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Fiction, Mysteries and Science Fiction

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For more links to new items at Howe,
see the "Featured Lists" section in KnowHowe, the Howe Library catalog.

NEW FICTION

Call numbers for fiction are the letters FIC plus
the first three letters of the author's last name.

Ackroyd, Peter.   THE FALL OF TROY. "The life of archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) is boldly fictionalized in the industrious British author's latest.  Ackroyd's Schliemann is Heinrich Obermann, who shares his historical counterpart's biography (fortunes made in Europe and America; well-earned reputations for dedication and discipline as well as arrogance), but emerges here as even more of an 'Over-Man': an alarming combination of self-taught authority, visionary antiquarian and posturing mountebank....An entertaining, at times over-the-top historical pastiche...." (Kirkus Reviews).

Adrian, Chris.   THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.  "What begins as a nice novel about Jemma, a conflicted med student, takes a serious turn for the freaky when a watery apocalypse drowns the entire Earth - save for the children's hospital where she works.  Adrian lays out a brave new world that is glorious and miraculous and horrible all at once, where foreboding angels watch over the corridors and closets and ICUs, and nothing can possibly turn out all right.  At 480 pages, the result is at least a third too long - but you try putting it down." (Entertainment Weekly).

Anam, Tahmima.   A GOLDEN AGE.  "Set during the violent birth of Bangadesh, this assured debut novel intimately explores political and religious conflicts." (Boston Globe).

Archer, Jeffrey.   A PRISONER OF BIRTH.  "In 2003, best-selling British author and former member of Parliament Jeffrey Archer was released from a two-year stint in prison for perjuring himself during a 1987 libel case.  Now, five years and three published prison diaries later, the author revisits life in the clink in his new novel. The 500-page whopper, set in contemporary England, borrows its general plotline from Alexandre Dumas' THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO:  an innocent man, Danny Cartwright, is sent to jail, only to escape and seek revenge on those who put him there." (Entertainment Weekly).

Audeguy, Stephane. THE THEORY OF CLOUDS.  According to THE THEORY OF CLOUDS, a novel by Paris-based author Stephane Audeguy, cloud watching can drive people batty.  In support of this assertion, Audeguy parades before the reader a series of individuals - some based on historical figures, others purely imaginary - whose lives have been consumed by the study of clouds, in particular, and the science of meteorology in general....an interesting potpourri of a narrative, mixing fact and fiction, with a definite moral attached:  watch what you watch." (Toronto Star).

Banks, Russell.   THE RESERVE.   "Novelist Russell Banks has set his stories everywhere from his native New England to the islands of the Caribbean and from the period of Abolition to the present day. His latest novel...takes us to a vast acreage of private land in the Adirondack Mountains on the Fourth of July, 1936." (All Things Considered - National Public Radio).

Barrett, Andrea.   THE AIR WE BREATHE.   Historical fiction from the author of National Book Award-winning SHIP FEVER and THE VOYAGE OF THE NARWHAL - "The book is set in 1916 and centers on tuberculosis patients (many of them immigrants) in Tamarack State, a public sanatorium in the northern Adirondack mountains....Barrett's characters are sparely but finely drawn, her science full of the excitement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The result is oddly moving, seen through the eyes of immigrants in search of justice, intellectual freedom and a better world." (New Scientist).

Berenson, Alex.   THE GHOST WAR. "Having foiled an al-Qaeda plot targeting Times Square in 2006's THE FAITHFUL SPY (which won an Edgar Award for best first novel), maverick CIA agent John Wells confronts a very different threat in this pulse-pounding sequel from New York Times reporter Berenson." (Publishers Weekly).

Bradbury, Ray.   NOW AND FOREVER: SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING ; & LEVIATHAN '99. "Still active, curious and writing in his ninth decade, Bradbury does a little desk cleaning, finishing up a story that's nagged at him for years and having another stab at a sci-fi version of Moby-Dick first written for radio....Two novellas from the big heart of an American original...." (Kirkus Reviews).

Carey, Peter.   HIS ILLEGAL SELF. "The Australian-born, twice Booker Prize- winning Carey, now a New Yorker, doesn't shy away from difficult novelistic feats.  This time he tells his story from the point of view of 7-year-old Che, the child of fugitive '60s Harvard radicals.  Despite attempts to cocoon him in his grandmother's respectable milieu, Che finds himself on the run in a magical mystery tour circa 1972.... picaresque, hard-boiled yet uplifting tale." (Atlantic Monthly).

Collins, James.   BEGINNER'S GREEK.   "Set in a world of enlightened WASP aristos, this sunny lemon chiffon pie of a novel is dedicated to the proposition of perfect romantic love." (New York Times Book Review - Editor's Choice).

Cornwell, Bernard.   SWORD SONG: THE BATTLE FOR LONDON.   Fourth installment in the Saxon Tales series featuring Uhtred of Bebbanburg and 9th century Britain - "Yet again, the brash pagan warrior Uhtred must grudgingly serve the pious Christian king Alfred - this time retaking the old Roman city of Lundene from the marauding Danes, to whom Uhtred feels much closer.  As expected, the warfare is ferociously bloody, the sacrilege pointedly barbed, and the story expertly paced." (Entertainment Weekly).

Crusie, Jennifer.   AGNES & THE HITMAN. "Crusie and Mayer reteam (after DON'T LOOK DOWN) on this goofball romantic confectionary that mixes together Cranky Agnes, a food writer and caterer, with Shane, a hit man with no last name....amusing banter and surprising moments of poignancy keep the mushrooming plot barely in check." (Publishers Weekly).

Dailey, Janet.   SOMETHING MORE.  Romantic suspense - "Veteran tale-spinner Dailey depicts ranching life with a sure-handed, affectionate humor." (Publishers Weekly)

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee.   THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS.  "Recasting the Indian epic Mahabbarata from the perspective of Princess Panchaali, veteran novelist Divakaruni (QUEEN OF DREAMS) offers a vivid and inventive companion to the renowned poem." (Publishers Weekly).

Dolby, Tom.   THE SIXTH FORM.   "More coming-of-age novel than roman a clef, Tom Dolby's novel THE SIXTH FORM follows the senior year (or sixth form) of Ethan Whitley - sent to Berkley Academy by his Stanford professor parents after his mother is diagnosed with cancer -  and Todd Eldon, who's coming to terms with his sexuality. Tying the two together is an English teacher who inspires in both young men an urge to give in to their unfulfilled desires." (Advocate).

Eck, Matthew.   THE FARTHER SHORE.   "A unit of young American soldiers lost in an unnamed city in an unnamed desert nation struggle to maintain a tenuous grip on their lives in this haunting debut novel by Eck, a veteran of U.S. Army efforts in Somalia." (Publishers Weekly).

Faqir, Fadia.   THE CRY OF THE DOVE.  "Jordanian British author Faqir (PILLARS OF SALT) has written an exquisite novel describing the plight of Salma, a young Bedouin woman who has become pregnant before marriage and must flee her village to avoid being murdered by her brother, as the tribal code of honor killings demands. Told in the first person, the discontinuous narrative of Salma's life is as well constructed as a mosaic in which each tile is lovely....readers will be transfixed." (Library Journal).

Farooki, Roopa.   BITTER SWEETS.   First novel by a young writer born in Pakistan and living currently in London - "Best seller in the U.K., where it was shortlisted for the 2007 Orange Prize....the stories of three generations of Asian/Muslim immigrants are filtered through family members' lies and deceptions." (USA Today).

Greeley, Andrew M.   IRISH TIGER.  "Nuala Anne McGrail, fey Irish singer and part-time psychic problem solver, takes on another mission of the heart in her 11th adventure (after 2007’s IRISH LINEN) ....Greeley's slightly patchy narrative, laced with his trademark Irish humor, serves as a reminder that faith and courage can make marriage succeed at any age and against any adversity." (Publishers Weekly).

Guo, Xiaolu.   A CONCISE CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS. "Soon after she arrives in London, a young Chinese woman who goes by the initial Z ('please no worry to remember, my name too long pronounce') meets her future lover.  This unnamed artist invites Z to be a guest at his home and doesn't object when Z, misunderstanding the offer, moves in.  In steadily improving (and comically blunt) English, Z records a year of her sexual discovery and cultural confusion, along with new words like pub, migraine, and bisexual.  Guo's novel, her first in English, is smartly absorbing." (Entertainment Weekly).

Hall, James W.   HELL'S BAY. "Thorn, the crime-solving Key Largo recluse, keeps taking chances, trying to expand his narrow comfort zone, but inevitably, those chances backfire, supporting his core belief that civilization should be avoided whenever possible. This time, he agrees to help a friend lead a fishing expedition into some off-the-map mangrove swamps, where the fish have never been touched by human hands....no such thing as a bad Thorn novel, but this is one of the best of an excellent bunch." (Booklist).

Hannah, Kristin.   FIREFLY LANE. "Hannah limns the depths of female friendship in her new novel, which follows a girlhood bond that matures into an adult one. Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey come from different backgrounds: vivacious Tully has been abandoned by her hippie mother while studious Kate comes from a stable and loving family....Covering the 1970s to the new millennium, Hannah's latest is a moving and realistic portrait of a complex and enduring friendship." (Booklist).

Harvey, Kenneth J.   INSIDE.   "Even after the prison doors have opened, family cycles of violence and revenge can keep a man in chains.  In this tense and unrelenting first-person narrative, Canadian author Harvey gives us Myrden (no first name) just as he is released from prison after serving 14 years for murder ...This moody, brooding portrait will leave readers chilled and profoundly moved." (Kirkus Reviews)

Hearn, Lian.   HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE. "Set in a brutal and breathtaking feudal Japan, this lyrical and moving prequel to Hearn's TALES OF THE OTORI and also the fifth and final entry in this epic chronicle of ruthless warlords and ill-fated love, focuses on the early life of Otori Shigeru, the young heir to the Otori clan....Equal parts historical fiction, high fantasy and revelatory Taoist fable, the now complete TALES OF THE OTORI is a saga to be treasured." (Publishers Weekly).

Hellenga, Robert.   THE ITALIAN LOVER.   "Hellenga reprises protagonist Margot Harrington from THE SIXTEEN PLEASURES (1995) in his latest, a romantic comedy about the book-to-film adaptation of Margot's memoir....Elegant in its colorful use of Italian phrases, cuisine and sites, Hellenga's complex novel offers a vivid, often sophisticated view of modern Florence...." (Publishers Weekly).

Higgins, Jack.   KILLING GROUND. "In the latest Sean Dillon thriller, starring the globe-trotting intelligence officer, a seemingly routine passport check turns out to be anything but….The pace is fast; the characters well developed, at least in the context of a plot-driven thriller; and the story timely, as always from veteran Higgins." (Booklist).

Holdefer, Charles.   THE CONTRACTOR.  "Though billed as a critical examination of the interrogation camps run by the U.S. military, this dramatic thriller is more a finely tuned character study of a man in personal crisis.  George Young, a private contractor, interrogates prisoners in a remote island fortress known as Omega. Young appreciates the challenge of his job, but dislikes the many uncomfortable strategies he must employ and is haunted by his role in the death of prisoner #4141.  Holdefer shows a polished touch with detail and dialogue." (Publishers Weekly).

Hospital, Janette Turner.   ORPHEUS LOST.   "Hospital explores how terrorism and its manifestations affect the lives of ordinary people. The story of Leela-May Magnolia Moore, her lover Mishka, and her old friend Cobb reveals a perfect storm of conflicted personal lives crashing against a run-amok world where individual identity has no value." (American Libraries)

Humphreys, C. C.   THE BLOODING OF JACK ABSOLUTE.  "This intriguing prequel to Humphreys's swashbuckling historical adventure debut, JACK ABSOLUTE, which was based on a character drawn from Richard Sheridan's 18th-century play THE RIVALS, lays the foundations of Jack's early life as a boy, a spirited teenager, and eventually a young man facing the grim reality of politics, war....Readers who enjoyed Winston Graham's 'Poldark Saga' historical series or George McDonald Fraser's 'Flashman' series will also find this appealing." (Library Journal).

Hunt, Samantha.   THE INVENTION OF EVERYTHING ELSE.  "In this quirky novel, Hunt imagines the last days of the eccentric scientist, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of AC electricity and wireless communication.  Having shunned fame, fortune, and relationships to work toward the next big invention, Tesla finds himself living alone in the Hotel New Yorker avoiding people, disinfecting everything, and obsessing over towels. Things finally change on New Year's Day 1943, when he comes in contact with Louisa, a curious chambermaid who enjoys snooping....Oddly charming and pleasantly peculiar, Hunt's novel offers a unique perspective on hope and imagining life's possibilities." (Booklist).

Huston, Charlie.   THE SHOTGUN RULE.  "One of the crime genre's rising stars, Huston delivers a stunning, darkly comic coming-of-age novel, set in the summer of 1983 in an unnamed Northern California town. Four teenage boys, out of school and experimenting with drugs, booze and sex, find trouble fast....Huston has the courage to both unsettle and entertain the reader, and his story resonates long after its disturbing final scenes." (Publishers Weekly)

Jones, Nalini.   WHAT YOU CALL WINTER:  STORIES.  "Jones' polished but conventional linked stories explore terrain staked out by Jhumpa Lahiri:  the world of middle-class Indians, at home, abroad, and caught somewhere between." (Entertainment Weekly)

Kennedy, A. L.   DAY.   "Kennedy's excellently written novel dips vertiginously into the inner life of a semi-shell-shocked former R. A. F. tail gunner."  (New York Times Book Review - Editor's Choice).

Khakpour, Porochista.   SONS AND OTHER FLAMMABLE OBJECTS. "This debut novel centers on an energetically discordant Iranian family living in the United States. As father, mother, and son fight to fit in while holding on to their roots, Khakpour explores ethnicity, nationalism, and post-9/11 fear - well-worn themes that are far less compelling than the exuberant originality of her style." (New Yorker).

Kimmel, Haven.   THE USED WORLD.   Third novel from the author of the memoir A GIRL NAMED ZIPPY - "The plains stretch for many cold and lonely miles, but Haven Kimmel fires her bittersweet Indiana novels with a warm sensibility and a compassionate understanding of the people shaped by the chilly, conservative and remote landscape." (Miami Herald)

Kinder, R. M.    AN ABSOLUTE GENTLEMAN.  "In this absorbing study of a serial killer, told in the first person, Kinder offers a rather sympathetic view of a man who outwardly possesses the characteristics of a highly functional citizen.  In fact, it's difficult not to like Arthur Blume:  he's even-tempered, bright, and a well-respected teacher of creative writing....Kinder based much of this first novel on her experiences with a real- life serial killer named Robert Weeks, and her handling of her fictional character shows a sophisticated understanding of a madman's thought processes." (Library Journal).

King, Stephen.   DUMA KEY.  "Leave it to Stephen King to find the macabre in a sunset stroll.  While walking near his Florida home, the author began to imagine two dead girls standing hand in hand on the untamed road.  The image stuck, and in 2005, King began work on DUMA KEY, his first Florida-based novel.  Set on an island with a tragic past involving two young girls, the book follows Edgar Freemantle, an artistic, memory-challenged amputee who discovers that his paintings have supernatural powers." (Entertainment Weekly).

Kinsella, Sophie.   REMEMBER ME?  "Londoner Lexi's loser beau just stood her up, and her job as an associate junior sales manager (flooring) is going nowhere.  But as the 25-year-old runs for a cab, she slips, falls and wakes up three years later - with a gorgeous husband, a fab job, designer duds and no memory.  The story line may be different, but fans of the fizzy Shopaholic series will find a familiar plucky charm in Kinsella's latest label- loving heroine." (People Magazine).

Krentz, Jayne Ann.   SIZZLE AND BURN. "Writing with her usual sharp wit, Krentz continues her loosely connected, addictively readable series featuring the Arcane Society with another brilliantly crafted novel that deftly fuses paranormal-flavored suspense with sizzlingly sexy romance." (Booklist).

Lalwani, Nikita.   GIFTED.   "After a teacher discovers 5-year-old Rumi Vasi's exceptional math talents, the British girl's life becomes, at her stern Indian-born father's insistence, a series of drills and mock exams until she enters the United Kingdom's Oxford University at age 15 as, she wistfully observes, 'a gifted weirdo.' As the protagonist of this engaging first novel, Rumi is entertaining and likeable even at her angriest and most confused." (People Magazine)

Lerner, Eric.   PINKERTON'S SECRET.  "Lerner highlights Pinkerton's progressive politics and distinctive personal history with uncanny accuracy throughout this sharp-witted, romantic channeling of America's prototype investigative innovator." (Publishers Weekly).

Lewycka, Marina.   STRAWBERRY FIELDS. "This affectionate follow-up to Lewycka's debut novel (about a Ukrainian family assimilating to contemporary Britain) plays out similar themes of immigrant struggle on a broader scale.  A cast of itinerant characters realize that picking strawberries in Kent is more lucrative than white-collar jobs in their homelands, and narrate their journeys in the spirit of Chaucer's pilgrims....the jostle of voices creates an effervescent comedy, beneath which lies a more somber look at the costs of globalization." (New Yorker).

McBride, James.   SONG YET SUNG.   "...a story of violence, hope and redemption, James McBride's new novel is a semi-fictional account of slavery set in pre-Civil War Maryland.  The story centers around a runaway slave and a determined slave catcher, but the book does more than tackle issues of race. McBride raises larger questions about the legacy of slavery and what it means to be human."(National Public Radio).

McInerney, Monica.   THE FARADAY GIRLS.   "McInerney's latest novel is the saga of the Faraday sisters of Tasmania through 20 years of rough patches and triumphs.  Their unconventional household consists of Miranda, Eliza, Sadie, Clementine, widower father Leo, and baby Maggie, unexpectedly born to 16-year- old Clementine.  When the sisters rally around to raise Maggie, she quickly becomes the center of the Faraday universe and ends up being one of the wisest characters in the book.  McInerney is a talented storyteller, narrating her story with a lightness that does not feel frivolous." (Library Journal).

McNamer, Deirdre.   RED ROVER.  "In this haunting novel set in the Montana plains, one brother, a ruined FBI man back from WWII, dies and another, a B-29 bomber pilot, lives. Seems like a sad but straightforward setup.  But McNamer shakes up this snow globe of a story, and spends careful time with all of her many characters...." (Entertainment Weekly)  

Mercier, Pascal.   NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON.   "In Swiss novelist Mercier's U.S. debut, Raimund Gregorius is a gifted but dull 57-year-old high school classical languages teacher in Switzerland.  After a chance meeting with a Portuguese woman in the rain, he discovers the work of a Portuguese poet and doctor, Amadeu de Prado, persecuted under Salazar's regime....The artful unspooling of Prado's fraught life is richly detailed:  full of surprises and paradoxes, it incorporates a vivid rendering of the Portuguese resistance to Salazar." (Publishers Weekly).

Meyer, Andrea.   ROOM FOR LOVE.  "Rich detail, a plot that lasts for a solid eight innings and a genuinely likable heroine give Meyer's conventional chick lit entry sparkle....Meyer gives Jacquie some terrific foils (in friends Courtney and gay man Jeremy), and has poignant things to say about the struggle to find the right person." (Publishers Weekly).

Millet, Lydia.   HOW THE DEAD DREAM.   "Influenced by a sense of loss in his own life, this novel's hero, a real estate developer, turns into a defender of the wildlife one of his projects threatens." (New York Times Book Review - Editor's Choice).

Murphy, Yannick.   SIGNED, MATA HARI.   "Ninety years after her firing-squad execution, Mata Hari is still the most infamous female spy of all.  In this atmospheric novel of seductively brief chapters, Murphy reimagines the many blanks of Hari's sexed-up history.  Born Margaretha Zelle in Holland, she married an abusive captain at 18, moved with him to Java, lost a child and her marriage, returned to Europe, and, amazingly, reinvented herself as a renowned exotic dancer....compelling mix of erotic poetry, bio, and thriller." (Entertainment Weekly).

Nahai, Gina Barkhordar.   CASPIAN RAIN.   In pre- revolutionary Tehran, a Jewish girl from the slums finds her marriage prospects dimmed by the disgraceful behavior of her siblings, among them a delusional opera singer manque, an aged (i.e., nearing thirty) spinster, and a convert to Islam (who 'couldn't tough it out as a Jew').... Nahai evokes even peripheral characters in vivid detail." (New Yorker).

Nemirovsky, Irene.   DAVID GOLDER; THE BALL; SNOW IN AUTUMN; THE COURILOF AFFAIR. "Through the 1920s and '30s Russian-Jewish emigre Nemirovsky, author of the recently rediscovered and internationally bestselling SUITE FRANCAISE, was a popular and critically acclaimed novelist in her adopted France.  These four short early novels reveal...her impressive range, bitingly exact settings and insight into profoundly flawed and compromised characters." (Publishers Weekly).

O'Connor, Joseph.   REDEMPTION FALLS.  "Immigrants, vagabonds and rebels cross paths in the bloody wake of the American Civil War.  Irish novelist O'Connor crafts an emotional sequel, of sorts, to his much-lauded previous immigrant fable (STAR OF THE SEA, 2003)....A striking Western epic elevated by a Greek chorus of deviant narrators." (Kirkus Reviews).

O'Farrell, Maggie.   THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX.   "Iris Lockhart leads a solitary if spicy life, managing her clothing shop in Edinburgh and dallying with her married lover.  But when Iris learns that she has a great-aunt Esme waiting to be released from Cauldstone Hospital, where she has been locked away for 60 years, it is as if a bomb has dropped. The hospital is closing, and someone must collect Esme, who upon inspection seems frail, quiet, and a little quirky but hardly mentally ill....The secret of Esme's existence is only the first of many family secrets revealed in a tale told through shifting viewpoints." (Library Journal).

Palmer, Michael.   THE FIRST PATIENT.  Medical thriller in which the President's personal physician suspects that someone is trying to drive the President insane - "Although this is far from Palmer's best work, it still offers mostly well constructed characters and a story that, despite its thinly realized setting, delivers some real suspense." (Booklist).

Patterson, James.   7TH HEAVEN.   Seventh Women's Murder Club thriller from bestseller Patterson and Maxine Paetro (after 2007's 6TH TARGET).

Picoult, Jodi.   CHANGE OF HEART.   "Novelist Jodi Picoult's zesty embrace of the zeitgeist has generated millions of fans (if a few crabby critics). In her 15th novel, CHANGE OF HEART, she again dips her pen into hot- button issues, this time taking on the death penalty, Gnosticism, Catholicism, Judaism, mysticism, organ transplantation and child abuse." (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

Poyer, David.   KOREA STRAIT. "Comm. David Lenson (THE THREAT) returns in an exciting high-tech novel vaguely set in a Clintonesque era when military budgets are slashed and the administration is despised by the military....Fans of naval warfare will relish the details and sea action." (Library Journal).

Preston, Douglas J.   BLASPHEMY.  "A slimy D.C. lobbyist - is there any other kind? - sets off a war between supercolliding physicists and supercredulous evangelical Christians in an unusually alarming and thoughtful thriller....Clever and terrifying." (Kirkus Reviews).

Price, Richard.   LUSH LIFE.  "Chandler - and Bellow, too - peeps out from Price's novel, in which an aspiring writer cum restaurant manager, mugged in the gentrifying Lower East Side of Manhattan, himself becomes a suspect." (New York Times Book Review).

Quick, Barbara.   VIVALDI'S VIRGINS.   "Quick takes readers into the cloistered World of the Ospedale della Pietà, convent orphanage and music school.  Narrator Anna Maria dal Violin, an actual violin prodigy and 18th-century resident of the Venetian Pietà, is among the orphanage girls who studies under maestro (and priest) Antonio Vivaldi....Quick creates a hauntingly authentic setting."

Rice, Anne.   CHRIST THE LORD: THE ROAD TO CANA.   "In the New Testament, the miracle at the wedding at Cana - where Jesus turned water into wine - marks the commencement of his tumultuous three-year ministry.  In Rice's beautifully observed novel, a sequel to 2005's CHRIST THE LORD: OUT OF EGYPT, however, the wedding miracle is in fact the culmination of an intimate family saga of love, sorrow and misunderstanding." (Publishers Weekly)

Rice, Luanne.   LIGHT OF THE MOON. "Susannah Connolly has just lost her mother to cancer and decides she needs a break, both from her work as a cultural anthropologist and fallout after the breakup of a long-term relationship with an associate.  She travels to the Camargue region of southern France, fulfilling a promise to her mother to visit the church at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the resting place of Sarah the Black, the Gypsies' patron whom her mother believed helped her to conceive Susannah....Rice utilizes the surreal landscape of the Camargue and the haunting legend surrounding Sarah and the cult of her disciples to perfection…." (Booklist).

Rollins, David.  THE DEATH TRUST.  "Aussie author Rollins's first novel is a fast-moving, funny thriller with a smart-aleck hero who faces death and worse with a quip on his lips.  Military special investigator Maj. Vincent Cooper bounds around the world, dodging death while searching for the reason a four- star general and his son were murdered a nifty bit of evil that goes all the way to the White House - and encounters grouchy Germans, ruthless and sexy Russians, world-weary Italians, stoned Canadians and, not surprisingly, heroic Australians." (Publishers Weekly).

Romano-Lax, Andromeda.   THE SPANISH BOW.  "The fiction debut by journalist Romano-Lax is a sprawling historical novel about a cello virtuoso who, over a 75-year career, finds himself embroiled in all the great political and artistic convulsions of 20th-century Europe.  A novel whose epic, blockbuster-size scale and ambition work sometimes to its advantage and sometimes not - but all in all a deft, inventive debut." (Kirkus Reviews).

Rosnay, Tatiana de.   SARAH'S KEY.   "Pivotal to this novel is the key in ten-year-old Sarah's pocket.  It opens the cupboard in which she has hidden her younger brother from the French police, who are rounding up Jews in Paris.  It is July 16, 1942, and Sarah, along with her parents and hundreds more people, are brought to the stadium Velodrome d'Hiver, where they spend several days without food or water before being sent to French camps en route to Auschwitz....In alternating chapters, we read of American-born journalist Julia Jarmond, who's working on a magazine story about the "Vel'd'Hiv" roundup on its 60th anniversary.... Masterly and compelling." (Library Journal).

Russell, S. Thomas.   UNDER ENEMY COLORS.  "Fans of Patrick O'Brian's works and other novels in the naval adventure genre will enjoy Russell's first novel, which takes place aboard the HMS Themis during the 1793 naval war between England and revolutionary France." (Library Journal).

Scottoline, Lisa.   LADY KILLER.  "It's great to be back with the all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates, especially when Mary DiNunzio takes center stage (after a four-book hiatus).  Mary is young and sharp as a tack yet somehow exudes an Old World charm despite dealing with impending wars between the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin fan clubs, high school 'Mean Girls' all grown up, or the mob....Scottoline's latest is a thoroughly enjoyable read with warm, wonderful characters, gentle humor, and some unexpected twists and turns." (Library Journal).

Shalev, Meir.   A PIGEON AND A BOY.   "Two love stories frame the story of A PIGEON AND A BOY, the latest from the acclaimed columnist for the Israel's weekly Yediot Ahronot." (Kirkus Reviews)

Simon, Scott.   WINDY CITY:  A NOVEL OF POLITICS. "Best known as the host of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, Scott Simon is also the author of the sports-fan memoir HOME AND AWAY and PRETTY BIRDS, his previous novel based in war-torn Sarajevo.  But this compelling murder mystery, laden with insider big- city politics, is about Chicago and nowhere else....For Chicago lovers and city- politics fiends, this novel is a must-read." (USA Today).

Starling, Belinda.   THE JOURNAL OF DORA DAMAGE.   "In Victorian London, a wife and mother must cross gender, labor and social boundaries to become a gifted bookbinder - of pornographic literature....Starling's cornucopia of ideas, research, issues and outrage tends to overflow, but there's entertainment in the novel's mood of near-comic irrepressibility and in its heroine." (Kirkus Reviews)

Steel, Danielle.   HONOR THYSELF.   A world-renowned actress falls victim to a terrifying explosion in Paris and begins a courageous journey of survival, memory, and self-discovery in the New York Times bestselling author's mesmerizing new novel - Publisher's description.

Stone, David.   THE ORPHEUS DECEPTION. "The disparate elements of this testosterone-fueled thriller gradually come together, including a stabbing in Venice; the hijacking of a freighter in the South China Sea; a rogue SAS (Special Air Service) agent, Ray Fyke, imprisoned in Singapore's notorious Changi prison; and a Serbian mafia leader with grandiose ambitions....Stone handles with aplomb such details as weapons technology, bureaucratic bumbling and ship navigation in treacherous seas, then tests the limits of human endurance with his heroes." (Publishers Weekly).

Vadino, Diane.   SMART GIRLS LIKE ME.   "As Y2K looms, NYC fashion writer Betsy obsesses over two impending disasters she can't control:  the end of the world and her best friend's wedding....A raw and honest glimpse of single life." (Entertainment Weekly)

Vincenzi, Penny.   THE DILEMMA.  "...Robust, complex family drama - first published in the U.K. in 1996 by the bestselling author of SHEER ABANDON." (Publishers Weekly).

Wambaugh, Joseph.   HOLLYWOOD CROWS.  "Through the eyes of an eccentric collection of beat cops, Wambaugh gives a compelling picture of what policing is like under the federal monitor appointed to oversee the real LAPD after the Rampart corruption scandal." (Publishers Weekly).

Wells, Ken.   CRAWFISH MOUNTAIN.   "Cajuns battle Big Oil to protect their bayou patrimony.... there's much to entertain and engage crawfish, jambalaya and Dixie beer aficionados, not the least Wells' sharp ear for dialogue and his Cajun nostalgia for the 'forest primeval.'" (Kirkus Reviews).

White, Stephen.   DEAD TIME.  "Bestseller White juggles too many story lines that never quite coalesce in his uneven 16th thriller to feature Boulder, Colo., psychologist Alan Gregory." (Publishers Weekly).

Willig, Lauren.   THE SEDUCTION OF THE CRIMSON ROSE.  "In the fourth installment of the Pink Carnation series, Mary Alsworthy suddenly finds herself on the outside of polite society after her younger sister, Letty, marries Mary's intended....Though the occasional jumps to the modern-day travails of Eloise Kelly, a grad student researching the Vaughn family for her dissertation, are as jarring as ad breaks in the middle of a film, the novel handily fulfills its promise of intrigue and romance." (Publishers Weekly).

Witchel, Alex.   THE SPARE WIFE. "Impeccably coiffed widow Ponce Morris - a helpmate and 'professional friend' to all her fabulously rich New York peers - has been shoved onto her perfectly toned ass.  A young journalist has discovered Ponce's affair with a famous fertility doctor, and try as she might to rein in the situation, Ponce only makes it worse.  If the plot is a trifle predictable, that's a small price to pay for Witchel's Manolo-sharp send-up of Manhattan high society." (Entertainment Weekly).

Wodicka, Tod.   ALL SHALL BE WELL; AND ALL SHALL BE WELL; AND ALL MANNER OF THINGS SHALL BE WELL.  "Burt Hecker, a hard-drinking, overweight 63- year-old widower, has a tendency to live in the past. Several hundred years in the past, actually - he's a medieval reenactor, an obsession that's taken a dramatic toll on his family. But Burt's also an elegant narrator, and his efforts to hurl himself into the present are chronicled with smart, casually poetic observations." (Entertainment Weekly).

Wolitzer, Meg.   THE TEN-YEAR NAP.  "A wise, witty assessment of the contemporary dilemmas of middle-class mothers (in particular: to work or not to work), set in the competitive terrain of New York City parenting." (Kirkus Reviews).

Wood, Barbara.   DAUGHTER OF THE SUN. "Seventeen-year-old Hoshi'tiwa, daughter of a simple corn farmer, loves her quiet life in her small Aztec village.  But when her father foolishly brags about her beautiful pottery, which is thought to bring the blessings of the gods in the form of rain, word reaches the draught-stricken capital city. Hoshi'tiwa is forcibly taken by a dark lord and high priest to the city, where she is expected to bring rain or face certain and violent death....Wood's latest novel will attract readers with its multifaceted characters, lyrical writing, and incorporation of pre-European Aztec mythology, and history." (Library Journal).

NEW MYSTERIES

Call numbers for mysteries are the letter M plus
the first three letters of the author's last name.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION

Call numbers for science fiction are the letters SF
plus the first three letters of the author's last name.

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