Prepub Alert

Case, John. Dance of Death. Ballantine. Nov. 2005. 448p. ISBN 0-345-46473-7. $25.95.
Brainy mathematician Jack Wilson has a plan: he wants to destroy Western civilization as we know it, and his weapon of choice is Nicola Tesla's secret discovery of a way to eliminate any object through the use harmonic resonance.

Collins, Max Allan. Road to Paradise. Morrow. Dec. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-06-054028-1. $24.95.
A two-time Shamus Award winner who boasts 11 nominations altogether, Collins here says goodbye to the saga he began in 1998. Sick of killing, Michael Satariano declines an order from Godfather Sam Giancana himself to rub out a rival, then gets framed for murder when someone else does the dirty deed.

Cooney, Ellen. A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies. Pantheon. Nov. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-375-42340-0. $23.95.
Just bumped up from December, this novel features hardy Charlotte Heath, who dumps her high-profile husband when he philanders—not something every woman would do in 1900. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that the private ladies' hotel she flees to is actually a male brothel. With a five-city author tour.

Deutermann, P.T. The Cat Dancers. St Martin's. Dec. 2005. 432p. ISBN 0-312-33377-3. [ISBN 978-0-312-33377-5]. $24.95.
Lt. Cam Richter is in a fix: to track down a dangerous vigilante, he needs the help of the "cat dancers," a bunch of North Carolina obsessives who follow the few remaining mountain lions to their dens for some dangerous photo ops.

Gordimer, Nadine. Get a Life. Farrar. Dec. 2005. 160p. ISBN 0-374-16170-4. [ISBN 978-0-374-16170-5]. $20.
After being treated for thyroid cancer, South African ecologist Paul Bannerman finds that he is temporarily radioactive and retreats to his childhood home to protect his wife and child. Not surprisingly, it's a chance to rethink his life.

Iles, Greg. Turning Angel. Scribner. Dec. 2005. 512p. ISBN 0-7432-3471-5. $25.95.
When a student is found dead near fancy St. Stephen's Prep, Penn Cage ends up seeking her killer. Not only is buddy Drew charged with the crime (and he was sexually involved with the victim), but St. Stephen's is Penn's alma mater and now the school his daughter attends.

James, P.D. The Lighthouse. Knopf. Dec. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-307-26291-X. $25.95. lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-7393-2558-2. $25.95. Cassette/CD: Random Audio.
It's Comm. Adam Dagliesh to the rescue when someone is murdered at a resort on Combe Island off the Cornish coast. Unfortunately, Dagliesh and his team have problems of their own.

Koontz, Dean. Forever Odd. Bantam. Nov. 2005. 416p. ISBN 0-553-80416-2. $27. Cassette/CD: Random Audio.
In this sequel to the best-selling Odd Thomas, Odd again stands between danger and the little town of Pico Mundo.

Mda, Zakes. The Whale Caller. Farrar. Dec. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-374-28785-6. [ISBN 978-0-374-28785-6]. $23.
In a seaside South African village, the Whale Caller stands forlornly on shore, calling a favorite whale, even as the stiletto-heeled Saluni wishes he would start calling her. A romantic comedy from a celebrated African author.

Perlman, Elliot. The Reasons I Won't Be Coming. Riverhead: Putnam. Nov. 2005. 288p. ISBN 1-57322-321-2. $24.95.
Readers intrigued by Perlman's well-received Seven Types of Ambiguity will be delighted that he has upped the ante with nine stories whose characters range from lawyers to immigrants.

Piercy, Marge. Sex Wars: A Novel of the Turbulent Post–Civil War Period. Morrow. Dec. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-06-078983-2. $24.95.
Young, tough, and fresh off the boat, the Russian Jewish Freydeh works multiple jobs in post–Civil War New York, saving money so that she can bring over her entire family. But then she learns her sister is in the city. With cameos by Susan B. Anthony and the like.

Anderson, Fred. The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War. Viking. Dec. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-670-03454-1. $25.95.
Get ready for the four-part PBS documentary, airing in January, with this report on the French and Indian War from National Book Critics Circle finalist Anderson.

Basbanes, Nicholas A. Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Written Word To Change the Way We Live. HarperCollins. Dec. 2005. 464p. ISBN 0-06-059323-7. $29.95.
After visiting a British Museum exhibition featuring 440 books said to have "made things happen," Gentle Madness author Basbanes felt inspired to consider further the books that have shaped our culture.

Browne, Jill Conner. The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner & Divorce Guide. Crown. Dec. 2005. 288p. ISBN 1-4000-4969-5. $22.95. Cassette/CD: Random Audio.
Since Browne's previous Sweet Potato Queen books have hit the top spot on the New York Times best sellers list, you'll probably want this tongue-in-check guide on planning great weddings and even greater divorces. With a tour of 20 mostly Deep South cities, but watch out, New York and Fairbanks.

Davidson, Mark. Right, Wrong, and Risky: A Dictionary of Today's American English Usage. Norton. Dec. 2005. 544p. ISBN 0-393-06119-1. $29.95.
Is it rude to call someone a Neanderthal? Should you ever risk uttering the word forte out loud? Former UCLA professor Davidson here offers a guide that helps us choose our words with care.

Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. Penguin Pr: Penguin Putnam. Dec. 2005. 400p. ISBN 1-59420-062-9. $27.95.
Gaddis, the much-published Yale historian, explains how the Cold War ended in triumph for the West, which at the end of World War II seemed fatally compromised by the legacy of colonialism.

Giesbert, Franz-Olivier. The American. Pantheon. Dec. 2005. 176p. ISBN 0-375-42367-2. $21.
Former editor in chief of Le Figaro, Giesbert recalls his American father, who landed on Omaha Beach on June 4, 1944, soon married a French girl, and after a brief stint back home returned to France and promptly began abusing his wife and son.

Hansen, Suzanne. You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny. Crown. Dec. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-307-23754-0. $22.
Hansen once worked as a 'round-the-clock, jack-of-all-trades nanny for Michael Ovitz, then finally quit for happier homes. Here's a diaper's-eye view of Hollywood celebrity. With a nine-city tour.

Houtte, Alison & Melissa Houtte. Alligators, Old Mink & New Money: One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing. Morrow. Dec. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-06-078667-1. $23.95.
Once a fashion model, now owner of chic boutique Hooti Couture in Brooklyn, Alison Houtte joins forces with her journalist sister to discuss the joys of vintage clothing and the stories they tell.

Lessing, Doris. Time Bites: Views and Reviews. HarperCollins. Dec. 2005. 384p. ISBN 0-06-083140-5. $27.95.
Could this really be the first collection of literary essays from the redoubtable Lessing, as it's billed? Tune in for a brilliant reading of everything from Tolstoy to Sufism.

McMurtry, Larry. Oh What a Slaughter: Massacres in the American West: 1846–1890. S. & S. Dec. 2005. 208p. ISBN 0-7432-5077-X. $25.
What do Sacramento River, Mountain Meadows, and Wounded Knee have in common? They were all the scenes of the bloody massacres that shaped the American West. Told with a novelist's sensibility.

Moriyama, Naomi & William Doyle. Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen. Delacorte. Nov. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-385-33997-6. $22. CD: Random Audio.
French women don't get fat, Japanese women don't get fat or old, and American women don't ever get tired of reading books that could help them get a grip. Sushi, anyone?

Ono, Yoko, ed. Memories of John Lennon. HarperEntertainment: HarperCollins. Dec. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-06-059455-1. $24.95.
A quarter century after Beatle John's untimely death, his widow collects never-before-seen reminiscences from the likes of Joan Baez, James Brown, Dennis Hopper, Carlos Santana, and Pete Townsend.

Sadie, Stanley. Mozart: The Early Years, 1756–1781. Norton. Dec. 2005. 624p. ISBN 0-393-06112-4. $35.
Not just Eine Kleine Nachtmusick: a full-scale study of Mozart's life and works from the late, great music critic for the London Times.

Slotkin, Richard. Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality. Holt. Dec. 2005. 448p. ISBN 0-8050-4124-9. $30.
Wesleyan University professor Slotkin, a two-time National Book Award finalist, considers ethnic divisions in early 20th-century America by examining the experiences of two World War I regiments: the 369th Infantry (known as the Harlem Hellfighters) and the 77th Division, whose ranks included mostly Jewish, Italian, and other immigrants.

Vancil, Mark & Rare Air, Ltd., eds. NFL XL: In Search of the Super Bowl. Ballantine. Dec. 2005. 216p. ISBN 0-345-48719-2. $39.95.
Get ready for the 40th Super Bowl with this National Football League–commissioned guide, which examines every aspect of the game while shining a spotlight on all the best players.

Vitebsky, Piers. The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits of Siberia. Houghton. Dec. 2005. 480p. ISBN 0-618-21188-3. $28.
When but December to publish this book on the Eveny of Siberia, who endure 90-below- zero winters with the help of their beloved reindeer? From anthropologist Vitebsky, head of the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge.

Wallace, David Foster. Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays. Little, Brown. Dec. 2005. 484p. ISBN 0-316-15611-6. $25.95.
Consider this collection of offbeat essays from the author of Infinite Jest.

Yaghmaian, Behzad. Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West. Delacorte. Nov. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-553-80393-X. $24.
Iranian-born professor Yaghmaian has both the background and the scholarly credentials to examine the lives of Muslims in the West.