Fiction Reviews, September 1, 2011
Sep 1, 2011| In this Article |
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Adiga, Aravind. Last Man in Tower. Knopf. Sept. 2011. c.421p. ISBN 9780307594099. $26.95. F
Adiga, author of the highly acclaimed White Tiger, returns with this morality tale about events at a respectable, solidly middle-class building in Mumbai. The veneer of respectability and hard-earned bonhomie falls away after the residents—Hindu, Christian, and Muslim—are offered a windfall by an unscrupulous real estate developer who wants them to move. It is a credit to the author that the reader manages to keep straight the large cast of unforgettable and all-too-believable characters. One resident, retired teacher and widower Masterji, holds out purely on principle—or is it for some other reason even he doesn’t understand? In the end, there are no heroes in this viper’s nest of competing desires and petty jealousies, as the residents’ uglier natures are gradually revealed in the face of their greed and disappointment. The swarming oceanfront metropolis of Mumbai, in various stages of development and decay, functions as a character in its own right. VERDICT You won’t be able to look away as the novel hurtles toward its inevitable train wreck of a conclusion in this stunner from Adiga. [See Prepub Alert, 2/28/11.]—Lauren Gilbert, Sachem P.L., Holbrook, NY
Basu, Kunal. The Yellow Emperor’s Cure. Overlook, dist. by Penguin. Oct. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9781590207086. $25.95. F
When Dr. Antonio Maria unexpectedly learns his physician father is dying of syphilis in Lisbon, he sets sail for China in search of a cure. Unfortunately, the country is in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion, and outsiders are not welcome. Basu (The Japanese Wife) shows us Antonio’s hopeful yet frustrating encounters with Dr. Xu and his assistant, Fumi, with whom Antonio eventually has an obsessive affair. What starts off as an interesting premise gradually wears thin with the introduction of additional characters and minor story lines, and Basu’s writing loses its punch. Secrets about the initial characters revealed toward the end of the work help to renew some interest. VERDICT This loosely historical journey back in time tries too hard to become a novel of mystery and intrigue. Readers will need to decide for themselves whether discovering the startling secret at the end is worth their time and patience.—Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA
Bellerose, Sally. The Girls Club. Bywater Bks., dist. by Consortium. Sept. 2011. c.287p. ISBN 9781932859782. pap. $14.95. F
In the decade between ninth grade and motherhood, Cora Rose LaBarre is destined to be caught between two groups of girls. The youngest of three sisters in a working-class Catholic family, she is both protected and driven to distraction by her older siblings and their gawky cousin, Lorraine. Despite their intensity and closeness, she is on her own in sorting out her sexual identity. Confused by her attraction to women, Cora is equally repelled by and attracted to The Girls Club, the local dyke bar. It’s the 1960s, but their world is still conservative. Marie, the oldest and fiercest of Cora’s siblings, may have ended up an unwed mother and high school dropout, but when Cora gets pregnant, she’ll marry and try to make the best of it. Except that she keeps ending up at The Girls Club, praying she is different until she accepts that she is. The result is a tale that is at turns gritty and funny and always bittersweet. VERDICT Winner of the Bywater Prize for Fiction, this first novel provides an intense study of human frailty and hope; sure to appeal to readers who enjoy literate coming-of-age and coming-out fiction.—Jan Blodgett, Davidson, NC
Bollen, Christopher. Lightning People. Soft Skull. Sept. 2011. c.368p. ISBN 9781593764197. $25. F
This impressive first novel is so dense that it feels like several books in one. It tells the overlapping stories of five young adults living in New York City: Joseph, an actor with a tragic family history; his new wife, Del, who works at the zoo while seeking U.S. citizenship; Del’s former lover Raj, a photographer who’s afraid to leave his room; Raj’s sister, Madi, who is exploiting her father’s native India for commercial success; and William, an actor whose inability to find work leads him to increasingly desperate and dangerous measures. Set against a post-9/11 backdrop, the book is united by the theme of fate and whether we can evade its clutches. While this theme is intriguing and leads to some satisfying twists, the novel’s greater appeal lies in the immensely detailed lives of the characters, especially in Del’s love of snakes at a job made miserable by her boss and in William’s sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying downward spiral. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, another chronicle of imperfect New Yorkers.— Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC
Child, Lee. The Affair: A Reacher Novel. Delacorte. Oct. 2011. c.405p. ISBN 9780385344326. $28. F
What turned career army cop Jack Reacher into the wandering and deadly version of a knight in rusted armor? In this 16th novel in the highly successful Reacher franchise, Child goes back to small-town Mississippi in 1997. Women have been murdered near a secret Ranger base. The Rangers are suspected, and the official investigation is a mess. Reacher is sent to town disguised as a bum to keep one eye on what might be a flawed army investigation, the other on a series of similar killings in the town, and if he had a third eye, he would use it to cover his back. VERDICT Exciting and suspenseful, with deceit and cover-ups, violence, and sex, this is another great entry in Child’s compelling series. Reacher’s many fans can only hope there will be many more. Highly recommended for anyone who likes intelligent, well-written, tense thrillers. [Library marketing; see Prepub Alert, 4/4/11; to the dismay of series fans, the diminutive Tom Cruise is slated to play the six-foot-tall Reacher in a film adaptation of Child’s One Shot.—Ed.]—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI
Cohen, Leah Hager. The Grief of Others. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9781594488054. $26.95. F
Losing a newborn baby is terrible enough, but when the baby comes wrapped in a shroud of secrets, intense grief often sends family members flying apart. The Ryries are just such a family. Ricky managed a pretense of happiness after learning through a routine examination that her fetus was doomed. Her husband, John, happily employed at a fraction of his wife’s salary, stays patient in the face of what he thinks is a hormonal maelstrom. Then the baby arrives and departs 57 hours later, and all emotional hell breaks loose. Ten-year-old Biscuit may have the clearest path to mourning her lost brother, if only those around her would pay attention. Bullied 13-year-old Paul is caught short when Jess, John’s older daughter from a college romance, arrives unannounced for an extended stay after an eight-year absence, burdened with her own ill-timed secrets. VERDICT Cohen’s (House Lights) stunning writing and ruthless, beautiful magnification of soul-crushing sorrow that threatens the Ryries’ day-to-day family life mesmerizes, wounds, and possibly even heals her readers. Her courageous novel (she knows of what she writes) is to be savored. [See Prepub Alert, 3/7/11.]—Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor District Lib., MI
Collins, Jackie. Goddess of Vengeance. St. Martin’s. Sept. 2011. c.528p. ISBN 9780312567460. $26.99.
Osbourne, Sharon. Revenge. Little, Brown. Sept. 2011. 371p. ISBN 9781847442833. $19.95. F
Revenge has long been a popular literary theme, and two new commercial novels tackle it in showbiz fashion. In the latest installment of best-selling author Collins’s Lucky Santangelo saga (Drop Dead Beautiful), the strong, beautiful, and successful Lucky refuses to sell her luxury Vegas hotel/casino/apartment complex to Armand Jordan, a misogynistic billionaire who won’t take no for an answer (this is where vengeance comes in). In addition, her nearly 18-year-old daughter, Max, wants to move to New York City to start her adult life, but Lucky, who grew up way too fast, is concerned. Reality TV star Osbourne’s fiction debut is a sibling rivalry story about two English sisters whose mother’s plans for stardom were thwarted when she became pregnant. As a result, Margaret resented firstborn Chelsea, now a wild, troubled, and talented actress, and favored baby Amber, who is a rom-com sweetheart who does what Margaret tells her to do. All hell really breaks loose between them when Leo, a movie producer, interferes professionally and personally and drives the sisters to seek revenge. VERDICT Collins delivers another juicy read, but pay attention: Goddess of Vengeance has many characters to track, and the novel moves rapidly. Collins spends a lot of time interrupting the various stories to tell readers about the characters’ histories, a common hazard when writing a series. In a story published in the British Times, a Little, Brown spokesperson disclosed that Revenge had an uncredited cowriter but said the story was dreamed up by Osbourne (ow.ly/5UsG8). However this novel was conceived and written, it’s massively entertaining and perfectly paced, with just the right amount of narrative and dialog. The characters are drawn well. Both novels name-drop brands and celebrities and are filled with sex and drugs. Libraries should expect high demand for Collins, as usual, and should order extra copies of Revenge, which is sure to get a lot of mainstream press. [Goddess of Vengeance previewed in Prepub Alert, 3/28/11.]—Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ., NY
Connolly, John. The Burning Soul. Atria: S. & S. (Charlie Parker Thrillers). Sept. 2011. c.416p. ISBN 9781439165270. $26. F
Private investigator Charlie Parker (The Whisperers) returns in this complicated, multilayered suspense novel with a touch of horror. He is hired to help Randall Haight, who is being blackmailed for a past crime in which he and a friend as teenagers were convicted of killing a 14-year-old girl. On his release as an adult, Haight was given a new name and set himself up as a tax accountant in the small Maine town of Pastor’s Bay. But with the disappearance of a local 14-year-old girl, Haight wants to protect his new life and asks Parker to find the blackmailers. To further complicate matters, there are others in Pastor’s Bay who are not who they seem to be, and Parker finds himself deeply embroiled in the town’s secrets. VERDICT This is more a detective story than a horror novel, but Connolly’s plot twists are still sure to please his fans.—Lisa Hanson O’Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg
Constant, Paule. Private Property. Bison: Univ. of Nebraska Pr. Oct. 2011. c.192p. tr. from French by Margot Miller & France Grenaudier-Klijn. ISBN 9780803234802. pap. $22. F
This translation of a 1981 French novel is the second in a trilogy (the first, Ouregano, is not available here in English), but this story stands on its own. Young Tiffany is uprooted from her colonial African home and sent to a convent boarding school in southwestern France. Disoriented and homesick, Tiffany is baffled by the convent’s customs and isolated from the other students. She relies on her senses to explore her world, which Constant evokes in prose that is rich in visual and tactile imagery. The “private property” of the title is the country estate her guardian grandparents purchase, which becomes a haven for Tiffany, but even at her age she perceives that her grandfather’s ineptitude threatens the family’s hold on the property. VERDICT As in Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Visitation, a country home is so carefully detailed that it becomes a primary character. Immersed in the sights and sounds of its gardens, farm animals, local peasants, and provincial surroundings, readers will feel as if they’ve taken a heady trip to France.—Reba Leiding, James Madison Univ. Libs., Harrisonburg, VA
Cowell, Alan S. The Paris Correspondent. Overlook, dist. by Penguin. Oct. 2011. c.272p. ISBN 9781590206713. $24.95. F
This novel is at once a celebration of the romantic life of the foreign news correspondent before the age of the Internet and an elegy for a once-noble profession that has become besieged, mercenary, and driven by the bottom line. At the novel’s center are two old friends, both longtime journalists working in Paris, who are caught between these past and present worlds. The swashbuckling Joe Shelby is fond of taking risks but believes deeply in his work, while Ed Clancy is his admiring but less adventurous friend. The action involves old grudges and a grand love story, along with plenty of discussion about the fallen state of journalism; Cowell (The Terminal Spy) is himself an accomplished journalist, and the novel feels grounded in lived experience. VERDICT The narrative begins slowly and has some problems with plotting, appearing somewhat overwritten in places, but Cowell finds his rhythm as he progresses and builds to a satisfying and poignant conclusion. Recommended especially for journalism buffs.—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT
Dueñas, María. The Time in Between. Atria: S. & S. Nov. 2011. c.624p. tr. from Spanish by Daniel Hahn. ISBN 9781451616880. $26. F
Sira Quiroga begins life as the bastard daughter of a humble seamstress in Madrid, but bad luck, fate, and the crooked path toward true love all lead her to a life of dizzying glamour, adventure, and high-stakes espionage. When young Sira is abandoned by her lover in Morocco, she is forced to reinvent herself as a sophisticated dressmaker to the expatriate community while the Spanish civil war devastates her homeland. Her work brings her into contact with powerful men, compelling women, and a man she believes to be a journalist and perhaps the love of her life. When the British government asks her to return to Madrid to spy for them as World War II sweeps Europe, she reluctantly agrees, but in doing so becomes a heroine. The first-person perspective makes this long novel seem short, and the rich narrative includes many important figures and incidents from history. Does the story topple into melodrama from time to time? Sure. Does the ending leave you wanting more? Perhaps. Nonetheless, this Spanish import is so romantic, so grand, and so terrifically engrossing that readers will forgive and forget. VERDICT It is no surprise this debut novel was a runaway success in Europe. American fans of historical fiction looking for a dramatic, uncomplicated escape will be similarly entranced. [See Prepub Alert, 5/22/11.]—Chelsey Philpot, School Library Journal
Eco, Umberto. The Prague Cemetery. Houghton Harcourt. Nov. 2011. c.464p. ISBN 9780547577531. $27. F
In late 19th-century Paris, Captain Simonini suspects that he’s sharing his apartment with a certain Abbé Dalla Piccola—or is the abbé merely an alter ego helping him recall a story he’d rather forget? As Simonini works through his past (pretty much Europe’s as well) we learn of a childhood shaped by hatred—his grandfather of the Jews, his Carbonari father of the Jesuits—and of the notary who plundered the family fortune, compelling young Simonini to work in his office. Beating his employer at his own game, Simonini quickly enters a career of betraying various sides to various bidders and eventually crafts a tale about rabbis plotting in the Prague cemetery that foreshadows the Protocols of Zion. By telling the story of this behind-the-scenes opportunist, Eco shows how easily entrenched prejudice can be exploited, distracting from cold, hard truth. VERDICT This is fascinating stuff, but there’s such a thick impasto of historic detail that we sometimes miss the chill revulsion such revelations should arouse; what makes Eco sparkle (see Foucault’s Pendulum, for instance) is how he uses ideas, not facts. But the serious minded will of course want to read and debate. [See Prepub Alert, 5/9/11.]—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
Fishman, J.E. Primacy. Verbitrage, dist. by Greenleaf. Sept. 2011. c.400p. ISBN 9780983380900. $24.95. F
When primate researcher Liane Vinson discovers that one of the subjects at a secretive animal lab, a bonobo named Bea, can speak, she decides after a crisis of conscience to abduct Bea and (eventually) return the ape to Africa. In this debut novel, Fishman questions the ethics of human use of animals but is unable to explore these issues in much depth because the novel’s fast pacing doesn’t allow enough space for thoughtful discourse on these topics. Though the main character has sufficient internal and external conflict to move the narrative quickly, most of the supporting characters, and especially the villain, are one-dimensional. However, Fishman’s excellent imagery and pacing redeems the novel. A former Doubleday editor, he has also been involved with several nature conservancies, which is apparent in his obvious sympathy for Liane’s predicament. VERDICT This is a strong bet for thriller fans who aren’t concerned about the scientific plausibility of the novel’s premise. [Verbitrage is a writers’ self-publishing consortium; purchasers of the print book will be eligible for a free ebook. For another novel that explores the animal rights issue, see Neil Abramson’s Unsaid.—Ed.]—Rebecca M. Marrall, Western Washington Univ. Libs., Bellingham
Franc, John. Hooked. Tin House. Sept. 2011. c.192p. ISBN 9781935639169. pap. $15.95. F
The pseudonymous Franc has created an interesting and provocative thought experiment. A group of only partially identified older men with families decide to patronize the many high-end brothels in their city. It is an intoxicating experiment; they are soon “hooked.” Initially, these men seem selfish and deplorable, and their frank objectification of the mostly young women who parade before them is as disturbing as it is fresh, honest, and forbidden. However, there is something intriguing about their mechanical attitude toward sex, especially when juxtaposed with their stated desire to obtain an elusive “girlfriend experience” where paid sex seems freely given. As expected, it all ends badly when one member of the clan can’t keep the secret. Here the story gains gravity as the men clam up to protect one another, all of them fearing costly divorces. Only one man goes down in flames, and he goes down big. Sadly, he receives little help from his buddies. VERDICT The questions the novel poses about men and relationships are as compelling as they are disturbing. Potentially great conversation fodder for (all male?) book clubs; recommended for fans of the edgy read.—Henry Bankhead, Los Gatos P.L., CA
Gleason, Robert. End of Days. Forge: Tor. Sept. 2011. c.496p. ISBN 9780765329929. $24.99. F
Gleason, an executive editor for Tor/Forge, has also written a number of apocalyptic thrillers, including, with Junius Podrug, the continuation of the Gary Jennings’s Aztec series, Aztec Fire. His latest thriller tackles the issues of nuclear terrorism and destruction. Media magnate Lydia Magruder, the great-granddaughter of a female Apache shaman, has had apocalyptic visions since childhood. Now she and her reporter daughter, Kate, are trying to find John Stone, Kate’s ex-lover and a freelance journalist who may have uncovered a plot to launch a nuclear Armageddon. Featuring a multilayered story line typical of such thrillers, the book includes many military and scientific details to add verisimilitude to Gleason’s story. VERDICT Fans of such nuclear apocalyptic fiction as Nevil Shute’s On the Beach will enjoy this exciting addition to the genre.—Joel W. Tscherne, Bryant & Stratton Coll., Eastlake, OH
Guterson, David. Ed King. Knopf. Oct. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9780307271068. $26.95. F
Walter Cousins has an institutionalized wife, two kids, and a job to hold down, but he still manages to hire, seduce, and impregnate a British nanny, Diane Burroughs, setting in motion a tale of mythic proportions. Refusing to abort, the wily Diane gives birth to a baby boy, abandons him, and proceeds to shake down Walter for a monthly check that starts her on the road to entrepreneurship. Diane’s baby is adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Dan King, who, after forging a birth certificate, perch their Eddie on a pedestal so high he can’t help but fall. Walter becomes a serial philanderer, Ed builds an Internet empire, and readers watch in horror as three disparate lives hurtle toward their fate in this uneven reimagining of the Oedipus myth. VERDICT While Diane’s character practically jumps off the page, the titular Ed King comes across as a cardboard cutout. What commences as a sophisticated, Franzen-like look at the foibles and dashed dreams of the American family devolves into a melodrama that just doesn’t feel authentic. Still, Guterson (Snow Falling on Cedars; Our Lady of the Forest) has a reputation for handling hot-button topics, and his fans will likely clamor for this. [See Prepub Alert, 4/4/11.]— Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Myers, FL
Hale, Shannon. Midnight in Austenland. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Jan. 2012. c.288p. ISBN 9781608196258. $24. F
Charlotte Kinder’s cozy life has collapsed around her. She’s recently divorced, her lovely children have become terrible teens, and her friends keep fixing her up on awful blind dates. Her only solace is the novels of Jane Austen, and she needs a vacation. Enter Pembrook Park: a British country retreat where visitors can spend their holiday in the Regency era. Each guest is assigned a role and a love interest played by a very convincing actor. Charlotte is Mrs. Charlotte Cordial, widowed in a most dreadful manner, and her love interest is the smoldering and mysterious Mr. Mallery. The playacting goes awry when Charlotte discovers a dead body in a secret room, and the resulting whodunit brings the denizens of Pembrook Park together to solve the mystery. This isn’t a sequel to Hale’s Austenland so much as a companion piece; both are set in the same universe and feature recurring characters, but the main characters are different. VERDICT Hale’s light romantic comedy will appeal to chick-lit fans as well as Austenites who have grown weary of the never-ending sequels to Pride and Prejudice and are looking for a fresh way to explore the author’s enduring legacy.—Nanette Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL
Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. Little, Brown. Sept. 2011. c.512p. ISBN 9780316126694. $25.99. F
In this deft first novel, a baseball prodigy comes to Westish College, a small school in upper Wisconsin. Henry Skrimshander is recruited by Mike Schwartz, who plays at Westish and recognizes Henry as one of the greatest shortstops ever. Henry’s roommate, the pot-smoking, gay, African American Owen Dunne, also joins the team. College president Guert Affenlight develops a passionate crush on Owen, with whom he improbably begins a clandestine relationship. Unfortunately, as Henry closes in on a fielding milestone, he loses his confidence and falls apart. Guert’s long-lost daughter, who has returned to Westish after the collapse of her marriage and hooked up with Mike, tries to help Henry find his throwing arm again. Meanwhile, the ongoing affair between Owen and Guert becomes increasingly difficult to hide as the book climaxes at the Division III national championship. VERDICT Succeeding on many levels, this highly enjoyable and intelligent novel offers several coming-of-age tales set against the background of an exciting and convincing baseball drama. Harbach paints a humorous and resonant portrait of a small college community while effectively portraying the Wisconsin landscape and a lake that provides an almost mystical source of solace and renewal. This should be a popular novel. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/11.]—Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta
Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger’s Child. Knopf. Oct. 2011. c.464p. ISBN 9780307272768. $27.95. F
On the eve of World War I, Cecil Valance, a wildly attractive and promising young poet, pays a visit to the home of his Cambridge boyfriend, the son of one of England’s fine old families. He memorializes the visit with a poem that becomes famous after his wartime death. The poem, created as an autograph book keepsake for his lover’s younger sister, Daphne, becomes the subject of speculation and debate for biographers and the generations that follow, as it contains hints about what might have happened during the visit and with whom. As the novel gallops ahead decade by decade, following the family fortunes of Daphne and her progeny, the events of that less tolerant era are viewed through an ever-cloudier lens. VERDICT With the prewar ambience of Atonement, the manor-house mystique of Gosford Park, and the palpable sexual tension of Hollinghurst’s own The Line of Beauty, this generously paced, thoroughly satisfying novel will gladden the hearts of Anglophile readers. [See Prepub Alert, 4/4/11.]—Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.
Hopkins, Ellen. Triangles. Atria: S. & S. Oct. 2011. c.544p. ISBN 9781451626339. $26. F
Having already explored drug addiction, prostitution, sexual abuse, and homosexuality, Hopkins (Crank; Glass; Fallout) has legions of young adult fans who are getting older and may be ready for new themes. In her first novel aimed at adults, the author throws in extramarital affairs, swinging, erotica, searching for one’s birth parents, and a Jodi Picoult–inspired side plot about caring for a terminally ill child, all told in her signature style: free verse. At 544 pages, it’s indulgent, and some of the poems seem contrived and clunky. It can be difficult to differentiate between the three middle-aged friends who make up the titular triangle, even with their names as headings for each section. Their voices are not consistent, and it seems that their stories would be more compelling if told in a more conventional narrative. VERDICT While Hopkins’s fans and newcomers may be drawn in by the titillating details, this does not hold up as adult literature. For popular collections, because there will be an audience. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/11; Hopkins’s next book, Tilt, focuses on the teen characters from Triangles.—Ed.]—Christine Perkins, Bellingham P.L., WA
Howard, Francine Thomas. Paris Noire. AmazonEncore. Sept. 2011. 370p. ISBN 9781935597971. pap. $14.95. F
Paris in summer 1944 is swept up in the excitement of impending liberation from German occupation by French and American troops. But what will liberation bring to Martinique immigrants Marie-Thérèse Brillard and her children, Christophe and Collette (both of whom are in their early twenties)? For Marie-Thérèse, there is a potential suitor in the form of a dashing African American soldier, but can she compete with the glamorous chanteuse, Madame Glovia, an American noire who also fancies the soldier? Collette hopes to marry her ch é ri amour, but will her maman stand in her way? In Marie-Thérèse’s mind, a white Frenchman could never love a noire. For Christophe, the chance meeting of a beautiful Frenchwoman, Genvieve, leads to romance, but what little secret is Genvieve keeping? VERDICT Howard (Page from a Tennessee Journal) weaves a wonderful tale that is sure to appeal to most readers, especially romance and historical fiction lovers.—Bianna E. Ine, NDIC Lib., Washington, DC
Kennedy, William. Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes. Viking. Oct. 2011. c.328p. ISBN 9780670022977. $26.95. F
Pulitzer Prize winner Kennedy’s (Roscoe) latest is an amalgam of politics, mysticism, gangsters, romance, jazz, and Hemingway. Set against the backdrop of Castro’s overthrow of Batista and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the plot unfurls through the eyes of Daniel Quinn, a young reporter visiting Havana in 1957 in search of a story. In the Floridita bar, Quinn meets Hemingway; Renata Suárez Otero, a beautiful, young revolutionary; and Havana Post publisher Max Osborne, who hires him. Events quickly escalate, and Quinn is soon helping Renata run guns to the rebels and interviewing Castro. Fast-forward to Albany, NY, on the day of Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 assassination; the streets seethe with anger and the city is a racial powder keg. Riots are erupting, and Quinn is in the thick of it with a radical priest, a Black Panther–esque group, a wino hired to shoot the mayor, and his senile father in tow. VEDRDICT The book is a masterly blend of a serious examination of the people’s inherent right to fight oppression (and the dangers involved) and a political romp. Kennedy again proves that he is among our finest writers and that the American literary novel thrives. Bravo! [See Prepub Alert, 4/18/11.]—Mike Rogers, Library Journal
Klosterman, Chuck. The Visible Man. Scribner. Oct. 2011. c.240p. ISBN 9781439184462. $25. F
Austin, TX, therapist Victoria Vick reports on a disturbing new client: a man with a method to render himself invisible. Unseen, the man, referred to as Y_____, sneaks into the homes of solitary men and women and spies on them for days on end, claiming that he is observing them scientifically in a truly unguarded state. In the “therapy” sessions, which Y_____ controls unchallenged, he expounds on insights gained while watching people make dinner, watch television, sleep, drink, and perform other mundane tasks. His increasingly bizarre narratives fascinate Victoria, as she struggles to determine what is real and what is fabricated. Klosterman (Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto) surveys various philosophical and psychological topics, filtered through Y_____’s pedantic diatribes, also toying with the nature of fiction itself as Victoria and her husband separate the fake from the merely fantastic. Y_____ becomes an increasingly sinister threat to Victoria, who is (somewhat unaccountably) lured into crossing the line separating therapist and patient, which leads to a violent and troubling confrontation. VERDICT A philosophical yet focused and fast-moving book for contemporary fiction readers.—John R. Cecil, Austin, TX
La Farge, Paul. Luminous Airplanes. Farrar. Oct. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9780374194314. $25. F
The unnamed narrator of the latest novel from La Farge (The Facts of Winter) is a middle-class white guy who makes decisions that always seem to screw up his life, from getting kicked out of private school to dropping out of a Ph.D. program at Stanford because he was bored. He spends the late 1990s hanging out in San Francisco doing drugs, playing activist, and making lots of money working at an Internet start-up until the tech bubble bursts. He then returns to Thebes, in upstate New York, to clean out and sell his recently deceased grandfather’s home. His childhood neighbors are back in town as well. The narrator has had a crush on the sister, Yesmin, since they were kids and gets romantically involved with her, with disastrous results. VERDICT This textbook example of the WMFUN (white male fuck-up novel) lacks the humor and cynicism of Sam Lipsyte’s Home Land, but Le Farge’s narrator is far more likable than Lipsyte’s thanks to his numerous expressions of regret regarding his bad behavior throughout the novel.—Pamela Mann. St. Mary’s Coll. of Maryland, St. Mary’s City
Lightman, Alan. Mr g: A Novel About the Creation. Pantheon. Jan. 2012. c.224p. ISBN 9780307379993. $24.95. F
In his new book, Lightman (Einstein’s Dreams) assumes the voice of God—God being the titular Mr g. The Devil makes an appearance early on with vexing questions like “Do you think it is possible for a thing and its opposite both to be true?” But Mr g goes ahead to create space, time, and matter all the way up to sentient beings with existential quandaries, finally concluding that “this relationship between time and space was also beautiful and good.” (Lightman’s background as a theoretical physicist serves him well here.) Still, the demons Baphomet and Belhor keep showing up with more questions about free will. The novel’s not as heavy as the subjects imply. This God seems young and caught between his squabbling Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva. Though Lightman’s clever irreverence recalls Salman Rushdie and Kevin Brockmeier, his plainspoken style lends the book a fitting earnestness, although the characters are less interesting than the scientific details. VERDICT Readers who don’t mind the liberties the author takes with the sacred might enjoy this scienced fiction.—Travis Fristoe, Alachua Cty. Lib. Dist., FL
Lodge, David. A Man of Parts. Viking. Sept. 2011. c.432p. ISBN 9780670022984. $26.95. F
In Author, Author, acclaimed novelist/critic Lodge reimagined the meteoric rise and fall of the great Henry James. Here he performs the same task for the novelist best known for such popular tales as The War of the Worlds. Drawing deeply on H.G. Wells’s autobiographical writings and on a wide array of secondary literature, Lodge draws a portrait of a novelist in his final years, reflecting on his powers spent and fame gained. The narrator’s thoughts on Wells’s mistresses are woven with Wells’s own reflections on mortality, free love, politics, and writing. The novel plods along as Wells wonders whether the world will remember him, and the one-dimensional characters (the women, even Rebecca West, simply stand for sex and how much about sex Wells can teach them) elicit no deep feelings. In a mournfully didactic ending, the narrator declares that H.G. was like a comet that appeared suddenly and blazed in the literary firmament for decades before his imagination and intellect dwindled in brightness. VERDICT Lodge is a brilliant comic writer, but this dull and dreary novel about a now mostly forgotten writer is disappointing. It would be sad to think that, like his take on Wells, Lodge’s imagination and intellect have dwindled in brightness. Still, most public libraries will want this book to satisfy his many fans. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/11.]—Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Evanston, IL
Magary, Drew. The Postmortal. Penguin. c.384p. Sept. 2011. ISBN 9780143119821. pap. $15. F
In the year 2019, the cure for aging is discovered, and this clears the way for “postmortalism”—humans who will not grow old, although they can still contract disease, get hit by a bus, or die from other, less-than-natural causes. Soon it becomes clear that eternal youth has its own problems, including pro-death terrorists, shrinking resources, and the disintegration of the core elements that make up the fabric of society. Marriage? Only in 40-year increments. Children? Superfluous, since there’s no need to perpetuate the species. Religion? Passé, except for the newly minted, cultlike Church of Man. And, eventually, government-sanctioned euthanasia known as “end specialization.” VERDICT Magary’s (Men with Balls: The Professional Athlete’s Handbook) wit as a blogger and satirist is put to good use in this clever novel, which is told through a series of darkly funny blog entries and news reports. His engaging voice makes for a fast-paced and compelling read right up to the last third of the book, when the story morphs into the predictable apocalypse. Still, it’s a great ride up to that point—a must-read for fans of postmodern dystopia in the vein of Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk, and Neil Gaiman.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Martínez, Tomás Eloy. Purgatory. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Dec. 2011. c.288p. tr. from Spanish by Frank Wynne. ISBN 9781608197118. pap. $15. F
In Highland Park, NJ (near Rutgers Univ., where the author once taught), Emilia Dupuy spots her husband, Simón Cardoso, who has been dead 30 years, wearing the same clothes, looking 30 years younger than he should be, and even toting the same leather bag he carried when he was allegedly murdered in Tucumán, Argentina, by government forces. Despite eyewitness accounts of his murder, Emilia has waited for her husband to return, the very definition of purgatory as a “wait whose end we cannot know.” The author soon intervenes directly, purporting to tell Emilia’s story firsthand as a narrator. Between the initial encounter and the final explanation, Martínez fills the pages with the saga of Emilia’s family—her marriage and career, her mother’s insanity, her father’s collusion with the authoritarian government, her loyalty to her sister—while blending fiction and history. Unlike other novels that deal with the “disappeared” during Argentina’s Dirty War, however, Martínez glosses over the details of the atrocities and focuses instead on the historical implications of the era. VERDICT The author of the hugely successful Santa Evita has written another well-paced novel, despite the seeming digressions, verging on fantasy, but with a denouement that may disappoint some readers as a cop-out.—Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH
Millet, Lydia. Ghost Lights. Norton. Oct. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9780393081718. $24.95. F
Hal, a mild-mannered IRS agent, goes to Belize ostensibly in search of his wife’s missing employer, a real estate developer who’s also the protagonist of Millet’s How the Dead Dream. In reality, this out-of-character mission is Hal’s excuse to escape perceived betrayals by his wife and daughter. Almost in spite of himself, he enlists the help of a vacationing German couple, as he grows to understand his own responsibility for his family relationships and his place in the world. Like John Updike’s Rabbit, Hal finds his odyssey taking unexpected twists and turns, as his wry and somewhat detached narrative voice makes astute observations about marriage, parenthood, and the state of the world. VERDICT Millet, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the recent Love in Infant Monkeys, skillfully interweaves the personal and the political, making Hal’s journey both specific and universal, even when you’re never sure where the story is going next. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 4/11/11.]—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Lib., Minneapolis
Mullen, Thomas. The Revisionists. Mulholland: Little, Brown. Sept. 2011. c.448p. ISBN 9780316176729. $25.99. F
“The past was gone.” When Zed’s wife and daughter die in a car accident, the government gives him two months to mourn. Then agents appear at his apartment and remove all trace of them—their pictures and clothing, computer files, his daughter’s teddy bear. They even take the clothing his wife had bought him. Zed lives in a world that is traumatized by memories of a terrifying past and determined to prevent that past from occurring again. Through time travel, Zed is sent back to our present time to ensure that nobody gets in the way of a soon-to-happen conflagration that ultimately leads to his own amnesiac future. This is either a novel about a horrifying future in which dissent is crushed before it starts and history is altered to fit the present, or an equally horrific present in which corporate interests and lawmakers collude and the apparatus of enforcement is progressively outsourced. Maybe it’s about both. VERDICT Mullen (The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers) has crafted an outstanding dystopic novel, but, surprise!, the dystopia includes today. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/11.]—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Nadzam, Bonnie. Lamb. Other. Sept. 2011. c.288p. ISBN 9781590514375. pap. $15.95. F
At once fantastic and all too believable, this unusual debut novel moves at the unsettling pace of a psychological thriller. The narrative tracks the long trip taken by middle-aged David Lamb and Tommie, the 11-year-old girl he meets and coerces to accompany him from Chicago to the Rockies in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Nadzam sets out to show us that Lamb doesn’t consciously make bad decisions. Gifted at delusion and desperate to regain faith in himself, Lamb is convinced that his attentions are in Tommie’s best interests—if not for him and his bounty, the pathetic, unattractive little girl would never experience beauty. And if not for her, he thinks, his world would reflect only darkness and deception. VERDICT A compelling variation on a disturbing but all-too-familiar theme that will find an audience among serious readers.—Joyce J. Townsend, Pittsburg, CA
Nissenson, Hugh. The Pilgrim. Sourcebooks Landmark. Nov. 2011. c.368p. ISBN 9781402209246. $24.99. F
What starts off as a confession, a precondition before acceptance into the congregation at Plymouth of 1625, turns into the recitation of a journey between joy and hell for Charles Wentworth. Son of a Church of England minister, Charles prefers the separatists to the “popery” of the Church of England and swings between pious devotion to the Bible and the lures of the world and the flesh. Both desires take him from his provincial home to Cambridge, London, and eventually to the New World. Wherever he is, Wentworth’s soul is always haunted by the question of whether he is saved or doomed in God’s eyes. Nissenson, acclaimed for his powerful narratives (The Days of Awe; The Tree of Life), here shows the tight grip of religious devotion on one young man’s mind, alongside the gritty world of early 17th-century England and Plymouth, MA. This is a look at not just how the Pilgrims lived but also how the human mind can torture itself in the name of God. VERDICT History, politics, faith, and daily life all come together in a strong story that will appeal to readers who appreciate any of those themes.—W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ
Penman, Sharon Kay. Lionheart. Marian Wood: Putnam. Oct. 2011. c.608p. ISBN 9780399157851. $28.95. F
The Saracens called him Malik Ric. The English called him Lionheart. In Penman’s latest historical, Richard I, determined to conquer the Holy Land and capture Jerusalem, journeys first to Sicily and Cyprus to free his imprisoned sister, Joanna; battle against self-proclaimed emperor Isaac Comnenus; and marry his bride, Berengaria of Navarre. Despite the departure of the French from Outremer (the Crusader states established after the First Crusade), Richard seizes strategic cities in the Holy Land as he maintains diplomatic relations with the Saracens. His legendary feats in battle and genius as a military commander bring him closer to capturing the Holy City. When word reaches him that England is in turmoil, Richard must decide whether to make a peace treaty with the Saracens or continue to fight for Jerusalem. His surprising choice will leave readers begging for more of Lionheart; Penman will continue his story in 2012 with A King’s Ransom. VERDICT As in her previous historical novels (Time and Chance) and mysteries, Penman expertly weaves well-researched historical events into her fast-paced revisionist story. Certain to appeal to historical fiction fans interested in the medieval era. [See Prepub Alert, 4/11/11.]—Cheryl Seymour, Ogdensburg, NY
Sacheri, Eduardo. The Secret in Their Eyes. Other. Oct. 2011. c.400p. tr. from Spanish by John Cullen. ISBN 9781590514504. pap. $15.95. F
Murder, revenge, and lost opportunities dominate this mystery, set in Argentina during the 1970s—the time of the Dirty War. (First published in 2005 as La pregunta de sus ojos, Sacheri’s popular novel was the basis for the 2010 Academy Award–winning Best Foreign Film.) The core story is framed as a novel being written by the tale’s protagonist, Benjamín Chaparro, who investigates a young married woman’s horrific rape and murder many years ago. The novel is partly a study of Argentina’s corrupt justice system, marked by a great disparity between those aspiring to uphold the law and those hungering for power, revenge, and personal gain. Though the story-within-a-story technique tends to slow the pace of the novel, the main story line is intriguing and often riveting. VERDICT This book is primarily a murder mystery, but the focus on 1970s Argentina and the internal angst of the protagonist add layers of complexity. Highly recommended for readers with an interest in suspense, history, and the human psyche.—Catherine Tingelstad, Pitt Community Coll., Greenville, NC
Smolens, John. The Schoolmaster’s Daughter: A Novel of the American Revolution. Pegasus. Nov. 2011. c.400p. ISBN 9781605982526. $25.95. F
Smolens’s (The Anarchist) latest novel opens in Boston in April of 1775. Abigail Lovell, the daughter of the Boston Latin School headmaster (a loyal subject of George III), is spying with her two brothers for the American cause. Abigail’s willingness to take risks leads her into danger when she is falsely accused of murdering a British sergeant then later when she helps her brother sabotage the British artillery before the Battle of Bunker Hill. VERDICT Despite the inclusion of famous historic figures and several of the major battles of the American Revolution, Smolens’s plot and characters remain uninvolving. A tepid love triangle among Abigail, a British colonel, and a young American doctor adds little to the story and ends abruptly. Readers are advised to look elsewhere.—Carly Thompson, Chicago Ridge P.L.
Southgate, Martha. The Taste of Salt. Algonquin. Sept. 2011. c.288p. ISBN 9781565129252. pap. $13.95. F
Southgate follows her two critically acclaimed novels, The Fall of Rome and Third Girl from the Left, with a novel featuring African American oceanographer Josie Henderson, who resides in Massachusetts with her white husband. Her decision to live and work near the ocean, away from her hometown of Cleveland, was prompted, almost without her being aware, by the alcoholism of her father and younger brother, Tick; she had longed for an escape. When Tick shows up expectantly at her door, Josie is suddenly confronted with her past and her own romantic addictions. Writing largely from the perspective of her protagonist, Southgate does a wonderful job of telling Josie’s story, touching on racism, sexism, alcoholism, and emotional infidelity in a story that is intriguing if not entirely unpredictable. In fact, the novel is strongest when it most recalls an actual memoir. VERDICT A good, attention-grabbing read reminiscent of James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, this work will appeal to readers of African American literature.—Ashanti White, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Toyne, Simon. Sanctus. Morrow. Sept. 2011. c.496p. ISBN 9780062038302. $25.99. F
A cassocked monk stands on a mountaintop in modern-day Turkey above the fictional city of Ruin. Arms outstretched, he forms a tau, the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet. Having climbed from within a cloistered Vatican-like city-state called the Citadel, he is a remarkable sight, attracting media attention as he deliberately plummets outside the Citadel’s walls. To some, this event portends a prophetic sequence, but the ensuing investigation brings unwanted scrutiny upon the secretive order. What message was this monk delivering…and to whom? When his journalist sister arrives to claim the body, she unwittingly becomes enmeshed in intrigue befitting an action thriller. The monks are hiding something in the Citadel, and they will go to any length to protect it. VERDICT Throwing his hat in with the religious conspiracy thriller crowd, former British television producer Toyne has written a well-developed, exciting debut, the first volume of a projected trilogy, that doesn’t tip off the ending midnovel like so many of its kind. Its “just one more page, one more chapter” urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel’s secret is haunting. [100,000-copy first printing; rights sold in 27 countries; see Prepub Alert, 3/14/11.]— Laura A.B. Cifelli, Ft. Myers–Lee Cty. P.L., FL
Urrea, Luis Alberto. Queen of America. Little, Brown. Dec. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9780316154864. $25.99. F
Teresita Urrea, a real-life saint and the author’s great-aunt, returns as the heroine of this gritty, bold, and much-anticipated sequel (though it stands alone) to The Hummingbird’s Daughter. Picking up where Hummingbird left off, the narrative has Teresita fleeing Mexico with her father following the 19th-century Tomochic rebellion and arriving in Arizona to begin a new chapter of her life just as America is embarking on a new century. A tough but loving healer known as the Saint of Cabora, she eludes assassins while continuing to bestow her powers on the pilgrims that overwhelm her in hopes of being healed. Teresita travels America, experiences baseball for the first time, meets captivating people, and even considers the possibility of love. VERDICT Fiercely romantic and at times heartbreaking but also full of humor, Urrea’s latest novel blends fairy tale, Western adventure, folk tale, and historical drama. Fans of Hummingbird and readers new to Urrea’s work will surely enjoy this magnificent, epic novel. [See Prepub Alert, 6/13/11.]— Lisa Block, Emory Univ., Atlanta
Winters, Ben H. Bedbugs. Quirk. Sept. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9781594745232. pap. $14.95. F
Susan and Alex Wendt, along with their wee child, Emma, have finally made the move into a lovely brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Alex’s commercial photography business has just been blessed with some major-name clients, and Emma loves her new school. All sighs of relief and with settling in behind them, Susan embarks on her renewed career as a fine artist. But wait. Who’s been tampering with her paintings? And what about these ever-present insects that the exterminator never seems to see? Is Susan a victim of the paresthesia phenomenon called formication? Or is something more sinister going on? VERDICT Winters, author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman, delivers up a grand B movie–style psychological thriller complete with some genuinely creepy moments. Read it with the lights on so you can keep an eye out for those squirmy little buggers.—Russell Miller, Prescott P.L., AZ
Wolff, Isabel. The Very Picture of You. Bantam. Oct. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9780553807844. $25. F
Gabriella Graham is a London portraitist who, at 35, is collecting a growing number of accolades and commissions. Her half-sister, Chloe, is engaged to Nate, and Chloe wants Ella to paint Nate’s portrait. Unfortunately, Ella loathes Nate after overhearing his seemingly affectionate phone conversation with another woman. During the sittings, though, Ella begins to develop inappropriate feelings toward her future brother-in-law. At the same time, Ella receives an email from her father, now living in Australia, who abandoned her and her mother more than 30 years ago. As her mother has always refused to discuss him, Ella is torn about how to respond. Suddenly, her comfortable, predictable life seems rooted in a bed of lies. VERDICT Wolff (A Vintage Affair) draws us into the world of portrait painting, with readers imagining how they might pose, what they would wear, and what of their true natures would be captured by the perceptive artist. As Ella reveals her sitters’ essence and vitality, she finds herself struggling with misplaced emotions and a sense of betrayal. This cathartic and ultimately romantic tale will appeal to fans of women’s fiction. [Library marketing; see Prepub Alert, 4/4/11.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
SHORT STORIES
Morrow, Bradford. The Uninnocent. Pegasus. Dec. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9781605982656. $25. F
A teenage boy obsessively (and surreptitiously) photographs his older brother’s girlfriend. An electrical worker who turns motivational speaker after he’s blinded in an accident miraculously regains his sight and discovers that life was better when he couldn’t see. A young wife prone to fugue states is at the center of a series of murders that involve her husband, her children, and her husband’s lover. A teenage boy murders his grandmother’s male friend, whom he believes to be a Martian landed on Earth as part of the invasion that captivated the country in Orson Welles’s broadcast of War of the Worlds—and no trace of the body can be found. What links all these dark tales from Morrow (The Diviner’s Tale) is that the main characters live in the shadowland where normalcy and mania and at times even depravity meet. VERDICT Hanging on the voices of their narrators—at once fascinating in their fixations and repelling in their twisted logic—and mixing elements of Southern gothic and noir, these powerful tales will linger in the reader’s mind.—Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA
Williams, George. Gardens of Earthly Delight. Raw Dog. 2011. c.208p. ISBN 9781935738114. $29.95; pap. ISBN 9781935738121. $14.95. F
In his first short story collection, Williams (Degenerate) shows a darkly comic sensibility more akin to that of the filmmaking Coen brothers (think Barton Fink) than to more obvious literary influences. His swift, choppy dialog (no quotation marks), quickly shifting scenes, and peculiar interest in archaic religious weaponry (armor, swords, and shields) make for a wild ride from story to story. The narratives are filled with gleefully incongruous details. In “Texarkana,” for instance, a couple playing for high stakes at the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino read Proust at night, while the World War I veteran looking to buy himself a car from a Texas dealership (“Alamo Ford”) finds that his pocket money instead buys him a mule. These stories have an element of the Southern gothic that may remind some readers of Flannery O’Connor; “Arkadelphia” brings to mind Shirley Jackson’s famously terrifying lottery. VERDICT Recommended to adventurous readers, who will surely enjoy Williams’s wildly irreverent inventions.—Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA
Woodrell, Daniel. The Outlaw Album. Little, Brown. Oct. 2011. c.176p. ISBN 9780316057561. $24.99. F
The eight previous novels by Woodrell (e.g., Winter’s Bone) are mostly set in the Missouri Ozarks, where his family has lived for generations. In his first story collection, Woodrell writes with the same blunt style about painful family dramas and the familiar dark fringes of society. His characters are a dirt-poor, lawless bunch. In “The Echo of Neighborly Bones,” the troubled Boshell shoots his neighbor just for being an opinionated foreigner from Minnesota but mostly for killing Boshell’s dog and for being one of the newcomers responsible for the family losing its land. In “Uncle,” a young girl pushed to the limit by her mother’s evil brother whacks him a good one with a mattock handle, but he doesn’t die. In the moving “Two Things,” Cecil writes poetry from prison, which could line him up for early parole, but his family won’t take him back because of the terrible things he did to them. VERDICT
Dark, tough, and chilling, this collection packs a wallop, leaving readers to draw�solid comparisons to works by Ken Bruen and James Ellroy. Some of these 12 tales are tragic, and some are funny, but all are unforgettable. [See Prepub Alert, 5/16/11.]—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., CO
LAST-MINUTE SF/FANTASY
Bird, Allyson. Isis Unbound. Dark Regions. Sept. 2011. c.206p. ISBN 9781937128005. pap. $16.95. FANTASY
Generations ago, Cleopatra, with the blessing of Isis and Anthony at her side, started an empire. Her descendants still rule, but the goddess Isis has fallen silent, and there are those who fear her favor has been lost and the empire is falling apart. It is not that Isis has forgotten her empire, but she has been killed by her sister, the goddess Nepythys. Now the dead cannot pass over and stumble restless and frightened through a city already oppressed by plague and tyranny. The Chief Embalmer’s daughters, Ella and Loli, get involved in the machinations of the gods themselves as the fate of an empire is decided. VERDICT Set in a declining Egyptian empire dusted with the familiar technological and scientific trappings of a steampunk setting, this debut novel by British Fantasy Award winner Bird (Bull Running for Girls) is a frightening, gorgeous book that breathes something fascinating and new into the genre. It will appeal to avid readers of steampunk as well as horror fans.—April Steenburgh, George F. Johnson Memorial Lib., Endwell NY
The Urban Fantasy Anthology. Tachyon, dist. by IPG. 2011. c.432p. ed. by Peter S. Beagle & Joe R. Lansdale. ISBN 9781616960186. pap. $15.95. FANTASY
With this impressive collection, Beagle, best known for The Last Unicorn, and Lansdale, author of the cult classic novella Bubba Ho-Tep, demonstrate their knowledge of the urban fantasy genre. Included here are pieces from well-known contributors in three categories: mythic fiction, paranormal romance, and noir fiction. The authors run the gamut from YA magical realist Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat) to Charles de Lint, the creator of the expansive Newford series, who also contributes the introduction to the mythic fiction section. Most of these stories have appeared in both multiauthor anthologies and personal collections (Neil Gaiman’s “The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories,” for instance, was first printed in David Copperfield’s Beyond Imagination and then in Gaiman’s own Smoke and Mirrors). Others are previously unpublished and well worth a read. VERDICT While urban fantasy is often misconstrued as containing only paranormal romance, this anthology collects various examples of the genre that will delight and entertain a wide array of readers. Buy at least one copy.—Stacey Rottiers Comfort, Dexter District Lib., MI
Hanson, Victor Davis. The End of Sparta. Bloomsbury Pr., dist. by Macmillan. Oct. 2011. c.464p. maps. ISBN 9781608191642. $28. F
The history of the Theban general Epaminondas and the liberation of 100,000 Messenian helots (slaves) in 369 B.C.E. is often overlooked. Athens and Sparta were the great powers of their day—Athens for its center of learning and democracy and Sparta for its military prowess. Thebes, on the other hand, was an agrarian state, the breadbasket of Greece, and as such was disdained by its southern neighbors. Making his fiction debut, historian Hanson, praised for his in-depth analyses of the early history of the Greek city-states in The Father of Us All and A War Like No Other, tells the story of Epaminondas and the fall of Sparta at the Battle of Leuktra through the eyes of Mêlon, a farmer-turned-soldier. VERDICT Hanson suffers a bit from first-novelitis. While he excels at depicting battle strategies and ancient armaments, his characters are less well developed—their motives and passions not fully revealed. Stilted dialog fails to advance the plot. However, for readers who enjoy works set in this time period, such as Steven Pressfield’s Gates of Fire (Sparta) and Tides of War (Athens), this may be a welcome look at a less-well-known Greek city-state.—Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage P.L., AK
Tillyard, Stella. Tides of War. Holt. Nov. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9780805094572. $26. F
The Napoleonic Wars were not only a time of great military and political turmoil, but a period of social and economic upheaval as well, brilliantly explored in this novel of the Peninsular War (1807–14) in Spain through the eyes of the soldiers who fought it (seasoned Major Yallop, dashing Captain Raven, his batman Thomas Order, and Wellington himself) and the women they left behind (phlegmatic Dorothy Yallop, new bride Harriet Raven, and Kitty, the oft-ignored Lady Wellington). As the men storm the walls of Badajoz and are feted and courted in a liberated Madrid, the women, making the most of their chance at independence, take charge of their financial futures and make new friendships that both empower and enlighten them. In short, war is as transformative for those who remain at home as for those who fight it, and historian Tillyard (A Royal Affair; Aristocrats), making her fiction debut, does a superb job of portraying those transformations with deft, economical prose and metaphors that are as instructive as they are descriptive. VERDICT This sophisticated, unusual portrait of Regency society will appeal to all readers of historical fiction, especially admirers of Bernard Cornwell. [See Prepub Alert, 5/9/11.]—Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA
Averill, Thomas Fox. rode. Univ. of New Mexico. 2011. 212p. ISBN 9780826350299. $24.95. F
At home with horses, Tennessean Robert Johnson tames a legendary stallion he calls The Stud, and in 1825, after building himself a cabin on 40 acres, he is ready to realize his dream of starting a horse farm. But when he falls in love with Jo Benson, whose family has a history of contention with the Johnsons, Robert finds himself framed for murder. He and his Tennessee Stud hit the road. Running from a bounty hunter and feeling like a desperado, he makes his way westward down to Mexico, meeting both friends and foes, all colorfully depicted. At one point The Stud is stolen by Indians, along with most of Robert’s clothing. Despite hardship and hunger, Robert is full of hope and longing. He must find a way to clear his name and get back to his sweet Jo. In Averill’s hands, both man and horse are heroic. VERDICT Based on the American folk ballad “Tennessee Stud,” this novel by the author of Secrets of the Tsil Café is an artistic masterpiece galloping with classic all-American appeal.—Keddy Ann Outlaw, formerly with Harris County P.L., Houston, TX
McCrumb, Sharyn. The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel. Thomas Dunne: St. Martin’s. Sept. 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9780312558178. $24.99. F
Forget the Kingston trio folk song and Doc Watson’s more authentic version, both of which proclaim Dooley’s guilt. Not so, maintains Appalachian author McCrumb (The Devil Amongst the Lawyers) in this novel based on extensive research. In 1866, Tom Dula was a handsome, ne’er-do-well ex-Confederate soldier still bedding his childhood sweetheart, beautiful—and narcissistic—Ann Foster Melton, who had married a more responsible man during Tom’s absence. The trouble began when Ann’s cousin Pauline Foster became a servant in the Melton household to be near a doctor to treat her “pox” (syphilis). Tom’s favors extended also to Pauline (an arrangement Ann urged, in McCrumb’s view, to quell gossip about herself and Tom) and to Laura Foster, another cousin, for whose murder in Wilkes County, NC, he was hanged. The events covering several months are related by Pauline as well as Zebulon Vance, the ex-governor of North Carolina, who defended Tom. VERDICT In a story with parallels to Wuthering Heights, McCrumb makes a strong case for a sociopathic servant as the catalyst for the deadly events that ensued. True to the language and culture of its time and place, this latest entry in the Ballad series could be headed for best-sellerdom, given the sensational nature of the crime and the popularity of the song it inspired. [National tour; library marketing; see Prepub Alert, 3/15/11.]—Michele Leber, Arlington, VA
