Prepub Alert
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 4/1/2007
Fiction | Nonfiction
Fiction Bialosky, Jill. The Life Room. Harcourt. Aug. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-15-101047-9. $24.A brief encounter with former flame Stephen reawakens literature professor Eleanor to the passion she has buried, which is all to the good: we get to revisit the complex and heated affairs in her past. But her new bond with Stephen nearly burns up her life. With a three-city tour; reading group guide available. Bloom, Amy. Away. Random. Aug. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6356-7. $23.95.
Having fled the Russian pogrom that destroyed her family, Lillian Leyb boomerangs from Lower East Side Manhattan to Seattle in an effort to find the daughter who might still be alive. Lots of foreign rights sold; with an 11-city tour. Brockmann, Suzanne. Force of Nature. Ballantine. Aug. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-0-345-48016-3. $21.95.
Brockmann is back with her best-selling “Troubleshooters” series, which features two agents desperate to track down—you guessed it—a bunch of terrorists. With a ten-city tour. Cook, Robin. Critical. Putnam. Aug. 2007. 480p. ISBN 978-0-399-15423-2. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Really successful doctor Angela Dawson has acquired not just a second home but an MBA, allowing her to found Angels Healthcare. Then a staph infection wreaks havoc at three hospitals served by the company, and medical examiner Laurie Montgomery wants to investigate—not just because husband Jack is facing surgery. Dickey, Eric Jerome. Walking with Enemies. Dutton. Aug. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-525-95038-7. $24.95.
It's bad enough that the three women Gideon romanced in Sleeping with Strangers are ready to clobber him. In this sequel, walking right in just four months later, another hit man has Gideon in his sights. Fletcher, Susan. Oystercatchers. Norton. Aug. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-393-06003-4. $23.95.
In this follow-up to Whitbread Award winner Eve Green, Moira speaks obsessively to the teenaged sister stuck in a coma. “Lyrical and honest,” says LJ (see p. 80). Gee, Sophie. The Scandal of the Season. Scribner. Aug. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-4056-4. $25.
Alexander Pope captured the scandalous passions of Arabella Fermor and Robert Petre, seventh baron of Ingateson, in his celebrated poem The Rape of the Lock. Now Gee revisits the poem, the affair, and the era itself. With a BookClubReader.com feature. Gibson, William. Spook Country. Putnam. Aug. 2007. 368p. ISBN 978-0-399-15430-0. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Russian-speaking Cuban American Tito is involved in the shady business of information transfer. Milgrim is addicted to the anti-anxiety pills delivered by Brown, who's into something military. So is major player Bobby Chombo. And investigative reporter Hollis Henry is after Chombo. Readers will obviously want to figure this out. With an eight-city tour. Harvey, Michael. The Chicago Way. Knopf. Aug. 2007. 304p. ISBN 978-0-307-26686-6. $23.95.
Chicago P.I. Michael Kelly is asked by a former partner to look into a cold case—which is hardly surprising since the author is cocreator and executive producer of TV's Cold Case Files. Of course, the partner ends up dead. With an eight-city tour. Hooper, Kay. Blood Dreams: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel. Bantam. Aug. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-553-80484-3. $25; lrg. prnt. $27.95.
When a serial killer picks off a senator's son, the FBI's Special Crimes Unit is immediately brought in. But so is a rival civilian organization, started up years ago by the senator. That's double trouble. Horan, Nancy. Loving Frank. Ballantine. Aug. 2007. 384p. ISBN 978-0-345-49499-3. $23.95.
Frank Lloyd Wright, that is. First-timer Horan details the relationship between Wright and Mamah Cheney, wife of a couple lucky enough to snag him as architect of their new home. Look for a big buildup. Khoury, Raymond. The Sanctuary. Dutton. Aug. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-0-525-95029-5. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
What connects a fake marquis in 1700s Naples and an underground lab in Saddam's Baghdad where civilians were subjected to grievous experimentation? Clues to a dark and devastating secret, which is what made Khoury's The Last Templar such best-selling fun. Lindsay, Jeff. Dexter in the Dark. Doubleday. Aug. 2007. 368p. ISBN 978-0-385-51833-8. $23.95.
Miami crime scene investigator Dexter Morgan kills but only really evil people and only when told to by his Dark Passenger. But the latest crime Dexter encounters is so awful that even the Dark Passenger is spooked.
McFarland, Dennis. Letter from Point Clear. Holt. Aug. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-8050-7766-7. $25.
Flitty, failed-actress Bonnie returns to Point Clear, AL, to care for her dying father, then marries a dynamic young preacher after the funeral. Everyone is pleasantly surprised to see the marriage working out—until the pastor tries to save Bonnie's gay brother as well. With a national tour; reading group guide. Mailer, Norris Church. Cheap Diamonds. Random. Aug. 2007. 368p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6260-7. $24.95.
Arkansas girl Cherry hits New York, intent on becoming a model. As told by the Arkansas-born author, wife of Norman Mailer. With a five-city tour. Marche, Stephen. Shining at the Bottom of the Sea. Riverhead: Putnam. Aug. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-1-59448-941-9. $24.95.
The inventive Marche (see Raymond + Hannah) dreams up an island nation called Sanjania where literature really matters; thousands swamp public readings, and writers are heroes. Dream on. Moody, Martha. The Office of Desire. Riverhead: Putnam. Aug. 2007. 304p. ISBN 978-1-59448-949-5. $24.95.
Buddies Alicia, Brice, and Caroline work happily together in a doctors' office until Alicia's affair with Dr. Strub sends everyone sprawling. From a doctor and the best-selling author of Best Friends. Neill, Fiona. Slummy Mummy: The Secret Life of Lucy Sweeney. Riverhead: Putnam. Aug. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-1-59448-944-0. $22.95.
A London Times Magazine feature writer whose “Slummy Mummy” column is a hit, Neill crafts a first novel about domestic misfit Lucy, who can't figure out the laundry but just might launch an affair with her carpool's Sexy Domesticated Dad. Oates, Joyce Carol. The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense. Harcourt. Aug. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-15-101531-3. $24.
Stories from “Suicide Watch” to “Valentine, July Heat Wave” set the tone for this collection from a master who likes to darken things up. Patterson, Kevin. Consumption. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Aug. 2007. 384p. ISBN 978-0-385-52074-4. $25.
Born on the tundra, Victoria contracts tuberculosis as a child and heads to a sanitarium in southern Canada, where she is thrilled by books, television, and popular culture. But she's a stranger when she returns home; some cure. From award-winning Canadian author Patterson; reading group guide. Reichs, Kathy. Bones to Ashes. Scribner. Aug. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-7432-9437-9. $25.95. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Tempe Brennan is really shaken when the skeleton of a girl is uncovered in Acacia, Canada. Childhood friend Evangeline was from Acacia, and when she vanished, Tempe was encouraged to forget her as a bad influence. With a five-city tour. Slaughter, Karin. Beyond Reach. Delacorte. Aug. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-0-385-33947-6. $25.
A woman has been burned to death, a detective is charged with murder, and Grant County medical examiner and pediatrician Sara Linton joins police chief (and Husband) Jeffrey Tolliver to figure out why their town is boiling with hatred. Stewart, Mariah. Last Breath. Ballantine. Aug. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-0-345-49224-1. $19.95.
Stewart wraps up the trilogy starring archaeologist Daria Gowan, who's all set for the next big exhibit. But then some important artifacts go missing, and recovering them turns out to be murder. Nonfiction
Auerbach, Kimberlee. The Devil, the Lovers, and Me: My Life in Tarot. Dutton. Jul. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-525-95021-9. $24.95.
Auerbach has dumped her creepy boyfriend and is back on track professionally, but friends and family still think she's backpedaling. Then she visits a tarot card reader and gets a whole new perspective. With an author tour. Bowen, Mark. Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Surprising Truth About Global Warming. Dutton. Aug. 2007. 272p. ISBN 978-0-525-95014-1. $25.95.
The author of Thin Ice examines NASA scientist James Hansen's efforts since 1988 to warn us about global warming—never mind the Bush administration's efforts to tamp things down. Dolin, Eric Jay. Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America. Norton. Jul. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-0-393-06057-7. $27.95.
Behind the scenes with Moby-Dick and company: whaling in America from 1614. Matteson, John. Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. Norton. Aug. 2007. 528p. ISBN 978-0-393-05964-9. $29.95.
Little Women in rebellion: apparently, Louisa May Alcott couldn't stand the simple life her father preached; she wanted wealth and glory. From an English professor at John Jay College. Perlstein, Linda. Tested: One American School Struggles To Make the Grade. Holt. Aug. 2007. 304p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8082-7. $25.
Having spent six years covering education for the Washington Post, Perlstein went to a single elementary school in suburban Maryland to test the No Child Left Behind Act and found it wanting. With a national tour. Schulman, Nancy & Ellen Birnbaum. Practical Wisdom for Parents: Demystifying the Preschool Years. Knopf. Aug. 2007. 336p. ISBN 978-0-307-26354-4. $24.95.
Parenting advice you should take to heart, since the authors are directors of the respected 92nd Street Y Nursery School in New York. With a six-city tour. Strahan, Michael with Jay Glazer. Inside the Helmet: Life as a Sunday Afternoon Warrior. Dutton. Aug. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-1-59240-298-4. $26. CD: Penguin Audio.
Life in the National Football League.
