Publishers Weekly articles from February 2006

Publishers Weekly archives from February 2006

S&S turns ideas into actions: publisher using strategic plan to guide growth.(Simon & Schuster Inc.)(Company Profile)
February 27, 2006... Last year, Simon & Schuster posted a 2% revenue increase, to an estimated $770 million--due in part to a strategic plan developed by the publisher late in 2004, a year in which sales rose about 9%. S&S CEO Jack Romanos acknowledged that while...

Leonard adds to books.(Hal Leonard Corp., buy Amadeus Press, Limelight Editions)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Music publishing giant Hal Leonard Corp. has expanded its presence in the book market with the purchase of Amadeus Press and Limelight Editions. Leonard acquired the two, which have about 300 titles, from John Cerullo, who will remain with...

Preiss properties closed.(Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byron Preiss Visual Publications and ibooks Inc., two companies founded by the late Byron Preiss, shut down last week and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition has been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. A...

Mass market for WestBow.(WestBow Press)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Thomas Nelson's WestBow Press imprint will launch a mass market paperback line in March. WestBow will sell the titles through ABA, CBA and mass market channels, and expects to publish 14 to 18 reprints this year. Original mass markets are...

There's no doubting Thomas.(Thomas Nelson Inc.'s privatizing)
February 27, 2006... While it may not have received as much mainstream press attention as the sale of Time Warner Book Group two weeks ago, the privatizing of Thomas Nelson, the Nashville-based religious publisher, is actually more interesting. Instead of...

New editors for Grau/ Spiegel.(Julie Grau and Cindy Spiegel have appointed Chris Jackson)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Julie Grau and Cindy Spiegel have appointed Chris Jackson executive editor of their fledgling Doubleday division. Jackson was most recently a senior editor at Crown. Also on board is Michael Mezzo, who has been named editor. Mezzo joins from...

Szabla to join Feiwel.(Liz Szabla joined Jean Feiwel)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Liz Szabla, editorial director of Scholastic Press, has been named v-p and editor-in-chief of the new children's unit at Holtzbrinck, reporting to senior v-p and publisher Jean Feiwel. Szabla will join Holtzbrinck March 7, working with...

Muller back at BEA.(Courtney Muller to manage BookExpo America)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Courtney Muller, who ran BookExpo America in the late 1990s, is once again overseeing the publishing industry's largest trade show, taking over from Chris McCabe, who has headed BEA since 2004. Muller will add oversight for BEA to her other...

Publishers play with value.(books marketing at Toy Fair)
February 27, 2006... Value was the buzzword among the more than 40 publishers exhibiting at the New York International Toy Fair, held earlier this month at New York City's Javits Center and Toy District showrooms. In large part, increasing value meant adding...

BAM enters Kansas.(Books-A-Million Inc. to open a superstore)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Continuing its slow expansion beyond the southeast, Books-A-Million will open its first store in Kansas later this year. The new superstore will be in a megacomplex being developed in Kansas City.

New borders loyalty program.(Borders Inc.'s marketing strategy)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Borders has launched a new customer loyalty pro gram that it will implement throughout all of its U.S. bricks-and-mortar stores. Borders Rewards will be free to customers, with no enrollment costs or annual fees. Members will earn rewards...

Kleckner to Holtzbrinck sales.(Holtzbrinck Publishers appoints Steve Kleckner )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Steve Kleckner has been named v-p and director of merchandise sales at Holtzbrinck's realigned merchandise sales division. Kleckner was most recently with TokyoPop, where he was v-p, sales and distribution. The newly formed merchandise sales...

Bookspan's FTC agreement.(Federal Trade Commission, penalties)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Bookspan has agreed to pay a $680,000 civil penalty for telemarketing activities that the FTC said violated the National Do Not Call Registry between October 2003 and August 2004. Attorney JoAnne Adlerstein, who represented Bookspan,...

What are you reading?(a conversation with Jamie DeMore )(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 27, 2006... Jamie DeMore, 30 Commercial loan administrator, New York City * What are you reading? Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. * What prompted you to read it? A plane trip--I left the book I was reading at home. I really liked Da...

Hills retiring.(Simon & Schuster Inc.'s Fred Hills )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... After more than 40 years in the industry--26 with Simon & Schuster--editor Fred Hills will retire in April.

First novel, two books.(Sanford Greenburger sold North American rights of 'The Lost Diary of Don Juan' by Douglas Carlton Abrams to Atria Books)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... In a major deal for a first-time novelist, Sanford Greenburger's Heide Lange sold North American rights to two books by Douglas Carlton Abrams to Atria's Emily Bestler; Lange has already made foreign rights deals in a dozen countries. The...

Busy Borchardt.(Borchardt Agency sold North American rights of Jean Echenoz's Ravel to New Press, Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost to Houghton Mifflin Co., and Louis Begley's Matters of Honor to Alfred A. Knopf Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Andre Schiffrin at the New Press has acquired North American rights to Jean Echenoz's Ravel, a bestseller in France, from Georges Borchardt at the Borchardt Agency. Borchardt also sold North American rights to Adam Hochschild's (King...

Two for Klinger.(agent Harvey Klinger sold Barbara Wood's books to St. Martin's Press Inc.)(Gary Berntsen and Ralph Pezzullo to write a book 'Takedown' and signs contract with Crown Books)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Ex-CIA commander Gary Berntsen and coauthor Ralph Pezzullo, authors of the recent bestseller Jawbreaker, have just inked a deal for their next book, Takedown, with Crown's Rick Horgan. The book will recount the history of the Japanese Red...

The remixing point.(Free Press Company Inc. signs contract with Writers House Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... After entertaining dueling preempts, Daniel Lazar at Writers House accepted a bid from Maris Kreizman at the Free Press for Matt Mason's Pimps, Punks & Pirates. The book will discuss what Mason dubs the "remix generation," exploring how...

Morrow's Harriet Bell preempted world rights to egullet contributor Chad Ward's An Edge in the Kitchen.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Morrow's Harriet Bell preempted world rights to egullet contributor Chad Ward's An Edge in the Kitchen, which tells you everything you need to know about every chef's most valuable tool, the kitchen knife, from Helena Schwarz at Susan Rabiner...

Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova has sold her first novel, titled A Model Summer, to Hyperion's Zareen Jaffery via agent Marly Rusoff.(Hyperion Press)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova has sold her first novel, titled A Model Summer, to Hyperion's Zareen Jaffery via agent Marly Rusoff. Porizkova is also the author of the children's book Ralphie the Roach. Rusoffsold North American rights...

Agent Noah Lukeman sold U.S. rights to Eric Kraft's novel On the Wing.(St. Martin's Press Inc., disribution agreement)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Agent Noah Lukeman sold U.S. rights to Eric Kraft's novel On the Wing, the second in Kraft's flying trilogy (the first was Taking Off) and a journey through 1950s America, to George Witte at St. Martin's; Lukeman also sold U.S. rights to John...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 27, 2006... In last week's item on the sale of Samantha Hunt's The Invention of Everything Else, the agency involved is McCormick & Williams, not Collins McCormick, which closed in October.

Calendar: March 5-11.
February 27, 2006... 3/5 It's Academy Awards night. Celebrate the best of Hollywood with Robert Osborne's 75 Years of the Oscar or the worst with John Wilson's The Official Razzie Movie Guide. 3/6 Birth anniversary of Will Eisner (1917-2005). Many...

Can a hitman sell Shaman titles?(Inner Traditions International Ltd. expects to increase sales through bestsellers)
February 27, 2006... In a case of deja vu all over again, Inner Traditions/Bear & Company in Rochester, Vt., is looking to reap sales from the back-end story of a bestseller. In 2003, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code helped bump up sales for Margaret Starbird's The...

Guiding screenwriters.(screenwriting titles' marketing, publishing industry services)
February 27, 2006... The old saw goes that everyone has a book in them. But these days it might be more accurate to say that everyone has--or at least thinks they have--a screenplay in them. Your great aunt, your paper boy, your hairstylist--it's likely they run...

Tweed to Trident Media.(Elizabeth Tweed joined Trident Media Group)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Elizabeth Tweed has joined Trident Media Group as a literary agent. Most recently at Kneerim & Williams, where she spent the last two and a half years, Tweed began at Curtis Brown.

Running Press promos.(Diana von Glahn and Jennifer Leczkowski promoted)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Diana von Glahn and Jennifer Leczkowski have both been promoted at Running Press. Von Glahn has been moved up from associate editor to editor and Leczkowski from associate managing editor to managing editor.

Drucker joins Bookspan.(Heather Drucker)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Heather Drucker has been named publicity director at Bookspan. Arriving from Kodansha, where she was publicity manager, Drucker will step into the newly created position to work on campaigns for the company's book clubs as well as maintain...

Ballantine gets Moench.(Ballantine/Del Rey/Fawcett/Ivy Publishing Group appoints David Moench )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... David Moench has been tapped to take on the role of publicity manager for Ballantine's Del Rey imprint. Most recently a senior publicist for Holtzbrinck's Tor, Forge and Starscape imprints, Moench has worked been involved with campaigns for...

Peterson's on the block.(Thomson Learning to divest Peterson's Guides, K.G. Saur Verlag GmbH und Company KG, Thomson Education Direct)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... As part of its strategy to more tightly focus its publishing program at the college and training level, Thomson Learning is looking to divest three businesses, including its college guide publisher Peterson's. Thomson acquired Peterson's...

Bank backs Bach.(David Bach partners with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. to market its newly written book 'The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner')
February 27, 2006... In just seven years, David Bach has sold four million copies of his six personal finance books. His million-copy breakout, The Automatic Millionaire, also got Oprah Winfrey's nod and he's currently appearing on her show in a seven-part series...

McAden to Scholastic.(Abigail McAden appointed)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Abigail McAden is set to spearhead Scholastic's teen paperback line, Point, as editorial director. McAden, who will join the company March 6, will report to v-p and editorial director Craig Walker; she was most recently an executive editor at...

Free Press nabs loose.(Free Press Company Inc. appoints Emily Loose)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Emily Loose has been named senior editor at Free Press. Loose, who arrives from Penguin Press, has edited such bestsellers as Charles Fishman's The Wal-Mart Effect and David Corn's The Lies of George Bush.

Desmond joins Crown.(Sean Desmond, Crown Books Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Sean Desmond has joined Crown as a senior editor, focusing on politics and history. He arrives from St. Martin's Press, where he's worked for the Thomas Dunne imprint for the past five years, after stints at ICM and Norton. In addition to...

Small up at RH Children's.(Random House Children's Books promotes Shanta Small )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Shanta Small has been promoted from senior publicist to publicity manager at Random House Children's Books. Small, who will continue to report to Melanie Chang, has worked with a number of bestselling authors, among them Carl Hiaasen, John...

Twain revisited.(Jon Clinch)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Secret identities, skinned corpses and alcohol-fueled guilt--each plays a major role in Jon Clinch's debut novel, Finn, which Random House is excited about and has scheduled for spring 2007 (see Deals, Feb. 20). Currently making the rounds in...

Living La Vida Rica.(Valerie Ann Left)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... CBS had producer Darren Star's Central Park West, and now NBC see potential in Valerie Ann Left's Better Homes and Husbands (St. Martin's, 2004), set on the other side of the park. Optioned by NBC consultant Meryl Poster (formerly head of...

Author James Siegel has a friend in producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Constantine).(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Author James Siegel has a friend in producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Constantine). Not only is the former studio head producing the writer's upcoming thriller Deceit (Warner Books, Aug.)--a nail-biter about a dishonest journalist that...

Karyn Bosnak of www.SaveKaryn.com fame has just had her debut novel, Twenty Times a Lady (first reported in Hollywood Reader, Feb. 14, 2005), optioned by New Line Cinema for Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm to produce.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Karyn Bosnak of www.SaveKaryn.com fame has just had her Siegel debut novel, Twenty Times a Lady (first reported in Hollywood Reader, Feb. 14, 2005), optioned by New Line Cinema for Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm to produce. The...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
February 27, 2006... Da Vinci stats: 150 weeks on PW's list (double the combined total weeks for the other 14 fiction top sellers); in North America: 102 printings totaling 12 million copies; worldwide: 40 million copies in print. A while back,...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
February 27, 2006... People in the publishing business used to joke that any book on Abraham Lincoln, doctors or dogs is guaranteed to sell. A look at the nonfiction top titles recently gives that adage some substance. Marley the dog, Manhunt (for Lincoln's...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
February 27, 2006... "I briefly studied the work of the real Hieronymus Bosch while in college. He was a 15th-century painter who created richly detailed landscapes of debauchery and violence and human defilement. There is a 'world gone mad' feel to many of his...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
February 27, 2006... "As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone, that we are not...

Children's series & tie-ins bestsellers.
February 27, 2006... Work goes well on the final Harry Potter volume, according to J.K. Rowling, in a recent entry on her Web site: "Sometimes writing goes so smoothly that you feel as though you are simply taking dictation from your muse. In my case, this often...

Encores and second chances: reprints to watch out for.
February 27, 2006... Whether the hardcover version rode the top of the bestseller lists, faltered under too-heavy expectations or got stuck in midlist obscurity, the paperback release gives a book a second (and often much better) chance to reach readers. The...

Creative expressions: in the world of digital photography books, "how-to" is only the beginning.(Computer book listings)
February 27, 2006... Today's home computers offer processing power that far outstrips their predecessors from even just a few years ago, and many users are taking advantage of the increased capabilities to unleash their creative sides. "There's been a...

Computer books, March-August.(computer book listings)
February 27, 2006... All titles are paperback unless otherwise noted. For an expanded version of this list, see www.publishersweekly.com/springcomputer. ADAMS-HALL Teach Your Computer to Dance: Make Your Computer, Mobile Devices and the Internet Perform...

The Devil and Miss Prym.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Devil and Miss Prym PAULO COELHO. HarperCollins, $24.95 (224p) ISBN 0-06-052799-4 New to the U.S. but first published in Europe in 1992, Coelho's latest (following the bestselling The Zahir) is an old school parable of good and evil....

The Whole World Over.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... * The Whole World Over JULIA GLASS. Pantheon, $25.95 (512p) ISBN 0-375-42274-9 In her second rich, subtle novel, Glass reveals how the past impinges on the present, and how small incidents of fate and chance determine the future. Greenie...

Digging to America.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Digging to America ANNE TYLER. Knopf, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 0-307-26394-0 Tyler (Breathing Lessons) encompasses the collision of cultures without losing her sharp focus on the daily dramas of modern family life in her 17th novel. When Bitsy...

The Man of My Dreams.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Man of My Dreams CURTIS SITTENFELD. Random, $22.95 (288p) ISBN 1-4000-6476-7 Sittenfeld's poignant if generic follow-up to her bestselling debut, Prep, similarly tracks a young woman's coming-of-age, but rather than navigating an...

Malinche.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Malinche LAURA ESQUIVEL, TRANS. FROM THE SPANISH BY ERNESTRO MESTRE-REED. Atria, $22.95 (192p) ISBN 0-7432-9033-X Through the eyes of the historical native woman of the novel's title, Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate) reveals the defeat...

Memoirs of a Muse.(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... * Memoirs of a Muse LARA VAPNYAR. Pantheon, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 0-375-42296-X What kind of person writes a thesis about makeup in 19th-century Russia? Tatiana Rumer, a would-be historian from the collapsing Soviet Union, wants to know...

An unsentimental education: the author of Schooling returns with further instruction.(Q&A PW Talks to Heather McGowan)(Interview)
February 27, 2006... Your first novel was entitled Schooling and concerned a teenage girl's abrupt coming-of-age. In Duchess of Nothing (Reviews, Feb. 6), a young woman takes charge of a seven-year-old boy's entire world and proceeds to offer him some very adult...

Everything After.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Everything After SHARON PYWELL. Putnam, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-399-15350-0 Pywell's strong second novel echoes the domestic drama of her well-received debut, What Happened to Henry, this time pitting an idyllic Arlington, Va., family...

The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys: Stories.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys: Stories DAO STROM. Counterpoint, $24 (288p) ISBN 1-58243-343-7 Small moments carry enormous weight in these four loosely linked novellas about young Vietnamese women living in present-day California...

The Night Buffalo.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Night Buffalo GUILLERMO ARRIAGA, TRANS. FROM THE SPANISH BY ALAN PAGE. Atria, $24 (240p) ISBN 0-7432-8185-3 Mexican screenwriter Arriaga (Amores Perros; 21 Grams) constructs a humid, schematic novel--his first published in the...

Gatsby's Girl.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Gatsby's Girl CAROLINE PRESTON. Houghton Mifflin, $24 (320p) ISBN 0-618-53725-2 Inspired by the ephemeral but intense historical romance between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his first love, Chicago debutante Ginevra King, Preston bases her...

The First Hurt.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The First Hurt RACHEL SHERMAN. Open City, $14 paper (160p) ISBN 1-890447-41-2 In a highly promising debut collection of stories, Sherman writes of alienated lower-end white suburbia in a manner that shifts perspectives with an...

Fever.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Fever GENEVA HOLLIDAY. Broadway, $12.95 paper (320p) ISBN 0-7679-2115-1 Bernice McFadden (Sugar) returns as the pseudonymous African-American chick lit author Holliday with this juicy but slow-building sequel to Groove. The four-friend...

Two Little Girls in Blue.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... * Two Little Girls in Blue MARY HIGGINS CLARK. Simon & Schuster, $25.95 (336p) ISBN 0-7432-6490-8 Bestseller Clark is at her best when writing of crime against children, as shown in this chilling tale of kidnapping, murder and telepathy....

Poison.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Poison SUSAN FROMBERG SCHAEFFER. Norton, $25.95 (608p) ISBN 0-393-06101-9 In her 14th novel, Schaeffer (The Snow Fox) unfurls a sprawling inheritance saga loosely based on the turbulent life and loves of poet Ted Hughes. Writer Peter...

Prisoner of Memory.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Prisoner of Memory DENISE HAMILTON. Scribner, $24 (368p) ISBN 0-7432-6194-1 Eve Diamond, having investigated Southern California's Asian and Latino communities, tackles the Russians in Hamilton's entertaining, well-researched fifth...

End of Story.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... * End of Story PETER ABRAHAMS. HarperCollins, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-06-072665-2 Abrahams (Oblivion) solidifies his reputation as one of the best contemporary thriller writers around with this psychologically deep page-turner evoking the...

Night of the Jaguar.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Night of the Jaguar MICHAEL GRUBER. Morrow, $24.95 (348p) ISBN 0-06-057768-1 Gruber's highly entertaining supernatural thriller completes the trilogy that began with Tropic of Night and Valley of Bones. All feature Miami cop Jimmy Paz,...

Firetrap.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Firetrap EARL EMERSON. Ballantine, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-345-46292-0 This uneven stand-alone suspense novel from Seattle fire lieutenant Emerson (The Smoke Room) opens promisingly with the gritty first-person narration of Capt. Trey Brown,...

Penumbra.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Penumbra CAROLYN HAINES. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 0-312-35160-7 Far from Haines's fluffy Southern cozies in tone, if not geography, this thriller from the author of Crossed Bones aims at a noirish literary quality...

Don't Look Down.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Don't Look Down JENNIFER CRUSIE & BOB MAYER. St. Martin's, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 0-312-34812-6 A one-eyed alligator and a pre-Columbian collection of jade phallic symbols figure into this nutty swampland romp from Crusie (Faking It, etc.)...

White Spirit.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... White Spirit PAULE CONSTANT, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY BETSY WING. Univ. of Nebraska, $19.95 paper (191p)ISBN 0-8032-6441-0 Sad ironies illuminate this deftly mapped journey to the postcolonial heart of darkness, winner of the 1990 Grand...

Realm of the Dead.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Realm of the Dead UCHIDA HYAKKEN, TRANS. FROM THE JAPANESE BY RACHEL Dl NITRO Dalkey Archive, $22.95 (236p) ISBN 1-56478-447-9 Forty-eight short stories--or more accurately, fables and vignettes--make up the two collections gathered in...

The List: A Love Story in 781 Chapters.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The List: A Love Story in 781 Chapters ANEVA STOUT. Workman, $12.95 (96p) ISBN 0-7611-4216-4 Stout's debut novel is a clever hybrid of meta-fiction and gift book: this slim, illustrated hardcover is a love story composed entirely of...

Sam Spade in the Green Room: A Cece Caruso Mystery.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Sam Spade in the Green Room: A Cece Caruso Mystery SUSAN KANDEL. Morrow, $23.95 (336p) ISBN 0-06-058109-3 Kandel's fun, stylish third Cece Caruso mystery (after 2005's Not a Girl Detective) finds the tall, 40-ish, vintage fashion-fixated...

Hardscrabble Road: A Gregor Demarkian Novel.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... * Hardscrabble Road: A Gregor Demarkian Novel JANE HADDAM. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-312-35373-1 Credible characters and an intriguing plot laced with both humor and political commentary lift Haddam's outstanding 21st...

The Death of Achilles.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Death of Achilles BORIS AKUNIN, TRANS. FROM THE RUSSIAN BY ANDREW BROMFIELD. Random, $12.95 paper (336p) ISBN 0-8129-6880-8 Set in 1882, Russian author Akunin's fourth novel to feature Erast Petrovich Fandorin (after 2005's The...

Bleeding Hearts.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Bleeding Hearts SUSAN WITTIG ALBERT. Berkley Prime Crime, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 0-425-20799-4 In Albert's engrossing 15th mystery to star China Bayles, herbalist, erstwhile lawyer and occasional gumshoe (after 2005's Dead Man's Bones),...

Manhattan Noir.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Manhattan Noir EDITED BY LAWRENCE BLOCK. Akashic, $14.95 paper (257p) ISBN 1-888451-95-5 A pleasing variety of Manhattan neighborhoods come to life in Block's solid anthology, the latest entry in Akashic's city-themed noir series...

The Orkney Scroll.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Orkney Scroll LYN HAMILTON. Berkley Prime Crime, $22.95 (272p) ISBN 0-425-20800-1 In Hamilton's entertaining 10th archeological mystery featuring Canadian antiques dealer Lara McClintoch (after 2005's The Moai Murders), one of Lara's...

Rainbows End.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Rainbows End VERNOR VINGE. Tor, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 0-312-85684-9 Set in San Diego, Calif., this hard SF novel from Hugo-winner Vinge (A Deepness in the Sky) offers dazzling computer technology but lacks dramatic tension. Circa 2025,...

The Silver Bough.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Silver Bough LISA TUTTLE. Bantam, $22 (336p) ISBN 0-553-38297-7 One bite of a magical golden apple holds the key to a Scottish town's renewal and may grant the heart's desire for three lucky American women, provided they take a leap of...

The Destiny Mask: Book Two of the Structure Series.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... The Destiny Mask: Book Two of the Structure Series MARTIN SKETCHLEY. Pyr, $15 paper (380p) ISBN 1-59102-439-0 In this labored sequel to The Affinity Trap (2005), Sketchley tries to bring a cinematic sense of scale and action to his tale...

Karavans.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Karavans JENNIFER ROBERSON. DAW, $25.95 (TKp) ISBN 0-7564-0172-0 The first volume in a new fantasy saga from Roberson (Sword-Dancer) establishes a universe teeming with fascinating humans, demons and demigods, but a multitude of subplots...

Triskell Tales 2: Six More Years of Chapbooks.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Triskell Tales 2: Six More Years of Chapbooks CHARLES DE LINT. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (176p) ISBN 1-59606-055-7 Acclaimed Canadian fantasy writer De Lint offers this much more polished follow-up to Triskell Tales...

Poe's Lighthouse: All New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 27, 2006... Poe's Lighthouse: All New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CONLON. Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com), $40 (330p) ISBN 1-58767-128-X Conlon asked 23 top authors to complete Poe's story fragment "The...