Fiction

Ahern's (If You Could See Me Now) latest novel veers away from traditional chick lit, blending mystery and fantasy. Sandy Shortt, a six-foot, obsessive-compulsive detective and proprietress of a missing-persons agency, has spent her entire life looking for things and people—from that sock lost in the dryer to her childhood rival, Jenny-May Butler. When Sandy gets lost in the woods one day, she discovers a mysterious and magical land where she finally finds all her missing socks, passports, Jenny-May, and even herself. Secondary plotlines include Sandy's on-again, off-again love affair with her former therapist and an intertwining mystery involving one of the missing people. Ahern's novel PS, I Love You is now a major motion picture starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler, and the television series she cocreated with Donald Todd, Samantha Who?, recently made its debut on ABC, so there's bound to be interest. With no mention of shoes or fashion and very little about Sandy's romantic relationship, this book may disappoint readers expecting typical chick-lit fare, but Ahern fans will find it a fascinating and pleasant read. Recommended for popular fiction collections.—Anika Fajardo, Coll. of St. Catherine Lib., St. Paul, MN

It all begins on July 4, 1936, in the achingly beautiful and unspoiled Adirondack Mountains, where the wealthy built their summer retreats. Vanessa Cole is one of the lucky ones: her family inherited land on "the Reserve" before the implementation of building restrictions, and as such, it owns a secluded lodge that can be reached only by boat and plane. On that July night, Vanessa's father invites local artist Jordan Groves to the lodge to see his art collection, but it's the meeting between Jordan and Vanessa that will show just how destructive this seclusion and sense of privilege can be. Known for his complex and conflicted characters, Banks (Rule of the Bone) here reveals how the mentally unbalanced Vanessa and Jordan, a wealthy, married socialist, are attracted to these contradictions in each other. The plot gets off to a slow start, but the breathtaking scenic descriptions create a setting central to the story. As the chain of events builds to an inevitable and tragic conclusion, we are left with the feeling that no one, not even the well-to-do, can escape the laws of nature. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/07.]—Kellie Gillespie, City of Mesa Lib., AZ

A shavetail is a young mule paired with an older mule to learn its work. Brickner, who is as wise and as contrary as any old mule, dubs 17-year-old Ned Thorne a shavetail and does his best to educate him on how to survive in the U.S. Army in 1871 Arizona. Ned's brutal training includes fighting, drinking, rustling cattle, and mule driving, before concluding when his cavalry chases a band of renegade Apaches into Mexico. When things go wrong, Ned must choose between the commonsense villainy of Brickner or his own conscience. Ostensibly about Ned, Shavetail is actually a thoughtful character study of four redemption-seeking men—Captain Franklin, Lieutenant Austin, Brickner, and Ned—not to mention a fine western. Readers will also find in Cobb's second novel (after Crazy Heart) nicely wrought coming-of-age elements. Highly recommended for all collections.—Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L.

Once more into another exciting breach, and this time, Uhtred, warrior hero of Cornwell's previous entries in the "Saxon Tales" series (The Last Kingdom), has to defend the ancient and decayed Roman city of London against the rampaging Vikings, who aim to conquer England and enslave the native Saxons. Along with great action and adventure, the novel revolves around the love-hate relationship between the devout but not yet "Great" King Alfred of Wessex and the pagan and irreverent Uhtred. Uhtred has reluctantly sworn to serve Alfred, even though he despises the man and his Christianity. Filled with bloodletting, battles, political schemes, and just a little romance, Cornell's latest tale offers excellent history and great adventure, and best yet, there will be more Saxon Tales to eagerly anticipate. Highly recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/07.]—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

Hollis and Debra Adams are spending their retirement years in a planned community in Arizona, where Hollis relaxes in his Tiki-styled yard and Debra spends her time reading mystery novels. Childless, with few family members or friends, they have forged a strong bond and a quiet life together since meeting after Hollis's return from the Korean War. Ghosts from Hollis's time in Korea haunt him with increasing frequency, and as Debra falls unexpectedly ill, he is forced to examine his past. Flashbacks take us to the horrors of war and to a soldier's anticlimactic and tortured homecoming. We learn that a winding path of lies and missteps may still lead to peace. Cullin (A Slight Trick of the Mind) gives us few dramatic epiphanies or watershed moments here, just the subtle and small shifts of circumstance and the creeping inevitability of Debra's illness. This touching, quintessentially American story of marriage, aging, and the fading Greatest Generation is enhanced by poetic prose, vivid accounts of war, and sympathetic characters whom many of us will find familiar. Recommended for larger fiction collections.—Jenn B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Lib., Northeast

Small-town physician Deborah Monroe has a plethora of family problems on her plate. Her husband has left, her teenage daughter Grace is angry, her young son Dylan has eye problems, her mother passed away, and her father drinks and passes judgment. Things get decidedly worse one rainy night when a man runs in front of her car, and Deborah makes a decision that has serious and rippling effects on herself and her family. So begins best-selling author Delinsky's (Family Tree) latest page-turner, which deftly and realistically addresses family issues like parental expectations and disapproval, divorce and secrets, as well as small-town issues like preferential treatment and gossip. The concept of lying is also explored from multiple angles. In addition to being immensely readable, Delinsky's latest is thought-provoking; readers will inevitably pause to consider what they would do if they found themselves in Deborah's situation. Highly recommended for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/07.]—Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY

Dovey's debut novel opens in the tense moments preceding a coup d'état in which the president is deposed and replaced by an also nameless commander. However, this tale of regime change is related by seemingly minor functionaries: the president's barber, his portraitist, and his chef. The novel uses no given or place names, instead situating everything—and most everyone—in proximity to the chief executive. As the commander assumes the reins of power, we come to realize that the designation "his" refers not to a person, but to the very vestments of power. The introduction of a subsequent tier of narrators, each placed at a further remove (i.e., his chef's daughter, his portraitist's wife) reveals that power is not self-executing: it depends on the efforts of countless "minor functionaries" whose neat haircuts, official portraits, and splendid meals both create and nourish the pleasing forms that power assumes. This cautionary tale, a character study of power and caprice, is highly recommended for libraries with strong fiction collections.—Chris Pusateri, Jefferson Cty. P.L., Lakewood, CO

The narrator of D'Souza's (Whiteman) second novel is Francisco D'Sai, the firstborn son of a firstborn son from a proud family of Konkans, Catholic Indians living among a Hindu majority in Chikmagalur, India. Francisco's American mother, Denise, fell in love with India when she was on assignment with the Peace Corps, while his Konkan father, Lawrence, fell in love with Denise. The two developed a relationship, but while Denise longed to stay in India, Lawrence's family had been plotting his escape. By 1973, Denise and Lawrence had moved to Chicago, where Francisco was born. It is in Chicago that Lawrence, who yearns to be accepted as a member of upper-middle-class white suburban society, begins drinking heavily, and Denise finds that she has much in common with one of Lawrence's brothers, Sam, including their interest in maintaining Indian and particularly Konkan culture in America. This vibrantly written novel, with colorful descriptions of India and the experiences of new immigrants in America, alternates between the hilarious and the heartbreaking; highly recommended for public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/07.]—Sarah Conrad Weisman, Corning Community Coll. Lib., NY

Now translated into English, this prize-winning French novel is a darkly mesmerizing tale set in Iceland six centuries ago in a forgotten colony called New Thule. A frostbitten version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, du Boucheron's book centers on a bishop's evangelical mission to renew the faith of the original Christian colonizers whom he fears have adopted the ways of the native pagan culture. After an arduous journey, the bishop finds his fears confirmed when the Norsemen become subordinates to their own slaves, the publicans, who make a habit of eating human flesh, copulate with members of their immediate family, and substitute pagan rituals for prayer. Determined to reinstate Christian ways of life, the bishop and his crew impose harsh penalties, including gauging out the eyes of children, for those guilty of simulating strangulation, corpse eating, or other pagan practices. But in order to survive such brutal and barren climes, the bishop and his crew find they must also stave off hunger with the flesh of frozen corpses. The graphic descriptions of cannibalism and amputations of gangrenous members can be hard to stomach, but the urgency of survival that pulsates through this novel promises to keep readers riveted all the way to the bitter, cold end. Recommended for large fiction collections.—Emily Benson, New York

Gilchrist here returns to the wealthy Hands of North Carolina, introduced in The Anna Papers and I Cannot Get You Close Enough. As they approach middle age, the youngish members of the clan are forced to confront national catastrophe, starting when Winifred Hand's fiancé, Charles, dies in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Heartbreak and grief bring on extreme expressions of patriotism and controversial life changes, as when two Hand women become lovers of Charles's much younger twin cousins, both marines, after one of the men is wounded badly in Iraq. The main emphasis is on the fortunes of half-Cherokee Olivia de Havilland Hand, now a successful (and pregnant) Tulsa, OK, newspaper editor, who struggles with inner conflicts as her new reservist husband, the love of her life, leaves for active duty. Quirky relatives from all sides of the extended family do their best to help in 17 tragicomic chapters narrated in the author's characteristically fine prose and populated by flawed but sympathetic and believable characters. Recommended.—Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA

When Kate first sees Tully as she's waiting for the bus to take her to her first day at a new school, Kate thinks Tully's the coolest girl in the world. Kate is a shy, insecure rule follower, and Tully helps her to come out of her shell and take chances. Both girls need a best friend, and the bond they form is strong enough to last a lifetime. Hannah's (On Mystic Lake) 16th novel explores a friendship that spans three decades and the different paths Kate and Tully take. Tully's ambition to be a journalist brings her all the way to network anchor and beyond, while Kate finds love with a man who first had been smitten with Tully. The women have their problems over the years, stemming from Kate's insecurities and Tully's willingness to sacrifice anything for her career, but in the end their friendship endures when it matters. Hannah captures the feeling of the 1970s and 1980s, exploring some serious issues as well. A tearjerker that is sure to please the author's many fans; recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/07.]—Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

James Keeper has it made. He and Leah, his beautiful architect girlfriend, are blissfully happy after their respective, painful divorces; they have just bought a small house in Providence, RI, and Keeper and childhood chum Tim run a salvage/antiques business. Then one phone call wipes out this balanced world. Keeper's ex-wife's family informs him that Cynthia is dead and that three-year-old Leo, the product of a brief, postdivorce encounter, is Keeper's to raise. Completing the destruction of his stress-free, neatly ordered life are Keeper's twin character flaws—his inability to face or trigger confrontation and his reluctance to ask for help. As caring for the extraordinarily verbal, deeply resilient, seriously traumatized Leo further derails Keeper's ability to manage, Leah bails. Keeper thinks he is now alone as he struggles mightily to craft a life for Leo that creeps slowly toward loving security. Hardy (Geyser Life) took a risk naming his protagonist Keeper but wisely leaves any underlying messaging to his readers, instead bringing them along for a wonderful journey of thoughtful, reluctant fatherhood. Highly recommended.—Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI

This first novel by the winner of the 2003 Iowa Short Fiction Award is set mostly in Ankara, Turkey. That's where 12-year-old Canada moves with her parents for her father's mysterious work with the American embassy. While her father disappears for months at a time, Canada and her mother, Grace, take turns narrating their risky behavior that ultimately causes them to be cast out of their suffocating little enclave of diplomatic families. These two characters and their female friends are engaging and complex. With the exception of a bitter Turkish houseboy called John, however, the men are blanks. Perhaps that's intentional since the women do not know their husbands, either; yet the notion that Canada's father is some kind of covert hero remains unconvincing. The novel is awkwardly paced, too, with a slow start and a rushed ending. But these shortcomings are made up for by what the story reveals about the subculture of embassy wives, whose easy camaraderie can quickly turn cutthroat. Recommended for all libraries.—Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll. Lib., Greenwood, SC

Jandrey's first novel combines the narratives of five dissimilar women living in the same rundown motor court near Tucson's notorious Miracle Mile, peopled with prostitutes, criminals, and crack cocaine or crystal meth addicts. Each has been harmed by a man—a father, husband, or uncle—and they are all like the aloes that manage to survive the harsh desert, tough on the outside to protect inner softness. The women include Leslie, a mother of two daughters who has escaped an abusive husband; Leslie's youngest daughter, 11-year-old Sam; Eden, a topless dancer; Eden's biracial daughter, Chablee, who befriends Sam's older sister, Audrey; and Dee, the 400-pound manager of the motor court, who reaches out to Sam. Though not as well crafted as, say, Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina, Jandrey's novel is also not as disturbing or graphic. It could easily become a feminist soapbox, but Jandrey avoids an antimale sermon. Instead, the story affirms what a group of disadvantaged women can achieve when they join forces to shelter one of their own. For most contemporary collections.—Faye A. Chadwell, Oregon State Univ. Libs., Corvallis

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (Stalemate) is drawn into killer Henry Kistle's sick game as she desperately tries to find her missing daughter, Bonnie. He taunts Eve with details of her daughter's kidnapping and promises to disclose the location of Bonnie's body. Lured by Kistle to the swamps of Florida, Eve enlists the help of her paramour, Atlanta cop Joe Quinn, her Colombian admirer Montalvo, and spiritual "listener" Megan Blair, first introduced in Pandora's Daughter. Johansen's dialog is insipid, and her characters often fall flat; however, the action scenes are well written. Standing out among the one-dimensional personalities is Megan; the possibilities for future works featuring her are exciting. This predictable suspense novel will interest those who have read Johansen's previous thrillers featuring the same cast, but others may want to skip it. There is a 600,000 first printing, so expect demand.—Amanda Scott, Cambridge Springs P.L., PA

Jordan's poignant and moving debut novel, winner of the 2006 Bellwether Prize, takes on social injustice in the postwar Mississippi Delta. Here, two families, the landowning McAllans and their black sharecroppers, the Jacksons, struggle with the mores of the Jim Crow South. Six distinctive voices narrate the complex family stories that include the faltering marriage of Laura and Henry McAllan, the mean-spirited family patriarch and his white-robed followers, and returning war heroes Jamie McAllan and Ronsel Jackson. In every respect, the powerful pull of the land dominates their lives. Henry leaves a secure job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to buy their farm, never noticing that the refined and genteel Laura dreams of escaping the pervasive mud and dreary conditions of farm life. Ronsel, encouraged by his war-hero status as a tank commander, wants to break away from the past and head North to a better future, while his parents, knowing no other life but farming, struggle to buy their own land. Jordan faultlessly portrays the values of the 1940s as she builds to a stunning conclusion. Highly recommended for all public libraries.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO

Irish author Kelly follows up Always and Forever with this feel-good novel about the secret lives of women. From the outside, the houses on Summer Street evoke a sense of quiet tranquility. On the inside, their occupants harbor secrets that threaten to unravel their carefully planned lives. Amber is hiding her relationship with a budding rock star from her single mother, Faye, but Faye has a past of her own. Maggie arrives home to care for her failing mother while running from a cheating boyfriend and a tragic past. Sixty-year-old Christie displays a steady understanding and a guiding hand when her friends need her, but her own past comes back to haunt her. As usual, Kelly displays a stunning ability to illustrate the bonds of women's friendships. Her characters are well drawn and believable, and readers will be satisfied by the resilience that each woman shows. This will make a nice addition to any women's fiction collection.—Nanci Milone Hill, Nevins Memorial Lib., Metheun, MA

As an extra on the set of a POW film, former Royal Air Force tail gunner Alfie Day has plenty of time to brood on a military career riddled with violence and despair. His few fragile hopes revolve around Joyce, the woman he loves. But can a man haunted by a dark past dare to believe in a bright future? Those who read for structure will admire Kennedy's skillful use of flashback to reveal Day's secrets gradually; that same audience may even find themselves taken by surprise from time to time as the plot unfolds. Readers who value character development will appreciate the scenes in which Alfie and his crewmen bond over flight missions, shared leave, and nights in various pubs. While fans of military fiction will find an excellent war story in these pages, Kennedy has enhanced her plot with something better: a brutally honest yet highly sympathetic portrait of modern men damaged by events beyond their control. Recommended for medium to large fiction collections, as well as smaller collections where demand warrants. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/07.]—Leigh Anne Vrabel, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh

It's the 1970s, and Chris Carver, briefly imprisoned for participating in a demonstration and increasingly disillusioned with the British revolutionaries with whom he's been involved since the 1960s, goes on the run, assuming the identity of one Michael Frame. Decades later, an ex-inmate of Chris tracks him down and pressures him to provide false evidence against another former comrade, now about to gain a powerful position in the British government. Unwilling to cooperate, Chris runs away again, this time to France, where he believes his old cohort, the supposedly dead Anna Addison, is hiding. As Kunzru (The Impressionist) shows how the present-day Michael's comfortable middle-class life has been interrupted, he reconstructs Chris's life story, focusing on his early interest in protests and his arrest while a student at the London School of Economics. With these simultaneous stories of Chris's early life and his evasion of his true identity, Kunzru creates a graphic and realistic portrait of the 1960s and beyond. Exciting, dramatic, and enthralling; recommended for all collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/07.]—Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta Lib.

Ike and his dog, Herbie, have just returned to New York City after six months in Chicago. They find changes everywhere: on the streets, in the park, even in the pervading attitudes they encounter. Awaiting them at their apartment on Duke Ellington Boulevard are two strangers. It seems the building's new owner wants to "go condo," despite the handshake agreement that's served as Ike's lease for 20 years. This couple hopes to buy the apartment, but Ike is not giving up without a fight. This novel is about the lives of the tenant, the buyers, the building's owner, the real-estate agent, and all these characters' associated partners, employers, neighbors, and friends. The connections among the group's members radiate outward and loop back, creating weird and sometimes hilarious coincidences. Langer (Crossing California) nails his characters, from the real-estate mogul to the wannabe actor; their stories are compelling and colorful. The reader is treated to a glimpse of life in a small corner of a giant American city, which turns out to be much like life anywhere else. Highly recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/07.]—Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence

Multitalented author Liking (It Shall Be of Jasper and Coral)—also a singer, actor, painter, dancer, and community artistic director in the Ivory Coast—won the 2005 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa for this genre-defying coming-of-age story. Incorporating traditional African song and folklore and highly dramatic dialog, the work can be interpreted through performance as well as read on the page: of primary importance in a country where, as Liking notes, close to half the population is illiterate. Narrator Halla Njoké is 80 years old when she decides to delve into painful childhood memories in an unnamed country based on Cameroon, the exiled Liking's homeland. Growing up during the throes of independence, Halla encounters deplorable acts of male violence, interfamilial and otherwise. The narrative is nearly overcome by constant incursions of melodrama, and Liking's tendency to moralize does not help. But her heroine's resilience and the passion and creativity of her writing help the novel overcome its faults and leave the reader with hope that the next generation of Africans can "reinvent the world without despairing." Recommended for literary fiction collections.—Forest Turner, Suffolk Cty. House of Correction Lib., Boston

McBride's second novel, following Miracle at St. Anna (soon to be a Spike Lee-directed major motion picture), might better be titled Novel Yet Edited: the review copy, at least, reads like a very rough first draft. Its setting—a small Chesapeake Bay town just before the outbreak of the Civil War, a place where the reality of slavery was more ambiguous than in other parts of the country—certainly lends it potential. The mature reader, however, learns very little new about the slave trade, the Underground Railroad, or the feelings of either the oppressed or the oppressors. Indeed, the novel largely seems written for a YA audience. The pace of the action is slowed by implausibility, repetitive and often cartoonish description, fairly obvious anachronisms, and a tremendous amount of unnecessary detail to the exclusion of the feelings of the (mostly flat) main characters. This is particularly disappointing given McBride's poignant 1996 memoir, The Color of Water. Recommended with reservations to public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/07.]—K.H. Cumiskey, North Carolina State Univ. Libs., Raleigh

Winner of the 2004 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Arabic Literature, this is the story of a young man who leaves his family behind in Canada to visit his comatose mother, an Iraqi exile living in Paris. As his own memories of his mother rise to the surface, he hears stories of her life from her friends, who have gathered at her bedside. Mamdouh, an Iraqi exile herself, captures the longing for home and family felt by many of the characters; however, the prose is often turgid—perhaps a fault of the translation—and it isn't until the last third that the novel gains much-needed energy when the son reads his mother's diaries. Extensive translator's notes, including a bibliography, along with a foreword by feminist scholar Hélène Cixous, help put the novel in its cultural context. Recommend for literary collections.—Alicia Korenman, Florida State Univ. Lib., Tallahassee

When she was 12 and swimming in a race she was about to win, Tam Marr-Burgess had her first epileptic seizure. The consequences of this life-changing event were many: she quit a promising swimming career and refused to return to the water; she distanced herself from her family, particularly her outgoing brother, Gary, whom she blamed for bringing about her seizure; and she lived a life of extreme control and isolation. Now, at 46, retired and financially stable, Tam returns to her roots on a trip to the Maine coast to conduct family research on behalf of her genealogically inclined sister, Martha. In researching the history of her ancestors, 19th-century lighthouse keepers, Tam discovers a shipwrecked baby, a forlorn ghost, family hardship, and lost love. More important, she rediscovers herself, the self she had nearly lost to fear and resentment. In setting the bulk of the story by the misty, tumultuous sea, award-winning author Mazza (Many Ways To Get It, Many Ways To Say It) perfectly illustrates the underlying tension in Tam's efforts to live her life on calm waters. Recommended.—Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Law Lib., Malibu, CA

In the first Mikhal Lemmeck novel, The Assassins Gallery, Lemmeck was assigned to head off the assassination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In this slow-moving and excessively talky novel, 16 years have passed, and Lemmeck, though overweight and overage, is still just as lethal. Robbins attempts to capture the complex schemes brewing in postrevolutionary Cuba. By 1961, Castro had been the target of numerous assassination attempts but had foiled them all. Now enter Lemmeck and the CIA, as the countdown to the Bay of Pigs begins. Robbins's richly drawn characters include spies, mafiosi, and ordinary Cubans trying to live their lives. He does an excellent job creating background for the historical and political reasons so many people and nations wanted Castro dead. What's lacking, however, is the tense and exciting spirit of the chase that this book's predecessor conveyed. In Assassins, we knew that FDR died, but how—Nazi poison or natural causes? Here, contrastingly, readers know that Castro lives. Also, a major historical knockout punch is badly telegraphed. For larger collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/07.]—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

Schlink's phenomenal The Reader is a hard act to follow, and while this new work doesn't quite measure up, it's still very, very good. Raised in post-World War II Germany by a tight-lipped single mother who consents to send him off to Switzerland each summer to visit his paternal grandparents, Peter Debauer jostles modestly through life. In childhood, he became fascinated with a set edited by his grandfather called Novels for Your Reading Pleasure and Entertainment and particularly with the story of a returning soldier that has poignant personal echoes. Tracking down the apartment where he believes the story took places leads him not only to a complicated affair with a woman named Barbara but to questions about his father, presumably lost during the war. The truth turns out to be unsettlingly different, and Peter ends up in New York on a mission. Neatly tucked into the present, the slow unfolding of Peter's past is intriguing, and the novel climaxes with some frighteningly intense scenes. The one surprise is that the language can sometimes sound routine, even clichéd, which may be the translation. Nevertheless, this is definitely recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/07.]—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

In pre-World War II Paris, Secret Agent D. and his lover and protégée, Nadine, attempt to escape from the Soviet intelligence service, fearing constantly that they are being followed. D.'s colleague, Daria, arrives in Leningrad during the siege and tries to care for those around her. She then continues her espionage assignment in Berlin, where she works as a military camp nurse. Daria soon recognizes that everyone—soldiers and civilians alike—is scarred from the war. When she decides to escape, she follows a trail of clues to D. and Nadine's location in Mexico. Even here, after the war, violence follows her. Serge (1890–1947; The Case of Comrade Tulayev) was a devoted revolutionary who participated in the Russian Revolution and spent time in French prisons and a Soviet labor camp before escaping to Europe and later, Mexico. His 1971 classic explores how the "noble" causes of war can lead to very real massacre. Greemen, who translates this work for the first time into English, writes the introduction. The tension is constant and dizzying; recommended for academic collections.—Heather Wright, Cincinnati

Will Sullivan has his sights set on becoming the next governor of Massachusetts. With everything falling into place on his campaign, Will is regarded as a shoo-in; that is, until he and his wife, Joanna, discover that their daughter, Sydney, has a malignant tumor. As her illness progresses, Joanna becomes increasingly distant and removed from reality. With the future of both his campaign and his marriage hanging in the balance, Will fights for his daughter's life. But things are not as they seem at Briarwood Medical Center, host to several supernatural-like happenings, and Will's sense of hope and reality is further challenged when he encounters a mysterious man who knows too much about Briarwood's patients. Bram Stoker Award winner Sokoloff's (The Harrowing) emphasis on character paints a vivid image of the struggle between reality and the unknown; even the hospital comes to life. This heartbreakingly eerie page-turner is recommended for fans of such authors as Heather Graham, Dean Koontz, and John Connolly and is suitable for popular fiction collections in public libraries.—Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Medical Lib., Macon, GA

This second novel in a proposed trilogy is not really a sequel to Suri's first, the 2002 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award-winning The Death of Vishnu, although it, too, is set in a Bombay apartment building. Obsessive love is the theme, and Suri once again displays a fine touch for details. Meera, living in 1960s Bombay, is a headstrong 17-year-old girl whose impulsiveness leads her into a troubled marriage with Dev, a charming singer. But Dev never quite makes it in the Bombay music business and soon starts drinking heavily. In conflict not only with her husband but also with her autocratic father, Meera channels all her love toward her young son, Ashvin. As the boy grows up, Meera's maternal devotion turns suffocating and claustrophobic. Non-Indian readers will be able to relate to the family dynamics here, but a passing knowledge of Indian customs and recent history, especially during Indira Gandhi's four-term rule as prime minister (1966–77; 1980–84), would be helpful. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/07.]—Leslie Patterson, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, RI

The son of Czech refugees who immigrated to Germany in the late 1960s, Berlin-based Vyleta sets his debut in Berlin in the terrible winter of 1946–47. His narrator Petersen, the "I" of the title, is a freelance torturer for an obese British colonel named Fosko. When an American grifter dumps the body of a dead midget on Pavel Richter and is killed soon after, Pavel attracts the attention of the colonel. Apparently, the midget was a spy for General Karpov of the Soviet NKVD (secret police) and had in his possession "merchandise" of interest to all. But just who is Pavel? He appears to be simply an ex-GI, an American who abandoned his wife in the States and lives in squalid conditions with Anders, a 12-year-old orphan. Pavel, a quiet scholar at heart, and Anders are soon forced to turn for help to Sonia, a prostitute who has just moved in upstairs. In the midst of these entangled lives and against a noirish backdrop of starvation and ghastly cold lies many a mystery. But the mysteries themselves—and the details of plot—are far less interesting than the characters, whose unusual lives are explored with masterful depth. Recommended for larger public libraries.—Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tuscon

Walker's first novel is a treat. It's well written and features great characters, lots of humor, and dead-on analysis of friendship, marriage, and motherhood. Despite the appearance of leading perfect lives, four wives in a Connecticut suburb are all dealing with major issues. Janie is having an affair, Marie is attracted to an intern at her law office, Gayle is overmedicated, and Love has become physically ill because she fears what her estranged father's soon-to-be-published memoir will reveal about her life. As the women face their identity crises, they turn to one another for assistance and support while recognizing that they aren't able to share everything. Walker's portrayal of these wives is fresh and honest, never condescending or sentimental, and she avoids the trappings of a formulaic happy ending. Recommended for popular fiction and women's fiction collections.—Beth Lindsay, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman

Eloise Kelly, Willig's perpetual Ph.D. student, remains in London trying to piece together her study of the spy network that operated during the time of Napoléon (begun in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation). Having uncovered the identity of our heroic Carnation in the archives of spy Richard Selwick, Eloise continues her floral fascination with the unmasking of the dastardly Black Tulip in this latest blossomy imbroglio (after The Deception of the Emerald Ring). While Eloise ponders all things espionage and the romantic potential of Colin Selwick, readers are thrust back two centuries to follow the machinations of the reputedly dissolute Lord Vaughn as he enlists the aid of Mary Alsworthy in an attempt to bring the Tulip to justice. Mary agrees to work her wiles for the price of a dowry and a London season. Together, she and Vaughn force the Tulip's hand, as they fight their mutual attraction and parry verbal badinage that never ceases to charm and amuse. But is their quarry really dead at novel's end? You never can tell with Willig. And when will the Carnation herself (yup, she's a gal) find her own true love? This appealing sequel holds up well on both ends, with Eloise and Colin encountering some intrigue of their own. Recommended for public libraries, especially those growing the whole botanical series. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/07.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Apple's new story collection, his third after an absence of 20 years from the genre, sets up variations on the stranger-in-a-strange-land theme. The stranger is often a Diaspora Jew, and the strange land could be Buenos Aires, Cleveland, or a carwash in Las Vegas. In the title story, the strange land is Marshall, TX, where dying 80-year-old Jerome Baumgarten, a retail giant and acquaintance of Wal-Mart magnate Sam Walton, "orders" himself from Brooklyn "a bunch of real Jews, I'll pay their way and make it worth their while." In this story and others, the characters are well drawn rather than caricatures out of Central Casting, and the transformation each encompasses is both surprising and well earned. In a pair of memorable stories, "Strawberry Shortcake" and "Adventures in Dementia," the strange land is the country of advanced Alzheimer's, where the humor is both unexpected and familiar to any adult child who has gained entry by force of circumstance into this chaotic territory. Readers will find much to admire, along with a respite from the more typical geography of the American short story. With Apple's stories, we know we're a long way from either the Carver trailer park or the Cheever suburb, and that's a welcome place to be. Recommended for public and university libraries.—Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA

That Klimasewiski is a fine up-and-coming writer was evidenced by his freshman outing, The Cottagers, a smart psychological thriller that managed to satisfy all readerly expectations. Unfortunately, not one of the nine stories here lives up to that book or manages to justify the prepublication hype that attends this collection's release. Whether it concerns a son's rethinking his relationship with his father, the isolation of an American man and his Korean wife, or events at Stalin's dacha during the German invasion, each story suffers from a flat, uninspired tone that renders significant emotional revelations innocuous. The themes of isolation and oppression that thread these stories together pass onto the reader unprepared and unmediated, which makes for a frustrating and claustrophobic reading experience. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries only.—Christopher Bussmann, Pratt Inst. Lib., Brooklyn, NY

Water as agent of change, water as geographical boundary, water as balm for the spirit—Miller's new short story collection takes its name from this key element. These stories, which feature interracial relationships in small-town Ohio and Oakland, CA, mirror the ebb and flow of personal struggles and project the reader, believably, into a future that makes sense for the characters we come to know. Miller's skill at manipulating point of view is admirable. The relaxed fluidity of these stories makes their dénouements all the more surprising. Although one has to wonder whether Miller's subtitle is a nod toward Salinger, contemporary practitioners of the genre like Edward P. Jones and Alice Munro are more likely influences. This book won the 2006 Mary McCarthy Prize, and Miller's earlier collection, The Nature of Longing, won the Flannery O'Connor Award; clearly, she keeps company with some of the best of her kind. Recommended for public and academic libraries.—Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA

Pulitzer Prize winner Eugenides (Middlesex) has assembled something quite extraordinary here: a fascinating, consistently compelling, and superbly edited collection of short stories about romantic love. Part of the collection's appeal is its range and depth: at 600 pages, it offers gems and new discoveries at every turn. Readers move, for example, from Harold Brodkey's bawdy tribute to young love and orgasm in "Innocence" to Alice Munro's sober study of an aging philanderer's late-blooming love for his ailing wife in "The Bear Came Over the Mountain." There are classic love stories, e.g., James Joyce's "The Dead" and Anton Chekhov's "The Lady with the Little Dog," as well as more experimental, contemporary tales, e.g., Lorrie Moore's self-help-styled "How To Be an Other Woman" and George Saunders's dizzying, futuristic A Clockwork Orange-inflected world of trendSetters and tasteMakers in "Jon." Some of the best moments come from younger writers, who somehow manage to match the masters here step for step. An essential acquisition. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/07.]—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT

Oates (The Gravedigger's Daughter) here builds stories around five great writers, emulating the style of each as she attempts to imagine what they were thinking at the end of their lives."Poe Posthumour: Or, the Light-House" is the best of the five, with Poe becoming a lighthouse keeper in isolated Chile and confronting his loneliness in new and bizarre ways. In "The Master at St. Bartholomew's Hospital 1914–1916," Henry James is forced to step into a ward full of wounded soldiers. At first repulsed, he perseveres and discovers a compassion he did not realize he possessed. "Grandpa Clemens & Angel Fish 1906" is based on Samuel Clemens's relationship with young teenage girls, which, although supposedly innocent, subjects Clemens to a possible lawsuit. "Papa at Ketchum, 1961" centers on Hemingway's planning his suicide, while "EDickinsonRepuliLuxe" imagines that people can purchase androids based on their favorite author. The Krims choose Emily Dickinson, but she seems to be more of a maid than a poet and wants to be set free as they become more and more frustrated with her. These stories generate fresh insights into the themes and personalities of these authors, and many readers will be hoping for a sequel with five different authors. Recommended.—Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. Syst., Poughkeepsie, NY

Fearing that a curse taints his family bloodline because of his siblings' suicides and betrayals, Miura's unnamed protagonist attempts to expurgate the demons in his life by following his own tortured yet honor-bound path. In these six short overlapping stories, originally published in Japanese as Shinobugawa, Miura vividly depicts a young man, loosely based on himself, who is struggling to build a life in 1950s postwar Japan. Translated competently by Driver, the work deserves consideration, as relatively few Akutagawa Prize-winning novels have been translated into English. The story itself is repetitive at times, with six different tales overlapping and describing similar subjects and events. Despite these flaws, the book is uncommonly affecting and noteworthy for its honest portrayal of an artist finding his voice amid crushing poverty, distressing family circumstances, and youthful confusion. Also made into a film known in English as The Long Darkness (1973). Recommended for larger collections of Japanese literature in translation at public and academic libraries.—Andrew Weiss, LIS student, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa