment, his hellish life commenced. Lasdun then pauses, returns to think about the classroom situation and to ask himself what he’d done—or not done—that might have contributed to this grievous misunderstanding. He looks for analogies (and solace) in literary works—among them Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which he summarizes at great length about a third of the way through, Macbeth, Strangers on a Train and Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Penitent. Nasreen’s emails grew ever more crude and threatening (the author reproduces many of them), so Lasdun tried the FBI and the NYPD but with no real success. She posted vicious material on Amazon, Facebook and Wikipedia; she wrote to all of his publishers and to the institutions where he’d worked, accusing him of having sex with his students and stealing her material—even engineering her rape. She also forwarded in his name obnoxious and noxious material. A later section deals with Lasdun’s explorations of family roots and anti-Semitism.

A horrifying cautionary tale that reveals the vast dimensions of our vulnerability in the cyber age. | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2457

stalk their apartment “in a diaphanous, white Dior negligee, smoking, with a glass of something on the rocks in her hand.”

The sale of their flat afforded the family a swanky Park Avenue address. However, as a swinging single, Georgann, a larger-thanlife, almost cartoonish personality who hijacks much of the memoir’s sentimentality, ushered in a new age for herself, Lawless and her sister Robin. She entertained nonstop bed partners, fired the nanny, alienated her ex-husband and generally showboated herself throughout the elite communities of Manhattan, Europe and Boston. The product of a fatally flawed role model who perfected the cruel art of “playing dead,” Lawless and her sister miraculously matured and went on to live fulfilling lives amid Georgann’s excessively reckless, grandiose attention-getting antics. Mother’s “psychotic” diagnosis comes as no surprise toward the end of this melancholy narrative.

Frequently entertaining chronicle of a daughter’s sad, detached upbringing—but this story’s all about the mother.

TORN Rescuing the Gospel From the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate

Lee, Justin Jericho Books/Hachette (272 pp.) $21.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-1-4555-1431-1

Gay Christian Network founder Lee argues that sexual preference doesn’t need to be a source of division for the

Christian church.

Raised in a conservative Christian household, the author was certain during his teenage years that homosexuality was a sin. Nevertheless, he was attracted to other boys and could not change his attractions. In this book, part memoir and part manifesto, Lee explains his lengthy search for answers and assistance from a church unwilling to accept his sexual preference. Lee’s story begins as a young man, when he came out to his parents, who showed him unconditional love even while not accepting homosexuality as a permanent condition. He went on to search out “ex-gay” ministries, which promised that he could change into a heterosexual. These experiences left him unchanged and unhappy, as he discerned that ex-gay ministries might change sexual behaviors but never alter sexual preferences. As a college student, Lee became an almost unwitting leader of his campus gay and lesbian organization, and he attempted to build bridges between campus gays and Christians. The author argues that a serious examination of Scripture shows that God does not condemn homosexuality per se, but only harmful practices such as molestation or rape. In the New Testament, if selfless love was involved, it made everything right: “I thought about every example of sin I could come up with. In every single case, Paul was right: Truly living out God’s agape love for others always led to doing the right thing.” Lee calls for a radical change in the church’s approach to gays and lesbians, focusing on acceptance, love, understanding and open dialogue.

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Lee’s writing is approachable, and he shows compassion for those on all sides of this debate.

THE JOY OF SEXUS Lust, Love, and Longing in the Ancient World

León, Vicki Walker (320 pp.) $17.00 paperback | Jan. 29, 2013 978-0-8027-1997-3

Occasionally intriguing but too-cute history of eroticism in the ancient world.

Until modern times, marriage was never about love, physical or otherwise; it was political and economic. Sensual enjoyment was much easier to find and enjoy with little consequence, and the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians mastered the art. Authors that attempt to make antiquities cute and bring them into the 21st century play a dangerous game. León (How to Mellify A Corpse: And Other Human Stories of Ancient Science & Superstition, 2010, etc.) has written enough to know better than to toss in silly phrases like “round-the-sundial witness protection,” or marrying the prostitute because the man “didn’t want to time-share.”

Mythology abounds naturally in a work about a subject in which the players all believe they perform like gods. The business of sex, not only in those who offer it for sale or for their own safety, has been around since Genesis, and the first published manual was distributed by the Chinese 5,000 years ago. Many readers will think that there is nothing new, and of course, there really isn’t—just a new way of presenting a catalog of what people have always done. The author provides a redeeming amount of etymology—e.g., about fornices, beneath which the ladies of the night developed their job description. Forms, positions, aberrations and self-pollution methods eventually give way to a list of famous love affairs, real and mythological, from Orpheus’ love of Eurydice to Cleopatra’s passion for just about anyone who happened to be near. León seems to have been unable to decide whether to write about myths, history or just plain sex, so she just tossed them all into one basket.

At times enjoyable, edifying and humorous, but the conversational style tends too much toward the sophomoric in its attempts to be cute.

GOING TO TEHRAN Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran

Leverett, Flynt; Leverett, Hillary Mann Metropolitan/Henry Holt (496 pp.) $30.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-8050-9419-0

Leverett (International Affairs/ Pennsylvania State Univ.; Inheriting Syria: Bashir’s Trial by Fire, 2005) and his wife,

“Charting the remarkable journey of a modern musical classic, from obscurity to ubiquity.” from the holy or the broken

Hillary, argue that, unless it changes, “the United States’ Iran policy is locked in a trajectory…that will ultimately lead to war.”

The authors take on what they identify as “a powerful mythology” that continues to influence U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic—primarily, the proposition that because it is unpopular, the regime “is in imminent danger of being overthrown.” They offer an alternative to the prevailing view that Khomeini and his supporters hijacked the liberal revolution that began in 1978 and “betrayed the aspirations of those who actually carried out the campaign that deposed the shah.” The Leveretts take issue with American policymakers who propose that the U.S. should advocate the overthrow of the present regime in favor of liberal democracy. They believe in the possibility of negotiating with the present regime. The authors dispute the view that the mullahs have done nothing for the population and lack support, showing how literacy, health and medical care have been upgraded and the economy developed.

They highlight present concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, which they claim are exaggerated. They identify the continuing influence of the neoconservatives, who brought about the second Iraq war, and “liberal internationalists,” who are ready to deploy military force in support of human rights. They believe that the time has come for an initiative like Nixon’s visit to Beijing to begin a change in course.

A sharply different deconstruction of the prevailing orthodoxy, worthy of attention.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DIXIE The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South Levine, Bruce Random House (464 pp.) $30.00 | Jan. 8, 2023 978-1-4000-6703-9 978-0-679-64535-1 e-book

Levine (History/Univ. of Illinois; Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves during the Civil War, 2005, etc.) examines how the slaveholder republic of the Confederacy collapsed.

Early on in this splendidly colorful account, the author compares the old South’s disintegration to “The Fall of the House of Usher,” where microscopic cracks in the mansion’s foundation gradually widen until the building implodes. He extends the Poe-themed metaphor in a later chapter, invoking “The Masque of the Red Death,” when the Confederate elite of Montgomery and Richmond madly partied at splendid balls in 1864-1865, even as their civilization lay in ruins. Levine acknowledges that a force of arms was necessary to bring the South to its knees, and he frequently alludes to military developments that marked the South’s unfolding destruction. But how the confident exuberance of the secession spring turned into the bitter resignation of Appomattox is more than simply a story of battlefield reversals. War exposed Southern political, social and economic

deficiencies in ways unanticipated by Confederate leaders. The increasingly bloody, expensive conflict shattered any number of illusions: about slaves’ faithfulness, white Southern unity, cotton’s supremacy, the unimportance of financial and industrial power, divine favor, unwavering martial spirit and Northern fecklessness. The war’s stresses and strains widened fissures between Jefferson Davis’ government and the economic elite, between master and slave, between plantation whites and the poor who shouldered a disproportionate share of the conflict’s burdens. Ironically, the enslaved third of its population, second only to land as a source of Southern wealth and the war’s proximate cause, emerged as Dixie’s “greatest and most severe structural weakness.” As the Northern armies advance in the background of his narrative, Levine recounts this tale of Southern institutional rot with the ease and authority borne of decades of study.

A sensitive, informed rendering of the wrenching reformation of the South. (16-page b/w photo insert; maps)

THE HOLY OR THE BROKEN Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”

Light, Alan Atria (288 pp.) $25.00 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-4516-5784-5

Charting the remarkable journey of a modern musical classic, from obscurity

to ubiquity.

Former Vibe and Spin editor Light’s (The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys, 2006) brisk, engrossing study of “Hallelujah” comes on the heels of Sylvie Simmons’ definitive Cohen biography, but this book is brilliantly revelatory on its own. The song, a beguiling, mysterious mix of the spiritual and the erotic with an incantatory chorus, originally appeared on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s 1984 album “Various Positions.” Cohen’s label, Columbia, refused to issue the album, and it appeared on an independent label; it failed to sell. But the song was kept alive by John Cale’s 1991 cover, augmented by new verses supplied by its author, and Jeff Buckley’s heavenly rendering of Cale’s text on his 1994 debut album “Grace.”

That album also flopped commercially, but “Hallelujah” became the touchstone of Buckley’s posthumous reputation after his death. Light skillfully delineates the song’s genesis as a contemporary standard, through its emotionally potent use in a famous VH1 montage after 9/11, feature films like Shrek, a host of TV shows and televised sing-offs like American Idol. Though Cohen declined to be interviewed for the book, Light spoke with several of his key collaborators plus many of its interpreters, including k.d. lang, Rufus Wainwright, Bono and Jon Bon Jovi. He recounts how the tardy success of Cohen’s unheralded composition led to his latter-day critical and commercial renaissance: After his manager embezzled nearly $10 million from his | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2459

k i r ku s q & a w i t h v i c t o r i a b a s s e t t i

ELECTORAL DYSFUNCTION: A Survival Manual for American Voters

Bassetti, Victoria The New Press (288 pp.) $17.95 Sept. 18, 2012 978-1-59558-812-8

Author Victoria Bassetti thinks an awful lot about voting, so it was incredibly apropos that the New Orleans transplant was headed out the door of her Brooklyn apartment to cast a ballot in the city’s recent primary elections when Kirkus caught up with her to discuss her new book, Electoral Dysfunction: A Survival Manual for American Voters. The book will be released as a companion piece to a feature-length documentary of the same name, starring humorist Mo Rocca, that will air on PBS stations ahead of the general election this fall.

“We’ve got an election system that is totally scattershot,” Bassetti says—and she’s not speaking locally. “Every voter in every district has different rules and methods for voting in place. There is a startling lack of uniformity. We’ve got incredibly frustrated voters and rising voter apathy. And that hurts our democracy.”

Q: Did you find it hard getting up in the morning knowing that your job was trying to make the Electoral College look interesting?

A: I definitely struggled with writing a lot of these chapters to try to figure out how to make what can be deadly dull issues interesting. And I hope I succeeded.

That was always my goal—to make it lively. I filled it with anecdotes and stories to make it seem practical and real rather than abstract.

Q: The current nationwide voter suppression drive that Republicans are engaged in is arguably based on the notion that some Americans are simply more suited to vote than others. But that idea is hardly new is it?

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A: When I first started researching this book, I kept scratching my head going, “No. Come on. It’s got to be there!” It’s so funny because I have had numerous conversations with lawyers, too, and I can’t begin to tell you how many incredibly fierce arguments I’ve had with people about this because they just say, “No, no. It has to be there.” And then they’ll go home and read the Constitution and say, “Well, doesn’t this mean that there is a right to vote?” It is really surprising when you come around to realizing that the way our Constitution was written, there is no overarching right to vote.

There’s only possibly an implied right, and there are these negative rights in there—you can’t deny voting on the basis of race or sex or that someone is 19 years old, for instance. But the kind of large, broad sweeping right, like we’ve got with the First Amendment, there’s not a comparable statement of aspirations or of rights regarding voting in the U.S. Constitution.

Q: What does that say about our supposedly democratic country?

A: I think that when the founders were drafting the Constitution, they made the compromises necessary to get the Constitution adopted. And that it was a practical decision they made not to put in the right to vote into the Constitution. They could not, at that time, impose universal suffrage. We certainly couldn’t have imposed uniformed suffrage rules across the 13 states that were about to join the United States; there would have been too much conflict between the states. It wasn’t going to wash. So, I think that in the intervening years since the Constitution was adopted, with the bare exception of the passages of the 14th and 15th Amendments, we really haven’t had any moment when we grappled with this issue and forced ourselves to really confront the way we run elections and voting. We came really close in 2000. The real question now, is whether or not it’s going to take a complete breakdown in an election in order for us to grapple with it. Or whether or not we can deal with it without having a disaster on our shores.

—By Joe Maniscalco

9 For the full interview, please visit kirkus.com.

p hoto by Ga b i P o rt er

A: It is a time-honored American tradition to try and belittle voters. To say that they aren’t smart enough, that only incredibly intelligent people should be able to vote, or you should have to pass a civics test before you can vote. There are plenty of people who said that in the 18th century, the 19th century, the 20th century and the 21st century. It’s never going to stop. I happen to disagree with that perspective because I think democracies are about resolving conflict and having a deliberative process that brings us all together and allows our system of government to make decisions.

Once you begin to exclude groups of people, be it on the basis of intelligence, race or gender, you undermine the ability of our society and our democracy to move forward. When you start excluding vast swaths of people from being able to participate in democracy, all you’re doing is cutting them out of the process, angering them and ultimately sowing the seeds for the overall destruction of our society.

Q: Can you talk about the reaction you get from people when they learn that the right to vote is actually not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution?

accounts, Cohen returned to performing on the back of “Hallelujah,” and reinstated himself with a rapturously received 2008-2010 world tour. In the meantime, the song had become a fixture of religious ceremonies, bar mitzvahs, weddings and memorial services. Light’s main point is that the song’s stirring melody, malleability and lyrical ambiguity made it a natural candidate for wide-scale popular adoration.

A masterful work of critical journalism.

THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, but Does

Lyubomirsky, Sonja Penguin Press (320 pp.) $27.95 | Jan. 7, 2013 978-1-59420-437-1

Lyubomirsky (Psychology/Univ. of California, Riverside; The How of Happiness, 2008) dismantles culturally generated myths of happiness and offers strategies to help people “reach and exceed [their personal] happiness potentials.”

The author examines how the “shoulds” of happiness not only undermine well-being, but also make it hard for individuals to cope with the sometimes difficult realities of adulthood.

She divides the book into three sections, addressing the situations or conditions in which adults are most likely to encounter setbacks: relationships, work/finances and middle to old age.

When individuals don’t achieve what they think will make them happy, crisis—along with the fear and anxiety it generates—follows. Even when they do get what they believe will bring them happiness, people often experience profound discontent, which can also lead to upheaval. Lyubomirsky argues that however painful these turning points are, they can also present “opportunities for renewal, growth, or meaningful change,” which can result in greater happiness in the long term. The author further maintains that what prevents individuals from making the most of these opportunities is how they choose to react. These responses are in turn influenced by received myths of happiness.

She suggests that people can help themselves deal more effectively with trauma by cultivating an awareness of happiness myths and then developing a more reasoned approach to these challenges, which are really just rites of passage along the path of personal evolution. Her approach is well-researched and eminently pragmatic, but like the pursuit of happiness itself, it requires commitment and discipline since “there’s no magic formula” for achieving bliss.

Informative and engaging.

BE FRUITFUL The Essential Guide to Maximizing Fertility and Giving Birth to a Healthy Child Maizes, Victoria Scribner (288 pp.) $20.00 paperback | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-4516-4547-7

A well-rounded approach to ensuring a successful pregnancy.

Maizes provides a wealth of practical advice and a comprehensive self-assessment test covering contraception, nutrition, diet and exercise, environmental factors and spirituality. Using an integrative medicine approach, “the thoughtful synthesis of conventional and alternative medicines,” the author’s readerfriendly, step-by-step methodology is easy to understand and painless to incorporate into a full lifestyle. Maizes believes that in today’s “high-stress, chemical-laden, frequently unhealthy environment, integrative medicine is the most effective way to

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“A complicated, ultimately rewarding history tracing how the engagement with ‘Jewish questions’ have shaped 3,000 years of Western thought.” from anti-judaism

prepare for pregnancy, guiding you to create an oasis of health.”

She advocates preparing one’s body through adequate sleep, good food and the use of supplements, and she provides extensive information on food and vitamin choices. To prepare one’s mind for the changes pregnancy and motherhood will bring, the author suggests yogic breathing techniques, exercise and journaling, among other methods. Maizes covers conventional medical practices for conception, from analyzing basal body temperature to mucus, as well as Chinese medical techniques and Ayurveda. The author also addresses the fears and troubles with infertility and provides numerous ideas for solutions to this increasingly common problem. Personal stories of successful pregnancies based on Maizes’ patients add warmth to the solid scientific advice. Men will also gain valuable insight in regard to their own physical and mental health.

Solid and wide-ranging prenatal advice for women of all ages.

COACHING CONFIDENTIAL Inside the Fraternity of NFL Coaches

Myers, Gary Crown Archetype (272 pp.) $26.00 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-307-71966-9

New York Daily News football columnist Myers (The Catch: One Play, Two Dynasties, and the Game that Changed the NFL, 2008) explores the lives and careers of some iconic coaches.

The author focuses on recent decades, eschewing tales of Brown, Lombardi or even Shula. He begins instead with the quick rise and fall of Sean Payton, whose abundant confidence helped propel the Saints into a Super Bowl win (2009) but also brought about his demise when he, like many other successful people in just about any profession, thought his success had purchased immunity. Myers then shifts attention to Joe Gibbs, who had to deal with personal demons as well as the gunshot death of star player Sean Taylor. Floating above much of the narrative is Bill Parcells, whose own considerable coaching achievements were due partially to some skilled assistants, including Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll. Myers also looks at the relationships between coaches and some controversial and/or unique players: Andy Reid and Michael Vick (convicted of running a dog-fighting ring), John Fox and popular Tim Tebow (quickly traded when Peyton Manning became available), Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre (who loved to improvise). The author also covers the firing of Tom Landry, the career of his successor, Jimmy Johnson, the trade of Herschel Walker (the author calls it the greatest in NFL history), and the on-again, off-again, on-again career of Dick Vermeil, as well as the quick successes of Brian Billick and Jets’ coach Rex Ryan. Myers’ diction is not always novel, and he sometimes declares the obvious as if it were not: “It’s a cutthroat business, a results business. Win and you stay. Lose and you leave.”

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Some arresting snapshots of the coaching life, but the captions are sometimes as conventional as a cautious coach.

(8-page b/w insert)

ANTI-JUDAISM The Western Tradition Nirenberg, David Norton (672 pp.) $35.00 | Feb. 4, 2013 978-0-393-05824-6

A complicated, ultimately rewarding history tracing how the engagement with “Jewish questions” have shaped 3,000 years of Western thought.

Nirenberg (Medieval History and Social Thought/Univ. of Chicago; Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages, 1996, etc.) fashions a fascinating, albeit densely academic study of how writers and thinkers from Jesus to Marx to Edward Said have recycled ideas about Jews and Jewishness in creating their own constructions of reality. From the earliest eras, people have been formulating ideas about, and mostly against, Jews, despite their relatively small numerical representation on the world stage—e.g., the Egyptians resented the Jews as “agents of a hated imperial power” (the Persians). Enlisting his formidable army of sources, Nirenberg demonstrates how, in the ancient world, Jews were viewed as noncitizens, a force to be repelled against and even exterminated. Characteristics of “misanthropy, impiety, lawlessness and universal enmity” attached to Moses and his people would be reaffirmed in writings from the Christian Gospels to Shakespeare. Church officials equated Jews with carnality and the flesh, while the Muslims deemed them “hypocrites” and “non-believers.” In the medieval era, Jews worked for monarchs as moneylenders, and thus, resisting their influence became a preoccupation from the Spanish Inquisition to the Enlightenment philosophes. Even the revolutionaries of France were attempting a conversion from an ancient, loathed “Mosaic” system of “slavery to law and letter” to one of truth and freedom.

Nirenberg doggedly probes how these inherited ideas of Jewishness created (especially to the modern reader) a “creeping calamity,” coloring history itself. The author takes issue with lazy “habits of thought” that even the greatest thinkers dared not reflect on and challenge.

A bold, impressive study that makes refreshing assertions about our ability to redirect history.

THIS IS RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE Essays

Orange, Michelle Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Feb. 12, 2013 978-0-374-53332-8

Film critic and essayist Orange (The Sicily Papers, 2006) situates this collection of new and previously published pieces around her thoughts on leaving “the Next Generation,” which she “had unwittingly been a part of for two decades.”

Comparing herself to her grandmother, who found cellphones the “gadget too far,” the author explores the implications of a modern life lived online. She looks at the reinvention of the dream girl typified by Marilyn Monroe as a young woman whose self-presentation is “[a]ll two-dimensional tics and selfconscious dysfunction,” a pose she derides as “a watered-down affront to iconoclasm.” Orange’s grandmother was in many ways a model for her. In the last two decades of her life, she maintained a fully engaged, modern life as a film critic in her own right, although her reviews were written on ticket stubs that she shared with the author. Films, writes Orange, also take on a new aspect today as people share clips from YouTube, and fiction and reality often meld together. She gives as an example what happened after Whitney Houston’s death, when “clips of old performances” and shots of her looking “disheveled, even wild,” were viewed together. Film and life blend as people become the stars of their own life sagas through postings on Facebook and blogs and other online forums. “Networks like Facebook, Flickr, DailyBooth, and Instagram have forged a new standard for social realism,” Orange writes, “and though they are designed to promote individuality, what jumps out immediately is the organized, ticky-tacky sameness of the profiles.” In the last, autobiographical essay, the author explains how running has helped structure her life. Other topics include the role of the director in modern film theory, a trip to Lebanon, brain scans and lie detection.

An intriguingly different take on today’s culture.

HOW TO STAY SANE

Perry, Philippa Picador (192 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-250-03063-4 A self-help book for combating the stress of today.

Psychotherapist and member of the School of Life (“dedicated to exploring life’s big questions”), Perry (Couch Fiction, 2010) offers practical tips on how to maintain a rational mind and attitude in today’s hectic world. She believes that most people with personality disorders

fall into one of two groups—either living in chaos, bouncing from crisis to crisis, or stuck in an outdated rut of unyielding responses—and that all of us fall somewhere in between the two extremes. Perry presents a methodology on “how to stay on the path between those two extremes, how to remain stable and yet flexible, coherent and yet able to embrace complexity.” By analyzing “how” we experience ourselves and the world, rather than wondering “why” we experience things in a particular way, we are better able to make adjustments in our lives. Consequently, the first step is self-observation. Once we comprehend how we are feeling and what we are thinking in any given situation, we are able to move on to understanding how we relate to others, enabling us to choose healthy relationships. Keeping our brains fit through physical activity, mental exercises and stretching our comfort zones enables us to remain flexible, connected with others and able to adapt to unexpected, often stressful, changes. Optimism is another cornerstone to a well-balanced lifestyle; a positive outlook offers health benefits, decreases stress, increases longevity and provides for more satisfaction in relationships.

Using stories from her therapy practice to illustrate her points as well as numerous exercises to conduct alone, with a loved one or within a group, Perry brings new light to a well-visited subject.

HOW I SLEPT MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE Secrets and Stories from Stage, Screen, and Interwebs

Pollak, Kevin Lyons Press (272 pp.) $24.95 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-0-7627-8055-6

Pollak, the busy character actor and comedian, recounts his career in show business in this fitfully amusing but innocuous, mostly forgettable memoir.

Despite the salacious title, Pollak is unfailingly inoffensive and upbeat in this collection of anecdotes detailing his film career and friendly working relationships with such luminaries as Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis and Jack Nicholson, all of whom are lauded as wonderfully kind, supportive, consummately professional peers. Readers hoping for dirt will be disappointed, though the author does have some mildly unkind things to say about Michael Clarke Duncan and Adam Shankman. The bulk of the book consists of fond reminiscences of hanging around on set with fabulous celebrities, harmless practical jokes and lucky breaks. While Pollak is an engaging raconteur on the page, the material here is too thin to really sustain interest—a story about Nicholson indulging Pollak’s star-struck mother is typical of the fare on offer—and a creeping sense of smug self-regard casts a bit of a pall over the course of the narrative. The most compelling passages concern the author’s pre-fame days, including a legitimately riveting account of the teenage author, already in possession of a killer Peter Falk impersonation, hijacking a | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2463

“Raphael is imposingly erudite and at pains to demonstrate it, yet there is a remarkable clarity to the writing, many elegant turns of phrase and a measure of sly humor.” from a jew among romans

concert performance by Rich Little. For the most part, though, Pollak waxes rhapsodically about the wonderful qualities of his more famous peers and dishes about backstage shenanigans on the sets of his most prominent films, including A Few Good Men, The Usual Suspects and The Whole Nine Yards. The effect is that of a pleasant talk show chat stretched over the course of a book.

Pleasant but inessential.

A JEW AMONG ROMANS The Life and Legacy of Flavius Josephus Raphael, Frederic Pantheon (368 pp.) $28.95 | Jan. 15, 2012 978-0-307-37816-3 978-0-307-90783-7 e-book

Novelist, screenwriter and biographer Raphael (Ifs and Buts, 2011, etc.) succeeds admirably in recovering the reputation of much-maligned historian Titus Flavius Josephus (37–100).

Born to a prominent Jerusalem family, and deeply opposed to a ruinous war with imperial Rome, Josephus provided the sole existing account—The Jewish War—of the Great Revolt of Judaea against the empire. It is a unique chronicle, Raphael insists, in that no previous losing general in a war ever crossed the lines to describe the defeat of his own side. Retained by the Flavian emperors, first as seer and negotiator, and accorded a Romanized name (he was born Joseph ben Mattathias), Josephus would be accused of treachery against the cause he once served, reviled as a Judas by contemporaries and modern detractors alike. Raphael is inclined to support Josephus’ veracity, albeit with pointed disclaimers. He argues that to dismiss this adroit survivor as a traitorous collaborator underrates not only Josephus’ desire to save Jewish lives, but also his subtlety as a secular historian who smuggled brutal truths about Roman conduct into his work. As Raphael is chiefly concerned with Josephus’ character and writing, his extensive references are almost entirely literary and biographical, many dealing with Jewish writers and intellectuals (Spinoza et al.) through the centuries who echo Josephus’ life as an apostate and alienated observer.

Informed by scrupulous, sometimes exhaustive footnotes and addenda, the book is not simply an arresting biography, but a persuasive history of an era. Like his subject, Raphael’s breadth of intelligence works against single-mindedness. Throughout, he quotes the conclusions, often opposed to his reading, of other historians.

Raphael is imposingly erudite and at pains to demonstrate it, yet there is a remarkable clarity to the writing, many elegant turns of phrase and a measure of sly humor.

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THE BACKYARD PARABLES A Meditation on Gardening Roach, Margaret Grand Central Publishing (288 pp.) $25.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-4555-0198-4

Reflections on being saved, and finding happiness, through gardening.

Early in the book, Roach (And I Shall Have Some Peace There, 2011, etc.) includes a quote from Bertrand Russell: “Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I’m convinced of the opposite.” This conundrum encapsulates this third book from Roach, a longtime blogger and former editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. From the descriptions within, the author gardens in much the same way she writes— nothing is turned away, provided there’s a suitable space for it.

Roach considers the sounds of gardening, terminology, different pricings of what she grows to sell, childhood gardens, the passing of seasons—both for a garden and for a person—and the contributions of science toward the creation of a more pleasing experience of garden tending. The author is also unafraid of poking fun at herself and the many well-entrenched habits of gardening she cannot back away from—for example, having spent a lifetime gardening in long pants, she tried shorts only to relent within the half-hour, feeling that she was doing a disservice to the colors of the flowers with “the color of the canvas I provide with my tender flesh.” Roach scatters gardening tips throughout the book, noting that other books provide more along those lines but that these tips are shared in the interest of spurring on readers to return to their own gardens.

Many a gardener will likely find that motivation from this pleasant book.

ALONE ON THE ICE The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration Roberts, David Norton (352 pp.) $27.95 | Jan. 28, 2013

Mountaineer and prolific author Roberts (Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer, 2011, etc.) returns with a vivid history of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson (1882–1958) and his 1912 exploration of Antarctica.

The author covers the entirety of the expedition, skillfully blending his research of Mawson and his life with details from firsthand diaries and records of the crew. “A scientist in his very bones,” Mawson kept meticulous records of the expedition, despite the trip’s hardships. While the entire voyage is engaging, the most engrossing part of the tale begins about halfway

through the book when Mawson and two colleagues, Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz, set out from their base camp to a point 300 miles southeast. Without warning, Ninnis and a half dozen of the team’s best dogs plunged to their deaths through a crevasse, taking Ninnis’ sledge and its food rations down as well. With only a week’s food (and no food for the remaining dogs), the surviving men stretched their rations by eating any sled dogs too weak to continue to pull the sled. That decision may have led to the painful demise of Mertz, as he may have poisoned himself with an overdose of vitamin A from eating the dogs’ livers. His human and canine companions dead, the starving Mawson trekked another 100 miles back to his base camp.

When he finally returned to camp, the first man to reach Mawson “beheld the ravaged countenance of the man limping down the slope above him, [and] Mawson knew exactly what [he] was thinking: Which one are you?”

Roberts creates a full portrait of Mawson and does justice to what famed mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary would later call “[t]he greatest survival story in the history of exploration.” (24 pages of illustrations)

AMERICAN ISIS The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath Rollyson, Carl St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $29.99 | Jan. 29, 2013 978-0-312-64024-8

The previous biographers of Plath (1932–1963) didn’t really get it, writes Rollyson (Journalism/Baruch Coll.; Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews, 2012, etc.).

On the first page, the author calls Plath “the Marilyn Monroe of modern literature,” and he continually returns to Monroe, whose relationship with Arthur Miller was igniting about the time as Plath’s with Ted Hughes. Rollyson also alludes repeatedly to the myth of Isis (see title) and periodically mentions other myths and some Shakespeare and Brontë—all to establish patterns and precedents for Plath’s story. Although such analogies can sometimes seem forced and extraneous, they do provide a different sort of context for this saddest of stories. Rollyson promises early that he will not write much about context or about Plath’s specific works, though he does some of each, discussing, for example, her early poem “Pursuit,” The Bell Jar, “Three Women” and numerous other works. The author pretty much just rehearses the Plath story, identifying various levels of villains (her mother, Hughes and his sister—and his lover, Assia Wevill, who also committed suicide), focusing on relevant letters but also reminding us of some small things that surprise and delight. At Smith, she once graded for Newton Arvin, and she endeavored, with Hughes’ encouragement, to memorize one poem per day. Important and poignant what-if moments also emerge. Her relationship with A. Alvarez, Hughes’ destruction of the diary of her final days—what might these have meant?

What might we have learned?

A mostly successful attempt at a fresh understanding through analogies, but the enduring sadness of her loss threatens, as ever, to overwhelm. (8-page b/w photograph insert)

DRINKING WITH MEN A Memoir Schaap, Rosie Riverhead (288 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 24, 2013 978-1-59448-711-8

A memoir from This American Life contributor and New York Times Magazine “Drink” columnist Schaap.

The author extolls the pleasures of “bar regularhood,” focusing on those establishments with distinct atmospheres—sometimes evoking European cafe societies, other times fondly portraying out-ofthe-way places with colorful owners—to demonstrate how they can serve as “relief from isolation,” a “refuge from the too-deep and too-personal,” and a means for broadening one’s ability to listen and empathize with others. Schaap briefly acknowledges the negative aspects, especially for women who frequent bars alone, but she paints a mostly romantic portrait of discovering friendship and conviviality that is gradually tempered over time.

Each chapter recounts her experiences in a particular bar— often in New York, with excursions to Dublin as well as Montreal—as touchstones that allow her to explore major turning points, from being a teenager who dropped out of high school and became a Deadhead to becoming a student at Bennington College, finding love, working as a chaplain in the aftermath of 9/11, as well as her father’s death, separation and bartending in the present. Schaap suggests that early trials served as catalysts for seeking company away from home, though she admits that the need for regularhood lessened with age. The author only briefly touches on alcoholism, one possible explanation for the hundreds of hours spent in bars; what remains is a brisk, lucid account of finding a tenuous peace after a period of escapism.

The conclusions reached are familiar, but Schaap’s talent for balancing self-revelation with humor, melancholy and wisdom turn an otherwise niche topic into one with greater appeal.

TOTAL RECALL My Unbelievably True Life Story

Schwarzenegger, Arnold with Petre, Peter Simon & Schuster (656 pp.) $35.00 | Oct. 1, 2012 978-1-4516-6243-6 978-1-4516-6245-0 e-book Immigrant muscleman, actionmovie star and former California governor pumps himself up. | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2465

“An upbeat and entertaining survival guide for the end of the world.” from the disaster diaries

In what reads more like a 650-page annotated résumé than a dishy celebrity memoir, the life story of Schwarzenegger (The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, 1999, etc.) seems to have been penned by his soulless celluloid alter ego, the Terminator. Born in Austria the son of a card-carrying Nazi, the author began idolizing bodybuilders as a youngster. After a slapstick-filled stint as a tank driver in the Austrian army, Schwarzenegger dove headfirst into the world of bodybuilding, flexing and posing his way to the Mr. Universe title by the time he was 21. He then invaded America. From here, the author drags us through his version of the American dream: the endless weight training, real estate deals, political suckups and bad movies; the Humvee and private jet; his affair with Amazon man-hunter Brigitte Nielsen and rivalry with Sly Stallone; his love for Richard Nixon, his penchant for saying “outrageous” (read: stupid) things and his pathological zeal for self-promotion, and much more. Schwarzenegger documents his one-man Hollywood takeover in a blur of name-dropping and efficiently adds up the profits from each of his movies. By 2010, in addition to being a washed-up actor, the author was also the dubious mastermind behind the flashy culinary failure of Planet Hollywood and a lame-duck conservative ex-governor with record-low approval ratings. But just when it seemed like he was out of the spotlight, Schwarzenegger stirred up some saucy domestic drama, admitting to his wife that he impregnated the family housekeeper in 1996. Yet the iron-willed author admits to few imperfections and apologizes for little.

A vapid, hulking doorstopper of a self-tribute.

THE DISASTER DIARIES How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse Sheridan, Sam Penguin Press (384 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 28, 2013 978-1-59420-527-9

How to survive any possible disaster, from aliens to zombies to everything in between.

If there was a massive earthquake, would you have enough water on hand to last for even a week? In the event of a thermonuclear detonation, would you be able to hot-wire a car quickly enough to escape the shock wave that will kill you? Questions like these (and many more like them) have all occurred to Sheridan (The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game, 2010, etc.) during sleepless nights. A former kickboxer and an experienced sailor, the author’s nightmares finally got the better of him once he became a father. “If something was going to happen,” he writes, “I wanted to be ready.” Using increasingly unlikely theoretical disasters as an impetus, Sheridan set out to learn every possible survival skill, from the most rudimentary (making fire and learning to hunt), to taking a driving clinic for stuntmen, because “when you’re driving a slalom course through a zombieinfested city, you need to…maintain control because if you lose 2466 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

it and crash, now you’re zombie food.” Sheridan is a charming storyteller, and his prose is both thoughtful and playful. He closes the book with a chapter on optimism and the inherent goodness of humanity, stressing that everything he has learned has not made him paranoid and believing that the end of the world is nigh; instead, it’s given him the confidence to face anything and the peace of mind that brings him. “At some point,” he concludes, “when you’ve done your best, you have to get on with your life and trust the universe not to fuck you.”

An upbeat and entertaining survival guide for the end of the world.

THE THINGS THEY CANNOT SAY Stories Soldiers Won’t Tell You About What They’ve Seen, Done or Failed to Do in War Sites, Kevin Perennial/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $15.99 paperback | Jan. 2, 2013 978-0-06-199052-6

Veterans from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—including Sites himself as a war correspondent (In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars, 2007)—tell their tales of the struggle to survive on and after the battlefield, in the hopes that such storytelling may be a way “to release warriors from the bonds of their own silence.”

Lance Cpl. James Sperry writes, “I am only twenty-four and have lived a life I wish on no one.” Such is the common thread of despair to be found among these warriors’ tales. In combat, they did and saw things no one should endure. They killed—the enemy, civilians, their own troops as a result of friendly fire. They saw friends blown apart, and they were wounded. They grew rabid with anger and a desire to kill. Then they were expected to return to friends, family and community unchanged from these horrors. But this was not possible, as veteran after veteran experienced PTSD. Too often in silence, combat veterans suffered from an inability to reconnect, to love, to be simply normal. Sites includes himself among the lost, as he recounts how his “confused incompetent inaction” led to the murder of Iraqi insurgent Taleb Salem Nidal. Sites thus joined the ranks of those suffering from PTSD—covering guilt, shame and fear in a haze of alcohol and marijuana, numbed by taking “a chef ’s salad of [prescribed] drugs every day,” losing wives and loved ones who could not understand their sullen withdrawal. However, in sensitive, honest prose, the author emphasizes that this is a book about hope. Most of the wounded warriors eventually found their way back, including Sites, and part of the healing process involves telling their stories. The author allows himself and the combat veterans he interviews the space to do so.

An important book for warriors and the communities that send them to war.

THE SLAVES’ GAMBLE Choosing Sides in the War of 1812

Smith, Gene Allen Palgrave Macmillan (272 pp.) $27.00 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-230-34208-8

Smith (History/Texas Christian Univ.; Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny, 2000, etc.) explains the War of 1812 from the viewpoint of the slaves who served both sides in the hope of attaining their freedom.

There were also many free blacks who, for the most part, joined the American side in order to fortify their cities.

Although whites were loath to give them guns, those few that gained commissions fought in battles that changed the course of the war. The author shows the important roles that all blacks, not necessarily just slaves, played in the war. The slaves gambled their lives in escaping to join the British; recapture would bring horrific punishment. Smith’s long years of research and wide knowledge of this conflict has enabled him to focus on some of the remarkable stories of men and their families who fled to the English side. The British, fighting Napoleon at the same time, hoped to supplement their meager forces with slaves, who were promised freedom to serve as soldiers and valuable guides. Any slave who made it to British property was guaranteed freedom. Of 5,000 escaped slaves, only 500 became soldiers, but the records show they were fearless fighters and served in almost every theater of the war, from Canada and Michigan to the Chesapeake Bay. The author holds no great love for Andrew Jackson, who promised freedom and monetary and land rewards to slaves who joined the American forces—he had no intention of honoring that promise.

Smith illustrates clearly the plight of American slaves as they desperately struggled to gain their freedom and the lies, deception and deviousness their owners used to deny it.

MONEYWOOD Hollywood in Its Last Age of Excess

Stadiem, William St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $26.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-312-65689-8 978-1-250-01407-8 e-book

A post-mortem of Hollywood’s lawless decade, rife with lawsuits, debauchery and some of the world’s worst films.

Books about Hollywood come in lots of guises. Stadiem’s (co-author: Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond, 2009, etc.) combines the dual drawbacks of dull subjects and sketchy research. Usually, the author ghostwrites or coauthors autobiographies of the flamboyant (e.g., George Hamilton) or those smallest players who walked in the shadows of stars

like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. Here, the author mines every scrap of Hollywood gossip he gathered about the 1980s, situating the book as an in-depth investigation of the narcissism, greed and competition that created such movies as Flashdance and Howard the Duck. Instead, Stadiem delivers a high-pitched, mildly personal screed against the industry’s power players and mind-numbing stories about lawyers to the stars. Will readers care that Jeffrey Katzenberg wouldn’t shake the author’s hand or that Jon Peters started his career as a pubic-hair colorist? Is it revealing that one of the book’s key subjects is infamous madam Alex Adams, whose autobiography was co-written by Stadiem?

The author does make the occasional salient point. “One of the hardest realities that an aspiring screenwriter had to adjust to in the 1980s was that your target reader must be not Pauline Kael, but rather P.T. Barnum. Or Caligula,” he writes. “Your target reader was not a reader. Therein lay the great paradox of Hollywood creativity, intrinsic to the foundation of the movies themselves.” Otherwise, the same old stories are all here: Don Simpson’s coke, Eddie Murphy’s vanity, Michael Ovitz’s ambition and the tracksuits of Golan and Globus.

A dull, gossipy rendering of days past, bereft of candor or narrative verve. (16-page color photo insert)

DESPERATE SONS Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War

Standiford, Les Harper/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $27.99 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-0-06-189955-3

An intriguing new look at the political and economic crises that prompted a secret society of American citizens into actions that incited the Revolutionary War. Much has been written about Adams, Henry, Hancock and other Revolutionary patriots, but these histories tend to gloss the specific events that allowed the colonies to shift from disparate pockets of discontent to a unified force of rebellion against the British. Standiford (Creative Writing/Florida International Univ.; Bringing Adam Home, 2011, etc.) hones in on these details, providing a rich, exhilarating account of the circumstances behind the forming of the Sons of Liberty and how their actions in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere brought an anti-establishment coalition to the fore of the conflict. All across the colonies, people struggled against financial insolvency, made worse by duties levied by the far-off crown. Without an infrastructure that would enable them to unite against their oppressors, little could be done; it was this vulnerability that Adams and the other Sons sought to correct by installing chapters of their society all across the continent.

Standiford makes a point to draw intriguing parallels to the current Occupy movement and other political grass-roots campaigns, arguing that the Sons of Liberty were successful because | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2467

“Although not aimed at the young, this funny and factual blend of science, history and adventure would make an ideal gift for an inquisitive adolescent.” from heat

they garnered support from the general populace and didn’t rely exclusively on the political elite. Spurred by well-timed radical (and at times, violent) actions and an increasingly focused and powerful cohort, the Sons of Liberty readied the colonies for what would become an inevitable war for their freedom. Bolstered by ample historical documents—including one especially fascinating exchange between Benjamin Franklin and the House of Commons—the author provides a compelling realtime account of those heady prewar years.

A timely, exciting exploration of how the underground agenda of a few radicals paved the road to American democracy.

WORLD WAR TWO A Short History Stone, Norman Basic (224 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-465-01372-2

Having written a long, quirky, often astute history of the post–World War era in The Atlantic and Its Enemies (2010), British historian Stone moves back in time to deliver a much shorter, entertaining history of the war itself.

The Allies may have won World War I, but they made a mess of the peace, humiliating Germany and, almost without thinking, Japan, a former ally. The Depression unsettled everyone, and while the democracies turned inward, belligerent militarists took power in Germany and Japan, prepared for war and then attacked. Both won dazzling victories at first, behaved barbarically throughout, foolishly overextended themselves and lost. Stone does not quarrel with the traditional allotment of credit for Allied victory (British stubbornness, American production, Russian blood), and he makes the usual point that Germany and Japan possessed superior soldiers but incompetent governments. Their industries were poorly organized compared to America’s and Britain’s, and neither understood modern, technological war. Allied navies and air forces had demolished their counterparts years before the 1945 surrender.

First-rate writers (Keegan, Hastings and Beevor, among others) have covered World War II at length, so there seems little need for a book that describes a complex series of worldwide campaigns in 160 pages, but Stone does a fine job. Novices will receive a painless introduction, but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue and epilogue and the author’s trademark acerbic commentary throughout.

Stone’s well-known conservatism is on display mostly in his greater praise of America and contempt for the Soviet Union, so readers of all stripes may roll their eyes, but they will find plenty to ponder. (10 b/w images; 3 maps)

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HEAT Adventures in the World’s Fiery Places Streever, Bill Little, Brown (304 pp.) $26.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-316-10533-0

From the author of Cold (2009), another engaging, easy-to-read, freeranging exploration of a natural phenomenon.

Streever mingles his personal adventures with heat and hot places with tidbits about early mistaken notions about heat, current events and research involving it, and narratives of those who have lived through its toughest challenges. Opening with a scene in which he tests his endurance by holding his hand over an open flame, the author then recounts his own experiences in the blistering, dry heat of the American Southwest. From natural heat, Streever moves on to unmanaged heat (wild fires and their disastrous effects), controlled fires, cooking, peat mining and Iron Age smelting. The author also humorously recounts his own hapless attempts to master the art of starting a fire. To give a sense of Streever’s scope and technique, his chapter on petroleum features a brief history of oil drilling in the United States, a visit to a museum on the site of Drake Well in Pennsylvania, a taste of oil, a canoe trip down a nearby creek and an interview with a refinery engineer in Alaska; his treatment of volcanoes includes not only the mechanisms underlying eruptions and Pliny’s description of the eruption of Vesuvius, but an extensive account of his own trip to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, where he attempted to make popcorn on freshly hardened lava. At the end, the author recounts his pleasant chat with a physicist and his impressions of the pipes inside the supercollider at Brookhaven, where temperatures of trillions of degrees are produced.

Although not aimed at the young, this funny and factual blend of science, history and adventure would make an ideal gift for an inquisitive adolescent.

SELECTED LETTERS OF WILLIAM STYRON

Styron, William Styron, Rose; Gilpin, R. Blakeslee—Eds. Random House (672 pp.) $40.00 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-4000-6806-7 978-0-679-64533-7 e-book A good portion of William Styron’s personal and business correspondence brought together in one volume.

Starting with letters written to his father while at college, this book also includes writings to early girlfriends, an influential professor, Army buddies, other notable authors, fans, agents and others. The author wrote about a wide variety of subjects,

“A profound and richly satisfying reckoning with the movies and what they mean.” from the big screen

including literature, politics, illness and sex. Styron’s distaste for critics (particularly those who didn’t appreciate his work) was a frequent subject, as were his struggles with writing and self-doubt. With so much ground covered, it is impossible not to learn some fascinating new tidbit about Styron’s life. Unfortunately, editors Styron and Gilpin (John Brown Still Lives!: America’s Long Reckoning with Violence, Equality, and Change, 2011, etc.) do not include a single letter written to Styron, which leaves many stories half-told. While some of the one-sided correspondence is explained via the frequent footnotes, most of it is not. Gilpin notes in his introduction that footnoted material was kept to a minimum and only included when necessary.

However, many footnotes seem inconsequential at best. For instance, Gilpin explains certain facts that seem obvious, such as Shirley Temple’s status as a famous child actress. Such notes can be abrasive in a 650-page book, often proving distracting rather than edifying. The William Styron timeline at the beginning, however, is helpful.

A great read for Styron devotees, but fans of correspondence will miss the conversational quality of most letter collections.

THE BIG SCREEN The Story of the Movies

Thomson, David Farrar, Straus and Giroux (592 pp.) $35.00 | Oct. 16, 2012 978-0-374-19189-4

Thomson (The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder, 2009, etc.) brings his encyclopedic knowledge of film and idiosyncratic, allusive style to bear on this ambitious consideration of the history of motion pictures and their effect on the audience.

The author goes beyond mere survey and analysis to question what movies mean to us and how they have shaped our perceptions and beliefs. Thomson chronicles the development of movies from Eadweard Muybridge’s 19th-century photographic experiments to the phenomenon of Internet pornography. Along the way, he explicates the excitement and politically fraught evolution of Soviet cinema, the provocations of the European New Wave, the allure of film noir and the world-shaking product of Hollywood, but the author makes no attempt to give a comprehensive or strictly linear history of the medium.

Thomson is more interested in making striking connections, looking deeply at particular films, such as Brief Encounter (a surprising subject for such intense scrutiny and indicative of Thomson’s iconoclastic bent) or the TV landmark I Love Lucy, to pursue the central question of his history: What does life in front of screens do to us? Thomson’s approach is lyrical and questing rather than academic; the book is accessible to anyone with more than a passing interest in the subject, written in a distinctive voice, learned and authoritative without pedantic dryness and touched with wonder and trepidation at the primal

power of the image. Readers familiar with the author’s Biographical Dictionary of Film will be happy to note that Thomson’s beguiling knack for capturing the essences of our movie icons in poetic or provocative asides has not diminished, and the scholarship on display is first-rate. However, the heart of this unique overview is the author’s ambivalence about the power we grant those shadows on the wall.

A profound and richly satisfying reckoning with the movies and what they mean.

WEIRD LIFE The Search for Life that Is Very, Very Different from Our Own Toomey, David Norton (288 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 26, 2013 978-0-393-07158-0

Living organisms don’t tolerate boiling or subzero temperatures, massive pressure or an environment too rich in salt, acid or toxic chemicals—or so we thought for centuries.

Biologists believed this until the mid 20th century, but they don’t believe it today, writes Toomey (English/Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst; The New Time Travelers: A Journey to the Frontier of Physics, 2007) in this imaginative account of “life” in its broadest terms. The author begins by describing “extremophiles,” which thrive in wildly harsh conditions: chemical hot springs, inside sea ice, miles beneath the earth or at the ocean’s bottom. Having dealt with creatures that, however weird, exist, he proceeds to even stranger life that may exist on Earth, the planets, elsewhere throughout the universe, and in the minds of writers and philosophers. Along the way, he addresses surprisingly difficult questions, such as how to define life. Is it anything that grows, consumes, converts matter to energy, ages and dies?

Stars and flames do that. Is it living if it can reproduce? Crystals reproduce, and mules don’t. How life originated remains elusive, but the good news is that it appeared so soon after the young Earth cooled that it may be part of the natural order and not a rare accident. As for the basics, life seems to require a backbone element that supports innumerable complex molecules.

On Earth, this can only be carbon, but silicon may work at lower temperatures. Also essential is a liquid medium—water on Earth, but ammonia and methane might do elsewhere.

An ingenious overview of anything that might be alive. The author remains true to science while coming to delightfully bizarre conclusions. (10 illustrations)

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“The classic Double Helix (1968) is here again, this time annotated and illustrated and told in all the bold, brash, bumptious style that has become Watson’s trademark in the intervening years.” from the annotated and illustrated double helix

THE IMMIGRANT EXODUS Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent

Wadhwa, Vivek with Salkever, Alex Wharton Digital Press (106 pp.) $15.99 paperback | Oct. 2, 2012 9781613630204

There are plenty of talented engineers available to design a new economic revolution. However, argues tech tycoon and immigrant Wadhwa, they’re all going to—or staying in— places like India and China.

The United States, writes the author in this brief manifesto, has long been hospitable to hardworking, innovative immigrants, particularly in the tech sector. “As an entrepreneur,” writes the author, “I became aware of how many Indian and Chinese immigrants started technology companies. The number seemed way out of proportion to their representation in the US population.” Small wonder: Immigrants figure prominently in more than 75 percent of the top venture-funded startups, while foreign-born inventors and the investors who financed them account for just about the same percentage of tech patents.

Whereas homegrown Americans go into law, business and medicine, immigrants figure disproportionally in the ranks of engineers and other people who actually make things. For decades, writes Wadhwa, the U.S. has relied on those immigrants to do that making, but thanks to misguided cuts in education, “it’s no longer a given that foreign students will flock to US universities for science and technology graduate studies.” They’re going instead to Canada or Britain, or staying home. Wadhwa offers a well-reasoned proposal to restructure visa requirements to allow greater numbers of educated immigrant technologists into the U.S., allow their spouses to work as well, “untether the H-1B worker from the employer,” and other reforms.

A thoughtful contribution to the dialogue surrounding immigration.

THE ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED DOUBLE HELIX

Watson, James D. Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $30.00 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-1-4767-1549-0

The classic Double Helix (1968) is here again, this time annotated and illustrated and told in all the bold, brash, bumptious style that has become Watson’s (Avoid Boring People and Other Lessons from a Life in Science, 2007, etc.) trademark in the intervening years.

The book scandalized Watson’s peers, got scathing reviews from some, threats of libel from others and all but destroyed relations between Watson and his co-discoverer, Francis Crick.

Of course, there was that classic first sentence: “I have never 2470 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

seen Francis Crick in a modest mood.” Reading it again does nothing to diminish the excitement of the pursuit: Watson and Crick batting ideas back and forth, reading, experimenting, consulting, making models, zealous to win out over the competition, primarily Linus Pauling at Caltech. What makes this version so rewarding is the fact that editors Gann and Witkowski have wonderfully put the pursuit in context. The footnotes and illustrations provide thumbnails of the cast of past or contemporary scientists who played a role: in London, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray crystallographic images of DNA were critical clues, or those scientists at the Cavendish lab in Cambridge, where Watson and Crick worked.

But context also means scenery and lifestyle: the pub lunches, the girl-chasing, the films, dances, ski trips and holidays in storied mansions that Watson so adored. Interestingly, even at the height of battle, with the double helix almost in view, Watson needed time off to play tennis, see a film or attend parties. The book’s publication marks the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Watson, Crick and Wilkins.

Readers old or new are in for a fine treat; there really has been nothing in the history of science writing comparable to Watson’s tell-all memoir.

THE PHYSICS OF WALL STREET A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable

Weatherall, James Owen Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (320 pp.) $27.00 | Jan. 2, 2013 978-0-547-31727-4

A lively account of physicists in finance.

A young physicist and contributor to Slate and Scientific American, Weatherall (Logic and Philosophy of Science/Univ. of California, Irvine) was puzzled when experts began blaming the 2008 economic collapse on physicists who created complex financial instruments for Wall Street. He wondered: What do physicists have to do with the economy? The author explains how physicists have been predicting the unpredictable on Wall Street for 30 years, accounting for such hedge-fund successes as Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, whose staff, loaded with physics and math doctorates, produced a remarkable 2,478.6 percent return in the decade from 1988 to 1998. The story begins in 19thcentury Paris with Louis Bachelier, an aspiring young physicist who worked at the Bourse and viewed trading as an elaborate game of chance. In his dissertation, he explained how probability theory could be used to understand financial markets. “In a just world, Bachelier would be to finance what Newton is to physics,” writes Weatherall. Bachelier was dismissed as a fringe figure in his lifetime, only to be rediscovered and championed years later by economist Paul Samuelson. Others trained in physics, including Maury Osborne of the U.S. Naval Research Lab, and Benoit Mandelbrot, who studied cotton markets, further refined the idea that markets can be understood in terms

of a random walk. In a series of bright portraits, Weatherall describes the many subsequent figures who spurred the further evolution of financial modeling, including Edward Thorp, who developed a winning system for blackjack in 1960s Las Vegas and went on to invent the modern hedge fund; party-going wild man and Bell Labs scientist John Kelly Jr., who applied information theory to gambling; and the anti-establishment yippies Doyne Farmer and Norman Packard, who built their Prediction Company using tools developed to anticipate how a turbulent fluid would behave in a narrow pipe.

An enjoyable debut appropriate for both specialists and general readers. (5 graphs)

WHEN DOCTORS DON’T LISTEN How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests

Wen, Leana; Kosowsky, Joshua Dunne/St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $25.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-0-312-59491-6 978-0-312-594916 e-book

A comprehensive guide to improving doctor-patient relations through empowering patients to take an active role in their care.

Managed care has put pressure on doctors to do the most work in the smallest amount of time possible, and even the bestintentioned of physicians can fall prey to corner cutting and misdiagnoses. Doctors Wen and Kosowsky suggest change can come from the ground up by making sure patients and clients are more directive in managing how their interactions progress.

“We aim for this to be the opening salvo of a revolution among patients to improve the quality of their own care and to lead the way to true healthcare reform,” they write. Toward this end, the authors provide a raft of anecdotal stories that double as scenarios many patients encounter: being rushed, doctors downplaying concerns, having close-ended “cookbook medicine” questions determine the course of the interaction, and other situations leading to reductive diagnoses. All of the experiences shared lead into actionable steps patients can take toward being “better patients” as well as working to pressure doctors into providing better care—steering the conversation away from close-ended questions, insisting on both explanations for recommended tests and exploring alternatives, and making yourself an active partner in reaching a differential diagnosis. In the appendixes, which include “21 Exercises Toward Better Diagnosis,” the authors further elaborate on these recommendations and others, providing practice sets so readers won’t need to wait for their appointment to learn better patient skills.

As health care becomes more complex and political, this book provides clear direction toward better care.

NAKED STATISTICS Stripping the Dread from the Data

Wheelan, Charles Norton (320 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 7, 2013 978-0-393-07195-5

How to analyze “the numbers behind the news [and appreciate] the extraordinary (and growing) power of data” in today’s market-driven economy.

Wheelan (Public Policy/Dartmouth Coll.; 10 Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said, 2012 etc.) extends the scope of his 2002 best-seller, Naked Economics, to encompass the statistical know-how necessary in making informed economic and other decisions. The author provides tools to help the nonmathematical reader develop an intuitive grasp of apparently arcane topics such as the “central limit theorem,” which is used to estimate likely outcomes. Using forensic medicine as an analogy, he compares a statistician to a detective gathering information at the scene of a crime. Both are frequently involved in “building a circumstantial case based on imperfect data” and are dependent on sampling techniques. Wheelan uses a seemingly high-risk marketing campaign by Schlitz beer to illustrate the point. In 1981, the company spent $1.7 million to run a blind taste test between Schlitz and Michelob, involving 100 contestants. In fact, as Wheelan shows, it was a sure winner. While the likely outcome of a random sample would be a 50/50 split, any percentage could be framed to Schlitz’s advantage. The key was in the sample. Contestants were selected on the basis of their previously expressed preference for Michelob, so that even if only 30 percent chose Schlitz, the claim that Michelob drinkers chose Schlitz was still valid. The author explains how the normal distribution works and emphasizes the importance of measuring both the mean and medium in a given study. Wheelan also explains the famous brain-teasing Monty Hall problem, which has stumped experts for years.

A delightful, informative guide to an often-intimidating subject.

LIVING WITH GUNS A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment

Whitney, Craig R. PublicAffairs (336 pp.) $28.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-1-61039-169-6

Former New York Times reporter and editor Whitney (All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters, 2003, etc.) mounts an evenhanded review of the gun issue in the United States.

There’s a gun for every American, writes the author, “about 100 million of them handguns,” and the National Rifle | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2471

Association has emerged as one of the most powerful lobbies in the country, with outsized political clout. To hear the NRA tell it, gun rights are constantly under assault thanks to a liberal administration, even if President Barack Obama has rarely addressed the topic. Whitney examines the reasons for preserving private ownership of firearms, one being the well-worn constitutional bit about the “well-regulated militia”—though, thanks to an ardently pro-gun Supreme Court, you “don’t have to be part of any militia to exercise it”—and he endorses the broad notion that guns have a role in maintaining liberty, though that role has since been supplanted by still broader notions of self-defense. The author argues that because it is now unconstitutional to ban classes of weapons used in self-defense (including, apparently, machine guns and assault rifles), authorities and citizens would do better to press not for gun control as such, but instead to require training in the use and maintenance of weapons and to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not be holding them. “Instead of fighting chimerical battles,” writes Whitney, “American gun-rights and gun-control enthusiasts should be talking to each other about what can be done…to reduce gun violence, particularly by addressing the criminal and psychopathological behavior patterns that cause it.”

A fresh and balanced argument, though unlikely to convince most NRA members that liberals aren’t the enemy.

HOW THEY GOT AWAY WITH IT White Collar Criminals and the Financial Meltdown

Will, Susan; Handelman, Stephen; Brotherton, David C.--Eds. Columbia Univ. (320 pp.) $29.50 paperback | $23.99 e-book Nov. 20, 2012 978-0-231-15691-2 978-0-231-52766-8 e-book

Think Bernie Madoff was an outlier? To gauge by some of the contributors to this volume, the whole speculative economy is a vast Ponzi scheme.

Indeed, notes David Shapiro, a legal/financial investigator, there are some fine distinctions between “hedge and private equity funds and Ponzi schemes,” the former being “pools of investment capital that are largely unregulated by federal, state, and local authorities,” which is just the way the wizards of Wall Street like it. By contrast, of course, other investment instruments such as mutual funds are intricately regulated, such that financial hanky-panky seldom occurs there, at least not by comparison. Shapiro wonders why it is that a financial crisis is required to ferret out the bad guys, observing, “The nature of today’s unregulated or lightly regulated market often makes the distinction between outright fraud and high-risk vehicles hard to discern.” In such a climate, an operator like Madoff was destined for success, and that he got away with it for so long—thus the title of the book—is a matter that should provoke much discussion among regulators. Writes Jock Young, “He is the right 2472 | 1 november 2012 | nonfiction | kirkus.com |

gender to be sure but the wrong class, ethnicity, and age; we usually spend our time looking down, not up, the social structure when analyzing criminal behavior.” “They”—the layers of malfeasants that include “Wall Street, Washington, and Main Street”—got away with it for so long, in other words, because people were looking the wrong way, hoping, in the case of Main Street, to get a little of the proceeds themselves, and no one should have been surprised when the whole thing came tumbling down.

The lessons to be learned are many, but, the editors conclude, the regulatory mechanisms meant to preclude future meltdowns, such as the Dodd-Frank Act, are now under assault. Stay tuned.

THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION On Work, Money, and Miracles

Williamson, Marianne HarperOne (192 pp.) $22.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-06-220541-4

“Finance is just one of the many areas where an increasingly obsolete, materially based worldview is proving inadequate to the challenges of the times in which we live,” writes spiritual activist, teacher and author Williamson (A Course in Weight Loss, 2010, etc.), whose concern about the country’s fragile financial state has her procuring alternative pathways toward a fulfilling livelihood.

Structured around uplifting Catholic dogma, the author provides useful if basic advice certain to reinforce the power of promoting positivity and goodness. To Williamson, qualities as simplistic as an affirmative mindset (inside and outside of the workplace) and self-love can release “an infinite number of possibilities.” The beneficial byproducts of love, self-assurance, faith and a blind allegiance to the universe’s cause-and-effect harmony will surely promote financial and professional success and stability, she writes, while defusing anger, guilt, fear and negativity is the key to moving forward (“miracles will follow”). Williamson refers constantly to A Course in Miracles, a spiritually transformative book series she helped popularize. This, combined with her New-Age enlightenment, results in an ecclesiastical amalgam of magical thinking, great expectations and the kind of fanciful awareness already calcified throughout the author’s best-selling oeuvre. Williamson also presents healing prayers and patented themes of hope and faithful devotion toward becoming financially and professionally sound by following a “path to material abundance through immaterial means.”

Though tribes of believers will again take the author’s classic soothsaying to heart, it’s essentially the same song with slightly different lyrics.

“An absorbing personal account of a remarkable achievement.” from creating room to read

THE AS IF PRINCIPLE The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life

Wiseman, Richard Free Press (304 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-4516-7505-4

“The most-followed psychologist on Twitter” re-examines the process of creating personal change and growth.

Rather than thinking about making changes and trying to act on those new thought processes, Wiseman (Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There, 2011, etc.) suggests a new approach to changing your life by performing a motion that in turn changes your thoughts. Most self-help books, writes the author, “preach the same simple mantra: if you want to improve your life, you need to change how you think”—positive thoughts will make you happier and bring greater wealth and success. However, Wiseman believes that actions can speak louder than words, so his method, based on research by William James and others over the past century, states that one’s behavior causes an emotional response, rather than the emotion being the catalyst for the behavior. Smile and you’ll feel happier, feel loving and love will manifest, eat only when your body says “I’m hungry” and lose weight—these are just some of the many arenas Wiseman explores. The data from current research proves that by clenching your jaw, you develop more willpower, and by standing up straight, you become far more confident. By flipping current psychology theories upside down and putting motion before emotion, one can have better relationships, fight depression and anxiety, lose weight and stop smoking (or curb other addictive behaviors), grow more confident and slow down the effects of aging. Throughout the book, Wiseman includes exercises that will “encourage you to actually experience these phenomena rather than just read about them.” For those seeking quick change, the appendix includes a list of simple actions with the appropriate positive reaction or expected change stated.

For seekers of self-betterment, a mostly intriguing new slant to personal transformation.

CREATING ROOM TO READ A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy

Wood, John Viking (320 pp.) $27.95 | Feb. 11, 2013 978-0-670-02598-5

How one man’s vision of making books available to every child has changed the lives of millions.

In 1999, at the height of the tech boom, Wood (Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children, 2006, etc.) gave

up the executive fast track at Microsoft to pursue “the quest for global literacy.” His success—the opening of 10,000 school libraries across the globe within the next decade—exceeded his optimistic expectations. Room to Read, the organization that he founded, has published more than 700 children’s books in local languages, expanded globally into 10 countries in Asia and Africa, partnered with local communities to build new schools and provided 17,000 scholarships for women. This moving account of the way the program has impacted the lives of children is only one part of Wood’s important story. The author explains how he applied lessons learned in the corporate world to running a successful nonprofit, describing Room to Read’s commitment to maintaining low overhead and accountability.

Opening the first school libraries (filled with donated Englishlanguage books) revealed the need for simple children’s books in local languages, and this led to the publishing venture. Similarly, the organization addressed the special problems faced by young girls who wanted an education. In every instance, local communities were challenged to partner in the venture. Wood explains how he is achieving his goal of being “one of many leaders of a global movement,” and he pays special tribute to Nelson Mandela’s understanding of how encouraging “a profound and deep love” for reading can be a transformative social force.

An absorbing personal account of a remarkable achievement.

GAME OVER How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down

Zirin, Dave New Press (224 pp.) $18.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2013 978-1-59558-815-9 978-1-59558-842-5 e-book

A well-told tale about the seamy mess that politics has brought to bigtime sports.

Zirin (Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love, 2010, etc.), an alternative sportswriter and columnist for the Nation, SLAM and SI.com, charts important episodes and themes that, during the past 30 years, have transformed the “athletic-industrial complex…into a trillion-dollar, global entity,” where branding is the name of the game and the “modern jock should never sacrifice commercial concerns for political principles.” But if that is the context, Zirin has dozens of stories of athletes, even entire teams, taking action in the face of reactionary behavior on the part of the front office or the mayor’s office.

The author plays his progressive political hand coolly, because there is no need for him to hyperventilate, so egregious are the acts of racism and sexism, of the misuse of public funds or the NCAA’s greed. He examines how the great international sporting events, such as the Olympics, wreak social and financial havoc on the host countries to the benefit of a few or how such horrible things could happen at Penn State: “Protect the brand above all. In a company town, your first responsibility is to protect | kirkus.com | nonfiction | 1 november 2012 | 2473

the company.” Zirin highlights many moments when athletes stepped to higher ground—e.g., the Phoenix Suns coming out as a team against the state’s anti-immigration bill or the national soccer teams of Egypt and Bahrain doing their part for fighting tyranny. There are also incidents when sport’s corporate worldview has put stadiums over public libraries and youth clubs and collegiate athletic complexes over classroom instruction.

A damning indictment of all that is corrupting sports and a song of praise for athletes standing up for human rights and decency.

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children’s & teen CRAZY LOVE

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Abrams, Amir Dafina/Kensington (256 pp.) $9.95 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7582-7356-7

JINX by Sage Blackwood ............................................................. p. 2477 UNSPOKEN by Henry Cole.......................................................... p. 2477 REACHED by Ally Condie............................................................p. 2478 NOT EXACTLY A LOVE STORY by Audrey Couloumbis ............p. 2479 BELLY FLOP! by Stephen McCranie.............................................p. 2485 ZOMBIE KID by Scott J. Savage...................................................p. 2487 LOOK! ANOTHER BOOK! by Bob Staake....................................p. 2488 THE YUCKIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE EVER

by Brenda Ferber ; illus. by Tedd Arnold......................................p. 2491 TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU by Daniel Kirk...................p. 2491 MR. SANDMAN by Manon Aidan; Yanick Gourville; illus. by Cyril Jedor...................................................................... p. 2494 PICCADILLY’S CIRCUS by Adam Larkum.................................p. 2497

UNSPOKEN A Story from the Underground Railroad

“[W]hen I was your age,” Kamiyah’s older sister Erika explains in this engaging, well-paced cautionary tale, “…we used to call that kind of love ‘crazy love’— becoming obsessed with a relationship.”

The summer before her senior year of high school, Kamiyah meets Sincere at a fraternity-hosted party. Soon, their relationship begins to consume her life.

Kamiyah texts Sincere constantly, even while hanging out with her friends, and gets angry if she doesn’t hear back right away.

She worries that Sincere is cheating and stakes out his home to try to catch him. Meanwhile, Kamiyah’s father gives her a BMW for her birthday, and Kamiyah ends up on punishment after arguing about it with her mother, whom she calls the Wicked Witch. Narrator Kamiyah sees her behavior as justified, but readers are given enough outside information (her friends’ frustration with her constant texting, Sincere’s discomfort when she fights the girl who flirts with him at a pizza shop) to take a different view. Both the dialogue and Kamiyah’s narrative voice are fresh and current. Although the story ends somewhat abruptly, an epilogue set three months later gives readers some idea of how Kamiyah’s life and choices have changed.

A thought-provoking and timely tale, told in an up-todate, believable voice. (Fiction. 12-16)

RAHOOLA’S SONG

Cole, Henry Illus. by Cole, Henry Scholastic (40 pp.) $16.99 Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-39997-5

Anke, Robert Illus. by Anke, Robert Cupola Press (32 pp.) $14.95 | Dec. 15, 2012 978-0-9857932-0-3

All that glitters can turn a raccoon’s head, but how much is enough?

“In a forest with trees pointing up to the moon, / there lived and there sang an uncommon raccoon. / … / High in his perch at the top of a tree, / Rahoola sang simply to set a song free.” While Rahoola sings, other raccoons obsessively collect sparkly objects in the moonlight. Rahoola knows nothing of their obsession until bears set upon his cousin and Rahoola inherits a house full of shiny things.

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overflows…and then he sees his “treasures” in the light of the sun.

All those shiny objects were really just trash (tinfoil balls, tin cans and greasy takeout boxes). Lesson learned, Rahoola packs the junk off to the dump and resumes his nightly singing. Art teacher and indie comic-strip artist Anke’s moralistic fable is a bit forced in message and, at times, rhyme. “After a while, the shiny thing habit / became the raccoons’ ‘Stop-Look-and-Grab-It.’ ” There are logic gaps too: Rahoola’s realization occurs after seeing his loot in daylight, but earlier illustrations show well-lit raccoonhome interiors. Anke’s watercolors, a mix of spot and full-bleed, show skinny, expressive, often goofy raccoons; but the palette never strays very far from grays and tans.

A worthy-enough lesson in a passable package. An additional title at best. (Picture book. 4-7)

LEVEL 2

Appelhans, Lenore Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 15, 2013 978-1-4424-4185-9 This imaginative debut brings conflict to the afterlife, focusing on a war between humans and angels.

Felicia, dead, spends her time in the afterlife in a personal memory chamber, reliving memories of her own life and enjoying the memories of others, until a boy from her past lures her into a group of rebels. She dislikes Julian, who she believes betrayed her, but he promises to take her to her real heartthrob, Neil, for whom she pines. Once she leaves her chamber in the all-white, all-female world of Level 2 of the afterlife, she learns that the angels who rule the souls intend to drain the humans’ energy in an attempt to fight their own way into heaven. Felicia weans herself from her memory addiction and grows strong enough to fight, though she still isn’t sure she wants to ally herself with Julian and the rebels. Appelhans uses her memory device to illuminate Felicia’s life, delving ever deeper into her emotional difficulties as the fast-paced narrative progresses.

The premise that pleasant memories can be addictive hits home; Felicia and readers eventually see that in order to move on, the souls in the afterlife need to overcome their unpleasant memories. The story never offers a credible reason why this one girl is so essential to the war in the afterlife, but the concept and characterization effectively prevail.

An absorbing, sensitive read. (Paranormal suspense. 12-16)

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JUST A DOG

Bauer, Michael Gerard Scholastic (144 pp.) $15.99 | Dec. 1, 2013 978-0-545-37452-1

Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, he’s not. To most people, he’s just a dog, but to Corey, Mister Mosely is family.

Born to a Dalmatian mother and (apparently) a Great Dane father, the only spots on Mister Mosely are one black tear near his eye and a black heart on his white chest, keys to his personality. Corey relates in 29 short, episodic chapters the serious, sad and silly antics of Mister Mosely, always the center of attention and affection. The beginning sentence is a flash-forward, with the stories that follow leading to that point: “The day my dad said Mister Mosely was ‘just a dog,’ my mum punched him.” Incidents include Moe’s being hit by a car; his goofy way of delivering newspapers; his destruction of a pink, Christmas-gift panda; and his getting a fishhook caught in his mouth. When he senses that Mum is ready to give birth to her third child, Moe never leaves her side. When Corey almost gets into a car with a strange couple, Moe intercedes. It’s his mum’s suggestion that Corey write down all the stories about his dog to remember him, which is a smart idea for parents to follow when a child’s pet dies.

Dog lovers will lap up this appealing Australian import from its beguiling cover to the last page, at which point they will probably need a tissue or two. (Fiction. 8-12)

NEVER LET YOU GO

Berne, Emma Carlson Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (240 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Dec. 4, 2012 978-1-4424-4017-3 Never underestimate the fury of a teen scorned.

It’s been one year since Megan admitted to grinding and making out with Mike, best friend Anna’s boyfriend, while Anna was out of the country. Although Megan has worked hard to win back Anna’s trust, she still feels some subtle tension. Anna insists she’s over the betrayal and has even invited Megan to be a summer farmhand with her on her uncle’s organic farm. Despite Anna’s over-the-top flirtation with fellow hand Jordan, his heart is set on Megan. As Megan, still guilty from her earlier transgression and indebted to Anna for saving her from becoming their school’s social outcast, tries—unsuccessfully—to ignore Jordan’s and her own feelings, Anna’s reality slowly unravels.

At Anna’s first mention of a razor blade, it’s easy to see where this psychological thriller is headed. But just how and where Anna, a ticking time bomb, will explode keeps readers riveted. Along the way to the satisfyingly creepy ending, the quick, evenly paced narration explores the factors leading to Anna’s breakdown and how Megan’s angst allows her to be manipulated by her supposed BFF.

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“Unsurprisingly, Jinx displays hints of developing powers beyond the ordinary. Astonishingly, he and his world still seem fresh, for all that they echo familiar tropes.” from jinx

The author of Still Waters (2011) offers another suspenseful tale with plenty of appeal. (Thiller. 14 & up)

JINX

Blackwood, Sage Harper/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-06-212990-1 978-0-06-212992-5 e-book

Making unusually entertaining use of well-worn elements, this series opener plops a dense but promising young wizard-in-training between a pair of obnoxious rival mages.

Left by his stepparents to die in the dangerous Urwald, Jinx is rescued by Simon Magus, a “possibly evil” forest-dwelling wizard whose obsession with magical research is matched only by a truly profound lack of people skills. Several years later, having learned a little magic but also injured by one of Simon’s spells, Jinx stomps off in a rage to seek help. But hardly has he fallen in with a couple of ensorcelled fellow travelers, than all three fall into the clutches of the genial but rightly feared Bonemaster. Along with setting this adventuresome outing in a sentient forest populated by trolls, werewolves and giddy witches who bound about in butter churns, the pseudonymous Blackwood spins out lively dialogue threaded with comical rudeness and teasing. Trotting out a supporting cast whose inner characters are often at thought-provoking odds with their outer seeming, she also puts her central three through a string of suspenseful, scary situations before delivering a properly balanced closing set of resolutions, revelations and road signs to future episodes.

Unsurprisingly, Jinx displays hints of developing powers beyond the ordinary. Astonishingly, he and his world still seem fresh, for all that they echo familiar tropes. (Fantasy. 10-12)

BAD KITTY SCHOOL DAZE

Bruel, Nick Illus. by Bruel, Nick Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (160 pp.) $13.99 | Jan. 8, 2013 978-1-59643-670-1 Series: Bad Kitty (chapter book), 6 Can Diabla von Gloom’s School for Wayward Pets take the “bad” out of Bad Kitty?

When Baby gets hurt during a Bad Kitty/Poor Puppy screaming-hissing-howling chase, Bad Kitty’s owners send the two pets to school. Much to Kitty’s chagrin, her owner sends her off with a complete set of Love Love Angel Kitten (think: Hello Kitty on happy pills) accessories (like a backpack, ruler, bowling ball, cinder block and a full spectrum of pink crayons). Petunia, a cat-hating bulldog, and Dr. Lagomorph, “a diabolical mutant supervillain” (a bunny in a helmet made from a plastic bottle), fill out Kitty and Puppy’s class. With their sweet, understanding teacher, Miss Dee, the

students experience circle time (during which Petunia mistakes Kitty for a cow), arts and crafts, show and tell (Bad Kitty shows off her hairball talents) and storytime. Miss Dee encourages Bad Kitty, but will it be enough to erase her bad attitude? Bruel’s sixth Bad Kitty chapter book is, as its predecessors, laid out in a mix of black-and-white panels, full-bleed illustrations and text. It offers as much dry, sly (and over-thetop) humor as it does attitude and is peppered with Uncle Murray’s chapters of real information, this time centered on cat/dog interaction.

Bad Kitty’s Love Love Angel Kitten–inspired dream of zombie-cuteness (when she drifts off during storytime) is not to be missed.

Bad Kitty’s legions of fans will not be disappointed.

(Graphic hybrid fiction. 8-12)

UNO DOS TRES My First Spanish Rhymes

Canetti, Yanitzia--Ed. Illus. by Aggs, Patrice Frances Lincoln (22 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-1-84780-193-7

A lovely and unencumbered picture book combines with an infectious CD to introduce Spanish through song.

Reminiscent of an Ella Jenkins recording and using very little English, Canetti introduces 25 simple rhymes common in the Spanish-speaking world. She begins her recording by explaining in both languages the eight different categories for the rhymes. These include taking a trip, “¡A Pasear!”; a day on the farm, “¡A La Granja!”; playtime, “¡A Jugar!”; bedtime, “¡A Dormir!” and more. Her soft, gentle voice with distinct Castilian diction slowly and patiently recites each rhyme, sometimes twice, so listeners can absorb pronunciation and inflection; this is followed by a musical version, with children’s voices singing some verses. And while there is no English translation throughout the pages of the book or within the recitations on the CD, key vocabulary is identified with good picture cues sprinkled among the illustrations. These are small and finely detailed, adding a seek-and-find aspect to the experience. In addition, endpapers provide translations and instructions for activity use with the rhymes (both in regrettably small type).

Thoughtfully designed, this will be welcomed by many who already speak the language, are learning or just wish to plunge right in for bilingual storytimes. ¡Que bueno! (Picture book. 2-7)

UNSPOKEN A Story from the Underground Railroad Cole, Henry Illus. by Cole, Henry Scholastic (40 pp.) $16.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-39997-5

A farm child and a fugitive make an unspoken connection in this suspenseful, wordless Civil War episode.

Drawn in monochrome pencil on rough-textured paper, the

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“[Condie’s] protagonists are no run-of-the-mill romance triangle, her forms of activism (art, medicine) rich.” from reached

broad, full-page and full-spread rural scenes give the encounter a shadowy, atmospheric setting. Going about her chores after watching a detachment of mounted soldiers beneath a Confederate flag trot by, the child is startled and fearful to realize that someone is hiding in a pile of cornstalks in the storehouse.

Rather than mention this to the (seemingly) oblivious adults in her extended family or, later, to the hunters who come by with a reward poster, she courageously ventures out by herself, carrying small gifts of food. Never seen beyond a glimpse of an eye amid the leaves, the fugitive at last departs as silently as he (or she) came—leaving a corn doll in return for the girl’s kindness.

In a ruminative afterword, Cole reflects on his Virginia family’s own connections to the war and, though silent about the signal quilt he hangs on the farmyard’s fence in the illustrations, explains the significance of the Big Dipper visible in the nighttime sky.

Moving and emotionally charged, the book is capped with a powerful close-up of the child’s face on the rear cover with the legend “What would you do if you had the chance to help a person find freedom?” (Picture book. 7-10)

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

Colfer, Chris Little, Brown (272 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 20, 2012 978-0-316-23295-1

High school senior Carson Phillips will get into Northwestern and be the youngest freelance journalist published in all the major outlets, and he’s not above blackmail to get there.

Although he’s single-handedly kept the Clover High Chronicle in print and the Writing Club functioning (by teaching the journalism class, one of many credulitystretching details) for years, Carson is worried that he won’t get into his dream school. The acceptance letter will be his ticket out of the backward town of Clover which, like high school, is peopled by Carson’s intellectual inferiors. When his counselor suggests he edit and submit a literary magazine with his application, Carson and his dim, plagiaristic sidekick Malerie hatch a scheme to blackmail a chunk of the student body into submitting work. Colfer’s joyless and amateurish satire is little more than a series of scenes that seem to be created as vehicles for lame and often clichéd one-liners. Once Carson’s bullied his classmates (stereotypes one and all) into writing for him, he develops a soul and dispenses Dr. Phil–worthy advice to his victims—and he’s confused when they don’t thank him. Carson is so unlikable, so groundlessly conceited that when lightning literally does strike, readers who’ve made it that far may well applaud.

This sophomoric sophomore effort reads like a rough draft for a screenplay…which it may well be. (Fiction. 15-17)

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REACHED

Condie, Ally Dutton (528 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 13, 2012 978-0-525-42366-9 Series: Matched Trilogy, 3 While staying true to the science fiction and romance at the core of Matched (2010) and Crossed (2011), the trilogy’s breathless finale blossoms into a medical thriller too, adding breadth and resonance.

Cassia, Ky and Xander are far apart. Ky unenthusiastically flies air ships for the Rising, an enigmatic organization poised to overturn the Society. The Rising sends Cassia to work from the inside, so she sorts data for the Society, awaits the Rising’s instruction and trades poetry underground. Xander’s a Society medical Official who uses his position to subtly immunize infants against the forced-forgetfulness tablets that the Society regularly gives adults. The three take turns narrating in first-person present, revealing tantalizing information gaps: What does one character wonder while another knows? What do readers not know yet? A plague breaks out, mutates and becomes a pandemic—which aspects were intentional, and on whose part?

Poems (Tennyson, Dickinson, Thomas) and a painting (Sargent) figure heavily and beautifully on both symbolic and literal levels.

Is the Rising trustworthy? Can a living human also be an archetype? Condie’s prose is immediate and unadorned, with sudden pings of lush lyricism. Her protagonists are no run-of-the-mill romance triangle, her forms of activism (art, medicine) rich.

Each character is differently strong and differently wounded.

With reveals seeming to arrive on almost every page, prepare to stay up all night. (author’s note referencing poems and paintings) (Science fiction/romance. 13 & up)

THE BELIEVING GAME

Corrigan, Eireann Scholastic (384 pp.) $17.99 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-545-29983-1

A streetwise Svengali with questionable motives seduces a group of teen addicts.

When high school junior Greer gets caught shoplifting for the third time, her parents send her to a pricey rehab facility, where she meets Addison, a gorgeous, saintly recovering alcoholic. Their attraction is immediate, but there is one irritating grain of sand in the oyster of their love. His name is Joshua, and he is Addison’s adult sponsor, guru and adoptive father. His background is vague, and his speech is an off-putting mix of pretentious psychobabble and biblical doctrine. Even though Greer distrusts Joshua on sight, she keeps her suspicions to herself since the romance is still new. But then at a bizarre weekend getaway, Joshua plays a series of inappropriate mind games

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with Addison, Greer and their roommates in order to bring them under his sway. Greer sees through his manipulations and attempts to separate her boyfriend from his spiritual guide with predictably tragic results. The plot strains credulity (it’s hard to believe any reputable youth rehabilitation center would allow a non–staff member so much access to its patients), the pacing is slowed by long-winded therapy-speak and the abrupt ending is unsatisfying. Nevertheless, the characterizations ring true, especially of creepy Joshua and skeptical Greer, who have clearly met their match in each other.

Compelling characters, disappointing denouement.

(Fiction. 14 & up)

NOT EXACTLY A LOVE STORY

Couloumbis, Audrey Random House (288 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | PLB $19.99 Dec. 11, 2012 978-0-375-86783-5 978-0-375-89865-5 e-book 978-0-375-96783-2 PLB

THE ESSENCE

Derting, Kimberly McElderry (352 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-4424-4559-8 Series: Pledge, 2 This sequel to the successful dystopian fantasy The Pledge (2011) emphasizes fantasy over dystopia.

Charlie defeated the evil Queen Sabara in the previous installment and has become, reluctantly, Queen Charlaina of Ludania. However, Sabara’s titular essence has taken up residence in Charlie, who can’t find a way to rid herself of the spirit of the dead queen.

As queen, Charlie has instituted a series of reforms to make all classes equal in her country, provoking predictably unhappy and even violent responses among the former upper classes. At a summit of queens, Sabara resurfaces, looking only for love with her immortal boyfriend Niko, a situation sure to displease

A late-night phone call turned bad… turns good.

After his parents’ quick divorce and his mother’s even quicker remarriage to his gym teacher, Mr. Buonofuoco, in 1977, 15-year-old, half-Italian/half-Jewish Vinnie Gold relocates from New York City to Long Island with his mother and Mr. B. The loner teen knows that Patsy, the “foxy blonde” next door, is out of his league, but after discovering her private number, he musters the courage to call her at midnight. His nervousness and bumbling, however, leave Patsy thinking he’s an obscene caller. The potential creepiness of the situation is not lost on Vinnie, and it fuels his desire to right his wrong and prove himself. So he calls back, and this time Patsy keeps listening—and even talking. With a shield of partial anonymity, their midnight repartee continues night after night, developing into an unusual romance that keeps Patsy guessing at Vinnie’s identity and Vinnie watching the school’s football star abuse her. In a first-person narration that ranges from humor and quirkiness to insecurity and anger, Vinnie struggles between two personas.

Can he ever reconcile both selves and still keep Patsy’s interest?

Even if Patsy doesn’t fall for Vinnie, readers will grow to love his vulnerability and sincerity. His parents’ evolving relationships echo his own maturation.

Not exactly a perfect story. But it comes pretty close.

(Fiction. 13 & up)

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“A compelling and unusual look at a complex and intractable problem that succeeds admirably as story as well.” from the bully book

Charlie’s heartthrob, Max. Despite that turmoil, frothy fashions dominate the summit. In shifting from dystopian thrills to an airy fantasy, Derting loses her groove. Yes, she includes suspenseful scenes in which Charlie, or rather her guards, battle to escape death, but Charlie herself doesn’t come across as a terribly attractive character, whining rather than getting a grip until the climactic scene. Some nice minor characterizations stand out, such as the old man Florence and Charlie’s stoic, giant guard, Zafir. Despite the book’s title, the Sabara essence doesn’t offer much danger except to Charlie’s romance, resorting to an evil deed only once.

Disappointing. (Dystopian fantasy. 12 & up)

THE ROGUE’S PRINCESS

Edwards, Eve Delacorte (272 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | PLB $20.99 Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-385-74093-7 978-0-375-98339-9 e-book 978-0-375-98976-6 PLB Series: The Lacey Chronicles, 3 The historical Lacey Chronicles series continues with this third outing that follows Mercy’s forbidden romance with notorious actor Kit in 1586.

Although familiar characters from the previous installments populate the background, this book stands alone. Shy, pious Mercy falls hard for Kit when they meet at a dinner party, and Kit, who loves the wenches, falls just as hard for her.

His second meeting with her does not go well, causing scandal when he approaches her family in church. Nevertheless, Kit remains determined to marry Mercy and manages to win her love, despite the opposition of Mercy’s rich and straightlaced Puritan father. The couple’s secret plans go awry when Kit is arrested for possible treason, having gone drinking with Anthony Babington, who conspired with Mary, Queen of Scots to assassinate Elizabeth. Edwards keeps her story moving along swiftly, bolstering the standard star-crossed-lovers central plot with neatly folded-in historical detail. Her Elizabethan London adds a sense of authenticity to the whole story, and she even throws in a young Will Shakespeare as a minor player in Kit’s theater company. The characters’ reaction to the dangers of Kit’s arrest and his experiences in prison seem credible to the times, adding a further dimension of historical accuracy to the narrative. Mercy’s character, especially, comes across nicely, along with her interesting family.

Solid historical entertainment. (Historical romance. 12 & up)

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THE LAST TIGER

Elliott, Rebecca Illus. by Elliott, Rebecca Lion/Trafalgar (32 pp.) $14.99 | paper $8.15 | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7459-6384-6 978-0-7459-6349-5 paperback Can a little boy and a big cat start a new society?

Luka huddles inside a large industrial pipe, surrounded by rubble that includes the top of the Statue of Liberty. It’s “a strange world,” Elliott tells readers. “There were no trees, no plants...and no animals.” Except for the last tiger, crosshatched black and golden yellow against a smoky background of metal waste and grim skies. Luka rescues the tiger, whose paw is painfully caught in a tin can, and the tiger thanks him with a flower.

A friendship is born, and the two begin some serious play. But a plane soars by trailing a big net; the tiger is captured and caged, and Luka can’t get near him, so thick are the throngs of gaping people. Luka decides to hide in the tiger’s old cave, where he finds a lush garden! Surely the people won’t want to keep the tiger caged once they see it. Standing atop the tiger’s cage, he shouts, “Follow me!” The people eagerly do, and, finding this verdant paradise, their despair turns to hope. “Please teach us,” they implore the tiger, and for the first time since he was playing with Luka, the tiger smiles. Starkly evocative illustrations with effective use of color and minimal text convey Elliott’s delicate fable of friendship and concern for posterity.

Though the plot is accessible to the very young, its apocalyptic vision may not be. (Picture book. 4-7)

THE BULLY BOOK

Gale, Eric Kahn Harper/HarperCollins (240 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | Dec. 26, 2012 978-0-06-212511-8 978-0-06-212515-6 e-book A meticulous anatomy of a bullying victim.

Determinedly normal Eric Haskins is dumbfounded when his best friend, just back from camp, joins with a couple of other boys to call him “Grunt” at the beginning of sixth grade. Pretty soon, Eric is the class pariah; even decent and stalwart Melody turns away.

A couple of chance remarks convince Eric that he’s just the latest in a long line of sixth-grade Grunts and that the bullies are actually working from a manual. Readers know that Eric’s right, because interspersed with his journal entries chronicling his miserable year are excerpts from the titular Bully Book, which advises, “You have to create yourself. And to keep yourself safe, you have to create other people too, like the Grunt.” Eric’s quest to uncover the Bully Book is genuinely suspenseful. The juxtaposition of Eric’s journal against the Bully Book allows readers to see both the bullies’ methodology and Eric’s unwitting

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complicity. Gale gutsily portrays a gloves-off sixth-grade classroom in which variations of “gay” are flung around as insults (a usage that Eric articulately and bravely challenges). While it’s hard to imagine even the numbest substitute teacher routinely allowing a vocabulary lesson to become a bullying opportunity (“Eric Haskins is generally stupid”), the other adults in Eric’s life are convincingly ineffectual or self-deluded.

A compelling and unusual look at a complex and intractable problem that succeeds admirably as story as well.

(Fiction. 8-12)

THE SNEAKY SNOW FOX

Giff, Patricia Reilly Illus. by Palmisciano, Diane Orchard (40 pp.) $6.99 | PLB $16.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-24458-9 978-0-545-43378-5 PLB Series: Fiercely and Friends, 2 Giff ’s Fiercely and Friends earlyreader series limps along with this notso-suspenseful tale.

The trio of Jilli, Jim and dog Fiercely who spied on a neighbor and her Big Red Schoolhouse, return for another semimysterious adventure. During a terrific snowstorm, Jilli has to take a break from reading to Fiercely about a sneaky snow fox—the story is just too scary. Jumping at every sound and seeing a snow fox around every corner, she is terrified by a knock on the door.

It turns out to be just her friend, Jim. But while the door is open, the dog runs outside. The duo watch from an upstairs window

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“Readers can’t help but admire this boy who is trying so hard to be helpful.” from the worm whisperer

as Fiercely tunnels his way toward a suspiciously foxy-looking tail in the snow. Is he brave or does he need help? The friends share Jim’s pair of skis and rush to the rescue. The ending will satisfy beginning readers with its coziness and lack of fright, though the buildup is overlong and repetitious. The four chapter divisions seem arbitrary, and the text suffers from the same exposition problems as the first title in the series (The Big Something, 2012), telling all the action rather than showing. Palmisciano’s oil pastels nicely convey the children’s emotions, though the ambiguity that “conceals” the identity of the snow fox may leave readers frustrated rather than amused.

Not likely to sneak past the early-reader set. (Early reader. 5-8)

BABY PENGUINS EVERYWHERE

Guion, Melissa Illus. by Guion, Melissa Philomel (32 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-399-25535-9

A solitary penguin wishes for companionship and gets a little more than she bargained for.

Alone on a patch of ice, a penguin “enjoy[s] the peace and quiet,” but then loneliness sets in. In a lucky twist of fate, a top hat akin to one a magician might wear drifts by, “[a]nd from that hat popped a little penguin!” But then, evoking the folkloric magic porridge pot, the hat ends up holding a seemingly endless succession of little penguins. “Now the penguin wasn’t lonely anymore,” the text reports, and scenes of baby penguins frolicking about, making a snowman, playing with an array of rainbow-colored balls and a colorful string of scarves ensue. A crowded, wordless double-page spread shows the now “very, very busy” penguin trying to keep up with her crèche, with the page turn showing her collapsed on her belly, “[a]nd more than a bit tired.” She decides that she needs something: “[j]ust a minute to herself.” This line ends up feeling like a bit of heavyhanded validation aimed at weary parents, with the ultimate, reassuring message being that everyone needs alone time but that “being together… / is a lot more fun!” Despite this tonal shift, watercolor illustrations delight in the penguins’ sheer cuteness, staying just this side of twee.

A sweet picture-book treatment of penguins and parenting. (Picture book. 3-5)

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YOU ONLY DIE TWICE

Gutman, Dan Harper/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | PLB $17.89 Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-06-182770-9 978-0-06-220284-0 e-book 978-0-06-182771-6 PLB Series: The Genius Files, 3

Teen brainiacs Coke and Pepsi McDonald’s cross-country jaunt runs out of gas on its third leg, despite continued silly predicaments and threats of sudden death.

Giving up even a pretense of plausibility, Gutman introduces a new nemesis, masked impersonator Evil Elvis. He joins the bad guys collected in previous episodes for prepared ambushes as the twins and their clueless parents explore a string of tourist destinations—real ones, with photos and Google Maps directions provided. Opening with a teaser for a predicament that doesn’t happen for over 200 pages and isn’t the climax, the author shepherds the McDonald RV from July 4th fireworks on the National Mall to similarly spectacular but more destructive ones at Graceland. They stop along the way at places like the National Jousting Hall of Fame (Mount Solon, Va.), South Carolina’s cheesy, Mexican-themed South of the Border tourist trap, and, inevitably, the Coca-Cola and Pepsi museums (Atlanta and New Bern, N.C., respectively). Imbedded in near-constant infodumps about these and many more roadside attractions that are mentioned but skipped, the various coded messages, captures, rescues and narrow escapes become predictable and repetitive.

Like the increasingly quarrelsome McDonalds, readers will be feeling travel fatigue long before the author’s concluding teaser for Book 4. (Adventure. 10-12)

THE WORM WHISPERER

Hicks, Betty Illus. by Hatke, Ben Roaring Brook (192 pp.) $15.99 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-1-59643-490-5

Animal-obsessed Ellis Coffey hopes his pet woolly caterpillar will win the race at the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival and its $1,000 purse so he can pay the deductible for his father’s back surgery.

Money is tight in Ellis’ family, and the fourth-grader has more than the usual worries and responsibilities. He helps out a lot at home, but he still has time to explore the woods behind the family’s blueberry farm in the shadow of the Smoky Mountains. That’s where he finds the caterpillar he names Tink. Feeding her, dealing with her excrement (which, he learns, is called frass) and keeping her safe are some of the challenges he faces in this unusual pet story. Readers can’t help but admire this boy who is trying so hard to be helpful. At school, his teacher

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describes him as “class-clown-but-with-brains” and encourages his interest in new words. There is humor in Ellis’ efforts to keep Tink hidden on an outing to church and plenty of suspense right up to the race itself. And then there’s the question: Can Ellis really talk to animals like Mrs. Puckett, the horse whisperer?

A satisfying ending neatly wraps up this warm story, and Hatke’s occasional line drawings will add appeal for middle-grade readers. (Fiction. 9-12)

ROOTLESS

Howard, Chris Scholastic (336 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-38789-7 In a blasted, post-apocalyptic future, only three life-forms remain: humans, omnivorous locusts and the bioengineered corn that has become the sole source of food and fuel to civilization’s remnants.

Banyan, 17, makes his living as his dead father did, by fabricating trees from scrap metal. A wealthy landowner commissions him to build a forest, providing as a template a beautiful, yellow-leaved tree tattooed over the torso of his wife. Stranger still, the woman’s daughter shows him a recent photograph of a man—his father!—chained to a living tree. In short order, Banyan and a motley crew—his client’s son and a charismatic pirate girl, joined at various points by the wife, her daughter and the landowner’s Rasta bodyguard—are racing the landowner to the trees. They just have to get past GenTech’s massive cornfields and the locusts that live in them.

Howard has a gift for the phantasmagoric image: the killing Surge that is this future’s ocean, the bark Banyan finds growing on a homeless man, the swarm of locusts descending for the kill and more. But he takes huge narrative leaps and skimps on worldbuilding, neglecting to explore this GenTech-controlled economy or where oxygen now comes from. It’s a refreshingly male-oriented world, though, despite the abrupt attraction between Banyan and the pirate that feels chucked in to provide the now-requisite romantic element.

Readers willing to go with the flow can look forward to the sequel. (Science fiction. 14-18)

TOUCHED

Jackson, Corrine Kensington (348 pp.) $9.95 paperback | Dec. 1, 2012 978-0-7582-7333-8 Series: Sense Thieves, 1 A star-crossed romance highlights this series opener about a girl who has paranormal powers to heal and the boy who should be her enemy.

Of course the two will fall in love but not before Remy’s back story lays the groundwork. Remy lives with her mother and her abusive stepfather, Dean, until he finally beats Remy severely enough to send her to the hospital. There, she meets her real father, Ben, who takes her to live with his family in Maine. Remy has healing powers, although to conceal her abilities, she doesn’t use them on herself. Finally finding a happy home life with Ben, she meets the devastatingly handsome, wealthy and mysterious Asher. It transpires that Asher is a Protector, a member of a paranormal group intent on killing all healers. Naturally, the two find themselves irresistibly attracted to each other. Like other Protectors, Asher has become immortal, a condition he regards as a curse, and lacks the senses of touch, smell or taste—both of which Remy may be able to cure.

Jackson writes suspense skillfully, but the romance sections get a bit muddled due to the paranormal complexity that requires frequent expository dialogue. However, when a threat emerges toward the end of the book, the narrative springs to life again.

Everything’s prepared for the sequels.

Good suspense, imaginative premise; perhaps a bit too much exposition. (Paranormal romance. 12-16)

LEGEND OF THE GHOST DOG

Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody Scholastic (208 pp.) $16.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-39127-6

Ghost dog, stray or wolf? What lurks down the trail to Dorothy Creek?

With her mother working in Japan, 12-year-old Anita and her younger brother, Jack, must accompany their writer father on a research trip to Alaska to study human/dog relationships for a new book. It looks to be a lonely two weeks until Tee hits it off with Quin, daughter to Dad’s local research assistant.

When Tee tells Quin about a spooky encounter she had with… well, something near a dilapidated cabin in the woods, the two decide to investigate to see if it’s the legendary ghost dog or just some stray. When dangerous weather traps them, who (or what) will save them? In Kimmel’s slightly eerie dog tale, the chills are mostly weather-related. Not too surprisingly, there’s also quite a bit of dog lore. Tee’s problems with her absent-minded father and rambunctious brother lend a sturdy realism to the characters and the story; occasional chapters from the point of view of a local dog trainer who was a girl in the late 1960s detail the truth that sparked the ghost dog’s legend. All ends are tied up a bit too neatly, and the sap runs too thickly (and sweetly) at the close; dog lovers likely won’t mind.

Seekers of ghostly shivers should probably look elsewhere. (Adventure. 9-12)

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THE FRIDAY SOCIETY

superpowers and Elohim is explicitly deemed more worthy of allegiance than Abbadon because of superior firepower, there is a risk of turning faith into just another fantasy video game.

Diverting enough as clean escapist fare, but it could have been so much more. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Kress, Adrienne Dial (440 pp.) $17.99 | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-8037-3761-7

Steampunk meets Charlie’s Angels in Kress’ first full-length outing for teens.

Ignore the Buffy-styled language (“It was very explosion-y”). Ignore the anachronistic attitudes about sexuality, the girl trained as a samurai, the thousand insults to historical fiction. Because this is not about history. It’s a little bit about steam. Mostly it’s about girl power with glitter and goggles, lit by gaslight and spiced by murder mystery. Cora (commoner assistant to a mad, noble inventor with a secret basement lair), Nellie (beautiful assistant to a mysterious, all-knowing magician, a great character diminished by stereotypical exotic Othering) and Michiko (Japanese assistant to a drunken sword-fighting instructor, with more stereotyped behavior on both parts) unexpectedly find themselves caught up in mystery and danger when a secret society starts killing people off. Derring-do, midnight fights, a few kisses with various fellows, some adolescent drinking and crime solving ensue. The final lines set up the girls for additional adventures and presumably more volumes, too.

Frothy, sparkly fun with no substance, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need. (Steampunk. 12-16)

FIRE PROPHET

Law, Jerel Thomas Nelson (256 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Dec. 11, 2012 978-1400318452 Series: Son of Angels: Jonah Stone, 2 The second entry in a Christian fantasy series scores high on action and adventure but strikes out when presenting the quieter aspects of religious experience.

Jonah Stone and his siblings are still grappling with the discovery that their mother is one of the nephilim, offspring of fallen angels and humans. With their angelic gifts as “quarterlings,” they had rescued their mother and the other nephilim from the Fallen last year. Now all 13 known quarterlings are in hiding, receiving training in angelic combat and spiritual disciplines. But even the formidable power of prayer can’t shield them from the servants of Abbadon. When Jonah has visions of a modern-day prophet in peril, he has to risk everything to follow the will of Elohim. There’s plenty to enjoy here: genuinely likable young characters who can also be authentically silly, frightened and cranky; a praiseworthy effort at gender and ethnic diversity; and a snappy narrative pace that delivers thrilling suspense without ever becoming too scary or graphically violent. Unfortunately, this presentation of Christianity also gives short shrift to humble service or inner spirituality. When prayers become formulaic magic spells to summon 2484 | 1 november 2012 | children ’s

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FREE-FIRE ZONE

Lynch, Chris Scholastic (192 pp.) $16.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-27025-0 Series: Vietnam, 3

The third installment of Lynch’s Vietnam War series follows Rudi, one of four friends who enlisted at the same time and are now in separate branches of the military.

Friends since fourth grade in Boston, Rudi, Ivan, Morris and Beck pledged to not go to Vietnam voluntarily, but if one received a draft notice, they would all sign up, a friendship bond of a small band of brothers. Morris’ narrative came first, followed by Ivan’s (I Pledge Allegiance, 2011; Sharpshooter, 2012). Here, Rudi relates his experiences in the Marine Corps, where Rudi, always the slow learner thought not to be good at anything, finds something at which he excels: taking orders. Good soldier becomes his identity, until the war takes its toll. Each experience—his first confirmed kill, a serious leg injury, the murder of his lieutenant and his harrowing experience in a tunnel—changes Rudi, until, eventually, he feels the old Rudi is dead, “left him right down in that hole.”

The best of the excellent series so far, this volume is more graphic than the first two but still appropriate for the intended audience.

Solid character development and deft plotting make this a work that can stand by itself, but with the forthcoming final installment, the completed series will feel monumental indeed.

A fine portrayal of friends and war. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

TEA CAKES FOR TOSH

Lyons, Kelly Starling Illus. by Lewis, E.B. Putnam (32 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-399-25213-6

Detailed watercolor art pairs precisely with earnest, delicate prose to create a gentle yet substantive picture book.

Lyons delivers a sweet tale of a boy and his grandma, Honey, that has an unexpected twist. Little Tosh delights in his grandmother’s stories about how she learned to make her delicious tea cakes. Heaping scoops of family history along with each spoon of sugar or measured cup of flour, Tosh’s grandmother spices her tales with more than cinnamon—she laces the batter with pride in her heritage and her past. Sharing her cooking ritual with her grandson is a way to ensure this legacy has a future. Tosh eats it

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“[Mal]’s a foot off the ground, and the tiny picture shows exactly how it feels to be in elementary school and in love.” from belly flop!

up—both Honey’s wisdom and her treats. When, little by little, Honey’s memory gets stuck in odd places, Tosh decides to put his memory to work. Caldecott Honoree Lewis (Coming on Home Soon, 2004) delivers realistic, evocative paintings that place readers right in Honey’s kitchen. Shifting from full-color paintings to monochrome grays or blues for her reminiscences, Lewis sharpens and softens our focus just as memories go bright then fade.

A charmer; all that’s missing are the hugs. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-7)

THE CHRISTMAS TUGBOAT How the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Came to New York City Matteson, George; Ursone, Adele Illus. by Ransome, James E. Clarion (48 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 6, 2012 978-0-618-99215-7

A girl joins her tugboat-captain dad (along with her mom) on a family trip as they tow a barge with a gigantic Christmas tree and some immense ornaments into New York City for the holiday display at Rockefeller Center.

The unnamed girl narrates the longish story in first person, detailing how her dad operates the tugboat and how they eat and sleep during their special overnight trip. The tugboat pulls the barge around the tip of Manhattan and into New York Harbor, past a tour boat, police boats and a fireboat shooting jets of water to welcome the Christmas tree delivery. Ransome’s polished illustrations are the best part of the book, capturing all the different boats and scenes of New York City with glowing backgrounds at sunrise or sunset. The story has unanswered questions, however, because the huge ornaments that were transported with the tree are not shown with the lighted Christmas tree at the end, as expected, and Rockefeller Center and the significance of the tree there are never explained. A map would have been helpful to track the progress of the tugboat.

Children in New York City who have seen the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will enjoy the atmospheric story; others may be puzzled by all the geographical references. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

BELLY FLOP!

McCranie, Stephen Illus. by McCranie, Stephen Philomel (224 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-399-25658-5 Series: Mal and Chad, 3 It’s hard not to like a main character who brings a lab coat and briefcase to elementary school.

In one panel of this third outing for Mal and his talking dog, Chad, a boy is wearing a hat shaped like a giraffe. This is never explained, except that he’s auditioning for the talent show. The real reason for the hat, of course, is that McCranie likes to draw giraffes. It’s the same reason there’s a giant bust of Albert Einstein on the lawn of Mal’s school. Mal is a boy inventor, which gives the artist a chance to draw a clock with a robot hand popping out of it. “Why not invent an alarm clock that wakes you up gently…?” Mal asks rhetorically. The hand, he notes, “tenderly pats you on the head until you wake up.” Kid inventors are not popular at Einstein Elementary. Mal’s crush, Megan, won’t even invite him to her birthday party. Sometimes Mal will glance at her across the room, and she doesn’t look back. These scenes are drawn with as much skill as the giraffes and robots, and they are heartbreaking. In another panel, Mal sees Megan and skips into the air with joy. He’s a foot off the ground, and the tiny picture shows exactly how it feels to be in elementary school and in love.

This emotional honesty alone is a reason to buy this book; the giraffe and Einstein are the icing on McCranie’s cake. (Graphic fiction. 8-11)

RIGHT WHERE I BELONG

McGee, Krista Thomas Nelson (320 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Dec. 11, 2012 978-1-4016-8490-7

A wholesome, if uninspired, exploration of the role of faith in helping a young woman find her place in the world.

Seventeen-year-old Natalia has grown up in a wealthy household in Spain surrounded by money, luxury and ambition. It is not until her father marries his third wife, Maureen, that Natalia begins to investigate spirituality. When she becomes a Christian under Maureen’s guidance, the two develop an intense bond. They become so close, in fact, that when Natalia learns that her father is filing for divorce, she actually decides to follow Maureen back home to Florida to provide moral support. Natalia enrolls in a Christian school where she meets and quickly falls for Brian, the pastor’s son. But having seen her father destroy several marriages, Natalia has sworn off dating.

So, she spends most of her time and energy trying to avoid her deepening feelings for Brian as well as figuring out what she wants to do—or rather what God wants her to do—after graduation. Sadly, Natalia, Brian and the supporting characters are rather flat, the discussions of spirituality feel contrived and the plot is nothing if not predictable.

Not much in the way of general appeal here, but this one may suit teens on the hunt for overtly Christian-themed fiction sprinkled with a bit of (very chaste) romance. (Fiction. 12-16)

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VICTORIA REBELS

Meyer, Carolyn Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-4169-8729-1 This absorbing, fictionalized firstperson account of Queen Victoria’s early life reveals the hardships she endured as a child and young woman.

Readers meet Victoria at age 8, growing up under the strict supervision of her mother, a woman completely under the influence of one Sir John Conroy, a man so ambitious he schemes to rule England through Victoria. Kept under observation virtually all the time, young Victoria struggles to escape total domination. After her half sister marries and moves to Germany, her former governess remains as her only private confidant. When 18-year-old Victoria is crowned, she banishes Conroy and assumes control of her life, but not without some hiccups. Basing the story on Victoria’s diaries, Meyer writes convincingly as the young princess and queen, imitating the girl’s writing style but keeping the narration accessible to modern readers. The story follows Victoria from childhood and adolescence through the births of her first three children.

Although written entirely from Victoria’s viewpoint aside from a few brief letters, it conveys the young queen’s inappropriate political biases, her initial reluctance to marry and her terrible temper. As it turns out, though Victoria’s early life was stifling to her, it comes across as an engrossing tale.

The author does not enhance or alter the history; she simply and convincingly translates it into a lively narrative.

(Historical fiction. 12 & up)

TIMEKEEPER

Monir, Alexandra Delacorte (272 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | PLB $19.99 Jan. 8, 2013 978-0-385-73840-8 978-0-375-89413-8 e-book 978-0-385-90727-9 PLB This sequel to Timeless (2011) delivers plenty of romance with even more timetraveling excitement.

In the first book, 16-year-old Michele traveled back to 1910, where she met Philip and fell in love. Fate separated them.

However, Michele is the daughter of time traveler Irving from 1888, who traveled to 1991 and fell in love with Michele’s mother.

As a result, Michele is dangerously “time crossed.” Enter evil Rebecca, who loved Irving and hates Michele. Rebecca has stolen a time-travel key and gone rogue, intending to kill Michele.

Meanwhile, Philip has returned to 2010 as an 18-year old, but he doesn’t remember forever-heartthrob Michele. A quick trip back into time reveals a clue to jar the new Philip’s memory.

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More bopping through time will occur as Philip figures out who he really is and Michele struggles to defeat Rebecca with the help of a modern-day medium and others from different times.

If all this seems a bit complicated, readers who like romance can enjoy the novel without figuring it all out. Monir avoids the sentence-fragment writing conventions of many romances, yet she doesn’t shy away from conventionally clichéd romantic dialogue. As a nice plus, the author seems entranced with the architecture of New York, and her descriptions of spectacular buildings enhance the story.

A pleasant if rather silly diversion. (Paranormal romance.

12 & up)

FORETOLD

Oliver, Jana St. Martin’s Griffin (418 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Dec. 11, 2012 978-1-250-02184-7 Series: Demon Trappers, 4 Teenage demon trapper Riley Blackthorne just wants to capture demons, regain her soul and go to her high school prom in this overfilled finale.

Her father’s corpse is at rest, and the Vatican’s Demon Hunters have left Atlanta, but Riley now faces the social and spiritual fallout of her recent battles. She’s caught between Heaven and Hell, and she’s romantically entangled with fellow trappers Simon Adler and Denver Beck as well as fallen angel Ori. Riley’s role in the destruction of the trappers’ headquarters and the graveyard battle has also brought unwanted media attention, so Riley accompanies Beck to Sadlersville to help settle his dying mother’s affairs. The swampy small town offers little refuge—Beck and Riley encounter his toxic mother, hostile villagers and allegations of murder—and bogs down the story, delaying Riley’s showdown with her soul-stealing ex-lover.

Oliver (Forgiven, 2012) offers a standard melodramatic teenage drama paired with immortal power struggles, but she creates a compelling world for her story. As in previous books, the constant narrative shifts among characters disrupt the action and rob Riley of depth and satisfactory character development.

Riley is supposedly special—as evidenced by media attention, her purgatorial paparazzi and her many suitors—but her unique status feels obligatory, unresolved by the otherwise tidy conclusion.

This tale of Hell, hotties and high school should please already-confirmed fans. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

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“The affecting ending, which reveals a more vulnerable Jamie behind the guise of his humor, celebrates Jamie’s resilient spirit.” from i funny

I FUNNY A Middle School Story

Patterson, James; Grabenstein, Chris Illus. by Park, Laura Little, Brown (272 pp.) $15.99 | Dec. 12, 2012 978-0-316-20693-8

Middle school student Jamie is an aspiring comic.

Referring to the fact that he requires a wheelchair, Jamie challenges readers: “So, can you deal with this? Some people can. Some can’t.” Frequently quoting his favorite comedians, Jamie reflects on life, using his forthright observations to hone his own comedic skills. Jamie relies on his quick wit and sometimes-audacious jokes to deflect inquiries about his circumstances. Recently adopted by his aunt, Jamie’s new family includes Stevie, a bully whose callous cruelties often take advantage of Jamie’s physical condition. Seeking refuge at his Uncle Frankie’s diner, Jamie regales the customers with his humor. Uncle Frankie’s suggestion that Jamie enter a local comedy competition tests Jamie’s determination to become a comedian. Patterson and Grabenstein balance Jamie’s humor with a poignant storyline. Through Jamie’s evolving relationship with the intriguing Suzie, aka Cool Girl, readers learn about his devastating loss and recovery from a tragic event. Park’s humorous spot illustrations complement the text.

The affecting ending, which reveals a more vulnerable Jamie behind the guise of his humor, celebrates Jamie’s resilient spirit. (Fiction. 10-13)

THE MARK OF ATHENA

Riordan, Rick Disney Hyperion (608 pp.) $19.99 | Oct. 2, 2012 978-1-4231-4060-3 Series: The Heroes of Olympus, 3 After waging two separate quests (The Lost Hero, 2010; The Son of Neptune, 2011), the Greek and Roman demigods of Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus quintet join forces.

With his now-trademark zero-to-60 acceleration, the author engineers a ghostly possession to set Greeks and Romans at odds and initiates the Prophecy of the Seven, hurtling Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank and Jason into a pell-mell flight on the magical trireme Argo II. They seek the titular Mark of Athena, which they hope will provide the key to defeating the vengeful Earth mother, Gaea, or at least some of her giant offspring. As the trireme crosses the country, the pace drags while the demigods sort out relationships and work to figure out both cryptic prophecy and nightmare visions. With sweethearts Annabeth and Percy once again united, much of the tension that powered earlier books is gone. Once the Argo

II leaves the United States, though, the pace picks up, and the comically instructive set pieces Riordan’s so good at emerge.

A Luddite god rails against what he calls the “b-book,” which displaced the far superior scroll technology; Annabeth gets a crash course in the cult of Mithros far below the streets of Rome. Here, Riordan’s infectious love for his subject matter really comes through, even as he takes some real risks with his characters.

A literal cliffhanger leaves eager readers hanging; next stop: Greece—and Tartarus. (glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14)

RAVAGE

Sampson, Jeff Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (400 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 22, 2013 978-0-06-199280-3 Series: The Deviants, 3 The Deviants trilogy concludes (or does it?) with a slamfest of action.

Former dork Emily learned that she was a werewolf in series opener Vesper (2011). In Havoc (2012), she learned how she and her fellow pack members became werewolves. This time, she learns why. She still feels guilty about killing and tries not to kill even when battling dozens of guards, but now Emily has a new worry. Her former best friend, Megan, appears to be haunting her, appearing and disappearing suddenly wherever Emily goes—and she may not be on her side. Her pack teams up with the formerly hostile cheerleaders, who have major telekinetic powers, to attack the BioZenith laboratories. Ah, but the true culprits go far beyond the scientists at BioZenith. It seems that aliens from another dimension have inculcated a cult among the scientists with the intent of conquering the world. Sampson writes his usual fast-paced prose to keep the narrative galloping along, but his plotting becomes manic, even sloppy. No one expects a book about teen werewolves to cleave to reality, but with its alien premise, the story abandons any semblance of plausibility. However, plenty of dry wit, especially regarding the cheerleaders, spikes the thrills, and the ending leaves open the possibility of many more sequels.

Emily’s alpha wolf-girl toughness will appeal, along with a bit of romance. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)

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ZOMBIE KID

Savage, Scott J. Harper/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $14.99 | $8.99 e-book | Dec. 26, 2012 978-0-06-213325-0 978-0-06-213328-1 e-book Series: Case File 13, 1 Striking the perfect balance between rib-tickling humor and bone-chilling adventure, the first novel in Savage’s new &

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middle-grade series is sure to please young readers looking for a thrill.

Nick, Carter and Angelo, otherwise known by their fellow sixth-graders as the “Three Monsterteers,” are obsessed with the supernatural and all things Halloween. Nick is crushed when he learns that he will miss trick-or-treating with his buddies because he has to travel to New Orleans for his great-aunt’s funeral. But when it turns out that she was a voodoo queen, the trip to Louisiana quite literally changes Nick’s life. Back home in California, Carter and Angelo notice there’s something different about their friend, and all the signs lead them to one conclusion: Nick’s been turned into a zombie. It’s pretty cool to have a zombie as a best friend, but when Nick starts losing body parts and develops a hankering for brains, the three boys set out on a desperate mission to change Nick back before it’s too late. With clever commentary from a mysterious narrator at the start of each chapter, a trio of funny and enormously likable boy protagonists and plenty of creepy encounters to up the ante, Savage hits all the right notes.

It’s hard to imagine that readers (particularly boys) won’t enjoy every minute of hair-raising fun. (Funny horror. 9-14)

ENDANGERED

Schrefer, Eliot Scholastic (272 pp.) $17.99 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-0-545-16576-1 Congolese-American Sophie makes a harrowing trek through a war-torn jungle to protect a young bonobo.

On her way to spend the summer at the bonobo sanctuary her mother runs, 14-year-old Sophie rescues a sickly baby bonobo from a trafficker. Though her Congolese mother is not pleased Sophie paid for the ape, she is proud that Sophie works to bond with Otto, the baby. A week before Sophie’s to return home to her father in Miami, her mother must take advantage of a charter flight to relocate some apes, and she leaves Sophie with Otto and the sanctuary workers. War breaks out, and after missing a U.N. flight out, Sophie must hide herself and Otto from violent militants and starving villagers. Unable to take Otto out of the country, she decides finding her mother hundreds of miles to the north is her only choice. Schrefer jumps from his usual teen suspense to craft this well-researched tale of jungle survival set during a fictional conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Realistic characters (ape and human) deal with disturbing situations described in graphic, but never gratuitous detail. The lessons Sophie learns about her childhood home, love and what it means to be endangered will resonate with readers.

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LINCOLN’S GRAVE ROBBERS

Sheinkin, Steve Scholastic (224 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-0-545-40572-0

On election eve in 1876, the Chicago Tribune was dominated by election coverage, except for a curious story on page 5 about body snatchers attempting to rob the grave of Abraham Lincoln.

The headline read, “Dastardly Attempt to Despoil the Lincoln Monument: Thieves Trying to Steal the Bones of the Martyr President.” The body snatchers had narrowly escaped—without the body—but certain evidence had been found: two sets of footprints, a bull’s-eye lantern and grass pressed flat where men had been lying nearby.

Sheinkin takes a little-known sidebar of American history and lures readers in with the sheer weirdness of his tale and a new lexicon of coneys, ropers, shovers, bone orchards and ghouls.

The robbery was no random act, but one related to the world of 19th-century counterfeiting, so readers are introduced to the history of counterfeiting. This history and other topics provide context but slow the narrative—the grisly autopsy on the body of the fallen president, the design of the Lincoln Monument in Springfield, Ill., and the early days of the United States Secret Service. There’s even a “Body Snatcher Bonus Section.” The finished edition will include photographs, source notes and an index, not seen here.

A good, ghoulish read despite slow spots. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

LOOK! ANOTHER BOOK!

Staake, Bob Illus. by Staake, Bob Little, Brown (48 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 4, 2012 978-0-316-20459-0

The energetic sequel to Look! A Book!

(2011) picks up just where the last one ended.

With the same welcoming die cuts and sparkling graphic style, Staake’s creativity and humor are front and center here. From the opening pages, readers know what’s to come. “Now open up this crazy book, / grab a seat—and have a LOOK!” Readers will take a lot more than just one look at these absorbing pages. The solid-colored pages are graced with small die cuts that reveal little tidbits of the busy scenes hiding on the following spreads. Sometimes the page turns make the images blend seamlessly into the busy new scene in a pleasing way, allowing readers to wonder how the illustrator pulled that little magic trick. The die cuts themselves also seem to disappear with the page turn, leading readers to touch the pages to find the circles and to prove that they are still there. Each scene is a familiar one, but closer inspection reveals surprising details. On the school page, a sasquatch

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cavorts on the playground, an alligator acts as crossing guard, and a one-eyed green monster peeks around the schoolhouse.

Art lovers will love the very hip museum scene, filled with familiar, iconic images. Even the copyright page has an inside joke for the careful observer.

The jaunty rhyme and easy-to-decode words make this a perfect choice for the new reader. (Picture book. 4-12)

THE FORTUNE-TELLER

Thompson, Paul B. Enslow (160 pp.) $17.95 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-0-7660-3983-4 Series: The Brightstone Saga, 2 An evil wizard bent on seizing the clockwork head that holds the secret to all the world’s magic takes up the chase again in this middle volume.

Three years of lying low in the wake of the opener’s (Brightworking, 2011) fiery climax come to a sudden end for young Mikal and Lyra when their nemesis, Master Harlano, tracks them down in a traveling show. Narrowly escaping with their chatty metal charge, Orichalkon, the fugitives strike out for the city of Farhaven in hopes of finding wizardly help (why they hadn’t done this earlier goes unexplained). Along the way, they find themselves caught up in a conflict between loggers and woods-loving fey folk, temporarily lose Orichalkon in a raging river and acquire an eerie but strong ally in Killeen, a newly reformed werewolf. Internal logic isn’t the author’s highest priority, but he does shepherd his young characters through a quick succession of dangerous situations and (as the two have conflicting personalities) entertaining quarrels. The end leaves Harlano triumphantly in possession of Orichalkon and Killeen too, with Mikal and Lyra in hot pursuit. Stay tuned.

A predictable but not entirely earnest chase, with a page count that may draw readers wearied or intimidated by the ongoing flood of doorstopper epics. (Fantasy. 9-11)

PRINCE FOR A PRINCESS

Walters, Eric Illus. by Parkins, David Orca (64 pp.) $6.95 paperback | Nov. 1, 2012 978-1-4598-0200-1

Christina gets her wish for a dog.

When the family visits the farm where the rescued greyhounds live, Christina, sometimes called Princess by her dad, is attracted to the biggest dog of all, Prince. Prince, gentle and loving, has never been a pet, but he, like most greyhounds, does not really bark and is calm around children, especially quiet ones like Christina. Bert, the owner of the farm, teaches Christina all she needs to know

about Prince, including interesting details that pertain just to greyhounds. Prince has to be taught how to climb stairs because “[r]acing greyhounds live a flat life.” Greyhounds are sociable and do not like to be left alone. Luckily, Christina’s mother works from home. When Prince does have to be left alone, he leaves scratches on the doors and escapes from the backyard, providing the only real scare of the book. A fine solution is found when Christina’s parents find a day companion for Prince: a tiny Chihuahua. This simple but entirely engaging short chapter book for early readers is filled with child appeal. Frequent ink illustrations, with Christina drawn as an Asian-featured child with non-Asian parents, provide just the right amount of visual information to keep the pages turning.

Satisfying big-dog-meets-little-girl story. (Fiction. 6-10)

COUNT ME IN A Parade of Mexican Folk Art Numbers in English and Spanish

Weill, Cynthia Illus. by The Aguilar Sisters Photos by Santiago, Jorge Luis Cinco Puntos (32 pp.) $14.95 | Nov. 1, 2012 978-1-935955-39-9 Series: First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art Playful ceramics enact a traditional Mexican festival parade, from uno to diez. “íAquí viene el desfile! / íCuenta conmigo!” With this buoyant invitation, readers are ushered into the traditional Oaxacan festival of Guelaguetza. From “[e]l señor de la marota” who leads the parade, through musicians, costumed “giants,” flower-bearing ladies and more, folk-art ceramics offer clear, eye-catching figures for little ones to count. Each set is positioned against the series’ now-trademark supersaturated backgrounds, the fuchsia, turquoise and ocher pages providing extra pop. The simple sentences, arranged in English-over-Spanish below the figures, offer brief explanations and reinforce the festive atmosphere (“Cover your ears! The fireworks are loud!”). Each number is spelled out in both English and Spanish, but there are no numerals to accompany the text. While there is a certain paucity in the variety of parade participants (two groups of musicians as well as three groups of costumed ladies), there’s no denying the effervescence of the event. The Aguilar sisters’ work appears in museums all over the world, and this book marks their first collaboration.

While not the only counting book children will ever need, this peek into Mexico’s art and traditions is certainly one of the most joyous they’ll encounter. (Picture book. 2-5)

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va l e n t i n e ’s d a y roundup THE VERY FAIRY PRINCESS FOLLOWS HER HEART!

Andrews, Julie; Hamilton, Emma Walton Illus. by Davenier, Christine Little, Brown (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 2, 2013 978-0-316-18559-2 Series: Very Fairy Princess, 4 Gerry, full of her characteristic pluck and sparkle, returns in this fourth installment of the best-selling Very Fairy Princess series.

Feb. 14 is approaching, and Gerry literally throws herself into a joyous crafting frenzy as she works to make the very best valentines for her family, friends and even Connor, although he pulls her hair in class. Mommy helpfully gives Gerry one of Daddy’s folders to keep her creations safe. When the big day arrives, Gerry and her family enjoy heart-shaped pancakes and share valentines. Then she dresses in her very best tiara and wings for the big party at school. In all the excitement, she nearly misses her bus and almost forgets her valentines but grabs the folder just in time. It is the wrong folder, however. Without her valentines to distribute, all seems ruined…until a few encouraging words from her teacher and a sudden wonderful idea produce some pleasantly surprising results: Connor is not so bad after all, and it is great to actually tell someone face to face what you most appreciate about them. Andrews and Hamilton’s text successfully captures the enthusiastic urgency of their impish protagonist. What truly impresses is Davenier’s ink-and–colored-pencil artwork that vividly portrays Gerry’s every emotion, whether she is over-the-top happy or utterly disappointed.

Three cheers for this princess whose magic comes from her confidence and determination rather than gauzy wings or shiny baubles. (Picture book. 3-6)

AN AWESOME BOOK OF LOVE!

Clayton, Dallas Illus. by Clayton, Dallas Harper/HarperCollins (56 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-0-06-211666-6

Clayton, the former self-publishing phenom, continues his series of books about awesomely big concepts. Here, he proclaims and exalts love in language best described as rhyming stream of consciousness.

As in An Awesome Book (2012), the author’s voice is both intimate and enthusiastic, as if speaking to a child: “AND WHEN I’M BESIDE YOU I’M LEAPING AND BOUNDING / SO PROUD I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY HEART POUNDING.” As the verse goes from playfully fantastical 2490 | 1 november 2012 | children ’s

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imagery to (hopefully) tongue-in-cheek greeting-card doggerel, ultimately this title begs the question, who is this for? It’s a bit too kooky for emerging readers and a tad rambling for middle graders, and the all-uppercase text, which lacks punctuation, makes for a challenging read-aloud. The illustrations may be this title’s best hook with kids since they are full of detail and have an accessible, childlike quality. Still, readers may come away from it wondering if this is a truly sincere attempt to “SHARE THE LOVE” or a rather hokey effort that is riding the wave of previous titles’ popularity.

As with most books that have an inherent tension within, readers will either enthusiastically respond to this title, with its outsider, hipster vibe, or pass due to its lack of polish and resistance to easily fitting into any single reader category. (Picture book. All ages)

VALENTINE BE MINE

Farmer, Jacqueline Illus. by Halsey, Megan; Addy, Sean Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $17.95 | paper $7.95 | $6.99 e-book Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-58089-389-3 978-1-58089-390-9 paperback 978-1-60734-467-4 e-book Farmer (O Christmas Tree, 2010) offers a compelling survey of the history, legends, traditions and symbols of Valentine’s Day for the primary school set.

This nonfiction title is best read cover to cover instead of flipped through to locate specific information, since there is no table of contents or index to aid in locating specific facts. Readers first learn that the holiday’s origins can be traced to ancient Rome, but they will be intrigued to learn how religious figures, a poet, an imprisoned nobleman and an entrepreneurial woman in Massachusetts called the “Mother of the American Valentine” have all helped shape this special day in February. The information is presented succinctly, on topical pages consisting of a few paragraphs of text, and illustrators Halsey and Addy add playful touches with their mixed-media collage utilizing photographs, vintage clip art, hand-drawn images and acrylic paints.

After the history has been covered, readers learn more about the significance of the holiday symbols and traditions involving Cupid, doves, hearts, chocolates and flowers. A couple of quick craft projects, a page of Valentine’s Day jokes and a smattering of quotes about love interspersed throughout the book all add appeal for young students.

A solid nonfiction offering; libraries should buy multiples. (Nonfiction. 6-9)

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“Get ready to enjoy a laugh-out-loud, fast-paced adventure involving a secret crush, a runaway valentine with an attitude and lots of candy.” from the yuckiest, stinkiest, best valentine ever

THE YUCKIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE EVER

Ferber, Brenda Illus. by Arnold, Tedd Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-8037-3505-7

Get ready to enjoy a laugh-out-loud, fast-paced adventure involving a secret crush, a runaway valentine with an attitude and lots of candy.

Leon has a huge crush on Zoey Maloney. He cuts out a big red heart and reveals his feelings. All seems well until the valentine—depicted with wide-eyed disbelief and an oversized mouth—declares, “PUL-EESE! You can’t tell [her] you love her! / …It’s mushy and gross and just plain YUCKY!” Leon thinks Valentine’s Day is all about love; the heart is sure it “is all about candy.” So, he leaps out the window to escape having to proclaim Leon’s affections. What ensues is a hilarious chase that progressively gathers more and more people—boys, girls and teens—who all weigh in on whether the valentine should go to the girl of Leon’s dreams. Ferber gets the character development and dialogue just right. The heart is silly but a tough talker, and in contrast, Leon is earnest and determined. The urgent chase is propelled by quick descriptions that make readers want to turn the pages even faster. Arnold, illustrator of the Fly Guy series, digitally creates varied spreads that look like a super-size version of a Sunday comic strip. Bright with saturated colors, the focal point is always the spunky red heart that conveys an impressive range of funny facial expressions for such a little thing. All too soon, a spectacular crash in the candy store yields romantic results for both the valentine and Leon.

Get this now—it’s better than candy. (Picture book. 4-8)

TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU

Kirk, Daniel Illus. by Kirk, Daniel Nancy Paulsen Books (32 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 27, 2012 978-0-399-25288-4 Rabbit and Pig join the ranks of duos that grapple with the intricacies of friendship—and impressively stand out.

Small, gray Rabbit adores Pig so much that he is writing a list of 10 favorite things he loves about his porcine pal. While Pig is touched, he is also “kind of busy.” As Rabbit repeatedly interrupts and often annoys Pig, his friend’s exasperated remarks actually inspire more “things” for Rabbit’s list. Both young readers and adults will chuckle as Rabbit’s unflappable good nature and earnest requests for help progressively take a toll on Pig’s patience. When Pig begs Rabbit to leave him alone with a strongly expressed “PLEASE, RABBIT,” Rabbit smiles and writes, “Number 7—I love Pig because he is polite

and always says please.” In less-deft hands this back and forth could grow tiresome, but Kirk gets the comic timing just right.

His pictures engage the eye as well, with a technique in which painted wood panels and ink-on-paper drawings are scanned and then digitally augmented with colors and more textures.

The story comes full circle when Rabbit notices a sheet of paper that Pig has dropped.

Although great for reading aloud, put this at the top of the list for using as a springboard for creative writing or a discussion starter about what qualities make a good friend.

(Picture book. 5-8)

THERE’S NO ONE I LOVE LIKE YOU Langreuter, Jutta Illus. by Dahle, Stephanie Translated by Morrison, Rebecca NorthSouth (32 pp.) $17.95 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-0-7358-4126-0

In this German import, a bunny is convinced that living with his friends will be easier and more enjoyable than obeying the rules at home.

Late one morning, Brayden is reluctant to get out of bed, pick up his toys, wash his whiskers or play with his sisters. He grumbles to his mother, “I wish I could go live with my friends.…I wouldn’t have to do chores.” When his mother asks him if this is really what he wants to do, he picks up his backpack and leaves.

All of Brayden’s friends’ families warmly welcome him, but no one scratches his ears “like Mommy does.” No place is exactly right: Missy Mouse’s house is too messy, with toys everywhere; Benny Badger’s family smells “a little funny” because they never wash up; Fipsi Squirrel’s home is too high up in the tree to climb.

Cousin Pepi’s house seems perfect until Brayden gets “a curious lump in his bunny throat,…an odd tugging in his bunny tummy [and] a strange jabbing in his bunny heart.” Readers will immediately understand what is happening—he is missing his home and his mommy. Soon, Brayden returns, and Mommy Bunny lovingly welcomes him with a perfect scratch on his ears.

Langreuter and Dahle’s gentle story fails to cover any new ground, but readers will relate to Brayden’s experience and perhaps develop a better appreciation for the comforts and rules of home. (Picture book. 4-7)

A KISS LIKE THIS

Murphy, Mary Illus. by Murphy, Mary Candlewick (32 pp.) $12.99 | Dec. 11, 2012 978-0-7636-6182-3

Murphy (Utterly Lovely One, 2011) produces another bright slip of a title just right for the youngest toddlers.

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k i r ku s q & a w i t h m a r i s s a m o s s

Lost in Paris

Moss, Marissa Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (224 pp.) $12.99 Sept. 4, 2012 978-1-4022-6606-5

Going to Paris should be a dream vacation for Mira, her father and her brother in Lost in Paris, the first of Marissa Moss’ Mira’s Diary series. But when the catalyst for the trip is to track down her missing mother, who has mysteriously resurfaced, it’s less bon voyage and more angst-y family reunion. Mira wonders why her mother left in the first place. She wonders how they’ll even find her mother (and if she can be trusted when they do). And when touching a creepy gargoyle on the roof of Notre Dame catapults Mira to 1881 Paris, she wonders how on earth she got there and just how she’s going to get home. Keeping company with impressionist painters, following cryptic clues and avoiding a beautiful nemesis become par for the course as Mira searches for both her elusive mother and a way to successfully alter a historical event wrought with corruption and intolerance.

Here, author Moss chats about swiping sketches, teaching history and where to find a baguette in Paris that’ll knock your chausettes off.

Q: What came first, a book about Paris or about the Dreyfus Affair?

A: I wanted to write about Paris and the impressionists, specifically Degas. It was while I was researching Degas that I learned about the Dreyfus Affair. I’d known vaguely about Dreyfus but not the details—and certainly not how Degas’ anti-Dreyfus views had isolated him in his old age.

Q: Did rooting your book in history help facilitate the evolution of the story more easily than creating a contemporary backdrop from “scratch” might have?

A: In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. With history, you have the basic plot points you want to fit in, but there’s always the danger of becoming so obsessed with historical detail you bore your reader. I try to remind myself that I can always use the author’s note for that fascinating bit of information instead of trying to shoehorn it into the plot. Like the use of wells in the streets of 19thcentury Paris. Or how trash cans got their name.

Q: Your book sheds light for readers on a pivotal point in history they might never have heard of in such detail.

Are you first and foremost a writer of fiction or a teacher of history through fiction?

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Q: Mira says it takes more than a brilliant teacher to create an artist; it also takes a talented student. Do you think some parents or teachers are so intent on enforcing the development of, for instance, an artistic talent that they overlook a child’s ability to be a terrific writer or gymnast or mathematician?

A: Absolutely! Although it’s artistic talent that’s more likely to get short shrift these days. We’re an incredibly visual culture, but once kids learn to read, we dismiss picture books and art as “frills” or “fluff.” Visual narrative is just as important and has been since the beginnings of human culture— think of ancient Egyptian reliefs, the Bayeux tapestry, medieval cathedrals. They all tell sophisticated stories through art. As for natural talent, it’s our job as parents and teachers to recognize and encourage kids’ gifts rather than forcing them to fit some preconceived mold. I have three sons with completely different strengths and issues. I feel like I have to be a different kind of mother for each of them.

Q: You’re in Paris. Suddenly, instinctively, you’re drawn to a pulsing object that you know will transport you to another time. What is your touchstone and where does it take you?

A: I’d have to say the Nike of Samothrace, the statue of Winged Victory at the top of the stairs as you enter the Louvre. I’ve always had a sense that those great wings could carry me back to classical Greece. Not a good place for a woman to go, not my choice of where I’d want to go, but that’s the object that pulses most for me with time-travel energy.

Q: Croissant or baguette?

A: Got to be baguette, the crisp outside, chewy inside, and I can tell you which bakery to go to.

Near the Place Victor Hugo, on the Rue Copernic, right on the corner of the place, is a wonderful boulangerie.

—By Gordon West

9 For the full interview, please visit kirkus.com.

p h oto © a b ra m s b oo ks

A: Hmmm, that’s tough. I think of history as a series of amazing stories, ones that actually happened. It’s all storytelling to me, whether it’s fiction or historically based. But I do feel a sense of mission to introduce young readers to history, to show them how passionately interesting it can

be. And I feel a responsibility to historical figures to represent them as accurately, as fairly as I can while still making them accessible to readers.

“This full-of-loathing story is a welcome twist on the often saccharine how-much-do-you-love-me genre.” from i loathe you

With a Valentine-ready cover in red, pink and white and amusing split-page flaps revealing a silly series of animal kisses, this book will be a popular gift for little ones. Each spread features a vibrantly hued child/parent pair of creatures, including giraffes, mice, fish, bees, elephants, owls and bunnies. The black, smudgy hand-lettered text describes the different kinds of kisses: “gentle and tall,” “fuzzy and buzzy” and “long and toot-tooty.” Each phrase ends with an ellipsis prompting readers to flip the half page to reveal “like this!” and an eyes-closed buss. By the book’s end, all the pairs are busy smooching. “My, oh my—look! Everybody’s kissing! / Now there’s only one kiss missing…. // Your kiss! / Like this!”

Slim? Fleeting? Predictable? Yes, but the youngest listeners won’t mind. Sure to inspire lots of cuddles and lip smacks. (Picture book. 1-3)

WHO NEEDS LOVE?

Primavera, Elise Illus. by Park, Laura Robin Corey/Random (48 pp.) $16.99 | Dec. 26, 2012 978-0-375-85585-6 A humorous cautionary tale of greed, wishes and hope.

In Pokey Marsh, a “rotten-to-thecore witch” snatches a silver coin from a wise cypress and promptly loses it. Gator best friends Scarlett Starlett and Simon Greensnout happen to discover the shiny object. Each time the tree finds its coin in the hands of another, it intones, “Give me back my silver dollar and I will give you something that lasts forever….What lasts forever?” Each character chooses to keep the coin instead of what it thinks lasts forever. What ensues is a series of silly yet unfortunate events. Simon gets turned into a donkey, while Scarlett becomes a famous singer cursed with a spell that keeps her from finding anything. Most distressing is that Simon and Scarlett are no longer together. Thanks to the witch’s convenient fit of frustration, Scarlett finds herself in possession of the coin. In a scene reminiscent of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Scarlett wishes Simon were with her, and he magically turns back into an alligator. A traditional happyever-after follows, and readers will already have guessed what lasts forever. Primavera’s tale reads like a modernized folk tale, and Park ably captures every emotion in her watercolor-and-ink illustrations. Due to the lengthy series of plot twists, this title is best suited for an older audience.

Amusing, but probably not one children will ask for more than once. (Picture book. 5-8)

I LOATHE YOU

Slonim, David Illus. by Slonim, David Aladdin (24 pp.) $15.99 | Dec. 18, 2012 978-1-4424-2244-5 This full-of-loathing story is a welcome twist on the often saccharine howmuch-do-you-love-me genre.

Slonim substitutes the word “loathe” for “love” and truly runs with it. His characters are two amiable horned monsters. The younger orange one quizzes the older and bigger creature about its true feelings. Just how much does it really loathe the little one? The rhyming text rollicks along: “I loathe you more than chicken pox, / more than stinky, sweaty socks. / More than garbage in a dump, / or splinters sticking in my rump. / Mosquito bites? I loathe them, yes, / But next to you, a whole lot less.” As the monsters sling increasingly gross and endearingly disgusting claims of loathsomeness, readers will alternately screech with “ewws” and laughter as they pore over the hilarious cartoon illustrations executed in acrylics with charcoal. At one point the monster child becomes a little quiet and wonders, “But what if I goof up someday, / or if my warts all fade away? / If I blurt out ‘THANKS,’ or ‘PLEASE’? / Or take a bath and kill my fleas? / If I should slip and just obey / then would your loathing go away?” Of course, the grown monster reassures his young one, as all good parents do. “Nice or nasty, kind or mean, / I loathe you up, down, and between.”

Share this silly and satisfying title with all little monsters. (Picture book. 3-6)

I HAIKU YOU

Snyder, Betsy Illus. by Snyder, Betsy Random House (32 pp.) $12.99 | PLB $15.99 | Dec. 26, 2012 978-0-375-86750-7 978-0-375-96750-4 PLB This sweet collection of haiku captures special moments of friendship and appreciation from a child’s point of view.

Love is explored in its broadest sense as a cast of winsome, ethnically diverse children are featured in everyday activities such as making snow angels, riding a bicycle and sharing a purple Popsicle. The pale watercolor backgrounds provide a soft, cozy environment in which the children begin their day as a cardinal chirps outside a window or several friends gather around a campfire to toast marshmallows. Snyder chooses words familiar to new readers while keeping the imagery and language lively and fun. One poem focuses on the reunion of a child and pet: “wiggle-wag tail love, / sloppy-smoochy-poochy love, / true-furry-friend love!” Another addresses a nighttime comfort: “shiny mister moon— / your smile keeps me company / when the lights go out,” while still another celebrates a newfound friend: “you be my jelly, / i’ll be your peanut butter— /

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“A moody, beautifully rendered dreamscape, this app about conquering a fear of the dark takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities.” from mr. sandman

let’s stick together!” It appears the book’s design aims to make it accessible to new poets and readers. All the text is lowercase, and much of the punctuation is limited to dashes and exclamation points. And most importantly, each poem satisfies when read aloud.

A good choice for emerging poetry fans. (Picture book/ poetry. 4-7)

THE SHAPE OF MY HEART

Sperring, Mark Illus. by Paterson, Alys Bloomsbury (32 pp.) $14.99 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-1-59990-962-2

Singsong rhyming text introduces the myriad shapes encountered during the course of a child’s day. But one shape—any guesses?—holds special significance.

Sperring begins, “This is the shape that we are. The shape of you and me. / This is the shape of our eyes. And these are the shapes we might see.” The shapes presented in this title are really just everyday objects rather than geometrical figures, so those expecting a traditional concept book may be surprised.

Eschewing concepts, debut illustrator Paterson does her best to extend the spare text with mixed-media pictures full of eyepoppingly bright images against predominantly stark white backgrounds. Her palette reflects the cheery colors most preschoolers use in their own artwork. The overall visual appeal will satisfy a wide range of little ones. The youngest readers will have fun pointing out favorite vehicles on the spread dedicated to “the shapes that pass us by…” and giggle at the inventive colors chosen to illustrate “the shapes at the zoo!” On the final page is a large heart made up of a collection of mini “shapes” introduced previously and the declaration: “And this is the shape I love you with. / This is the shape of my heart.”

While this may inspire children to create their own heart full of shapes they love, the title fails to deliver anything that has not been done before. (Picture book. 2-5)

SEE A HEART SHARE A HEART

Telchin, Eric Photos by Telchin, Eric Dial (48 pp.) $12.99 | Dec. 6, 2012 978-0-8037-3894-2

After noticing a heart-shaped puddle of melted ice cream at a friend’s party, Telchin began to see heart shapes everywhere and to take pictures of them with his phone. Here, he shares some of his diverse collection of photographic images of hearts.

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website, boyseehearts.com, and invites others to submit their own images. In this title, the text is minimal but lends an interpretative quality—sometimes helpful and sometimes not—to the heart pictures. On a page with butterfly wings creating a shadow in the shape of a heart, the text proclaims, “move a heart.” A spread with “hide a heart” shows heart shapes camouflaged in what appears to be cracked paint and a lichen pattern on tree bark. Hearts abound, formed by drips of paint, cracks in pavement and holes in leaves. Some flowers, insects, plants, shells and other found objects are heart-shaped. Some images may be too abstract and confusing for young preschoolers just learning their shapes. Frankly, the conceit gets a bit dull and is unlikely to hold readers’ interest for long.

Stick with Tana Hoban’s books on shapes found in everyday locations. While obviously a passion for the photographer, few others are likely to be charmed by this offering. (author’s note, picture notes) (Picture book. 3-6)

interactive e-books MR. SANDMAN “Fear of the Dark”

Aidan, Manon; Gourville, Yanick Illus. by Jedor, Cyril hocusbookus $4.99 | Aug. 4, 2012 1.1; Aug. 4, 2012

A moody, beautifully rendered dreamscape, this app about conquering a fear of the dark takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities.

In a small cottage, a nameless boy is being put to bed, and Mummy tells him the Sandman will soon help him off to sleep.

After the Sandman visits, a mysterious owl leads the boy through landscapes and starry skies to learn why there’s no reason to be afraid of nighttime. Scary things, like a wicked, twisted witch, turn out to be more normal objects like a squirrel in an old tree.

Dark silhouettes against dense, textured backgrounds match the story’s tone beautifully. There are neat surprises, like moons that grow to reveal hidden things, a maze of purple clouds that must be flown through and a simple but brilliant navigation wheel that brings up all the features through easy-to-access icons. But perhaps the thing this app has to offer most to readers, and to the state of storybook apps, is its joyous transitions.

On one page, readers brush away the last page to get to the next.

On another, sleepy eyelids come together to blackout a page before the next one is illuminated by starlight. It’s all accompanied by a lush, classical soundtrack.

Though the story is simple, even obvious, it takes flight because of the ambitious design work, the kind of thing that can only be pulled off as an app like this. (iPad storybook app. 3-7)

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THE MAGIC GALOSHES

Amid the plethora of hyperinteractive apps available for this age group, the barely-there animations are underwhelming even for toddlers, but the charm of the original book remains intact. (iPad storybook app. 2-4)

Andersen, Hans Christian Illus. by Tkalenko, Daria Intelligent Art Team $2.99 | Aug. 7, 2012 1.1; Sep. 7, 2012

A lightly abridged, lushly illustrated version of Andersen’s satirical tale, with diversions aplenty for tap-happy audiences and a text in serious need of further copy editing.

A pair of wish-granting galoshes is left in a cloakroom during a party by two elegantly dressed fairies. They in turn transport a Danish councilor (or, depending on the sentence, “counselor,” “councillor,” “counselour” or “counsilor”) to the unpaved—“What a mud! It is just the horror!”—Middle Ages, a watchman to the Moon and an “interne” into the dizzying hearts of a row of theatergoers. Later, a clerk is transformed into an unsuccessful playwright, and after a hellacious night as a tourist in Italy, a student temporarily dies. In the end the galoshes have “dissapeared” with one of the fairies. Along with hearts and leaves that drift over pages of text, tap-responsive details in the expertly painted illustrations range from a dramatic falling star and lights that can be switched on or off to a broad array of chirps, chuckles and exclamations. The text is available in English or Russian, and though there is no professional narration, parents are urged in an introductory note to use the selfrecord feature.

Klutzy translation aside, most of Andersen’s literary flourishes are left intact, and they are nicely complemented by both the visuals and the interactive elements. (iPad storybook app. 8-11)

TICKLY PRICKLY

Becker, Bonny Illus. by Halpern, Shari fishdog.net $0.99 | Aug. 14, 2012 1.0.0; Aug. 14, 2012 A very minimally interactive app for preschoolers uses familiar animals and bugs to explore the sense of touch.

The illustrations of paper, cloth and paint evoke a sense of texture, and the gentle rhymes, which are the true strong point of this app, introduce a vocabulary for tactile sensations.

Moths are “Whisper fluttery. Softly shuddery,” and a fish is “Slippery, slickery. Turny and twistery.” Enhanced with real sound effects—a purring cat, a neighing horse, even a yippy little puppy—each page has only one moving animal or set of animals. The motion and sound can be restarted with a tap, although a clumsy touch too easily flips the page and might be confusing and distracting for little ones. Tapping a puzzlepiece icon at the top of each page turns the illustration into a four-piece puzzle for children to “put together.”

DANDELION

Davis, Galvin Scott Illus. by Ishinjerro, Anthony Protein $4.99 | Sep. 8, 2012 1.1; Sep. 8, 2012 A visually striking container for an extended metaphor about bullying, this overbuilt app gets too caught up in its own design to allow the story to breathe and enchant.

A small, faceless boy named Benjamin Brewster travels a scary 972 steps every day to get to school. Once at the gothic, fortresslike “School for the Misguided,” the imaginative boy is bullied by monstrous, laughing giants. Benjamin finds a refuge in a nearby patch of dandelions, and while they don’t literally help him fly away, the story makes clear that it’s his flights of imagination that save him. Feel free, kids who are bullied, to decide if this is a winning strategy. While the story is illustrated with beautifully hazy, dreamlike illustrations that make excellent use of contrast and depth, the story and navigation fail to balance out the imagery. The mechanics of the navigation—a lever to advance pages, tiny hidden buttons that appear inspired

by Web-browser icons and narration that must be manually activated on each page—feel aimed at adult Tim Burton fans rather than children. One design feature that does feel magical allows readers to “blow” a dandelion, but the gimmick grows old. A merchandise page within the app offers, among other products, a wristband that says, “Bullying is for people with no imagination.” So are bromides.

The visuals may be more than enough for some, but as a story for the bullied, it fails to adequately stand up for itself. (iPad storybook app. 5-12)

JACK’S SECRET MONSTER GameDigits Ltd. GameDigits $2.99 | Aug. 23, 2012 1.0; Aug. 23, 2012

Poor design choices and an unconvincing story hobble an attempt to create a Choose Your Own Adventure–style story about a boy and a mess-making

monster in his house.

Young Jack finds a monster and brings it home—where it gets loose and begins wreaking havoc. The boy must find the monster and decide whether to tell his parents the truth about the destructive creature. But it soon becomes a chore, as the story branches are based on decisions such as choosing which

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room to search and whether to help the monster or fess up to Jack’s parents. Getting to the end of the story (which changes based on decisions to lie or tell the truth) takes some effort, as clumsy design choices abound. Exploring the screen as the lengthy bits of narration unwind can inadvertently cut the text short. Many of the app’s well-drawn, busy pages are meant to be searched through to find the hiding monster, though the floating eyeball that seems meant to indicate where to tap perplexes more than it guides. The only way to achieve a happy ending is always to tell the truth. Otherwise, the story ends with a chastened Jack cleaning up a huge mess: “Maybe if he’d made different choices, things could have been better...”

It’s a message harried parents will appreciate but which even very young readers may feel lacks nuance. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

ONE DEAD FISH

James, Jeffrey Illus. by James, Jeffrey Jeffrey James $1.99 | Aug. 30, 2012 1.0; Aug. 30, 2012

“The salmon fry swirled and splashed as they scattered, / ‘Spawn and die, spawn and die, spawn and die’ they all

chattered.”

Lest children imagine that life is fair or safe, James offers a brutally naturalistic view of a salmon’s abruptly truncated journey. Separated from his best friend Jenny, Sukai leaves the ocean when his time comes to travel upriver and die with his fellow salmon. Unexpectedly catching her scent in the water, he “splashed with his tail excited to spawn, / But Jenny’s body was rotten and her eyes, they were gone.” Sukai achieves his apotheosis, but not in the way he intends: Before he can “sow his seed,” he is snatched by a bear, who takes a bite and leaves his corpse on the riverbank where “[t]housands of insects gathered and ate / Transferring nutrients, minerals and valuable nitrates.”

Featuring writhing maggots, blinking eyes and other small animations, plus occasional touch-activated nature sounds, the Canadian artist’s disorienting but distinctive illustrations place figures rendered in highly stylized Northwest Coast motifs into realistically painted outdoor settings. Readers disquieted by his lurid, ham-fisted verse and sometimes-disturbing pictures will find several blander mazes and coloring pages accessible through a link on every screen.

Makes Arlene Sardine look like My Little Pony. (iPad storybook app. 9-11)

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THE SPACE HAMSTERS Jen X Productions Jen X Productions $0.99 1.1; Sep. 3, 2012

This poorly written tale about rodent vigilantes has very little to offer in terms of literary, technological or creative value.

Sinjin and Piper—hamsters from outer space—arrive in their spaceship to help Nikki find his pet, a French bulldog (aka “Frenchie”) named Sesame Dumpling. Guinea pigs are apparently kidnapping animals and taking their places in an effort to become “the new favorite pet.” A cat named Nietzsche points Sinjin and Piper to a guinea pig yacht in La Jolla, where they negotiate Sesame Dumpling’s release with the ship’s leader, Matisse, who sounds like a cross between Perez Hilton and Boy George. The narrative is accompanied by Star Wars–type sound effects and peppy electronica, which can be silenced via a menu called up when tapping the large hamster-head icon. It’s annoying, yes, but overall, it’s also inconsequential, because the narrative itself is riddled with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese. Readers are left to piece the story together themselves, as there’s absolutely no character development, no cohesion and a plot that’s about as deep as a paper plate. There’s a planet-identifying bonus game called “Solar System Safari,” and the app offers a host of bland interactive elements, including toys and animals that yield predictably weak audio/visual elements. All fail, however, to add any considerable dimension to the story.

Here’s hoping these hamsters get lost in space. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)

PROFESSIONS

kidEbook kidEbook $0.99 | Aug. 23, 2012 1.0; Aug. 23, 2012 In a wordless gallery that is severely deficient in sexual and racial diversity, 12 cartoon figures model as many professions.

Differing only in hairstyle and outfit (except for a darkskinned clown, the sole nonwhite character), each small, generic exemplar floats on a cream-colored screen, with characteristic tools or vehicles that are rendered as toys on right and left. Tapping sets off a gesture and a chuckle or other brief sound effect, after which a second tap will activate a second, repeatable, set of different ones. Aside from large buttons leading to the App Store at the end and the customary links to social media, that’s it for interactive features. Though most of the professions are signaled clearly enough—the construction worker leans on a pile driver, the chef flourishes a saucepan, the artist wears a beret—the medical professional examining a plush “patient” (the only recognizably female model) is more ambiguous, and both the police

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“Every element of this app shines in astory about circus performers who learn to appreciate the talents of others.” from piccadilly ’s circus

officer and the firefighter sport British-style headgear. There is no thumbnail index to make skipping around possible.

A nonstarter, too limited of cast, jobs and gender options to compete with Taro Muira’s Tools (2006) or Kathryn Heling’s and Deborah Hembrook’s Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do (2012). (iPad toddler app. 1-3)

PICCADILLY’S CIRCUS

Larkum, Adam Ink Robin $3.99 | Sep. 6, 2012 1.0; Sep. 6, 2012

Every element of this app shines in a story about circus performers who learn to appreciate the talents of others.

This winning interactive tale is a highly successful marriage between tradition and technology.

The pleasantly simple illustrations function much like a flannel board, though characters often stay anchored while doing things like swaying, jumping or balancing. When the ringmaster, Mr. Piccadilly, falls ill (and sneezes everyone off screen), the other animals and performers realize that the show must go on. Readers can dress various characters in the ringmaster’s clothes as they all contemplate who will be the group’s temporary leader. Each argues that his or her job is the most difficult in the circus, which obviously qualifies them to be ringmaster.

After the bear wins the coveted position, everyone else swaps tasks for the night to prove that others’ jobs are easy. Of course they aren’t, and valuable lessons are learned. There’s plenty of interactive and literary creativity infused throughout the story.

Chirping crickets accompany a spotlight that reveals the bear’s stage fright; a little dog is shot out of a cannon, sails through the top of the circus tent and then parachutes to safety. And the app’s narrator tells the well-crafted story with an exceptional dramatic flair.

Step right up to this truly spectacular offering; it will undoubtedly delight ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages. (iPad storybook app. 2-8)

ONE CHILD, ONE PLANET Inspiration for the Young Conservationist

Llewellyn, Bridget McGovern Illus. by Sams, Carl R; Stoick, Jean Emerald Shamrock Press $4.99 | May 1, 2012 1.0; May 1, 2012

for a tidy room, / Mother Earth prefers a wholesome place, so all creatures can fully bloom.” The color photos mix generic landscape shots with closer views of flowers, leaves, fuzzy ducklings and other wildlife in idyllic grassy settings, and (despite the title) at least four children who on some screens will giggle or comment when tapped. Along with such touch-activated animations as a supine polar bear that awkwardly waves its limbs when “tickled” and a trio of bear cubs sliding up and down a tree trunk, there are a few interactive opportunities. Several scenes can be either reset to black and white and recolored by scribbling with a fingertip or converted into jumbled segments that, despite spoken instructions, are highly resistant to being properly reassembled. Soft music and chirpy birds provide sonic background for an optional, sweet-voiced narrator.

A worthy effort, though as relentlessly earnest as its 2009 print edition and more hampered than helped by the clumsiness of its digital additions. (iPad nonfiction app. 6-10)

LITTLE BUNNY Hide and Seek

Misar-Tummeltshammer, Martina Illus. by Misar-Tummeltshammer, Martina Martina Misar-Tummeltshammer $0.99 | Aug. 3, 2012 1.0; Aug. 3, 2012 Cute but insubstantial, this simple, toddler-aimed app is more toy than story.

In the app, an adorable, large-headed bunny with enormous ears goes off to hide while readers search behind signs, bushes, rocks and logs to find him. Along the way, birds, squirrels, butterflies, snails and other wildlife join the game. The colors are bright and saturated, the objects are large and touch-friendly, and the whole affair is only seven brief pages long. The deadsimple navigation and friendly tone throughout makes it appropriate for kids who are just learning to read or younger. But given that the whole point of the app seems to be touching items on screen to see animations that have little connection to the text, it doesn’t feel much like a book. The sole extras here are the option to hear the narration in German (the English narrator has a strong German accent) and to choose a page. The artwork is so cartoon-perfect the absence of much to read or do may be beside the point At most, it’s a brief, entertaining diversion, something to poke and play with rather than be transported by. (iPad storybook app. 2-4)

An album of pretty, if bland, nature photos paired to a heavy-handed conservation message and homespun interactive effects.

Wandering into and out of rhyme, the overlong text combines general admonitions to reduce, reuse and recycle with sentiments like, “Just like Mom likes a clean house, and we wish | kirkus.com | children ’s

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“Navigation is as easy as Saffy is cute…” from saffy looks for rain

ALBERT AND THE ALPHABETIMALS

any fault here, however slight, it’s that the narrator’s expression falls a bit flat in places. But thanks to self-record, parents and early readers can bypass the narrator altogether.

That small splat aside, the app beautifully illustrates how a simple story, well presented, can be simply refreshing. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)

O’Toole, Patrick Illus. by O’Toole, Patrick Patrick O’Toole $2.99 | May 9, 2012 1.2; Jun. 28, 2012

Albert thinks “learning ABC’s [is] a bore. / He’d rather go on safari, take some pictures and explore”...and so he does.

Well supported by animation, music (a jaunty reggae tune) and captivating sound effects, this 31-page app makes learning the alphabet exciting and interactive, with 26 whimsical animal-themed letters. Albert chases after Jaguars and Quails, deep-sea fishes for Octopus and X-ray fish, discovers a small Newt under a leaf, takes a sled through the snow to find a Urial and climbs up a mountain to reach a Vulture’s nest. Each animal is first represented by the outline of a large, uppercase letter; at a tap, it fills in with the image of the letter-shaped animal. At every turn, animal sounds enhance the experience, making each “alphabetimal” memorable. The narrator’s squeaky voice keeps the adventure moving. For more fun at the end, readers can take another look at all the letters and animals, type their name in alphabetimals and even find coloring pages on the book’s website. There are only a few slight hiccups here, including a missing sound effect for Albert’s camera. He carries it everywhere, but the shutter never clicks. And the story would benefit from more interactive options for readers—a way to help Albert climb up to that vulture’s nest or sprint toward the jaguar, for instance.

Overall, though, O’Toole’s iPad app delivers on a basic premise: Learning can be simple, imaginative and fun. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)

SAFFY LOOKS FOR RAIN

Opal, Paola Illus. by Opal, Paola Simply Read Books $2.99 | Aug. 3, 2012 1.0.1; Aug. 3, 2012

A baby giraffe’s search for a rain cloud reveals something even more exciting than rain.

The Simply Small series by DutchCanadian author/illustrator Opal is a collection of sweet stories about baby animals seeking answers to their not-so-simple problems. This, the first interactive app based on the series, mirrors the less-is-more approach of the original board book with a tightly composed story about patience, exploration and friendship. All the crucial elements are present: boldly drawn illustrations, interactive elements on each page, simple sound effects and movement, and drawing/puzzle options to extend the app’s shelf life. The narrative charts a familiar question-and-answer path, with plenty of read-along fun to keep squirmy toddlers engaged. Navigation is as easy as Saffy is cute, with a question icon that tells adult readers how to record their own versions, how to repeat the narration by single-tapping the text and where to find the page index. If there’s 2498 | 1 november 2012 | children ’s

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THE OGRESS

Pellaud, Francine Illus. by Robach, Clémentine La Souris Qui Raconte $3.99 | Sep. 9, 2012 1.0.0; Sep. 9, 2012 A heavy-handed allegorical tale about consumerism, fair trade and social conscience.

Gluttonous and hedonistic Princess Occidiane is fat, selfish, demanding and completely unaware of what her piggishness costs others. Eventually, her appetite devours most of the planet’s resources, which wreaks serious economic and environmental havoc. What to do? A page appears with three “buttons,” which each leads to a different solution—and thus there’s a trio of different endings to the story. All three outcomes offer some scathing social commentary. It appears that Occidiane represents the ugly face of Western consumerism, things like entitlement, greed, oppression and ecological irresponsibility. Fair enough. But the story fails to offer anything but binary characters—perpetrator/victim, entitled/disadvantaged, consumers/laborers—and as such, it comes across as didactic and reductionist, even disparaging. Interactive features are plentiful but simple. Certain words or phrases function as “hyperlinks” that animate and/or advance the story, and some of the lovely illustrations also produce additional images when tapped. The magical background music—Saint Saëns’ “The Aquarium”—can be switched on or off, but narration (in French or English) is a page-by-page decision. This storybook app is technologically solid, and it brings up some important issues that kids would do well to contemplate and discuss as they develop social consciences.

Unfortunately, the worthy message is overshadowed by its single-minded, intense delivery, which feels more like propaganda than storytelling. (iPad storybook app. 6-10)

This Issue’s Contributors # Kim Becnel • Marcie Bovetz • Timothy Capehart • Julie Cummins • Dave DeChristopher • Robin L. Elliott • Laurie Flynn • Omar Gallaga • Megan Honig • Jennifer Hubert • Kathleen T. Isaacs • Laura Jenkins • Betsy Judkins • K. Lesley Knieriem • Megan Lambert • Angela Leeper • Daniel Meyer • R. Moore • John Edward Peters • Rebecca Rabinowitz • Melissa Riddle Chalos • Ann Marie Sammataro • Dean Schneider • Karyn N. Silverman • Robin Smith • Rita Soltan • S.D. Winston • Monica Wyatt • Melissa Yurechko

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indie These titles earned the Kirkus Star: RUTTING SEASON by Roy Ness................................................. p. 2504 LIVING THE LIFE YOU LOVE by Paula Renaye......................... p. 2505 SAVING MARS by Cidney Swanson........................................... p. 2508

RUTTING SEASON

Ness, Roy CreateSpace (366 pp.) $16.00 paperback $7.99 e-book Jun. 26, 2012 978-1467966511

SOUTH OF BURNT ROCKS WEST OF THE MOON Berger, George J. Manuscript (367 pp.)

In Berger’s captivating debut historical fiction, a young Iberian-Celtic she-warrior makes a stand against the invading Roman army.

In Hispania, 184 B.C., 11-year-old Lavena, daughter of the village leader, witnesses the brutal murder of an old farmer by a Roman soldier. The villagers’ worst fears are confirmed: Hungry for gold, mighty Rome has broken the peace treaty and is preparing to invade and conquer. A proud, determined people, Lavena’s clan decides to train and fight against the overwhelming invaders. Lavena, now 15, has learned the ways of the she-warrior—women who use their strength and intelligence to outwit and kill their male counterparts. When the village is consumed by the crushing army, Lavena’s father urges her to take the family gold and escape; his dying wish is for her to warn surrounding villages and unify the people to take a stand against Rome. Smartly written, the novel moves quickly, building prose with quiet strength unencumbered by the heavy style. Its bare-bones flow seems to fit the time period. The simple yet powerful narrative relies on a commanding cast of characters, many of whom are indeed women, celebrated for their resiliency and constitution. These women are the leaders of the resistance and they rely on no man for guidance. Berger beautifully crafts them as more than one-dimensional warriors bent on revenge. They’re strong yet vulnerable, desperate to protect their land and people. Berger also builds an elaborate world full of small details that add depth and historical context. However, with so much attention to detail and a great deal of buildup, the novel concludes perhaps too quickly, which may leave readers slightly disappointed.

A wonderfully crafted balance of Roman-era drama and the fierceness of battle.

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“The characters...are believable, distinct and mostly amoral.

Crime isn’t supposed to pay this well.” from a fortune in lies

CONFESSIONS OF A TRANSSEXUAL PHYSICIAN Birch, Jessica Angelina CreateSpace (206 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Jul. 16, 2012 978-1468158694

Birch’s candid new memoir recalls her punishing adolescent boyhood and the difficult pursuit of self-realization.

Birch never felt right in her body.

She remembers a detailed, harrowing dream of retreating into the forest to commit suicide. Readers are catapulted to Birch’s boyhood as Jacob Mathewson, a quiet, awkward boy born with ambiguous genitalia. Tormented by his peers at school and by his mother at home because of his “birth defect,” Jacob explores his “female side” by dressing in girls’ clothing. College was “the time when I first realized how much Jessie could help me. I would come home from school and lock myself in my room, dress as a girl, put [makeup] on, and magically my homework assignments became much easier to complete.” And so Jacob sets out as Jessica on a path to discover where the feminine tendencies lead. Over the course of her journey, Birch continually seeks approval from others. She has a bad habit of imprudent attempts at friendship. Most troublingly, she develops an obsession with her therapist, sending her anonymous, unwanted gifts and unnerving letters. This fixation and her inability or unwillingness to see its inappropriateness has a climactic, disturbing outcome. Captivated yet confounded by her own thought patterns—she constantly worries that she’s going insane—Birch goes on to describe her struggle later in life, as she comes of age and contends with her own sexual and emotional immaturity. She interchangeably uses the terms “intersex,” “transsexual” and “transgender,” which might irk some contemporary LGBT scholars and activists, but Birch’s sincerity and enthusiasm are undeniable. Framed as a plea for absolution from family, friends and God, this memoir reads as an extended explanation and apology for the hurtful, misguided decisions she’s made over the course of her transition.

“If through my actions, I’ve hurt anyone intentionally or unintentionally,” she says, “may I be forgiven?”

An honest, heartfelt memoir about coming out and transitioning.

2500 | 1 november 2012 | indie | kirkus.com |

A FORTUNE IN LIES

Carter, Jason Smashwords (157 pp.) $0.99 e-book | Apr. 30, 2012 After his wife is kidnapped, a bank manager endures the torturous twists of love and greed in this cluttered but suspenseful thriller.

Beautiful wife, swank home in an affluent Southern California suburb, highlevel banking job—that’s Eric Mathews.

But his job doesn’t pay nearly enough to afford the $2 million ransom after professional criminals abduct his wife, Michelle, with the threat to kill her within 12 hours if he doesn’t pay up. What appears to be a straightforward kidnapping tale becomes a tangled knot of subplots and potential red herrings—a wife cheating on her billionaire husband, an unexplained dead body—that sets up a multitude of surprises. Despite a gruesome early chapter that reads like an episode of 24, the story is slow to kick into gear due to the narrative’s extensive descriptions of ordinary actions that set the scene but do little else. Yet readers who pass this over may miss well-drawn visceral details, such as the sound of a finger being forcibly dislocated or the wrenching physicality of fear. About the time the pacing picks up, the confusing strands of subplot begin to weave together, creating a web of betrayals and double crosses, as Eric races to gather the ransom with the help of an old college friend, who harbors his own secrets. Once the police get involved, the story takes on more logic and form, and readers will finally find themselves immersed in detective work. The characters—from the disillusioned billionaire to the flirtatious detective to the thug who kills with aplomb yet has heart enough to help out a single-mother waitress—are believable, distinct and mostly amoral. Crime isn’t supposed to pay this well.

Slow to start, but the hooks set in with ample suspense and surprise.

TOTAL SECESSION

Connell, Adam Self (390 pp.) $3.99 e-book | Sep. 11, 2012 Connell (Lay Saints, 2012) offers a tough but touching futuristic thriller.

At an unspecified point in America’s future, Grant and Litz are released from a federal prison in Florida on the wave of a nationwide secession from the Union.

Grant, in jail for a robbery that caused a murder, wants to get home to his wife, Darling, and their children in New York. Litz, locked up for arson, has “a tendency for revenge.” The two begin a perilous car journey, where they encounter a variety of characters, each with his or her own back story and unique struggle as the nation breaks apart. In New York, Darling’s brothers, Val and Wishful, load up a car

“Despite a flurry of stylistic flourishes, a cleareyed character study emerges, brimming with warmth and sympathy.” from a crash course

with the family of the boy Grant murdered and hit the road to kill Grant before he can set eyes on Darling again. The book moves slowly, like the ex-cons’ journey, but never grows dull, and pieces of Grant’s past are peeled back as his story unfolds into a complicated climax. In tough, stylized prose, the characters shine with depth, heart and humor in noteworthy abundance.

Grant and Litz are powerfully likable protagonists with a complex, caring relationship that grows and changes as difficulties set them further from their goals. Secession, the backdrop of the novel, seems to function mostly to provide obstacles; earlier and greater orientation to the time period and the national circumstances might make the world more comprehensible.

Shorter, more clearly outlined chapters would improve the book’s structure, and a few mild sci-fi elements are left unexplained, although they’re not terribly distracting. The characters’ moving kindness and clever turns of phrase—“The traffic on I-95 North was like a stubborn child” ; “Ever met a condom you didn’t break?”—are sure to keep readers going despite the occasional bout of confusion.

Full of fury and feeling, sure to interest fans of crime novels, thrillers and alternate futures.

YOUR VOTE IS MAGIC! Why a Donkey, an Elephant, and an Illusionist Are Making Voters Appear Dillies, Lyn Lyn Dillies (182 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $8.99 e-book Aug. 4, 2012 978-0615665306

A clever approach to promote the importance of voting among America’s youth.

During the months leading up to the 2008 election, the author planned and executed an illusion where she seemingly (and symbolically) produced an elephant and a donkey out of thin air. Dillies recounts the entire creative process from conception to fruition without divulging the mechanics of the actual illusion itself. Although a successful result is a foregone conclusion, she ably maintains suspense as any number of potential complications, ranging from animal behavior to event permits and weather conditions, threaten to unravel the bestlaid plans. Young readers may enjoy learning about the endless details involved in mounting this kind of production: sound, music, lighting, wardrobe, set design, construction, fundraising, sponsorships, publicity, volunteers, etc. They will almost certainly be delighted to discover each animal’s favorite food reward during training sessions or what happens when Abner (the donkey) unexpectedly sneezes in close proximity to Emily (the elephant). Each chapter begins with a relevant quote about democracy, and the book contains many images (photographs, cartoons, posters) that support the text nicely. Furthermore, Dillies includes autobiographical elements—a painfully shy girl improbably becomes a famous entertainer—and endeavors to honor the memory of her deceased father and his legacy of civic

duty. Occasionally, the author indulges in cheesy exclamations, like “I didn’t want to be a disillusioned illusionist!” or “It was a ‘zoo’ within a Zoo!” Nevertheless, she generally writes in an accessible style that proves effective when presenting historical material such as the struggle for women’s suffrage, the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, or the evolution of the animal mascots associated with today’s two major political parties.

As Dillies encourages young readers to participate actively in our democracy, she provides a refreshing antidote to apathy and doubts about the political process that often dominate the headlines.

A CRASH COURSE On the Anatomy of Robots Evans, Kent Pangea Books (336 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Sep. 17, 2012 978-1938545016

In Evans’ most recent novel, Damien Wood and his expat friends discover that humanity is a fragile thing, especially when held up against the vicissitudes of a generally uncaring universe.

Told largely, though not exclusively, as a collection of secondperson journal entries and blog posts, the novel follows Damien’s life through the first few years of the 2000s, with occasional flashbacks to his teen years and sidesteps into other, tangentially related issues. Despite several achievements in his life, including success as a writer and spoken-word artist, Damien is progressively isolated from his loved ones and from himself, and he searches for a connection via frequent travel, alcohol and an increasingly agitated series of relationships with women. By the time Damien ends up in Cambodia, drinking nearly nonstop, he’s been driven to distraction by his latest female companion and seemingly endless visa issues. Events line up for a darker turn. As befitting the rapid, cross-platform nature of Damien’s work and lifestyle, Evans tells the story in a rapid mishmash of stylistic devices, including poetry, fake technical instructions and shifting typographic standards, while keeping the story moving breathlessly forward. The effect becomes wearing in the middle of the narrative, but Damien remains an engaging, witty character from beginning to end. The more grandiose effects are grounded by the reader’s natural sympathy for Damien, the hapless protagonist. Evans also effectively uses cultural indicators to evoke the time period without dating the material, even though references to MySpace come perilously close to bucking this trend. Readers who approach the narrative with suspicion about the central metaphor—which is understandable, given the nearly clichéd nature of the “technology dehumanizes us” trope—will likely appreciate the dexterous subtlety Evans employs to underline the theme through actions rather than baldly declaring it in dialogue or exposition.

Despite a flurry of stylistic flourishes, a cleareyed character study emerges, brimming with warmth and sympathy.

| kirkus.com | indie | 1 november 2012 | 2501

“[Geldbach-Hall’s] prose moves and inspires, encouraging readers to find their own sources of strength.” from firegal

FIREGAL Rising From the Ashes

Geldbach-Hall, Gina Firegal Enterprises, LLC (264 pp.) $11.89 paperback | $2.99 e-book Jul. 20, 2012 978-0985289003 Geldbach-Hall never intended to be a pioneer, but this “firegal” changed the firefighting world forever.

At the end of a 25-year career in fire and emergency services, Geldbach-Hall retired as a highranking battalion chief. But the winding road she took to get to that position was fraught with turmoil, harassment and one major lawsuit that took nearly 12 years of her life. Being a female firefighter was never easy, but because of a desire to make a difference, the author persevered, changing the culture of firefighting along the way. In her memoir, Geldbach-Hall recounts in vivid detail her journey of making it in a man’s world. From not having the privacy of a women’s bathroom to being relentlessly harassed for giving an interview where she addressed her experiences to dealing with insubordinate male firefighters, Geldbach-Hall doesn’t shy away from the troubles she endured.

Yet at its best, the work isn’t about Geldbach-Hall’s awful treatment, but how she found peace, hope and, most importantly, herself. She never defines herself as a victim, despite the abuses she endured. She may recount the bad times she suffered, but she doesn’t wallow in them. Her prose moves and inspires, encouraging readers to find their own sources of strength. After a shoulder injury, the narrator realized that she needed to truly deal with her problems and confront all the hurt and anger she had buried, so she turned to therapy. In the end, Geldbach-Hall won her lawsuit and, in the process, paved the way for equal treatment of women firefighters. While it can sometimes read a little like a standard self-help book, the lessons the author shares are invaluable.

A motivational, true story of a female firefighter’s journey to empowerment.

INDIAN WINTER

Goldsmith, Jane Full Court Press (537 pp.) $18.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book 978-0-9849536-7-7 In Goldsmith’s debut, a historical coming-of-age story, the rapidly evolving identity of earnest and precocious 14-yearold Winona Daggett compellingly plays against the backdrop of racial tension between white and Native American societies in 1970s Montana.

Winona is part of a patched-together, less than perfect family: her wise older sister, Jess, her pushover mother, Marie, her alcoholic stepfather, Randy, and her two young stepsiblings. The family runs on equal parts tenderness and cruelty, so early on, 2502 | 1 november 2012 | indie | kirkus.com |

Winona had to develop her own moral code. She calls on this integrity to stand up to school administrators trying to keep white and Indian students segregated, and to follow her heart and heady desire into the arms of Bell, a chiseled high school basketball player who happens to be a Lakota Indian. When Winona first meets him at a high school dance, “We stood, swaying very slightly, as if a wind were blowing two ways at once against both our backs, pushing us toward each other.”

The screw is turned when long-buried family secrets come to light and Winona moves from bystander to player in the personal and political matters of her time. Goldsmith gently keeps the reader aligned with her sensitive heroine’s consciousness, delivering the kind of intimate, affecting language worthy of both the tragic and beautiful elements that come with an end of innocence. After she loses her virginity, for example, Winona gains a new understanding of her mother and stepfather’s intimacy when she hears him say her name: “I heard tones—desire and hope, seduction and fear—I wouldn’t have picked up four days before, as if my range of hearing now stretched into the supersonic, like a bat’s….Energy poised on the brink of force, two magnets quivering between attraction and repulsion.”

A touching, freshly told story enriched by a vibrant cultural backdrop.

PHANTOM DREAMS

Harris, T.K. Chastain Publishing (305 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Jul. 5, 2012 This serial-murder thriller hints at the supernatural.

Kathy’s recurring bad dreams seem to be getting more frequent and more explicit. At the behest of her psychiatrist, she starts sketching the dreams, only to find that her sketches have an uncanny resemblance to victims of the Coast-to-Coast Killer that she later sees on TV. Co-narrator Jack, an FBI agent on the serial killer case but short on suspects, is happy to entertain Kathy’s testimonial after she reports her premonitory abilities to the police. There’s also the perspective of Tom, the elusive, misogynistic serial killer, who seems to suffer from multiplepersonality disorder. Redolent of The Eyes of Laura Mars, the taut narrative unfurls an appropriately unsettling though vague sense of Tom’s condition, mixed with a clearer sense of his location. Jack, haggard from his job and disenchanted by FBI bureaucracy, nonetheless radiates charisma and empathy. The details of Kathy’s life unfold with patience: Her dreams merge with reality at a believable pace, then, as expertly plotted by the author, doubt sets in while readers and Jack begin to question the reliability of her perception. By skeptically referencing its supernatural element—“Think we’ve got an actual X-Files case here?” asks Jack’s sidekick—the story adeptly tightens the suspension of disbelief. Some spelling and grammar lapses crop up (e.g., “their” instead of “there”), and there’s one needless switch of perspective in which readers hear from Kathy’s anonymous

downstairs neighbor for only two paragraphs, but otherwise this thriller shoots straight.

Smart, suspenseful and disquietingly believable.

COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST Howard, Judy CreateSpace (260 pp.) $12.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book Jul. 18, 2011 978-1461153788

An engaging novel about overcoming loss and picking up the pieces.

When Judy’s husband, Jack, dies of cancer, she takes off in her RV in hopes of piecing together her shattered heart piece by piece and state by state as she travels across the country. She temporarily leaves her home and grooming business behind in sunny California and makes her way out to a friend in Florida. In addition to the radio, she’s joined by her new cat and a man-sized doll she made (whom she refers to as Jack Incarnate) for the 5,000 miles to Florida and back. In between new places and new faces, Judy thinks back to the relationship she had with Jack: when they first met at an AA meeting while drinking coffee, the time he was almost put behind bars for spousal abuse, etc. Though rough-around-the-edges Jack certainly had his fair share of baggage, he truly loved Judy, and she loved him back. Now that he’s gone, Judy has to make her way without him and count up all the good and bad that came with their relationship. In her debut novel, Howard conveys pitiless reality with beauty and eloquence. “I felt like a dried leaf clinging to a branch, hoping to hang on as the cold harsh wind blew cruelly against my brittle spine,” she writes. Despite the numerous brutal, intense battles between Judy and Jack, it’s nearly impossible not to relate to her on some level, as she’s so real and vulnerable. Most of all, she’s a survivor who manages to move on from the relationship that dictated much of her life. Though it could be easy to write off Jack as a villain, Howard portrays in him the many layers that each of us contend with—it’s what makes us all so complex.

She doesn’t make excuses for his behavior, but there’s a sense of sadness in everything he himself suffered, which, to a certain degree, made him who he was. The frivolous title doesn’t capture the mature spirit of Judy’s mindset.

Beautifully written and real to the core.

THE BLACK CHIP

Land, Gary Amazon Digital Services (274 pp.) $2.99 e-book | May 9, 2012 Ex-PI Noly Boots must race against time and circumstances to rescue his girlfriend and her daughter from an assortment of Vegas gamblers, lowlifes and psychos.

Like any ex-PI worth his salt, Noel Butowski—better known as Noly Boots—carries scars both emotional and physical. He was in a coma for three months after being shot by a double-crossing client, and the $20 million payout for that case left the client’s lunatic heirs with a yen for revenge. He’s kinda-sorta broken up with his girlfriend, Sarah, a casino dealer with a preteen daughter, Kacy, because commitment could mean collateral. But when Sarah’s brother, Joey, a senior programmer at the Platinum Palace Casino, conspires with his banker girlfriend to skim close to $3 million from the casino’s proceeds, Joey ends up dead. Sarah and Kacy are kidnapped in an attempt by Joey’s mob creditor to regain the MacGuffin—a black casino chip full of computer files. And that makes Noly mad. Debut novelist Land has a background in screenwriting and, for better and worse in this Chandler-esque thriller, it shows. Noly’s former clients, the van Leesles, bear more than a passing resemblance to the decadent Sternwoods of The Big Sleep, as do the twists and turns of the plot, with Sarah and Kacy passed off from one set of bad guys to another as each group tries to outwit steely, determined Noly.

The tight plot is well-paced and the action is tense, if bloody.

There are sadistic enforcers, whores with hearts of gold, good friends and bad betrayers, hostile FBI agents, exasperated cops, and in 11-year-old Kacy, one tough cookie. Yet the novel sometimes turns clunky in the actual descriptions of action, places and people, which sometimes read like background information rather than words to be read for their own pleasure. The strongest, most gripping relationship in the novel is between Noly and Kacy, the tough-as-nails PI and his kick-ass kid partner.

A welcome foray into the Vegas PI genre, hopefully the first of many.

ZANGADOO KANGAROO AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOOMERANG Lee, Karin Illus. by Porterfield, Scott Zangadoo Entertainment (94 pp.) $6.99 paperback | Oct. 1, 2012 978-0984742820

A gentle adventure story, with a subtle moral about accepting new siblings without feeling displaced.

Zangadoo Kangaroo feels overshadowed by his little brother Joey, but when he borrows his father’s magical boomerang, he | kirkus.com | indie | 1 november 2012 | 2503

“Ness’ novel raises challenging questions about the balance between hunting for sport and hunting for survival.” from rutting season

K i r k us M e di a L L C # President M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer MEG LABORDE KU E H N Chief Financial Officer J ames H ull SVP, Marketing M ike H ejny SVP, Online Paul H offman # Copyright 2012 by Kirkus Media LLC. KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 19487428) is published semimonthly by Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Road, Austin, TX 78744.

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discovers a special talent and some new friends— a colorful group of Australian animals. The great strength of the book is its focus on these animals, with all of the top-billing creatures making appearances—kangaroos, koalas, wombats—but also lesser knowns like budgies and emus. The creative use of Australian slang is also a highlight, with words like “crikey,” “lolly” and “billabong” that will delight younger readers. The book has a glossary in the back that will define Aussie words, which may ignite a further interest in the flora and fauna of Australia. Small details, such as Zangadoo’s mum’s surfing trophies and his dad’s work as a bush pilot, sketch in a picture of an eccentric and loving family that would be fun to visit again. One stumbling point is that while the book suggests that the boomerang is magical, the nature of its power isn’t explored. There is a brief discussion of the boomerang’s history, but more use of it would have made this stronger and livelier for young readers. Also, moments of tension are undercut a little too quickly—Zangadoo’s friends travel to the Outback, seemingly walking there from their small town, and find him almost immediately after the boomerang has whisked him away on a magical journey, and a scene of Zangadoo and his friends being chased by dingoes is resolved after only a page. However, younger readers should enjoy the simplicity of the story, as well as the adorable illustrations.

A sweet story about coping with new siblings and appreciating friendship, featuring some inspired use of Australian animals.

THE SHADOW MAN

Murphy, Mark Langdon Street Press (348 pp.) $14.95 paperback $5.99 e-book | Jul. 20, 2012 978-1938296031 A Savannah doctor’s life turns upside down when people suspect him of serial murder in this thriller tinged with the supernatural.

Surgeon Malcolm King is a good man living a good life in this fast-paced and suspenseful first novel by Murphy, a gastroenterologist and columnist for the Savannah Morning News. Malcolm has a loving family, a faithful golden retriever and a beautiful house. So when people link him to a series of gruesome murders, he’s desperate to discover the truth—at times even wondering if his sanity is slipping and he himself might be

2504 | 1 november 2012 | indie | kirkus.com |

the killer. To avoid capture, Malcolm goes on the run, aided by a mysterious Thin Man who may or may not be trustworthy. As horrific murders of people close to him continue, Malcolm fights to protect his family and stop the killer. Murphy’s good-guy hero faces an impossible situation full of spooky, atmospheric details reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart’s plight in a Hitchcock movie, and the thriller aspect works especially well since the book grounds it in ordinary happiness. Malcolm’s wife and daughter, even his dog, are fully realized, not pawns in a horror show; the Savannah setting is lushly detailed; and it’s easy to see what Malcolm has to lose. His work also comes across as both realistic—one day ranges from “ruptured appendices and walled-off diverticular abscesses to a Billroth II gastric resection”—and horribly similar to the killer’s grisly dissections. Flashes of humor help to ease the tension, and the camaraderie between Malcolm and other characters is a reminder that human connections can stand against evil. The sturdy plot structure includes red herrings, family secrets and a new direction just when it looks like it’s all over. Two clichés, each a bit of a groaner, mar the book somewhat: a noble, spiritual Native American and a medical condition often unfairly linked to villainy. The supernatural elements add little to the plot and can seem a bit pat, but they don’t get in the way of a satisfying finish.

An enjoyable, well-written and twisty thriller with gruesome aspects balanced by warmth, believable relationships and a likable hero.

RUTTING SEASON

Ness, Roy CreateSpace (366 pp.) $16.00 paperback $7.99 e-book | Jun. 26, 2012 978-1467966511 In addressing both man against nature and the nature of man, Ness’ novel raises challenging questions about the balance between hunting for sport and hunting for survival.

Survival of the fittest plays out with personalities and past regrets in sharp relief, as hunter and hunted confront unforgiving nature in the remote Yukon. The story skillfully weaves together the lives of seemingly disparate individuals into a conflict-ridden tapestry of self-discovery. The principal storyline centers on high-profile eco-warrior Hannah Weinberg. Her mission: to confront

“Renaye demonstrates that there’s still plenty to say in the self-help industry.” from living the life you love

and raise public awareness of the wealthy trophy hunters who scour the remote Yukon Mountains in search of grizzly bears.

The titular figurehead of a save-the-bears group called Grizzly Watch, Hannah meets her perceived nemesis Dan MacKay, an unemployed, half-Indian moose hunter who lives in a small First Nation community. Dan runs into a lost Hannah while hunting moose on the Macmillan River. Elsewhere, Dan’s attorney, Susan Field, is driven by conscience rather than cash to uncover the truth about Dan’s ex-wife, Tara, and her suspicious pedophile boyfriend, Gary. Seems Gary has taken an interest in Dan’s preteen daughter, Starla. Another intersecting storyline revolves around Hannah’s husband, David Hellman. Rich and powerful, he cheats on Hannah, but when she’s reported missing, David swings into action and hires Yukon mountain experts to accompany him on the search. At times, details in the supporting storylines run too deep and risk overwhelming the central story.

Thinning them a bit in favor of the Dan–Hannah relationship, and how their initially opposing views slowly begin to dovetail, could improve the novel’s focus. Adding an extra dimension to the narrative are the internal dialogues of several animals. Raz, Dan’s loyal, well-trained hunting dog, expresses his own feelings and insight about “his Dan” and the new girl, Hannah. Raz eventually becomes indispensable to both the hunt and Dan’s survival. There’s also a “talkative” raven who provides some whimsical observations about human “bobbleheads” and their strange habits, and several moose express their feelings and various sexual pangs. Finally, there’s the heartbreaking struggle of a gut-shot bear, lumbering through forest to find relief from the pain that accompanies his every step. Richly detailed and generously storied with characters both sympathetic and loathsome, this is the action-adventure novel for wilderness enthusiasts.

An uplifting read that informs, enlightens and satisfies.

LIVING THE LIFE YOU LOVE The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation

Renaye, Paula Diomo Books (288 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $15.95 e-book Sep. 1, 2012 978-0967478692 In her practical, hard-hitting yet realistic program for self-improvement, Renaye demonstrates that there’s still plenty to say in the selfhelp industry.

A professional life coach and transformational speaker, Renaye has created a concise, encyclopedic guide-cum-workbook that does the job of multiple existing titles, all while adding profound, useful insights and strategies to the conversation. She breaks self-exploration and retooling into manageable, sharply focused steps that help push the reader into honest reflection, emotional and physical health, and ultimately, empowerment and maturity. Though hints of other popular spiritual works shine through, such as the creation of vision boards to visualize

what you want in life, the perspective is refreshingly grounded, and Renaye’s confessional, empathetic narrative invites readers to identify with her while buying into her approaches. Each chapter focuses on a discrete issue or aspect of life—feeling stuck, body wisdom, living for others—and ends with a transformational insight worksheet (copying is advisable, since space is limited) with questions for self-analysis. Even without the worksheets, tripwires for aha moments run throughout the book. Recognizing that some difficult people are unavoidable, she prescribes stockpiling diversionary tactics in advance. She also lays out simple, sanity-saving strategies for navigating conversations, as well as tips for climbing out of inevitable dips in mood. She expands the vision-board concept into a vision script that can help reprogram your thinking, with guidelines, precautions and sample language for recording. She calls her methods tough love, but they’re also deeply human, compassionate and supportive.

A self-help guide with real-world value and applicability, which proves it’s never too late to grow up.

MR. RUEHLE, YOU ARE A FREE MAN - A BROADCOM SAGA My Fight for Justice Ruehle, William J. CreateSpace (270 pp.) $15.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Aug. 21, 2012 978-1470161064

Once the chief financial officer of the tech firm Broadcom, Ruehle faced potential sentencing of more than 350 years in prison after federal prosecutors in Southern California charged him with multiple felonies for alleged corporate malfeasance. Here, he tells his side of the story.

Corporate executives are hardly sympathetic figures these days. But for Ruehle, the negative spotlight and resultant court case against him amounted to a “politically motivated, mediadriven backdating frenzy.” He gives a credible account of his multiyear ordeal, which ultimately ended in December 2009 when a judge declared Ruehle’s innocence and admonished the government for overzealousness. Along with providing realistic glimpses inside the corporate world (“Staff meetings—a new level of agony”), the book could serve as a useful primer for budding legal eagles in the practice of law versus the theory of law. Government lawyers strong-armed potential witnesses into lying for them by holding potential prosecutions and prison terms over their heads; potential defense witnesses were discouraged or “frozen” with similar tactics. “A criminal trial is very much like a war,” Ruehle writes, and he lucidly documents his own legal battles, as his high-priced defense team sifted through 6 million pages of evidence in order to “pry the truth” out of prosecution witnesses during cross-examinations “like an oral surgeon extracting a tooth.” Besides providing observations on good and bad lawyering, the book also offers a simple but useful lesson for these tech-dependent times: “Always be extra careful | kirkus.com | indie | 1 november 2012 | 2505

i ndie

Douglas Nicholas: The Critically Acclaimed Author on ‘How I Did It’ b y

d o ug l a s

nichola s

Several years ago, I had an idea for the holidays: I would write a short story to read to my wife, Theresa. Ghost stories are, for some reason, a tradition in Britain; the Cambridge don M.R. James, whose work I admire, wrote ghost/horror stories to be read at Christmastime to his friends. They usually featured a mild-mannered antiquarian like himself and would begin slowly with bits of scholarly detail, very dry. This would go on for about two pages—the stories are quite short—before readers realized, 10 or 15 pages later, that they’d never sleep again.

At the time, I was working at home, on the computer; like many self-employed people are aware, this involved long nights. Somehow, the idea for this story came to me late at night.

I knew the general arc almost at once.

I also knew I wanted to make a strong woman the hero. Soon, however, I found that I had to explain this or that, I had to get my people from here to there, etc. I wanted to make the story historically accurate and vivid, which involved a lot of research. Finally, I realized the story was going to have to be a novel.

Then I got very busy with other things and had to put the story away.

Some years later, when things were less hectic, I returned to Something Red and finished it.

I’ve been an avid reader all my life, and I studied medieval literature in college and in some grad school courses.

Between reading and formal study, I realized that I had a feel for the period.

I wanted the architectural isolation of a snowed-in castle—nowhere to go, just you and the monster. The movie Alien functions this way, as does John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella, Who Goes There? (the basis for the 1951 movie The Thing from Another World).

I may have thought I knew a lot about medieval life, but I’d come upon something and think, “Wait, I need to know a lot more about this, just to write one paragraph.” So while I knew a fair amount, I probably learned an equal amount about the 13th century while writing this book. I chose to set it in the north of England because of the region’s

fiercely independent culture, because I needed those mountains for my characters to struggle with, and because Northern England has not often been used as a setting.

When I write, I know the story I’m going to tell before I begin—the very general outline of the book, as well as some of the major scenes that will occur.

I write scenes as they come to me and try to fill in the outline; I don’t necessarily write in sequence. When I realize I don’t know enough about something I feel is necessary to the book, I stop and research the subject. Eventually, the major sections are complete, and then the links between them are done.

Finally, after the book is finished, I go over it a few more times, polishing the language.

I found that the “voice” I had developed as a poet translates fairly well to prose. Several people have been kind enough to remark favorably upon the quality of the writing in Something Red, and that was important to me. As the excellent Jack Vance, a jazz aficionado, once said, “The prose should swing.”

Fortunately, I had a background in editorial services, including computer typesetting and page composition, so I was able to design and set the book to my satisfaction. I then self-published it through CreateSpace.

George Hiltzik, my agent, showed Something Red to Emily Bestler of Emily Bestler Books (an imprint of Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster). Emily was pleased enough with it to publish it under her imprint. The experience of working with a major publisher has been, I must say, wonderful. At some point, you become aware that there’s a little army doing various things to make people aware of your book, ensuring that people around the globe have access to it. What a great feeling! It’s a joy to work with professionals—look at the beautiful and evocative dust jacket the Simon and Schuster artists came up with.

What did surprise me, though, was the feeling of friendliness and intimacy that I got from the crew at Emily Bestler Books, from Emily herself to all the

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others at EBB: editors, copy editors, publicists. Everyone.

Douglas Nicholas is an award-winning poet whose work has appeared in numerous publications, among them Atlanta Review, Southern Poetry, Sonora Review, Circumference, A Different Drummer, and Cumberland Review, as well as the South Coast Poetry Journal, where he won a prize in that publication’s Fifth Annual Poetry Contest. He is the winner of many honors, among them an award in the 1990 International Poetry Contest sponsored by the Arvon Foundation in Lancashire, England, and a Cecil B. Hackney Literary Award for poetry from Birmingham-Southern College.

He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, Theresa, and Yorkshire terrier, Tristan.

SOMETHIING RED

Nicholas, Douglas Emily Bestler/Atria (336 pp.) $25.00 Sept. 18, 2012 978-1-4516-6007-4

when writing e-mails.” Although Ruehle gives a clear, convincing account of courtroom tactics and strategies, he’s weak on the human aspects of the trial; most of the leading characters come across as colorless. Even a dab of physical description would have illuminated this chronicle a bit more. Also, the first chapter, which gives a brief history of Broadcom and an explanation of stock options, feels tacked on; it doesn’t cleanly segue into the rest of the book. Still, Ruehle offers an instructive, remarkably evenhanded account of “how overwhelming it could be to fight the federal government.”

An effective indictment of governmental abuse of power written by an unlikely but excellent source.

WHORE STORIES A Revealing History of the World’s Oldest Profession Smith, Tyler Stoddard Adams Media (256 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Jul. 18, 2012 978-1440536052

Everything—and everyone—seems to be for sale in these riotous biographical sketches of famous and infamous prostitutes.

Like his subjects, humorist and The Nervous Breakdown contributor Smith wants to offer a good time. In these nuggets of smarmy gossip, he rambles across the whole history of whoredom, from the Roman empress Messalina, who was said to have gone to work in a brothel for kicks, to latter-day strumpets Heidi Fleiss and Jeff Gannon, the online escort who moonlighted in the White House press corps. He toasts brainy 17th-century courtesans, like the Chinese poetess Liu Rushi and the French philosophe Ninon de L’Enclos, and modernist littérateur Jean Genet, who peddled himself to British sailors for sardines and bread. His favorite category of prostitute is the kind you’d never imagine, among whom he numbers Malcolm X, Hollywood he-men Steve McQueen and Clark Gable, and The Brady Bunch’s adorable Maureen McCormick. Smith wouldn’t be caught dead drawing sociological insights from any of this data; he’s strictly out to regale readers with lurid anecdotes, chortling color commentary—“Hell hath no fury like a whore cheated out of her opera tickets”—and miscellaneous zingers. For instance, Bob Dylan’s dubious claim to have sold his body in his salad days makes the author wonder why anyone would pay for sex with “a jaundiced gnu.” Despite his assertion of a nonjudgmental stance, Smith is furiously judgmental toward anyone who cops a moralistic attitude: Televangelist (and secret john) Jimmy Swaggart is “a loathsome pig too tainted even for the abattoir” and Nancy Reagan is a “hypocritical charlatan.” There’s nothing too edifying between these covers—even the digressions on Diogenes and Hegel are lightweight—but Smith’s caustic wit and bawdy exuberance will keep readers amused.

Loads of good, dirty fun.

RUN YOUR OWN CORPORATION How to Legally Operate and Properly Maintain Your Company into the Future Sutton, Garrett BZK Press (300 pp.) $20.95 paperback | Sep. 18, 2012 978-1937832100

Accomplished attorney and author Sutton (Start Your Own Corporation, 2012, etc.) presents a second volume on how to build a well-protected business from the ground up.

If it seems like Sutton is leading a tour through every entrepreneur’s worst nightmare, it’s because the path to running a successful corporation is rife with pitfalls. Founder of Sutton Law Center and a Rich Dad’s Advisor series contributor, Sutton knows what can happen when entrepreneurs ignore proper bookkeeping and other corporate formalities. Hefty tax liabilities, expensive lawsuits and criminal investigations can doom a business. Rather than cower from the dangers, Sutton digs in with an us-versus-them attitude and explains how to build a “corporate veil” that will be difficult for outsiders to penetrate, whether they be sue-happy clients or overzealous creditors.

Stuffed with legal concepts but remarkably easy to follow, the book traces the evolution of three fictitious businesses over a five-year period—an engineering firm, a beauty salon and a housesitting venture. These “case studies” illustrate the basics of personal asset protection and legal documentation. Topics include choosing a corporate entity, payroll taxes, annual filings, IRS audits and more. Options are laid out with brutal candor because the consequences can be grave. One imaginary entrepreneur loses $15,000 due to trademark infringement, and another is sentenced to prison following a dubious tax investigation. The narratives can be a bit over-the-top, but it’s forgivable because a skilled attorney will anticipate worst-case scenarios.

Sutton casts a wide defensive net, even highlighting the risks posed by social media websites. Government agencies like the IRS and OSHA are viewed with suspicion, and entrepreneurs are urged to rise above bureaucracy by following the rules. Sutton makes no apologies for the tactics used by the wealthy; while he insists readers pay their taxes, he shows ways to legally reduce their liabilities. The timeline of the book is ambitious, since many startups are barely profitable after five years, but Sutton’s strategies can be applied regardless of scope.

Part survival guide, part cautionary tale, a volume in which every aspiring entrepreneur should invest.

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“[H]istory buffs hungry for lucid detail will be pleased by the story’s impressive level of historical accuracy.” from edric the wild

SAVING MARS

Swanson, Cidney Williams Press (384 pp.) $12.99 paperback | $4.99 e-book Jul. 26, 2012 978-0983562160 A 17-year-old pilot with a history of crashing her craft holds a planet’s fate in her hands when a human settlement on Mars runs low on food.

Flight-obsessed Jessamyn Jaarda faces the biggest mission of her life in the fourth YA sci-fi novel from Swanson (Unfurl, 2012, etc.). Fired from pilot training for crashing one craft and praised for doing the same to another, Jess inspires unpredictable reactions in people. Maybe that’s because Jess lives, as she flies, by pure instinct, and no one knows whether that trait will enable her to save her planet when, because of potential starvation for the human settlement on Mars, she must fly to Earth on a food raid. Along with her brother, however, the red-haired teenager has the courage to attempt the mission and stick with it when it goes terribly wrong. Swanson paces this story beautifully, weaving exposition tightly into the plot as disaster interrupts everyday routines.

Despite the strangeness of the Martian environment, the novel quickly establishes the humanity of Jess and other characters, as when Jess tries and fails to help her brother resist a bout of claustrophobia or when she first locks eyes with her planet’s only dog and feels something sweep through her: “A something that reminded her of taking her craft toward breaking day or of watching Phobos as the swift moon zipped across the night sky.

The dog was...wondrous.” At first, Jess sees everything through the lens of her obsession with flight, but she becomes far too multifaceted, distractible and passionate to be mistaken for an archetype. Watching her grow and struggle to survive makes this book hard to put down.

A sci-fi novel that soars along with a teenage heroine whose imperfections help make her believable and endearing.

COWBOYS, ARMAGEDDON, AND THE TRUTH How a Gay Child was Saved From Religion Terry, Scott Lethe Press (288 pp.) $18.00 paperback | Oct. 1, 2012 978-1590213667

A memoir of growing up gay in the West amid Jehovah’s Witnesses preparing for the end of the world.

Terry’s mother left him and his sister, Sissy, when he was 3 years old. Four years later, his stepmother, Fluffy, an ornery Jehovah’s Witness, informed him that he had been traded to his father, Virgil, for a horse. She also treated the children like dogs and cautioned them not to plan for the future, at one point 2508 | 1 november 2012 | indie | kirkus.com |

shouting, “You’re never gonna have kids! Armageddon will be here soon!” Terry escaped by throwing himself into his religion: going door to door, Watchtowers in hand, “hunting for people to convert” to “the Truth.” He warmly recalls summers in the “earthly heaven” in Orland, Calif., with his “Okie” grandparents, catching “feesh.” But his growing suspicion that he had more than platonic interests in the beefy men of professional wrestling and in an overgrown classmate, Matt Spiterri, presented an existential quandary and a challenge to his faith. After a foiled attempt to run away to Las Vegas, Terry ended up with his Aunt Dot, an Auntie Mame-like figure who gave him motivational tapes and helped him find success as a rodeo bull rider and as a gay man. Terry’s pop-cultural references from the 1970s (Lawrence Welk, The Brady Bunch, The Thorn Birds) add humor and keep nostalgia from acting as a drag on a story rich with recognizable scenes and characters. The book even treats his stepmother generously. Discreet signs of Terry’s gradual sexual awakening create small, at times steamy, moments that speak volumes, as when the author spots a construction worker and is “inexplicably drawn to his nakedness.” Overall, the book displays a liberating understanding that “things that aren’t normal can sometimes become normal when you don’t know any different.” Most powerfully, it serves as a heartfelt thank you to those who allowed a “worldly homosexual apostate” to find his own “small-t” truth.

A lively, affectionate autobiography with messages of inspiration and acceptance.

EDRIC THE WILD Woods, Jayden CreateSpace (760 pp.)

Oct. 1, 2012 978-1475231250

In the third installment of her Sons of Mercia series, Woods (Godric the Kingslayer, 2011, etc.) steers real-world historical hero Edric the Wild through bars, battlefields and his bold stand against the Norman conquest.

This reimagined story of Edric’s life begins with him as a 16-year-old boy who awakens the morning after a brawl with Osbern FitzRichard, only to find himself accused of killing one of Osbern’s knights. The courtroom declaration of Edric’s innocence is only one juncture of the multifaceted, often brutal relationship between Edric—noble-hearted son of the “Kingslayer”—and Osbern, an authoritative young Norman who acts like a madman and struggles with a voice in his head he attributes to Ezekiel. Edric and Osbern, the two enemies, battle against a backdrop of English–Norman distrust. From strained meetings with their fathers to their unconventional means of embarking on matrimony, the off-and-on rivals are frequently juxtaposed to powerful effect. When Edric proposes to a probable fairy woman he barely knows, both of the boys’ grips on reality become questionable. What at first appears to be an open-and-shut case of insanity softens into possibility, as

certain outlandish claims by Osbern, via his personal channel to Ezekiel, come to fruition. The plot takes alternating forms of dual family sagas, wartime actioner, traditional epic fantasy and humor-tinged thriller, which Woods skillfully layers with an appealing writing style. There are frequent surprises, too, and history buffs hungry for lucid detail will be pleased by the story’s impressive level of historical accuracy.

A tense, occasionally explosive epic of family, friends and foes.

THE MEADOWFORD MYSTERIES Book One: After the Garden Party & Mischief in Meadowford Wright, Sheila AuthorHouseUK (108 pp.) $27.45 | paper $15.18 | $3.99 e-book Jun. 29, 2012 978-1468586022 978-1468586015 paperback

Wright’s (Coming Through—The Long Journey, 2011, etc.) compendium of short stories takes place in rural 1920s England.

In the style of Agatha Christie, Wright fashions a story around a mysterious murder in an English country village.

There are the usual suspects: the lord and lady of the manor, a retired army colonel, his wife, the village doctor and the inspector of police. Various other characters drop by—the somewhat befuddled aunt of the colonel’s wife and her misbehaving dog, among others. Wright follows in the footsteps of the old masters, and the prose lives up to its stellar antecedents. The hired help speak in their cockney dialect, while the upper classes converse with the delicate articulation one would expect of someone in their echelon. The colonel loves his ever-present rosewood pipe; he often sits before a fire and enjoys a puff. The characters have depth and presence, but they are types already well represented in the palate of any dedicated mystery fan, so the cast might be too familiar. However recognizable, the characters won’t be denied their charisma. The book consists of two short interludes set a few years apart in a lively, vibrant village.

The colorful images of life in post–Great War England elicit the charm of a bygone era. Once again, a formulaic element comes into play, but when done this well, it adds to, rather than subtracts from, the storyline.

For anyone in the mood to solve a murder mystery while taking a pleasurable romp through merry olde England, it would be a crime to miss this one.

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