Publishers Weekly articles from December 2002

Publishers Weekly archives from December 2002

Under new director Frankfurt Fair forges ahead: Neumann outlines numerous changes; a move to Munich?(Volker Neumann)
December 23, 2002... UNDER NEW DIRECTOR Volker Neumann, the Frankfurt Book Fair is planning a variety of changes to make the fair more useful, affordable and comfortable for exhibitors and attendees. As part of the effort to bring down costs, a "small war" has...

Barnes & Noble lowers fourth-quarter estimates. (Trouble).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... IT'S NEWS THAT few in the industry want to hear: Barnes & Noble announced that because of softer than expected sales, it is lowering its forecast for both fourth-quarter comparable-store sales and earnings per share for the period. B&N chief...

Pearson publishing on track for '02, '03. (Trends).
December 23, 2002... PEARSON'S PUBLISHING divisions are poised to deliver solid gains in 2002 and should perform well again in 2003, company chief executive Marjorie Scardino said in a December 13 conference call with industry analysts. Growth will be led by the...

Olson: RH hit '02 goals; more challenges ahead. (From the Chairman).(Peter Olson; Random House)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... IN HIS ANNUAL letter to Random House employees, company chairman and CEO Peter Olson wrote that despite a "weakened book economy," the publisher is on course to meet its operating results in North America for 2002. He credited the...

Bookstore sales fell 2.9%. (October Retailing).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Bookstore sales fell 2.9% in October, to $1.10 billion, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales for the entire retail sector dipped 0.6% in the month. For the first 10 months of 2002, bookstore sales were up 2.8%, to $13.69...

Baker Book House to buy Bethany House. (Religion Publishing).(Bethany House Publishers)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... BAKER BOOK HOUSE has signed a letter of intent to acquire Bethany Fellowship International's book publishing division, Bethany House Publishers. The sale is expected to be completed early in 2003. Bethany has a backlist of about 1,200...

More U.S., international players for London Book Fair. (London Calling).
December 23, 2002... THE AMERICAN PRESENCE at the annual London Book Fair in March continues to expand, with 21 new exhibitors already signed up for the 2003 show, which starts March 16, and a U.S. presence that takes up 25% of the space in the International...

Jury acquits Elcomsoft in e-book hack case. (Digital Copyright).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... A FEDERAL COURT jury in San Jose, Calif., dealt a blow to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by acquitting Elcomsoft, a Russian software company, of charges that it violated the DMCA by creating a software program that disables the security...

Thorndike imprint to enter trade market. (Expanding).(Thorndike Press's Five Star imprint)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... THORNDIKE PRESS'S Five Star imprint will begin offering some of its titles to bookstores beginning in March. Five Star was founded in 1995 by Thorndike, a Gale Group subsidiary, to publish hardcover editions of westerns for libraries at a...

More Stone for Houghton. (Hot Deals).(Houghton Miffiin signs contract with Robert Stone)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Houghton Miffiin trade publisher Janet Silver signed a seven-figure world rights deal ensuring that one of the house's bestselling authors, Robert Stone, will stay with it for the foreseeable future. The contract, signed with agent Neal Olson...

Tale of a tree. (Hot Deals).(Norton buys book by John Vaillant)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... The extraordinary story of a deranged former logger who cut down a legendary golden spruce tree in British Columbia and then disappeared before he could be brought to justice, was the subject of a heated auction involving five publishers last...

Krugman signed at Norton. (Hot Deals).(Paul Krugman )(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Another new signing at Norton is unlikely to be a cause of rejoicing for the Bush administration, of which Princeton economics professor and columnist Paul Krugrnan has been unendingly critical. The author, whose twice-weekly New York Times...

Fictional 'Page Sex' bought. (Hot Deals).(Pocket Books buys book)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... The latest in what seems to be a wave of novels taking the lid off the "steamy" magazine business (of which we're a pretty hot part ourselves) is called Page Sex. It's by two anonymous senior editors who have given themselves the pseudonym...

Kerry signs with Viking. (Hot Deals).(John Kerry)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... The first 2004 presidential candidate to throw a book in the ring is Massachusetts senator John Kerry, who. has signed with Viking to tell the country what it needs in a new president, for publication next summer. It was Adrian Zackheim who...

The Fiefdom Syndrome. (Short Takes).(Doubleday's Currency imprint buys book by Robert Herbold)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Former Microsoft 090 Robert Herbold sold a business book complaining about what he calls The Fiefdom Syndrome--mini-empires within companies that undermine their goals--to Roger Scholl at Doubleday's Currency imprint for six figures; the...

All My Life for Sale. (Short Takes).(Bloomsbury buys new book by Jon Freyer)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Bloomsbury's Colin Dickerman bought a new book by John Freyer, mediagenic author of All My Life for Sale. The new one is about the world of second-hand dealing, and the world English rights sale was made by Bill Clegg at Burnes & Clegg...

Dial Books. (Short Takes).(buys American rights' to first three books by British author Graham Gardner)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Lauri Hornik at Dial Books for Young Readers won American rights' to the first three books by British author Graham Gardner. Hornik bought the trio from Fiona Kennedy at Orion, the author's British publisher, and plans to publish the first, a...

Harry V not expected until summer. (Waiting is the Hardest Part).(Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to be published after June 1, 2003)
December 23, 2002... SCHOLASTIC CORP. SAID last week that it does not expect to publish the fifth volume in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, until its next fiscal year that begins June 1. The publisher has still not received the...

FAO Inc. headed to bankruptcy court? (Retailing).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... THE NEXT CHAPTER IN the FAO Schwarz/Right Start/Zany Brainy/Noodle Kidoodle saga may be Chapter 11. FAO Inc., the name adopted by Right Start when it bought the fabled toy retailer FAO Schwarz, said last week that it may have to declare...

Borders to 'assess' Sterling relationship. (A Week Later).(Borders Group to assess relationship with Sterling Publishing because of pending acquisition by Barnes and Noble)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Barnes & Noble's pending acquisition of Sterling Publishing continued to be the main topic of conversation in industry circles last week. B&N's largest competitor, Borders Group, weighed in on the deal, with spokesperson Anne Roman noting...

Penguin Putnam now Penguin Group (USA). (Branding).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... FOLLOWING SEVERAL WEEKS of rumors, Penguin Group confirmed last week that as part of a worldwide corporate branding initiative instituted by its parent company, Pearson, it is renaming its U.S. Penguin Putnam subsidiary Penguin Group (USA)....

Running Press, turning 30, eyes the future. (New Horizons).(Company Profile)
December 23, 2002... THE FIRST JOINT meeting of the Perseus Group's new sales force--which combines newly hired sales reps with Running Press's sales operations--took place December 8 and 9 in New York. And while executives at Running Press, which was acquired by...

Online sales rose 9% at BAM. (E-tailing).(Books-A-Million Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... BOOKS-A-MILLION reported in its third-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that online sales rose 9.5%, to $6 million, in the period ended November 2. The net loss was $224,000, down from $356,000 in the comparable...

Garbus heads for new firm. (Moving On).(Martin Garbus to join Davis & Gilbert)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ONE OF PUBLISHING'S most famous lawyers is changing jobs. Martin Garbus, known for his provocative stances in high-profile (and often long-running) publishing cases, is leaving the firm he helped found to join Davis & Gilbert. His new...

Obituary.(Leonardo Mondadori)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 23, 2002... MONDADORI DEAD AT 56 LEONARDO MONDADORI, chairman of the Italian publishing house founded by his grandfather Arnoldo, died December 13 of cancer in Milan. He was 56. The house, one of the biggest in Italy, publishes a number of magazines...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 23, 2002... In the story about the World Education Market conference (News, Dec. 2) it was erroneously stated that "henceforth, the fair will probably remain in North America." In fact, it will stay in Europe in the future.

A dickens of a Christmas. (Behind the Bestsellers).(bestselling fiction and nonfiction books in 2002)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Since this is the year's final column (and our feature analyzing the 2002 bestsellers isn't scheduled until January 13), it seems like the right time to share a few observations on the year's top sellers. And even though this column is being...

Great expectations. (Behind the Bestsellers).(Christmas book sales)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Were they met in those heady weeks of December, when publishers and booksellers count on huge sales for their top titles? Certainly not at the major chains, and if their numbers are down, other retailers in all likelihood are also down....

A tale of two cities. (Behind the Bestsellers).(Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones was top best seller for 11 weeks)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Actually, it's a tale of two first novels and how they set a few records in 2002. Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones has had the kind of success that even veteran authors dream about. Published in June with a first printing of 35,000 copies, by...

Breaking out of the box: original novels based on popular TV series are finding a ready market. (Book News).
December 23, 2002... When it comes to TV tie-ins, brand extensions rule. Series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer are flying off the screen into multiple licenses for books, graphic novels, even video games. This brand polyphony lowers the audience barrier to entry,...

Manhattan survivor; chains, schmains: St. Mark's Bookshop celebrates its 25th anniversary. (Bookselling).
December 23, 2002... On November 13, 25 years after the St. Mark's Bookshop begun doing business in New York City's Greenwich Village, the bookstore celebrated its anniversary by giving away a $25 gift certificate every hour until its regular closing time at...

Discussion taped. (Bookselling).
December 23, 2002... Biographer Antonia Felix (center) promoted Condi The Gondoleezza Rice Story (Newmarket Press) at Books & Company in Birmingham Ala., homewotn of the National Security Advisor Felix's well-received hour-long discussion at the store was taped...

A1Books grows online presence. (Expanding & Branding).
December 23, 2002... Over the past year, A1Books.com in Fairfield, N.J., part of the N.Y. metro area's Silicon Alley, has carefully positioned itself as a key online bookseller. According to Rahul Gupta, account manager for parent company WebNotions, "The company...

New additions. (Distribution).(book distribution contracts)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Dufour Editions Inc. in Chester Springs, Pa., has added five overseas presses to its spring lineup. From England come London's Eland Books, publisher of biography, fiction and oral history, and its two-year-old Sickle Moon imprint,...

The year of the graphic novel: manga, movie tie-ins led explosive sales growth as comics publishers look to the book trade. (Comics).
December 23, 2002... This has been a year of fundamental change for comics publishers. The industry managed to weather a potentially disastrous distributor bankruptcy, while the stunning sales growth of Japanese comics (manga) and a powerful sales boost from...

Asian comics delight U.S. readers. (Manga Mania).
December 23, 2002... American graphic novels are registering healthy sales growth, but the surge in popularity of English-language manga--licensed editions of Japanese graphic novels re-released in the U.S.--has been even more phenomenal over the past year. ...

Hands off at Oni Press. (Indie Publishing).
December 23, 2002... Back in 1997, Joe Nozemack and Bob Schreck decided to launch an alternative comic book press where artists and writers would have full creative control of their ideas. A place where mainstream comics would be shunned, and where creative...

Slave Labor Graphics blows up. (Indie Publishing).
December 23, 2002... Ahomicidal maniac who obeys a wall of blood; a dead little girl with a ghoulish sense of humor; a living cheese wedge and carton of milk ("dairy products gone bad") who take out their aggression on an unsuspecting world -- these are the star...

D&Q heads BISAC, bookseller efforts. (Retailing).(Drawn & Quarterly)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Despite the steady sales of growth of graphic novels and book-format comics, many book retailers remain ignorant of the category, mistakenly treating it as a single genre, or are confused about where to shelve the books. Indeed, many...

D.C.'s Vertigo marks 10 years. (Anniversary).(DC Comics's Vertigo imprint )(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... Beginning in the late 1980s, DC Comics, the world's largest publisher of heroic fantasy--otherwise known as superhero comics--began to publish a very different kind of comic book. The house started by publishing Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, a...

Alternative Comics offers just that. (Indie Publishing).(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... With a name like Alternative Comics, you expect something a little off the beaten path. The home to such independent comics stars as Sam Henderson, James Koschalka, Nick Bertozzi and Scott Annable, Alternative offers a range of quirky...

Flying starts: six first-time authors and illustrators discuss their fall debuts.
December 23, 2002... Ross MacDonald Muscle-popping energy radiates from Ross MacDonald's children's debut, Another Perfect Day. In this sun-drenched picture book, which mimes the heroic style of 1930s ads and comics, a squared-jawed uebermensch named Jack...

Brother, can you $pare a dime? Titles on investing and personal finance are--no surprise--suffering from today's economic crunch. (Category Closeup Business).
December 23, 2002... IN A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE down--where Martha Stewart may soon be decorating a prison cell; where the seemingly immortal endless bull market lies gored and bleeding; and where America is preparing for war--the market for personal finance and...

Office of Innocence. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... THOMAS KENEALLY. Doubleday/Talese, $25 (336p) ISBN 0-385-50763-1 * Keneally steers a young, naive Australian priest through a series of complex moral choices in his latest novel, which takes place early in WWII with the Japanese forces...

The Buzzing. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... JIM KNIPFEL. Vintage, $12 paper (288p) ISBN 1-4000-3183-4 Knipfel, the author of two wefl-receivecl memoirs (Slack jaw; Quitting the Nairobi Trio), makes his first foray into fiction with a rambling New York City conspiracy yarn. Roscoc...

Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajawea. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... DIANE GLANCY. Overlook, $21.95 (160p) ISBN 1-58567-365-X Glancy (Pushing the Bear) has fashioned an imaginative, second-person "diary" by the legendary Shoshone guide who aided Lewis and Clark on their expedition from Missouri to...

The Master Butchers Singing Club. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... LOUISE ERDRICH. HarperCollins, $25.95 (400p) ISBN 0-06-620977-3 * All of the virtues of Erdrich's best works--her lyrical precision, bleakly beautiful North Dakota settings, deft interweaving of characters and subplots, and haunting...

I'm Not Scared. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... NICCOLO AMMANITI, TRANS. FROM THE ITALIAN BY JONATHAN HUNT. Canongate, $23 (l96p) ISBN 1-84195-2974 This gripping American debut by Italian novelist Arnmaniti captures well the vagaries of childhood: the shifting alliances, the casual...

The Republic of Night. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... DOMINIC MARTELL. Carroll Graf/Penzler, $24 (384p) ISBN 0-7867-1123-X Retired counterterrorist Pascual March (known to readers of Martell's first thriller, Lying Crying Dying, as Pascual Rose) is hiding in Barcelona, somewhat the worse...

The Falling Nun: And Other Stories. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... PAMELA RAFAEL BERKMAN. Scribner, $12 paper (176p) ISBN 0-7432-3019-1 The rituals of young urban women (office games, TV watching, parties, dating) mesh with darker ceremonies (tattooing, witchcraft, self-mutilation) in this collection of...

A Rush of Wings. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... KRISTEN HEITZMANN. Bethany, $12.99 paper (384p) ISBN 0-7642-2606-1 In this contemporary evangelical Christian romance, competent writing mostly overcomes some plot cliches, yielding an enjoyable novel. Spoiled rich girl Noelle St. Claire...

Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... KATE MOSES. St. Martin's, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 0-312-28375-X This exceptional first novel, shot through with a fierce poetic luminosity that almost matches that of Moses's much-written-about subject, covers the last few months of the poet's...

Under the Skin. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... JAMES GARLOS BLAKE. Morrow, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 0-380-97751-6 Blake's gritty tales of the modern West (In the Rogue Blood; Wildwood Boys) have won him critical praise, a cult following and comparisons to Cormac McCarthy, but he has yet to...

The Long Silence of Mario Salviati. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ETIENNE VAN HEERDEN, TRANS. FROM THE AFRIKAANS BY CATHERINE KNOX. Regan Books, $24.95 (448p) ISBN 0-06-052973-3 Van Heerden applies the palette of magic realism to a remote South African village in the Great Karoo, where a beautiful South...

The Pilots. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... JAMES SPENCER. Putnam, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 0-399-14973-X Half a century ago, brave pilots fought in Pacific skies against a determined enemy and helped turn the tide of war. The author was one of them, but only in the past decade -- to...

Scott Free. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... JOHN GILSTRAP. Atria, $25 (368p) ISBN 0-671-78686-5 Suspense veteran Gilstrap (Even Steven) falls back on one of his familiar themes -- young person in peril -- for this rousing, if hokey, adventure set in Utah's Wasatch Mountains. Scott...

Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ELIZABETH BUCHAN. Viking, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-670-03206-9 * Living wisely is the best revenge for a London book review editor who loses both husband and lob to her conniving assistant in this sophisticated and satisfying novel. Rose...

Winner Take All. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... T. DAVIS BUNN. Doubleday, $22.95 (400p) ISBN 0-385-50379-9 A damaged and vicious international opera diva absconds to Europe with her baby daughter in this latest legal thriller from Bunn (Drummer in the Dark). North Carolina legal...

In the Electric Eden. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... NICK ARVIN. Penguin, $14 paper (207p) ISBN 0-14-200256-9 Machines, large and small-from an electric chair to a cell phone--are the inspiration for this cleverly conceived but uneven debut collection of 10 stories. Exploring the ways...

Sutter's Cross. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... W. DALE CRAMER. Bethany, $12.99 paper (416p) ISBN 0-7642-2783-1 Contemporary offerings such as this well-crafted debut from Cramer give the evangelical Christian fiction market reason to hope that the term "excellent CBA novel" is not an...

Boonville. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ROBERT MAILER ANDERSON. Perennial, $12.95 paper (272p) ISBN 0-06-051621-6 An eclectic knot of hippies, rednecks, marijuana growers, assorted eccentrics and Miami expatriates inhabit the California town of Boonville, pop. 715. Anderson's...

Making Things Better. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ANITA BROOKNER. Random, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 0-375-50888-0 * Making things better has been Julius Herz's lifelong responsibility. He is yet another character in Brookner's sepia photograph album of dutiful sons and daughters trapped by...

The Fall. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... SIMON MAWER. Little, Brown, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-316-09780-2 Uncommonly wise and painstakingly crafted, this tale of struggles on personal and physical slopes ranges from present-day Wales to blitz-era London, tracking two generations of...

Once Two Heroes. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... CALVIN BAKER. Viking, $23.95 (275p) ISBN 0-670-03164-X The specter of racism hangs ominously over this intelligent, harrowing novel of death, loyalty and revenge. In 1940, Mather Rose, a young African-American raised in Paris, returns to...

Nanjing 1937: A Love Story. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... YE ZHAOYAN, TRANS. FROM THE CHINESE BY MICHAEL BERRY. Columbia Univ., $24.95 (351p) ISBN 0-231-127545 Enormously popular in China, this winning, witty English-language debut by Ye (author of more than 30 books in his native country)...

The Anchor Book of Modern African Stories. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... EDITED BY NADEZDA OBRADOVIC. Anchor, $14 paper (384p) ISBN 0-385-72240-0 This revised edition of a valuable anthology includes nine new selections by some of Africa's finest young and established writers, offering a fresh examination of...

Forever. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... PETE HAMILL. Little, Brown, $25.95 (624p) ISBN 0-316-34111-8 * This novel demands that the reader immediately suspend disbelief, but if this summons is heeded the reward will be a superior tale told by Hamill (Snow in August; A Drinking...

Flashback. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... NEVADA BARR. Putnam, $24.95 (430p) ISBN 0-399-14975-9 * When it comes to a vibrant sense of lace Barr has few equals, as deliciously demonstrated in her 11th Anna Pigeon novel (after 2002's Hunting Season), set in littleknown Dry Tortugas...

The Cross-Legged Knight: An Owen Archer Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... CANDACE ROBB. Mysterious, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 0-89296-772-2 Attacks on a bishop and former lord chancellor of England reveal a confusing web of motives in Robb's latest to feature one-eyed medieval sleuth Owen Archer (after 2002's A Spy...

Fat Ollie's Book: A Novel of the 87th Precinct. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ED MCBAIN. Simon Schuster, $25 (288p) ISBN 0-7432-0270-8 Even when MWA Grand Master McBain (aka Evan Hunter) isn't in top form, he is very good and such is the case with this 87th Precinct novel, which really belongs to Det. Oliver...

Some Cuts Never Heal: A Lenny Moss Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... TIMOTHY SHEARD, Carroll & Graf, $24 (368p) ISBN 0-7867-1126-4 Lenny Moss, the hero of Sheard's This Won't Hurt a Bit (2001), returns in this engrossing, well-researched medical thriller. The board of directors of Philadelphia's James...

Dead Man Riding: A Nell Bray Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... GILLIAN LINSCOTT. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-312-30824-8 * Set during the summer of 1900, the superb 10th Nell Bray mystery (after 2001's The Perfect Daughter) turns Victorian convention on its head with delightful...

The Bastard's tale: A Dame Frevisse Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... MARGARET FRAZER. Berkley Prime Crime, $22.95 (320p) ISBN 0-425-18649-0 While the slow unfolding of the plot and the shortage of crime solving may put off some readers, anyone who values high historical drama will feel amply rewarded by...

Camelback Falls: A David Mapstone Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... JON TALTON. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 0-312-30404-8 In this clever plot-twister, a bizarre series of actions transforms Deputy David Mapstone, who debuted in Concrete Desert (2001), from mild-mannered historian of...

Out of the Ruins. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... SALLY WRIGHT. Multnomah, $10.99 paper (376p) ISBN 1-59052-031-9 In her fourth Ben Reese mystery, Edgar nominee Wright takes Ben away from England and Scotland, the settings for the last two books, and deposits him on unspoiled Cumberland...

Gasparilla Gold. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... M. DIANE VOGT. iUniverse/Mystery and Suspense, $16.95 paper (240p) ISBN 0-595- 21271-9 The Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, "Tampa's much smaller version of Mardi Gras," takes center stage in Vogt's third workmanlike novel (after Silicone...

January Publications. (Mystery Notes).(four books)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
December 23, 2002... Acting Detective William Murdoch, of Toronto's Number Four Station, must try to clear his own father of a murder change as the execution date draws near in Let Loose the Dogs, the fourth and perhaps darkest and most complex novel in this...

Crossroads of Twilight. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... ROBERT JORDAN. Tor, $29.95 (704p) ISBN 0-312-86459-0 The eagerly awaited 10th installment (after 2000's Winter's Heart) in Jordan's monumental Wheel of Time has all the breadth and depth that have made this fantasy author one of the...

Grail Prince. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... NANCY MCKENZIE. Del Rey, $14.95 paper (528p) ISBN 0-345-45648-3 In this imaginative retelling of the Grail legends, with alternating timelines between a younger and older Galahad, McKenzie (Queen of Camelot) offers a psychological study...

Duel: Terror Stories. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... RICHARD MATHESON. Tor, $27.95 (400p) ISBN 0-765-30695-6 Science fiction's forward-looking sense of wonder curdles into an apprehensive glance over the shoulder in the 18 tales that comprise this latest repackaging of Matheson's (Nightmare...

January Publications. (SF/Fantasy/Horror Notes).(books)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
December 23, 2002... Mind Out of Time, stories by Christopher Stasheff, collects the best short fiction by the author of the bestselling Warlock and Wizard in Rhyme series, including "The Warlock's Grandfather," "Pride and Puppetry" and the title tale, an...

The wheel turns another notch. (PW Talks with Robert Jordan).(Interview)
December 23, 2002... PW: You're one of today's major fantasy authors. Did you always know you wanted to write? Robert Jordan: Yes, defining "always" as being from the age of five, but when I was about nine or 10, it became clear to me that writers couldn't...

Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes. (Nonfiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... SHOBA NARAYAN. Villard $24.95 (256p) ISBN 0-375-50756-6 Narayan, who grew up in Chennai, India, writes in humorous, tender prose about her family and their love of food. Rituals surrounding food are central to every aspect of life,...

France in Mind: An Anthology. (Nonfiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2002... EDITED AND WITH AN INTRO. BY ALICE LECCESE POWERS. Vintage, $14 paper (288p) ISBN 0-375-71435-9 Powers (editor of Italy in Mind and Ireland in Mind) does France in this collection of 33 letters, works of fiction and essays by British and...