Prepub Alert

Fiction
Brockmann, Suzanne. Into the Fire. Ballantine. Aug. 2008. 400p. ISBN 978-0-345-50153-0. $23.
Drunk and homeless since his wife was murdered while on assignment, Vinh Murphy—a neat mix of African American, Vietnamese, and Irish—discovers that the FBI wants to question a guy named Murphy about the murder of a neo-Nazi whose Freedom Network may be linked to Angelina's death.
Colin, Beatrice. The Glimmer Palace. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Aug. 2008. 400p. ISBN 978-1-59448-985-3. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Lilly Nelly Aphrodite takes her first breath in Berlin as the 20th century dawns and keeps right on going until she is Germany's top silent film star. With a reading group guide.
Cook, Robin. Foreign Body. Putnam. Aug. 2008. 464p. ISBN 0-978-0-399-15502-4. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
When medical student Jennifer Hernandez discovers that the grandmother who raised her has died in New Delhi, where she had gone in search of an affordable hip replacement, she's on to the next plane to investigate.
de Bernières, Louis. A Partisan's Daughter. Knopf. Aug. 2008. 192p. ISBN 978-0-307-26887-7. $21.
Unhappily married and over the hill in 1970s London, Chris finally approaches a hooker. Only she's not a hooker at all but the daring daughter of a Tito partisan who spins an incredible story (but is it true?) as she and Chris launch an affair. With a reading group guide.
Edwards, Selden. The Little Book. Dutton. Aug. 2008. NAp. ISBN 978-0-525-95061-5. $25.95.
In this highly touted debut, 30 years in the making, Seventies rock star Wheeler Burden finds himself in 19th-century Vienna—and has to find his way back.
Harvey, Michael. The Fifth Floor. Knopf. Aug. 2008. ISBN 978-0-307-26687-3. $23.95.
In this follow-up to Harvey's hot debut, The Chicago Way, PI Michael Kelly obliges a past love by trailing her nasty husband—and finds himself involved in a case that leads all the way back to the Great Chicago Fire. With a four-city tour; a 100,000-copy first printing.
Hogan, Linda. People of the Whale. Norton. Aug. 2008. 320p. ISBN 978-0-393-06457-5. $24.95.
Feeling like a stranger as he returns to his Native American village, Vietnam vet Thomas Witka is surprised to find his tribe debating the wisdom of hunting whales once again. With a Southwest tour.
Krasikov, Sana. One More Year. Spiegel & Grau. Aug. 2008. 208p. ISBN 978-0-385-52439-1. $21.95.
An O. Henry Award winner who published her first story in The New Yorker, Ukraine-born Krasikov offers a debut collection.
Kureishi, Hanif. Something To Tell You. Scribner. Aug. 2008. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7210-7. $25.
Jamal may be a successful psychoanalyst, but he's middle-aged and divorced—and he's starting to think about first love Ajita and some dark moments in his life. With a four-city tour; BookClubReader feature.
Radulescu, Domnica. Train to Tri este. Knopf. Aug. 2008. 320p. ISBN 978-0-307-26823-5. $23.95.
As Ceausescu's regime worsens, Manoliu flees Romania for America (like the author herself), but she always wonders about the boy she left behind. Touted as a really lovely first novel.
Rice, Luanne. Last Kiss. Bantam. Aug. 2008. 352p. ISBN 978-0-553-80512-3. $25.
After the inexplicable murder of a charming 18-year-old, his singer-songwriter mom can't make music and his girlfriend is inconsolable. So a family friend rustles up the mom's old flame and asks him to look into the mystery. With a reading group guide.
Robotham, Michael. Shatter. Doubleday. Aug. 2008. 304p. ISBN 978-0-385-51791-1. $24.95.
Why would a woman terrified of heights commit suicide by jumping off a bridge? Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, who couldn't stop her, wants to know. With a national tour.
Sakey, Marcus. Good People. Dutton. Aug. 2008. NAp. ISBN 978-0-525-95084-4. $24.95.
Sakey follows up his hit debut, The Blade Itself, with the story of a struggling husband and wife delighted to discover $400,000 left in their house by a recently deceased tenant—until they realize how much the money will cost them.
Salak, Kira. The White Mary. Holt. Aug. 2008. 384p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8847-2. $25.
PEN award–winning journalist Salak offers a first novel about a war correspondent knocked off kilter by the death of a colleague she admired from afar—and even more surprised when a missionary from New Guinea claims to have spotted him, still very much alive.
Saul, John. The Face of Fear. Ballantine. Aug. 2008. 368p. ISBN 978-0-345-48705-6. $26.
Alison goes along with her mother's plans to pretty her up through plastic surgery, even when the surgeon becomes her stepfather. But as the surgery continues, she notices that she's starting to look more and more like the surgeon's deceased first wife. With a six-city tour.
Shaffer, Mary Ann & Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Dial. Aug. 2008. 288p. ISBN 978-0-385-34099-1. $22. CD: Random Audio.
Post–World War II, London author Juliet Ashton strikes up a correspondence with a Guernsey native and learns about the oddly named book club—see the book's title—the islanders quickly established to explain to German occupiers why they were breaking curfew. First novelist Shaffer has worked as a librarian and editor, while niece Barrows writes children's books. Rights sold to nearly a dozen countries.
Slaughter, Karin. Fractured. Delacorte. Aug. 2008. 416p. ISBN 978-0-385-34195-0. $25.
Having escaped an abusive husband, Gailyn is good and ready to take on an intruder who's holding her daughter hostage—though perhaps she wasn't expecting the man to end up dead.
Ullmann, Linn. A Blessed Child. Knopf. Aug. 2008. 256p. ISBN 978-0-307-26547-0. $23.95.
Summering with father Isak Lövenstad and two half-sisters on the chilly Baltic isle of Hammarsö, Erika forms a firm friendship with oddball Ragnar. But by age 14, she's sensitive about her own status and dumps Ragnar—with tragic consequences for everyone.

Nonfiction
Cacioppo, John T. & William Patrick. Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. Norton. Aug. 2008. 288p. ISBN 978-0-393-06170-3. $25.95.
University of Chicago professor Cacioppo presents scientific research showing that human beings are so geared to cooperation that social context can affect DNA replication—giving us a whole new view of the dangers of loneliness. With a three-city tour.
Choate, Pat. Dangerous Business: The Risks of Globalization for America. Knopf. Aug. 2008. 256p. ISBN 978-307-26684-2. $25.
Globalization. It's not all good, argues Ross Perot's old vice presidential running mate, producing uncomfortable dependencies, national security issues, and social deficits. With a five-city tour.
Cowell, Alan. The Terminal Spy. Broadway. ISBN 978-0-385-52355-4. NAp. $26.
New York Times foreign correspondent Cowell probes the murder of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko by way of a rare radioactive isotope.
Geddes, John. Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq. Broadway. Aug. 2008. ISBN 978-0-7679-3025-3. NAp. $24.95.
So what are private military contractors really doing in Iraq?
Levitin, Daniel J. The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. Dutton. Aug. 2008. ISBN 978-0-525-95073-8. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
After the best-selling This Is Your Brain on Music, Levitin works through opera, raga, a griot's song, and more to show how music reflects six fundamentals in human nature—knowledge, friendship, ceremony, joy, comfort, and love. With a national tour.
Lyall, Sarah. The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British. Norton. Aug. 2008. 256p. ISBN 978-0-393-05846-8. $24.95.
New York Times reporter Lyall moved to London in the 1990s and has spent her time learning what it means to be British in an age of transition. With an East Coast tour.
Moser, Bob. Blue Dixie: Awakening the South's Democratic Majority. Times Bks: Holt. Aug. 2008. 288p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8771-0. $25.
Political correspondent for the Nation, Moser argues that Democrats can take back the South as the distance between haves and have-nots widens and a left-leaning demographic emerges. With a national tour (including the South?).
Pelosi, Nancy. Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters. Doubleday. Aug. 2008. 336p. ISBN 978-0-385-52586-2. $26.95.
How Baltimore mayor Tommy D'Alesandro's daughter went from California Democratic chair to the highest office any woman has held in U.S. history.
Schwartz, Stephen. The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony. Doubleday. Aug. 2008. 224p. ISBN 978-0-385-51819-2. $24.95.
Schwartz, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, discusses an Islamic spiritual tradition that could bridge East and West.
Shabecoff, Philip & Alice Shabecoff. Poisoned Profits: Corporate Greed and the Toxic Assault on Our Children's Health. Random. Aug. 2008. 288p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6430-4. $26.
Philip Shabecoff, former New York Times chief environmental correspondent, and freelance consumer affairs journalist Alice Shabecoff don't just unearth the link between childhood disease and the chemicals dumped into our food, water, and households. They also explain what we can do about it. With a three-city tour.
Singh, Simon & Edzard Ernst. Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine. Norton. Aug. 2008. 352p. ISBN 978-0-393-06661-6. $25.95.
The lowdown on alternative medicine from two qualified observers: science journalist Singh (Fermat's Last Theorem) and Ernst, the UK's first professor of alternative medicine. With a three-city tour.
Vanderbilt, Tom. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us). Knopf. 384p. Aug. 2008. ISBN 978-0-307-26478-7. $24.95.
Road rage can be beneficial? Traffic reporters can predict the weather from traffic patterns? Journalist Vanderbilt has evidently written a unique book—and it's fun, too, according to the publicist. With a juicy first printing and a nine-city tour.