Publishers Weekly articles from August 2003

Publishers Weekly archives from August 2003

Barnes & Noble buys B'mann's B&N.com take: divesting e-tailer's shares reflects the media giant's strategy to focus on core businesses, including book publishing. (News).
August 4, 2003... BERTELSMANN IS MAKING good on its 2002 pledge to get out of the e-commerce business by agreeing to sell its 37% stake in Barnes & Noble.com to Barnes & Noble. B&N will pay $164 million to acquire Bertelsmann's interest in B&N.com in a...

South-Western acquires Texere. (Acquisition).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Thomson Corp. subsidiary South-Western has bought the business book publisher Texere for an undisclosed price. Founded in 2000 by Myles Thompson and Martin Liu, Texere has a backlist of about 150 titles in finance, investment, economics,...

Pearson, M-H Education expect better finish for year. (Slow Start).(McGraw-Hill Education)
August 4, 2003... FOLLOWING A DROP in sales and earnings in the first six months of 2003, both Pearson and McGraw-Hill Education executives said they anticipate a stronger performance in the second half of the year. At Pearson, a decline in sales at both its...

More jobs go as Reader's Digest restructures again. (Condensed).
August 4, 2003... IN ITS ONGOING efforts to bring costs in line with revenue, Reader's Digest announced last week that it plans to eliminate another 380 positions in its worldwide operations. The new round of cuts, which are expected to be completed by the end...

American Media to expand book program. (Unbelievable Success).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... THE LAUNCH OF American Media Inc.'s first books last fall (News, Oct. 7, 2002) was successful enough to convince the company, home of the National Enquirer and Star magazines, to expand its book operation. "We're planning on making a big...

Hallick out as Routledge reorganizes. (Fallout).(Linda Hallick)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Although details are still sketchy, Taylor and Francis has stared to consolidate its publishing operations in the U.S. The changes follow T&F's acquisition of CRC Press earlier this year (News, Mar. 10). With the restructuring under way,...

A great fair in Harlem. (news).( )(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... More than 25,000 people turned out on July 19 for the fifth annual Harlem Book Fair, held on W. 135th St. near the Schomburg Library. This year's event had many more exhibitors--216, up from 150 last year; authors like Walter Mosley and...

Saroyan Prize goes to Foer. (New Biennial Award).(JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER, author of Everything Is Illuminated (Houghton Mifflin) has won the first Saroyan Writing Prize, co-sponsored by the William Saroyan Foundation and Stanford University Libraries, which houses the largest Saroyan archive...

Big deal for Seth memoir. (hot deals).(author Vikram Seth)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... A memoir by Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy), after a sale to "time Warner in England reported at around $2 million. also made a very substantial sale to Harper's Terry Karten here, who was the editor on the author's original highly successful...

McGinniss to the races. (hot deals).(Joe McGinniss)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... It's been a while since we heard from bestselling author Joe McGinniss, but now he has entered the currently hot horse-racing stakes, planning a book on the thoroughbred racing season in Saratoga in late summer, an occasion that is a blend of...

A close look at religion. (hot deals).(Daniel Dennett's 'Breaking the Spell')(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... A recent Op Ed piece in the New York Times by noted philosopher Daniel Dennett. in which he urged nonreligious people to oppose the increasing role of religion in American politics, drew such a large response that he was encouraged to develop...

Analyzing Bush. (hot deals).(Stanley A. Renshon's 'In His Father's Shadow: George W. Bush and the Politics of Transformation')(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Stanley A. Renshon is an unusual combination of political scientist and psychoanalyst, and is bringing both his specialties to bear on a book called In His Father's Shadow: George W. Bush and the Politics of Transformation, which David Pervin...

Those Italian songsters. (hot deals).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... The likes of Italian-bred crooners Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett Jerry Vale, Perry Como and many others gave a whole new style to American popular song, and Mark Rotella, whose book on his Calabrian roots. Stolen Figs, has received some juicy...

Short takes. (hot deals).('Generation Kill' by Evan Wright)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Another book by an embedded journalist in Iraq, Generation Kill by Evan Wright, was bought by Penguin's Rob McMahon. Wright was with an advance army group known as the 1st Suicide Battalion because it operated so far ahead of the mare force;...

The Big Read's big success. (Promoting in the U.K.).(BBC's Big Read project)
August 4, 2003... TELEVISION'S ABILITY to sell books extends beyond Oprah, judging the BBC's Big Read project, now cranking up sales all over the U.K. Since the beginning of April, BBC television and radio stations have been exhorting the nation to vote for...

CBA shows signs of struggle at annual convention. (Decisions).(Christian Booksellers Association International Convention )
August 4, 2003... AT THE 54TH Christian Booksellers Association International Convention July 12-17 in Orlando, the fate of the convention itself was the central topic, with industry insiders speculating about it and especially about the future of CBA Expo, tire...

Hambro preparing Quarto tender offer. (Strategy).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Saying that it is concerned that the Quarto board "may not have given full consideration to all strategic options" available to it, including the sale of the company, J.O. Hambro Capital Management plans to make a tender offer to acquire 24.66%...

Hall retires from Wiley. (People).(CAROLE HALL)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... CAROLE HALL, editor-in-chief of African-American interest books at John Wiley & Sons, is taking early retirement and will look to pursue independent publishing ventures. Hall told PW that she decided to take retirement after her position was...

Obituary.(Jed Mattes)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
August 4, 2003... Jed Mattes LITERARY AGENT Jed Mattes, who represented such best-selling authors as Dr. Seuss, Bill Bryson and Greg Louganis, died July 24, three days shy of his 51st birthday, after a five-year battle with cancer. Mattes's career as an...

Heading North. (behind the bestsellers).(The South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston )(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Once again, The South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston has taken the top spot in hardcover nonfictio; that's the sixth time in the last 16 weeks. Rodale v-p and publisher of trade books Amy Rhodes reports four reprintings of 100,000 copies...

Moving fast. (behind the bestsellers).(Laura Hillenbrand's 'Seabiscuit: An American Legend')(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... The same title--Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit: An American Legend--heads both our mass market and trade paperback charts. A special illustrated collector's hardcover edition lands in the #11 spot on the nonfiction list. According to...

Building momentum. (behind the bestsellers).(Terry Goodkind's bestseller 'Naked Empire')(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... That's just what Tor did for the latest Terry Goodkind bestseller, Naked Empire, which lands in the #2 spot on PWs fiction hardcover list. The book was launched with a 250,O00-copy first printing and a $250,000 marketing campaign; the author is...

Breaking out. (behind the bestsellers).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Bestselling novelist E. Lynn Harris (he has had eight national bestsellers) crosses over to the nonfiction top sellers with What Becomes of the Brokenhearted: A Memoir. The author is on the road for almost a month, visiting 12 cities; the first...

Autumn sounds: publishers roll out big titles, high hopes for fall. (audio).
August 4, 2003... Though the dog days of summer are upon us, the traditionally strong fall and holiday buying seasons are approaching at a fast clip. And according to a recent polling of audio publishers by PW, many companies are heading into the fourth quarter...

The Kingslayer: Seven Steps to the Arbiter.(Audiobook Review)
August 4, 2003... L. RON HUBBARD, READ BY R.F. DALEY, DENICE DUFF, JIM MESKIMEN, JACK ARMSTRONG AND BOB CASO. Galaxy Audio, unabridged, three CDs, 2.5 hrs., $25 ISBN 1-59212-168-3 Fans of space operas and old action-adventure radio serials should appreciate...

Maneater.(Audiobook Review)
August 4, 2003... GIGI LEVANGIE GRAZER, READ BY UMA THURMAN. Simon & Schuster Audio, abridged, four cassettes, 6 hrs., $26 ISBN 0-7435-3029-2 No other actor could capture the voice of spoiled L.A. golddigger Clarissa Alpert as perfectly as Thurman does here....

Bangkok 8.(Audiobook Review)
August 4, 2003... JOHN BURDETT, READ BY B.D. WONG. Random House Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-7393-0387-2 Set in Thailand's capital in the mid-1990s, this ambitious first novel by Burdett (The Last Six Million Seconds) follows the city's...

Blue Horizon.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... WILBUR SMITH, READ BY TOM PIGOTT-SMITH. Audio Renaissance, abridged, seven CDs, 7 hrs., $37.95 ISBN 1-55927-871-4 Fans of Smith's previous chronicles involving the swashbuckling Courtneys (The Sunbird, etc.) will embrace tiffs event-packed...

Le Divorce.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DIANE JOHNSON, READ BY BEBE NEUWIRTH. HarperAudio, unabridged, seven cassettes, 10.5 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 0-06 052346-8 The voice of Tony Award-winning stage and film actress Neuwirth, who is well known for her Emmy-winning role as Dr. Lilith...

The Wandering Hill: a Novel.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... LARRY MCMURTRY, READ BY ALFRED MOLINA. Simon & Schuster Audio, unabridged, eight cassettes, 10 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 0-7435-2783-6 * Fans of Molina's leading of Sin Killer, the first volume in McMurtry's over-the-top Berrybender Narratives,...

The Bridge of Sighs.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... OLEN STEINHAUER, READ BY NED SCHMIDTKE. Blackstone Audiobooks, unabridged, seven cassettes, 9.5 hrs., $35.95 ISBN 078612412-1 Schmidtke's reading of Steinhauer's debut is rich with subtle nuance, but his portrayal of the actual characters'...

Sex Money Kiss.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... GENE SIMMONS, READ BY THE AUTHOR. New Millennium Audio/Simmons Audio, unabridged, four cassettes, 5 hrs., $25 ISBN 1-59007-315-0 Exhibiting an "abiding faith in self" and an ability to think outside the traditional parameters of ethics,...

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... EDITH HAHN BEER WITH SUSAN DWORKIN, READ BY BARBARA ROSENBLAT. JCCAudiobooks (www.jccaudiobooks.com), unabridged, six cassettes, 9 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 1-893079-25-2 In the 1930s, Edith Hahn was studying law at universal, in love with her...

BookPlanet takes flight: new book club from BOMC targets early and middle-grade readers. (children's books).(Book-of-the-Month Club)
August 4, 2003... Bookspan's Children's Book-of-the-Month Club will roll out BookPlanet this month, its new direct-mail club aimed at readers age six to 12. This marks the first time the 14-year-old CBOMC has targeted mailings specifically to this age group. In...

Bedrick starts new imprint. (children's books).(Peter Bedrick Books starts Enchanted Lion Books)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Enchanted Lion Books, an illustrated nonfiction imprint, recently launched with 10 titles on its debut list, The imprint publishes books for children, young adults and adults. Peter Bedrick is publisher of the new imprint. Formerly...

Eight Cousins gets a throne. (children's bookbag).(bench installed to mark 15th anniversary of Eight Cousins Children's Bookstore, Falmouth, MA)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... When Carol Chittenden wanted to mark the 15th birthday of Eight Cousins Children's Bookstore, the store she founded in 1986 with her mother, Betty E. Borg, in Falmouth, Mass., she decided on a bench. Not just any bench, mind you, but a bronze...

Books by American and Aussie win Carnegie, Greenaway. (children's bookbag).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Ruby Holler by American author Sharon Creech (Bloomsbury) won the 2002 Carnegie Medal, given to an "outstanding book for children." Up on Cloud Nine by Anne Fine (Doubleday) was highly commended. Jethro Byrde--Fairy Child by Australian...

U.S. Andersen award nominees announced. (children's bookbag).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... The International Board on Books for Young People has announced the U.S. nominees for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. They are Lois Lowry and Vera B. Williams. The awards are given biennially to an author and an illustrator who...

New book award presented. (children's bookbag).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... First to Fly: How Wilbur & Orville Wright Invented the Airplane by Peter Busby, illustrated by David Craig (Crown), has been selected as the winner of the first annual James Madison Book Award. Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick...

Delacorte Prize winner selected. (children's bookbag).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Random House has announced the winner of the 2003 Delacorte Prize contest for a first young adult novel. Wings by Julie Gonzalez will be published by Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers, an imprint of the Knopf Delacorte Dell division of...

Speakers wanted. (children's bookbag).(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Children's publishers are invited to nominate their authors and illustrators as possible speakers at the Children's Book and Author Breakfast for next year's BEA convention. Suggestions for authors of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, as well as...

Audio bestsellers.
August 4, 2003... Fiction [1] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (unabr.). J.K. Rowling, Read by Jim Dale Random House Audio/Listening Library. 17 cassettes, 26.5 hours, $45 ISBN 0-8072-2028-0 [2] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (unabr. CD]....

Spoken audio for fall.(Bibliography)
August 4, 2003... AUDIO PARTNERS Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie. Read by David Suchet. Unabridged, four cassettes, six hours $25.95; five CDs, $27.95, Jul. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. Read by Hugh Fraser. Unabridged, four cassettes, six...

Children's audio/video for fall.(Bibliography)
August 4, 2003... ANCHOR BAY 1699 Stutz Dr., Troy, Mich. 48084; (248) 816-0909 Thomas' Snowy Surprise & Other Thomas Adventures and James & The Red Balloon & Other Thomas Adventures. Each, VHS, 35 mins., $12.98; DVD, $19.98, ages 2-6, July, Sept. BIG...

Dollars and sense: test prep and study aid books are holding steady, but college guides are proliferating as costs skyrocket.
August 4, 2003... HOME MORTGAGE rates may be down, but college tuition increases are soaring off the charts. And it's not just the Ivy League that's spiraling out of a student's grasp, it's also the state School that students and parents have always looked to as...

Sins of Two Fathers.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DENIS HAMILL. Atria, $25 (384p) ISBN 07434-6298-X There are many fine things in Hamill's latest action-packed thriller, though a credible villain isn't one of them. There's a pitch-perfect portrait of a post-9/11 New York City--including...

Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... RYAN HARTY. Univ. of Iowa, $15.95 paper (174p) ISBN 0-87745-869-3 The stark landscapes of the desert Southwest form the backdrop for Harty's poignant and intelligent debut collection. Two of the eight stories explore the complicated...

Dead in 5 Heartbeats.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... RALPH "SONNY" BARGER WITH KEITH AND KENT ZIMMERMAN. Morrow, $24.95 (3200) ISBN 0-06-053251-3 Legendary Hell's Angel Barger (Hell's Angel; Ridin' High, Livin' Free) teams once again with co-authors Keith and Kent Zimmerman on this debut...

You Look Nice Today.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... STANLEY BING. Bloomsbury, $24.75 (304p) ISBN 1-58234-280-6 * With this sardonic, entertaining legal thriller about a discrimination suit brought against a high level corporate executive by his administrative assistant, Fortune columnist...

Dream Jungle.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... JESSICA HAGEDORN. Viking, $23.95 (325p) ISBN 0-670-88458-8 Barbed and alluring, this third novel by Hagedorn (Dogeaters; The Gangster of Love) revolves around the purported discovery of a Stone Age "lost tribe" in the Philippines, and...

The Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Marisol. HarperCollins/Rayo, $21.95 (256p) ISBN 0-06-053042-1 When Chicago journalist Pilar Castillo returns to her native Venezuela for her beloved grandmother Gabriela's funeral, she and her mother are shocked to see a man they do not...

The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla.(Book Review)
August 4, 2003... Stephen King. Donald M. Grant/Scribner, $35 (736p) ISBN 1-880418-56-8 * "Time is a face on the water," stretching and contorting reality as gunslingers Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and their talking pet "billy-bumbler" Oy continue their...

Say That to My Face.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DAVID PRETE. Norton, $23.95 (192p) ISBN In this classic New York tale of lost innocence, Joe Frascone grows up running tire streets of Yonkers, then embarks on a revelatory cross-country trip and finally winds up back in the city working as...

My Cold War.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... TOM PIAZZA. ReganBooks, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 0-06-053340-4 This richly textured but uneven first novel by Piazza (Blues and Trouble) opens with John Delano, a Connecticut college professor of Cold War Studies, trying, unsuccessfully, to pen...

A Window Across the River.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... BRIAN MORTON. Harcourt, $25 (304p) ISBN 0-15-100575-8 * Suffering a "crisis of the spirit" and stagnating in her relationship with an ailing academic, short story writer Nora Howard calls her old flame, photographer Isaac Mitchell, at three...

The Tournament: a Novel of the 20th Century.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... JOHN CLARKE. Hyperion/Theia, $19.95 (288p) ISBN 14013-0092-8 Clarke's chatty latest novel boasts an outrageous premise: the greatest minds of the 20th century--128 of them to be exact--have gathered in Paris for a two-week tennis...

Stone Garden.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... MOLLY MOYNAHAN. Morrow, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 0-06-054426-0 Rich-kid glamour mixes uneasily with tragedy in this well-intentioned but faintly smug second novel by Moynahan (Parting Is All We Know of Heaven). Alice McGuire's picture-perfect...

Push Not the River.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... JAMES CONROYD MARTIN. St. Martin's, $24.95 (432p) ISBN 0-312-31150-8 Tumultuous times in late 18th-century Poland are the backdrop for this stiffly written historical romance based on the unpublished diary of Countess Anna Maria...

The Time Traveler's Wife.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... AUDREY NIFFENEGGER. MacAdam/Cage, $25 (526p) ISBN 1-931561-46-X * This Highly original first novel won the largest advance San Francisco--based MacAdam/Cage had ever paid, and it was money well spent. Niffenegger has written a scarring love...

The Valley of Light.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... TERRY KAY. Atria, $24 (174p) ISBN 0-7434-7594-1 An enigmatic youth man's preternatural gift for fishing changes the fabric of a rural North Carolina village during the post-WWII years in Kay's latest, a dreamy, poignant and richly written...

Mortal Remains.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... PETER CLEMENT. Ballantine, $23.95 (368p) ISBN 0-345 45778-1 In this medical mystery, the remains in question are those of Kelly McShane Braden, former lover of series hero Dr. Earl Garnet (Lethal Practice; Death Rounds; The Procedure),...

Dead Famous.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... CAROL O'CONNELL. Putnam, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 0-399-15084-6 * O'Connell's post-feminist detective Kathleen Mallory returns full-throttle for an eighth grisly urban crime saga. And O'Connell's prose--sharp, gritty and streetwise--is in top...

Other Fish in the Sea.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... LISA KUSEL. Hyperion/Theia, $13 paper (304p) ISBN 0-7868-8802-4 Elly Fisher, the central character in Kusel's debut collection of 10 linked stories, leads an active life of romantic adventure (mainly on the West Coast), but lacks insight or...

A Rendezvous With Death.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... W.Y. BOYD. Elton-Wolf (2505 Second Ave., Suite 515, Seattle, Wash. 98121), $21.95 (204p) ISBN 1-58619-046-6 A murder mystery adds intrigue to Boyd's latest war novel, set during the last months of WWII as Second Lt. Charles Donnelly and his...

Emma's Gift.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... LEISHA KELLY. Revell, $12.99 paper (320p) ISBN 0-8007-5857-9 In her sequel to Julia's Hope, Kelly once again offers a compellingly simple tale of faith, hardship and community, during the Great Depression. Using two points of view--those of...

Their Wildest Dreams.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... PETER ABRAHAMS. Ballantine, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 0-345-43939-2 After two less-than-stellar outings (The Tutor; Last of the Dixie Heroes), Abrahams is once again at the top of his game in this wildly inventive, captivating caper. Make that...

Last Summer.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... MICHAEL THOMAS FORD. Kensington, $23 (416p) ISBN 0-7582-0405-1 After a string of humorous essay collections, Ford (The Little Book of Neuroses) expands his repertoire with this brimful first novel about life, love and self-discovery over...

What's Wrong With Dorfman?(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... JOHN BLUMENTHAL. St. Martin's, $12.95 paper (288p) ISBN 0-312-31188-5 A neurotic Hollywood screenwriter turns hypochondria into an art form in Blumenthal's debut novel, a monotonous, underplotted affair that revolves around the...

Inventing God.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... NICHOLAS MOSLEY. Dalkey Archive, $14.95 paper (296p) ISBN 1-16478-291-3 Like the deus absconditus of Pascal, Maurice Rotblatt is more present in his absence: the TV personality, psychologist and mystic, whom "admirers occasionally...

Eggshell Days.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... REBECCA GREGSON. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-312-31041-2 On their way back front a wedding, four old friends just miss being killed in a terrible train wreck. Their narrow escape makes them take stock of their lives, and as...

Ragtime in Simla.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... BARBARA CLEVERLY. Carroll & Graf, $24 (288p) ISBN 0-7867-1246-5 Fully developed characters and a convincing portrayal of time and place lift Cleverly's second historical (after 2002's The Last Kashmiri Rose) featuring Commander Joe...

Uniform Justice.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DONNA LEON. Grove/Atlantic, $19.95 (259p) ISBN 0-87113-903-0 * In this superb novel, Leon's latest in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series (A Noble Radiance, etc.), the Venetian police detective and family man is summoned to the exclusive...

The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Fourth Annual Collection.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... EDITED BY ED GORMAN AND MARTIN H. GREENBERG. Forge, $29.95 (640p) ISBN 0-765-30848-7; $17.95 paper -30849-5 Editors Gorman and Greenberg serve up an impressive compendium of 42 short stories culled from magazines, newspapers and anthologies...

The hummingbird wizard.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... MEREDITH BLEVINS. Forge, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 0-765-30769-3 * Fascinating gypsy lore, unforgettable characters and a wicked sense of humor distinguish Blevins's highly unusual mystery debut. Native Californian Annie Szabo, writer, mother and...

Deaths in Venice. (PW Talks with Donna Leon).(Interview)
August 4, 2003... PW: In Uniform Justice [see review p. 58], both Venice and the San Martine Military Academy are "closed worlds"--one surrounded by water and the other by "tradition" and a code of silence. Are you attracted to closed societies? Donna Leon:...

Deadly Divots: a Golf Murder Mystery.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... GENE BREAZNELL. Bridge Works, $23.95 (264p) ISBN 1-882593-74-X In Breaznell's (The Star of Sutherland) undistinguished golf mystery, homicide detective Karl Kanopka investigates the murder of a detested real estate developer on the grounds...

The Thirteenth Skull.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... BONNIE RAMTHUN. Loveland (www.lovelandpress.com), $14.95 paper (368p) ISBN 0-9662696-7-5 Ramthun's third mystery to feature Colorado Springs homicide detective Eileen Reed offers few surprises and little suspense which may explain why...

The Widow Ginger.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... PIP GRANGER. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (242p) ISBN 1-59058-057-5 In Granger's follow-up to Agatha nominee Not All Tarts Are Apple (2002), young Rosa Featherby resumes her innocent and charming reminiscences of 1950s London. Rosie is happy with...

September publications.(five mysery novels)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
August 4, 2003... The mother confessed to killing her eight-year-old daughter, but there's still something about the old case that bothers Yorkshire inspector Tom Richmond in Marjorie Eccles's Echoes of Silence: A Mystery Featuring Superintendent Gil Mayo. Might...

The Elder Gods: Book One of the Dreamers.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DAVID AND LEIGH EDDINGS. Warner Aspect, $25.95 (404p) ISBN 0-446-53221-5 Only die-hard fans of the bestselling Eddings duo (The Belgariad series) will enjoy this slow-moving, low-tension epic fantasy, the first in a projected four-book...

Nothing Human.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... NANCY KRESS. Golden Gryphon, $26.95 (300p) ISBN 1-930846-18-5 Nebula and Hugo winner Kress explores the personal and social repercussions of a hard-science idea--manipulating genetics to try to compensate for ecological catastrophe--while...

Master Storyteller: an Illustrated Tour of the Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... WILLIAM J. WIDDER. Galaxy (www.galaxypress.com), $49.95 (194p) ISBN 1-59212-054-7 * Hubbard authority Widder (The Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard) pays loving tribute to the pulp master (and founder of Scientology) in a wonderfully designed book...

A life in words and pictures. (PW Talks with William J. Widder).(Interview)
August 4, 2003... PW: In Master Storyteller: An Illustrated Tour of the Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard [see review p. TK], you tell your subject's life story via a bookful of nostalgic magazine art. When did you become a Hubbard fan? William J. Widder: In 1936,...

Zombie Jam.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... DAVID J. SCHOW. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (140p) ISBN 1-931081-77-8 With tongue mostly in check and pen dipped in gore, horrormeister Schow (Eye) works gleefully ghoulish variations on the zombie theme in the four...