Prepub Alert
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 11/15/2009
Fiction
Bass, Jefferson. The Bone Thief: A Body Farm Novel. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-128476-2. $24.99. lrg. prnt.
Dr. Bill Brockton, star of numerous thrillers by Bass (i.e., forensics expert Dr. Bill Bass and journalist Jon Jefferson), uncovers an unsavory trade in body parts. Bass works have made the New York Times extended best sellers list, and with a 100,000-copy first printing this scarefest is clearly being positioned to break out big.
Bennett, Vanora. The Queen’s Lover. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 592p. ISBN 978-0-06-168986-4. $25.99. lrg. prnt.
Widowed just a few years after marrying England’s King Henry V, French princess Catherine de Valois struggles to protect her infant son—and falls for her head of household, Welshman Owain Tudor. Royals are big; with a 50,000-copy first printing and reading group guide.
Coughlin, Jack with Donald A. Davis. Clean Kill: A Sniper Novel. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-312-55102-5. $25.99. CD: Macmillan Audio.
Gunnery Sergeant Coughlin, USMC (ret.), that is. In this follow-up to the best-selling Dead Shot, Israel’s foreign minister and Saudi Arabia’s reigning prince are about to sign a peace treaty when a deadly missile hits. Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson must tackle the attackers—who aren’t al Qaeda operatives. Should do well.
Crusie, Jennifer & Bob Mayer. Wild Ride. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-312-53377-9. $25.99.
Poor Mary Alice. She’s signed on to restore Dreamland, a fading amusement park, not realizing that it’s home to five fierce demons. My favorite character: a supernatural raven. Crusie and Mayer’s first joint effort, Don’t Look Down, was okay, but the second, Agnes and the Hitman, took off.
Djian, Philippe. Unforgivable. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4391-6441-9. $24.
A sixtyish writer is shattered by the disappearance of his actress daughter and the possible faithlessness of his wife. Okay, so maybe this French thriller won’t shove The Lost Symbol off the best sellers lists. But Djian’s work was a number one best seller in France, where it won Le Prix Jean Freustié, and André Techiné is bringing it to the big screen. So try it.
Gordon, David. The Serialist. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4391-5848-7. pap. $14.
Even as fledgling author Harry Bloch helps a jailed serial killer write his memoir, the murders continue. Harry investigates, helped by his knowledge of books. The publisher is hot on this debut.
Gowda, Shilpi Somaya. Secret Daughter. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-192231-2. $23.99.
In rural India, where only sons matter, a young woman saves her daughter’s life by placing her in an orphanage. The publisher is plumping for this debut, and what I’ve read is immensely touching. With a 50,000-copy first printing; reading group guide.
Grippando, James. Money To Burn: A Novel of Suspense. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-155630-2. $25.99. lrg. prnt.
Wall Street investment banker Michael Cantella’s substantive bank account has just been wiped out, and his company is blaming him for its own misfortunes. The culprit seems to be Michael’s first wife, Ivy, who vanished on their honeymoon. Spooky, eh? With a 60,000-copy first printing.
HoneyB. Married on Mondays. Grand Central. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-446-58232-2. $21.95.
HoneyB is really the wildly popular Mary B. Morrison. Her heroines are dutiful lawyers’ wives by day but by night run a fancy club called Creamé—which the police are rather hypocritically trying to shut down. This may not be your cup of cream, but expectations are high.
Hughes, Declan. The City of Lost Girls. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-168990-1. $24.99.
There’s not much of a print run, but Dubliner Hughes is a best-selling author abroad, a Shamus award winner (and multiaward nominee) here, and an LJ favorite. Private detective Ed Loy reluctantly agrees to help Jack Donovan, a friend from his Hollywood days who’s been receiving threats while filming in Dublin.
Hynes, James. Next. Reagan Arthur: Little, Brown. Mar. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-316-05192-7. $23.99.
What happens to middle-aged, anxiety-prone Kevin Quinn when he flies to Texas for a job interview? Hynes’s books are routinely New York Times Notables; maybe he’ll break out with this one. Reading group guide.
Lipsyte, Sam. The Ask. Farrar. Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-374-29891-3. $25.
Recently fired, university development officer Milo Burke might get his job back—if he can successfully woo a potential donor who will talk only to him. Farrar’s lead spring fiction title has good buzz and a 75,000-copy first printing, though LJ’s reviewer demurred: “A treasure trove of brilliant asides and one-liners, this never really comes together as a coherent novel” (LJ 10/15/09).
Lutz, Lisa. The Spellmans Strike Again. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9340-9. $25.
In the fourth and, alas, final installment of this wacky series, Izzy Spellman has taken over the family’s private detective business and aims to wipe out evil competitor Ron Harkey. With a 12-city tour; 150,000-copy first printing and reading group guide.
Malae, Peter Nathaniel. What We Are. Grove. Mar. 2010. 416p. ISBN 978-0-8021-01907-0. $24.
Samoan American Paul Tusifale rebels against American society as an altruistic drifter, then tries to join its ranks. Malae’s story collection, Teach the Free Man, was a finalist for the NYPL Literary Lions Award, and this debut novel won the San Francisco Foundation/Intersection for the Arts Joseph Henry Jackson Award for best novel in progress. I’m betting on it. With a five-city tour; reading group guide.
Mina, Denise. Still Midnight. Reagan Arthur: Little, Brown. Mar. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-0-316-07563-9. $24.99.
Three armed men enter a Glasgow home and insist that the family render up a man who’s never been there. A dumb mistake or something sinister? Mina always delivers.
Nesbø, Jo. The Devil’s Star. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-113397-8 $25.99.
In this latest from Norwegian crime writer Nesbø, bad things come in fives: the five-pointed red diamond found with the victims, the five days that elapse between killings. Nesbø’s star keeps rising; with a five-city tour and a 40,000-copy first printing.
O’Dell, Tawni. Fragile Beasts. Shaye Areheart Bks: Harmony. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-307-35168-5. $25.
Teenagers Kyle and Klint have grown up raggedy in Pennsylvania coal country with their alcoholic father, whose death prompts the return of their truly awful mom. Maybe not as big as O’Dell’s Oprah pick, Back Roads, but check it out. With a 35,000-copy first printing; reading group guide.
Oe, Kenzaburo. The Changeling. Grove. Mar. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1936-0. $24.
Sexagenarian Kogito Choko finally makes up with his estranged brother-in-law—and must then investigate his suicide. Not about death but about friendship; buy the Nobel prize winner’s latest for smart readers.
Palmer, Dexter. The Dream of Perpetual Motion. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-312-55815-4. $24.99.
A greeting-card writer aboard a zeppelin composes his memoirs and plots a confrontation with the mad scientist whose greatest invention may be a perpetual motion machine. Reportedly brilliant; a debut I’m especially eager to see.
Patterson, James. The Sky Is Falling: A Maximum Ride Novel. Little, Brown. Mar. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-0-316-03619-1. $19.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
Max and her Flock are working for a food-distribution program in Africa, where they’re closely watched by the program’s benefactor and receive a dire warning: “The sky will fall.” With child-proofed language; note that other “Maximum Ride” titles are heading for the big screen.
Shriver, Lionel. So Much for That. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-145858-3. $25.99.
Shep Knacker sells his company, eager to take the money and go lead a simpler life in a developing country. But his wife keeps stalling, and then she reveals that she has cancer. My fiction pick from this list; Shriver is always spot-on. With a 100,000-copy first printing; reading group guide.
Simonson, Helen. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. Random. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6893-7. $25.
Major Pettigrew, now retired, becomes friends and then some with the shopkeeper Mrs. Ali, of Pakistani descent but born in Cambridge. (The major was born in Lahore.) Charm combines with the new social realities; possibly the little debut that could—there will be lots of outreach.
Smith, Martin Cruz. The Golden Mile. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-7432-7674-0. $25.95. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Investigator Renko is back, brooding over his job, chess prodigy Zhenya, and a kidnapped baby. Still promising to be big after all these years; with a 200,000-copy first printing and a seven-city tour.
Spindler, Erica. Blood Vines. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-312-36392-5. $24.99. CD: Macmillan Audio.
When her mother dies, Alex learns that she had been married to a leading Sonoma vintner but had fled the marriage after the disappearance of her infant son. Then a baby’s bones are found in a Sonoma vineyard, and things get decidedly creepy.
Trussoni, Danielle. Angelology. Viking. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-670-02147-5. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Sister Evangeline is drawn into the 1000-year conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the Nephilim, descendants of angels and humans who want to rule the world. It might sound like another angel/demon rip-off, but Trussoni wrote the excellent memoir Falling Through the Earth. Plus, rights have been sold to 25 countries, Will Smith’s company bought the production rights, and there’s a nine-city tour and reading group guide.
White, Kate. Hush. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 448p. ISBN 978-0-06-157661-4. $25.99.
Lake Warren’s ex wants custody of the kids, and now the man she has just slept with has been murdered. Cosmopolitan editor in chief White’s previous novels have been best sellers, so the 75,000-copy first printing is no surprise.
Wilson, Susan. One Good Dog. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-312-57125-2. $22.99. CD: Macmillan Audio.
Adam March loses everything after an unfortunate incident with his assistant—but he gets a dog named Chance, a rescued pit bull he agrees to care for while working at a shelter as part of his community service. Wilson changes tack with this heartbreaker; reading group guide.
Zevin, Gabrielle. The Hole We’re In. Black Cat: Grove. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1923-0. pap. $14.
And what a hole: Roger Pomeroy has gone back to school with mixed success, wife Georgia watches the bills pile up, and the kids suffer. Zevin is an award-winning screenwriter and the author of popular YA titles like Elsewhere and the adult novel Margarettown. Promising.
Nonfiction
Axelrad, Josh. Repeat Until Rich: A Professional Card Counter’s Chronicle of the Blackjack Wars. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-1-59420-247-6. $25.95.
Columbia College grad Axelrad played blackjack for five years, once earning $700,000 in a single sitting, though he bombed at poker. The publisher promises that it will be big.
Baldwin, James. The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings. Pantheon. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-307-37882-8. $25.
Essays, articles, reviews, and interviews from Baldwin, none ever in book form. It’s great to hear from a master.
Byrne, Paula. Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-06-088130-6. $25.99.
Not a huge printing, but evidently there’s a lot of interest (who didn’t love Brideshead Revisited?), and the British reviews were exceptional.
Carter, Zoe FitzGerald. Imperfect Endings: A Memoir. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-1-4391-4824-2. $25.
Carter’s mother faced down terminal illness for 20 years, then decided to end it all, enlisting the aid of her three daughters. Not your standard memoir; highly touted.
Johnson, Paul. Jesus: A 21st Century Biography. Viking. Mar. 2010. 208p. ISBN 978-0-670-02159-8. $24.95.
Johnson, whose Churchill biography has just appeared, follows up his classic A History of Christianity with this reconsideration of the life of Jesus. Not lightweight reading.
Keen, Sam. In the Absence of God: Dwelling in the Presence of the Sacred. Harmony: Crown. Mar. 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-0-307-46229-9. $23.
Want a little Fire in the Belly? Keen follows up that best seller with an argument that religions should not be lived at the extremes but dwelt in daily. With a 30,000-copy first printing.
King, Dean. Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival. Little, Brown. Mar. 2010. 368p. ISBN 978-0-316-16708-6. $25.99.
It’s not much discussed, but there were women on the Chinese Communists’ famed Long March—30 among 86,000. King’s Skeletons of the Zahara did surprisingly well (with over 100,000 copies in print), so watch this one closely.
Laskin, David. The Long Way Home: An Immigrant Generation and the Crucible of War. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 416p. ISBN 978-0-06-123333-3. $26.99.
One of five U.S. soldiers during World War I was born abroad, and fighting was part of their American education. Books on the Great War are surging, but this one seems unique. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
McPhee, John. Silk Parachute: Essays. Farrar. Mar. 2010. 240p. ISBN 978-0-374-26373-7. $25.
McPhee is always excellent, but his essay “Silk Parachute,” published ten years ago in The New Yorker, is his most anthologized piece. Great for highbrow reading groups.
Morrison, Stacy. Falling Apart in One Piece: An Optimist’s Journey Through the Hell of Divorce. S. & S. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9556-4. $26. lrg. prnt.
Dumped by her husband, Redbook editor in chief Morrison juggles job, baby, and a house that’s falling apart. More in the divorce-as-enlightenment trend; should be big.
O’Brien, Michael. Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon. Farrar. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-374-21581-1. $27.
In 1815, Louisa Catherine Adams left St. Petersburg, Russia, with her son and headed to Paris, where husband John Quincy Adams had been transferred. Meanwhile, Napoleon was storming Paris from Elba. My nonfiction favorite, and our reviewer agrees: “Witty, informed, sophisticated, and moving; essential reading” (LJ 11/1/09).
Pasternak, Mariana. The Best of Friends: Martha and Me. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-166127-3. $25.99. lrg. prnt.
Pasternak and Martha Stewart were best friends for 20 years. But Stewart’s fame and fortune tore at the relationship, which finally ruptured when Pasternak was called as a witness at Stewart’s trial. Makes me queasy, but there will be lots of readers; with a 100,000-copy first printing.
Perry, Dayn. Reggie Jackson: The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball’s Mr. October. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-06-156238-9. $24.99.
“Mr. October” led his teams to five World Series; FoxSports.com columnist Perry tells us how he did it. With a 40,000-copy first printing.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. 6th ed. 473p. ISBN 978-0-547-15246-2.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. 4th ed. 512p. ISBN 978-0-547-15270-7. ea. vol: Houghton Harcourt. Mar. 2010. flexi. $19.95.
Peterson died in 1996, but a flock of new authors have kept his works going. With all-new range maps, 40 new paintings, an updated text, and access to 33 video podcasts; library-essential.
Romney, Mitt. No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. St. Martin’s. Mar. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-312-60980-1. $25.99.
A challenge from the former Republican presidential contender; sure to stir debate.
Rosenblatt, Roger. Making Toast: A Family Story. Ecco: HarperCollins. Feb. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-182593-4. $21.99.
When his daughter died of an undetected heart condition, award-winning author/journalist Rosenblatt and his wife moved in with their son-in-law to help raise the kids. I promise that this will be good, and I haven’t even seen it; with a 50,000-copy first printing.
Theroux, Phyllis. The Journal Keeper: A Memoir. Atlantic Monthly. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1897-4. $24.
The noted essayist realizes that the journals she kept during a rough patch saved her life. Good for libraries supporting writing groups.
Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Pantheon. Mar. 2010. 192p. ISBN 978-0-307-37883-5. $23.
With interest in African literature ever booming, you’ll want to consider this memoir by a noted Kenyan-born playwright, critic, and novelist (Wizard of the Crow).
