Publishers Weekly articles from February 2003

Publishers Weekly archives from February 2003

Good fourth quarter boosts B&N.com results: sales rise 4% in year to $422 million, and losses slashed. (News).(Barnes&Noble.com)
February 3, 2003... LIKE ITS MAIN competitor Amazon.com-- unlike most bricks-and-mortar stores, including namesake Barnes & Noble--online book retailer Barnes&Noble.com had a strong holiday season. The results helped the company reduce its quarterly net loss by...

Godoff lands at Penguin. (Fast Moves).(Ann Godoff)
February 3, 2003... LESS THAN TWO WEEKS after she was fired by Random House, Ann Godoff has landed a new job. The former Random House Trade publisher will start a new imprint with Penguin. Penguin CEO David Shanks said Penguin has long admired Godoff's...

Book Group has record year amid sale rumors. (AOLTWBG).(AOL Time Warner Book Group)
February 3, 2003... WITH SPECULATION SWIRLING about the possible sale of the company, the AOL Time Warner Book Group had a record year in 2002, breaking $400 million for the first time in company history and posting an operating margin of about 10% according to...

Richter to head S&S kids; Norton takes on sales. (Back to the Future).(Rick Richter named to Simon & Schuster's children's publishing division; Larry Norton, is names sales division president)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... RICK RICHTER was president of Simon & Schuster's children's publishing division from 1996 to 1999, when he was tabbed to run the company's sales division. Now he is returning to his former post to succeed Kristina Peterson, and Larry Norton,...

Harcourt Education to cut 350 positions. (Market Conditions).(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Reacting to soft sales in the elhi market, Harcourt Education will eliminate 350 positions from its nationwide work force of 3 000. The cuts are coming in Harcourt's basal textbook and supplementary publishing divisions and will take place in...

HC UK completes overhaul. (U.K. Publishing).(HarperCollins UK)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... AS PART OF the restructuring of HarperCollins UK, the company has created two new divisions, HarperPress and HarperFiction. Caroline Michel, a deputy publisher at Random UK, has been appointed managing director and publisher of HarperPress....

Former top editor's first novel. (Hot Deals).(Leslie Schnur, author of 'The Dog Walker')(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Leslie Schnur was a familiar face around publishing for years, as an advertising and promotion exec at Dell and Warner, and later as editor-in-chief at Dell Delacorte--and now she's popped up on the other side of the table, as a first novelist....

New break for 'Minotaur' author. (Hot Deals).(Steven Sherrill signs deal with Random House)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A first novel with the unusual title The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break was a resounding hit, particularly with independent bookstores, for Southern author Steven Sherrill, and now his agent at Writers House, Simon Lipskar, has made a new...

Crown gets reviewer's novel. (Hot Deals).(Darcy Cosper)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Darcy Cosper, who is a fiction reviewer (for Book Forum) and runs the reading series at the Housing Works Used Book Fair Cafe in New York City's SoHo, might seem to be tempting fate by writing a novel. She has so dared, however, and agent...

A binge drinker remembers. (Hot Deals).(journalist Karen Zalickas)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A memoir about journalist Karen Zalickas's life as a binge drinker, beginning at the age of 14, was bought by Viking Penguin senior editor Molly Stern, who believes it is the first book to examine the phenomenon as it affects young women. It's...

Canadian magnate and author Conrad Black (now raised to the peerage in London as Lord Black) is writing a major one-volume biography of Franklin Roosevelt. (Short Takes).(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Canadian magnate and author Conrad Black (now raised to the peerage in London as Lord Black) is writing a major one-volume biography of Franklin Roosevelt, a man one might think was anathema to his conservative soul, but whom he apparently sees...

Author sues Kensington over pseudonym. (Name Game).(Kensington Publishers sued by Karen Drogin, also known as Carly Phillips)
February 3, 2003... BESTSELLING AUTHOR Karen Drogin, better known to her readers as Carly Phillips, has filed suit in Federal district court in Manhattan to block Kensington Publishers from republishing a series of older novels originally released under her real...

Marvel starts Manga imprint. (American Manga).(Marvel Comics)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... RIDING THE WAVE of demand for manga in bookstores, Marvel Comics has announced its own line of manga-style comics under the umbrella Tsunami. Marvel will introduce a line of six monthly comics in April, with an eye to collecting them into...

CDS adds publishing unit. (Vertical Integration).(Client Distribution Services)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The book distributor Client Distribution Services is moving into the publishing business on a limited basis, CDS president Gilbert Perlman said. The company, which helped John M. Hardy Publishing publish Robert James Waller's A Thousand Country...

Sales, earnings up at M-H Education. (2002 Results).(McGraw-Hill Education)
February 3, 2003... TOTAL REVENUE rose 1.5%, to $2.38 billion, at McGraw-Hill Education in 2002, while operating profits increased 26%, to $331.8 million Ron (if a one-time charge of $62 million taken in 2001 is included, profits rose only 1.8% in 2002). The...

U.S. book group gains while int'l falls at RD. (2nd-Quarter Results).(Reader's Digest)
February 3, 2003... READER'S DIGEST CAN'T catch a break. Just as its North American Books and Home Entertainment group is showing signs of a financial turnaround, the company's international group posted results that "were far worse than we expected... and well...

SMP divests Whitman line. (News).(St. Martins Press sells line to H.E. Harris)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... St. Martins Press has said its Whitman line of coin guides and reference works to H.E. Harris, an Atlanta-based company that markets supplies for coin collectors. Harris will fold Whitman into its existing operations, said Mary Counts,...

Hyperion, Roaring Brook win Newbery, Caldecott Medals. (Top Kids' Prizes).
February 3, 2003... The 2003 John Newbery Medal has been awarded to Avi for his novel Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Hyperion), and the 2003 Randolph Caldecott Medal went to Eric Rohmann, author and illustrator of My Friend Rabbit (Roaring Brook). The Newbery and...

GraceLand. (Short Takes).(rights to book by Christopher Albani purchased)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A first novel (in the U.S.) by Nigerian writer Christopher Albani was won at auction by Ayesha Pande at FSG. It's called GraceLand, and is about a young Elvis imitator in Africa; Pande bought world English rights from Coast agent Sandy...

The Perfect Mile. (Short Takes).(rights to publish book by Neal Bascomb purchased )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A new book by Neal Bascomb called The Perfect Mile, about the contest (won by Britain's Roger Bannister) to run the first four-minute mile, was won at auction by Susan Canavan at Houghton Mifflin. It was bought from agent Scot Waxman and will...

A North Carolina writer originally published by a small press there. (Short Takes).(Ron Rash signs contracts with Holt and Picador)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A North Carolina writer originally published by a small press there, Ran Rash, won a two-book hard/soft deal with Jennifer Barth at Holt and Josh Kendall at Picador after agent Marly Rusoff took him up, encouraged by words of praise about him...

Chango's Fire. (Short Takes).(taken by Rene Alegria's Rayo imprint at Harper)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A new novel, Chango's Fire, by Ernesto Quinonez (whose Bodega Dreams was published by Vintage) was taken by Rene Alegria's Rayo imprint at Harper; the six-figure sale, for both Spanish and English versions, was made by agent Gloria Loomis.

Thanks, Fred. (News).(efforts of Fred Ciporen, of RBI Press)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A party celebrating Fred Ciporen's 15 years of leading Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and School Library Journal was held in New York City last week. The fest drew notables from throughout the industry, including PW executive editor Daisy...

Tomalin takes Whitbread. (Prizes).(Claire Tomalin wins Whitbread Book of the Year Prize)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Claire Tomalin beat all corners, including her husband, novelist and playwright Michael Frayn, to take the [pounds sterling]25,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Prize. Her winning book, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self, is a biography of the...

New Leaf gets new ownership. (Distribution Deal).(Shakti LLC buys New Leaf Distributing Co.)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... NEW LEAF DISTRIBUTING COMPANY, the New Age wholesaler, has been acquired by Shakti, LLC. Shakti is headed by Santosh and Karuna Krinsky, two well-known figures in the body/mind/spirit world. Alim Thompson, founder of New Leaf, returned as...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 3, 2003... The story "Harper, OverDrive, NetLibrary Ink Pact" (News, Jan. 27) mischaracterized Fictionwise.com's library e-book program, which actually targets small to mid-size libraries.

Fare's fair. (Behind the Bestsellers).('Atkin's for Life: The Complete Controlled-Carb Program for Permanent Weight Loss and Good Health' by Robert C. Atkins)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Let those intrepid souls on Survivor, Fear Factor et al. feast on slugs, insects and disgusting animal parts--most of us are concerned with healthier fare. Thus it's no surprise that the latest work by diet guru extraordinaire Robert C. Atkins,...

One nation--indivisible? (Behind the Bestsellers).('The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture' by Michael Savage)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Marking its third week on our nonfiction list is one of those tomes whose title tells all: The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture is the work of noted right-wing radio commentator Michael...

No-Vault insurance. (Behind the Bestsellers).('The Bone Vault' by Linda Fairstein)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... This week's sole newcomer on our hardcover fiction list, The Bone Vault, is the fifth mystery novel by ex-Manhattan assistant D.A.--and current Nero Wolfe Award-winner--Linda Fairstein, whose The Deadhouse had a run on PW's list last year....

Fiction to Crow about. (Behind the Bestsellers).('Crow Lake' by Mary Lawson in paperback)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Instantly sold in nine foreign countries at the 2001 London Book Fair (and now published in 18 countries worldwide), Mary Lawson's debut novel, Crow Lake, received glowing reviews when published last year by Dial. It was a Book Sense 76 pick...

Sea makes waves. (Behind the Bestsellers).('Sea of Glass' by Anita Shreve in paperback)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... After spending six weeks on our hardcover fiction chart, Anita Shreve's Sea of Glass makes an impressive debut at #4 on this week's trade paperback list. Little, Brown reports 470,000 copies of the Back Bay Books edition after three trips to...

Obituary.(Joseph Lippincott)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 3, 2003... Joseph Lippincott JOSEPH WHARTON LIPPINCOTT JR., former president and chairman of J.B. Lippincott Co., died January 25 in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He was 88. A descendant of Joshua Ballinger Lippincott, who founded the house in 1785, Lippincott...

Tale of two books: a small Vermont press aims for the big time. (Book News).(Steerforth)
February 3, 2003... When the actress Claire Bloom suggested the name "Steerforth" for the newly formed South Royalton, Vt.-based press to cofounder Alan Lelchuk, he was dubious. After all, Steerforth is the cad who drowns in David Copperfield. But, as Bloom...

Pob goes philosophy. (The Sleeper).(popularity of paperback philosophy books)
February 3, 2003... That sound you bear is Nietzsche and Kant rolling over in their graves, or perhaps having a cow, at the news that after 42 weeks as Nielsen Bookscan's number one trade paperback philosophy book, The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer...

Sim country. (Book News).(marketing of 'Jennifer Government' by Max Berry)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... "Marketing people are, generally, greedy, shallow and self-centered," "said Max Barry, the 29-year-old Australian author of the anticorporate satire Jennifer Government (Doubleday, Jan. 21.), when asked about his days as a marketer for...

Support your local C of C: Joseph-Beth increases commerce by teaming up with the local Chamber of Commerce. (Bookselling).(Cincinnati, Ohio)
February 3, 2003... Cincinnati's Joseph-Beth Book-sellers used to have a hard time getting business authors to visit the store to do book signings. But then the store noticed the activities of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, particularly its periodic,...

The Dante Club: A Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... MATTHEW PEARL, READ BY BOYD GAINES. Simon & Schuster Audio, abridged, four cassettes, 6 hrs., $26 ISBN 0-7435-1791-1 In 1865 Boston, not many people spoke Italian. It was much more popular for people to study Latin and Greek; the classic...

Tishomingo Blues: A Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... ELMORE LEONARD, READ BY FRANK MULLER. Harper Audio, unabridged, six cassettes, 7.5 hrs., $34.95 ISBN 0.06-001117-3 The high quality of this polished, entertaining production comes as no surprise, as Leonard (Out of Sight; Get Shorty; etc.)...

Four Blind Mice. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JAMES PATTERSON, READ BY PETER J. FERNANDEZ AND MICHAEL EMERSON. Time Warner AudioBooks, unabridged, five cassettes, 7.5 hrs., $29.98 ISBN 1-58621-404-7 This audio version of Patterson's latest Alex Cross thriller moves smoothly and with...

Prey: A Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... MICHAEL CRICHTON, READ BY GEORGE WILSON, INTRO, READ BY THE AUTHOR. Harper Audio, unabridged, nine cassettes, 13 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 0-06-053696-9 The concept of nanotechnology can be traced back to a 1959 speech given by physicist Richard...

Lucky. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... ALICE SEBOLD, READ BY THE AUTHOR. Simon Schuster Audio, unabridged, six cassettes, 9.5 hrs., $35 ISBN 0-7435-2978-2 Sebold's memoir of her rape as a college freshman and its aftermath is searingly honest and harrowing, and her quiet,...

Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... STEPHEN C. LUNDIN, JOHN CHRISTENSEN, AND HARRY PAUL, READ BY OLIVER WYMAN WITH MARA DEMAY, INTRO. READ BY STEPHEN C. LUNDIN. Hyperion, unabridged, two cassettes, 3 hrs., $18.98 ISBN 1-4013-9667-4 This audio version of the third book in the...

Officially Osbourne: Opening the Doors to the Land of Oz. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... THE OSBOURNES WITH TOOD COLD, READ BY AIMEE OSBOURNE. Simon & Schuster Audio, abridged, one cassette, 1 hr., $14.99 ISBN 0-7435-2821-2 In this brief but sustained eruption of pure distraction and humor, and in spite of her own decision not...

Running with Scissors: A Memoir. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS, READ BY THE AUTHOR. Audio Renaissance, unabridged, seven CDs, 9 hrs., $32 ISBN 1-55927-867-6 * "Nobody ever told me what to do, so why did I always feel so trapped?" questions Burroughs (sellevision), in this flawless...

Billy. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... PAMELA STEPHENSON, READ BY THE AUTHOR HighBridge abridged, three CDs, 4 hrs., $24.95 ISBN 1-56511-725-5 The most celebrated comedian in the U.K., Billy Connolly makes headlines and sells out arenas like a rock star. But he's barely cracked...

Stoner & Spaz. (Spoken Word).(Audiobook Review)
February 3, 2003... RON KOERTGE, READ BY JOSH HAMILTON. Listening Library, unabridged, two cassettes, three hours, $18 ISBN 0-8072-1245-8 * With a youthful edge to his voice, Hamilton brings a rich credibility to the roles of teenagers Ben and Colleen, stars...

Blizzard: The Storm that Changed America. (Spoken Word).(Audiobook Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JIM MURPHY, READ BY TAYLOR MALI. Audio Bookshelf(800-234-1713), unabridged, two cassettes, 2.5 hours, $19.95 ISBN 1-883332-85-0; two CDs, $26.95 -91-5 With a confident and sometimes matter-of-fact tone, Mali brings listeners back in time...

Seedfolks. (Spoken Word).(Audiobook Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... PAUL FLEISCHMAN, READ BYA FULL CAST. Audio Bookshelf (800-234-1713), one cassette, 1.75 hours, $18.95 ISBN 1-883332-89-3; one CD, $24.95, -95-8 Fleischman's talent for writing stories from various points of view makes his works...

You Are My Sunshine. (Music).(Sound Recording Review)
February 3, 2003... ELIZABETH MITCHELL. Last Affair Records (312-432-1194), $12.99 * Mitchell (You Are My Flower), a singer-guitarist (as a founding member of the folk-pop band Ida) and former nursery school teacher, releases her second family music recording....

El Elefante. (Music).(Sound Recording Review)
February 3, 2003... BEN AND LEO SIDRAN. Liquid 8/Baby Music Boom (800-515-6364), CD, $14.98 This father/son team, longtime musicians, producers and performers, makes its children's music debut with a solid, lighthearted collection of original songs. Silly...

Cultural Adventure with Jan Reynolds. (Video).(Video Recording Review)
February 3, 2003... JAN REYNOLDS. Jan Reynolds Productions (802-350-7153), VHS, 40 mins., $19.99 * Reynolds, an accomplished mountain climber, skier, photographer and children's author (the excellent series of Vanishing Cultures picture books), takes viewers...

Audio Bestsellers.(Illustration)
February 3, 2003... Audio Bestsellers Available online the Friday before issue date at: www.publishersweekly.com Fiction 1 Four Blind Mice (unabr.). James Patterson, Read by Peter J. Fernandez and Michael Emerson. Time Warner Audiobooks....

Brave new year: audio publishers gear up for changes as well as familiar challenges in 2003.(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... THE YEAR MAY STILL BE relatively new, but the issues facing audio publishers in 2003 are very much the same old story. It will come as no surprise that, unanimously, the most vexing (and, in some cases, the most inspiring) hurdle for those...

Children's audio/video for spring.
February 3, 2003... ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT 1699 Stutz Dr., Troy, Mich. 48084; (248) 816-0909 Thomas & Friends: Percy's Chocolate Crunch & Other Thomas Adventures. VHS, 38 mins., $12.98; DVD, $19.98, Feb. ARTISAN HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2700 Colorado...

Spoken audio for spring.
February 3, 2003... AUDIO LITERATURE/FANTASTIC AUDIO Dist. by Publishers Group West; (800) 788-3123 Drowning World by Alan Dean Foster. Multiple readers. Simultaneous Del Rey hardcover. Unabridged, six cassettes, 10 hours, $32, Mar. The Girl Who...

The Wife. (Fiction).(Book Review)
February 3, 2003... MEG WOLITZER, Scribner, $23 (224p) ISBN 0-684-86940-3 Wolitzer (Sleepwalking) opens her latest tale in the first-class cabin of an airplane. Joan, a still-striking 64-year-old woman, observes her husband, the "short, wound-up,...

Family History. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... DANI SHAPIRO. Knopf, $23 (304p) ISBN 0-375-41547-5 * It's every parent's nightmare: you do your best, yet your child goes bad. With candor and tenderness, Shapiro (Playing with Fire) explores how a beloved, well-brought-up child can destroy...

The Da Vinci Code. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... DAN BROWN. Doubleday, $24.95 (461p) ISBN 0-385-50420-9 What if Jesus Christ had a tryst with Mary Magdalene, and the interlude produced a child? Such a possibility--yielding a so-called royal bloodline--provides the framework for Brown's...

Tilt. (Fiction).(Book Review)
February 3, 2003... ELIZABETH BURNS. Sourcebooks Landmark, $22 (288p) ISBN 1-4022-0041-2 The things that happen to Bridget Fox in this debut novel could make Job weep, but Bridget is funny on every page, and equally poignant. The overwhelming fact of...

Soul Circus. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... GEORGE PELECANOS. Little, Brown, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 0-316-60843-2 * PI Derek Strange continues to prowl the South East quadrant of Washington, D.C., in Pelecanos's 11th novel (after Hell to Pay), which caroms madly and brilliantly between...

The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... BRIAN D. McLAREN. Jossey-Bass, $21.95 (224p) ISBN 0-7879-6387-9 McLaren's A New Kind of Christian set the evangelical community abuzz in 2001 by exploring weighty ideas about Faith through the vehicle of fiction. In his gentler follow-up,...

Life Sentence. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... DAVID ELLIS. Putnam, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 0-399-14979-1 Ellis follows up the success of his debut legal thriller, the Edgar Award-winning Line of Vision, with an equally intricate and intelligent murder puzzle that feels like it's 100%...

A Ship Made of Paper. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... SCOTT SPENCER. HarperCollins/Ecco, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-06-018534-1 * Spencer's latest novel should cement his reputation as the contemporary American master of the love story. Daniel Emerson is a New York City lawyer who has returned...

The Exiles: Book One in the Creoles Series. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... GILBERT MORRIS AND LYNN MORRIS. Thomas Nelson, $13.99 paper (272p) ISBN 0-7852-1002-7 What do Baptist college professors do when they retire? If they're like Morris, they crank out more than 170 novels for the CBA market and create a...

The Jester. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JAMES PATTERSON AND ANDREW GROSS. Little, Brown, $27.95 (464p) ISBN 0-316-60205-1 * Just who is writing the coauthored Patterson novels makes for interesting water-cooler chat, but whether the majority of words are contributed by Patterson...

Repetition. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... ALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY RICHARD HOWARD. Grove, $23 (192p) ISBN 0-8021-1736-8 A spy novel about a French agent in 1949 Berlin becomes an oedipal journey into the agent's past and an adventure in unreliable...

Breathless to Casablanca. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JAMES DOUGLAS TRANS FROM THE GERMAN BY JAMES DOUGLAS, TRACEY J. EVANs AND RICK OSBORNE. Welcome Rain, $15 paper (448p) ISBN 1-56649-260-2 First published in Germany in September 2000, this spy thriller by Swiss author Douglas (Zero...

The Rising of the Moon. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... EMILE CAPOUYA. Lyons, $16.95 (120p) ISBN 1-58574-664-9 Capouya (In the Sparrow Hills) once again draws on his WWII experience as a merchant marine in this short novel about the wanderings of a highly principled and combative American...

Dardedel. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... MANOUCHER PARVIN. Permanent, $26 (254p) ISBN 1-57962-082-5 Parvin's playful debut is a "novel-in-verse," an extended narrative poem written in free verse, which begins when an Iranian academic named Pirooz journeys from New York to the...

Peace in the House: Tales from a Yiddish Kitchen. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... FAYE MOSKOWITZ. Godine, $23.95 (128p) ISBN 1-56792-219-8 In recounting the tribulations of childhood, the confrontations inherent in marriage and the insecurities that come with illness and growing older, Moskowitz (A Leak in the Heart)...

The Dragon King's Palace. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... LAURA JOH ROWLAND. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-312-28266-4 In Rowland's eighth engrossing 17thcentury Japanese mystery (after 2002's The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria), Sano Ichiro, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator...

Keeping Watch. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... LAURIE R. KING. Bantam, $23.95 (385p) ISBN 0-553-80191-0 * Versatile and prolific, King not only finds time for two successful mystery series but also manages to produce the occasional stand-alone gem. Fans will discover that this gripping...

The White Trilogy. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... KEN BRUEN. Justin, Charles/Kate's Mystery (www.justincharlesbooks.com), $14.95 paper (408p) ISBN 1-932112-02-2 Hip, violent and funny vignettes of the mean streets of southeast London tie together this rowdy set of short novels by Bruen...

Season of the Assassin. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... THOMAS LAIRD. Carroll & Graf, $24 (124p) ISBN 0-7867-1124-8 The two major American traumas of the 60s--J.F.K.'s assassination and the Vietnam War-collide in Laird's second, less gruesome, thriller (after 2001's Cutter) to feature Chicago...

Death at Glamis Castle. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... ROBIN PAIGE. Berkley Prime Crime, $22.95 (352p) ISBN 0-425-18847-7 Paige's ninth Victorian mystery (after 2002's Death at Dartmoor) enmeshes married sleuths Lord Charles and Kate Sheridan yet again in royal intrigue and scandal, but with...

The Maltese Manuscript. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JOANNE DOBSON. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (266p) ISBN 1-59058-039-7 In her fifth Prof. Karen Pelletier mystery, Dobson (Quieter Than Sleep) offers an academic novel both gutsy and romantic. Sound contradictory? It is, thanks to bestselling...

March publications. (Mystery Notes).(three new mystery book releases)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
February 3, 2003... Fans of cozies with a supernatural twist will welcome Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday, the eighth in this whimsical series after 2001's Aunt Dimity: Detective. When a family gathering at the earl of Harrisford's country estate,...

February Publications. (Mystery Notes).(new Sherlock Holmes books being released)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
February 3, 2003... Those for whom the Oxford University Press edition (1993) was not the final word on the canon won't want to miss the latest volume in the Sherlock Holmes Reference Library, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and edited by...

Gunplay: PW talks with George Pelecanos.(Interview)
February 3, 2003... PW: Your depiction of Anacostia [a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in Soul Circus, reviewed above, and other novels] as an urban battlefield is sadly familiar. What, if anything, distinguishes it from other decayed neighborhoods in other...

The King of Torts. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... John Grisham. Doubleday, $27.95 (388p) ISBN 0-385-50804-2 * Grisham continues to impress with his daring, venturing out of legal thrillers entirely for A Painted House and Skipping Christmas (the re-release of which this past fall was...

Veniss underground. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... JEFF VANDERMEER. Prime (www.primebooks.net), $15 paper(188p) ISBN 1-894815-64-5 * In his masterful first novel, Vancler-Meer (City of Saints & Madmen) sets a dark, phantasmagoric tale in and beneath a decadent, far-future city where Living...

The Moon's Shadow. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... CATHERINE ASARO. Tor, $25.95 (480p) ISBN 0-765-30425-2 This mesmerizing, passionate novel -- the eighth in Nebula Award--winner Asaro's (The Quantum Rose) series about the Skolian interstellar empire -- focuses mainly on Skolia's rival,...

The Bastard King: Book One of The Scepter of Mercy. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... DAN CHERNENKO. Roc, $14.95 paper (448p) ISBN 0-451-45914-8 Set in the kingdom of Avornis, Chernenko's debut fantasy uses simple language and straightforward narrative to chronicle the rise of two extraordinary men--Lanius, the bastard son...

Dragon and Thief: A Dragonback Adventure. (SF/Fantasy/Horror).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... TIMOTHY ZAHN. Tor, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 0-765-30124-5 Less complex than such recent novels as Manta's Gift and Angelmass, this start to a new SF adventure series from Hugo Award-winner Zahn will appeal largely to younger readers....