Publishers Weekly articles from January 2008

Publishers Weekly archives from January 2008

Indies report lukewarm holiday season: Sales show some gains; regional titles strong.(Foreword)
January 7, 2008... Independent booksellers generally gave the holiday sales season a passing grade, especially compared to last year, when stormy weather across most of the nation hampered business. The largest gain was reported by Jane Moser, new owner of Brazos...

Eugster replaces Willis at B&T.(Jack Eugster and Richard Willis, Baker & Taylor)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Richard Willis resigned as chairman and CEO of Baker & Taylor last week and was replaced by Jack Eugster, a member of the B&T board and former chairman of Musicland. Arnie Wright, who was promoted to B&T president last year, will continue to...

Farley leaving HMH.(Dan Farley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... As part of the formation of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers, former Harcourt Trade president Dan Farley will leave the company at the end of this month. Gary Gentel, who was named president of HMH Trade last month, has...

Wolfe out the door.(Foreword)(Tom Wolfe)
January 7, 2008... To hear the New York Times tell it, the decision by Tom Wolfe and his agent Lynn Nesbit to move the author from Farrar, Straus & Giroux to Little, Brown is one of simple economic expedience. FSG president Jonathan Galassi says his house and...

Scieszka named lit ambassador.(Jon Scieszka)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Jon Scieszka, author of such bestselling picture books as The Stinky Cheese Man, has been named the country's first national ambassador for children's books. The two-year appointment is a joint effort of the Library of Congress and the...

Naggar joins iAmplify.(David Naggar )(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Former Random House executive David Naggar has joined iAmplify.com as president. The online media company offers subscription-based access to digital and audio content.

Holiday sleepers out of stock.(Hungry for More)
January 7, 2008... Even with computerized ordering systems and improved inventory control, it's still possible for publishers to be caught out-of-stock on surprise hits. That was the case for three of the holiday season's biggest sellers: Artisan Bread in Five...

Gayle Shanks, changing hands bookstore, Tempe, Ariz.(GALLEY TALK)(The Monster of Templeton)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Lauren Groff is a writer to pay attention to as she has a grasp of language, dialogue and character that is so rare in a first-time novelist. In The Monster of Templeton (Hyperion, Feb. 5), Wilhelmina Cooper, a grad student in archeology...

HC rushing Bhutto book.(HarperCollins will publish Benazir Bhutto's book)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... HarperCollins is rushing its planned book by former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated December 27 at a rally in Pakistan. Bhutto had completed the manuscript only a few days before she was killed. Reconciliation:...

Ottaviano gets Holt imprint.(Christy Ottaviano )(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... After 15 years at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, Christy Ottaviano is launching her own eponymous imprint. Ottaviano, who was most recently executive editor at HHBYR, will be acquiring and editing both fiction and nonfiction for Christy...

Wolfe signs with LB.(Tom Wolfe )(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Tom Wolfe is leaving longtime publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux for Little, Brown for his next novel, Back to Blood, Wolfe's first work of fiction since his 2004 book, I Am Charlotte Simmons. LB acquired North American rights from agent Lynn...

Amazon soared, borders plunged in '07.(Stocks)
January 7, 2008... Although losers outnumbered winners in 2007, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index managed to eke out a 1.7% increase last year, thanks largely to Amazon.com. Shares at the e-tailer soared nearly 135% as investors were encouraged by the company's...

Seal Rocks its 'Stars'.(Foreword)
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At a recent launch party at Book Soup in L.A. for Rock Your Stars: Your Astrological Guide to Getting it All, Seal Press toasted author Holiday Mathis. Pictured here at the event (l.-r.) are Robert Tyson Cornell,...

Correction.(Correction notice)
January 7, 2008... In the article "Everyone's' Magical Thinking'" (Dec. 17), the title of Anne Roiphe's book was incorrect: it was previously called Aftermath and is now tentatively titled Epilogue.

Obituary: Sandy Taylor, 76.(Curbstone Press)(Obituary)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Sandy Taylor, who cofounded the nonprofit literary house Curbstone Press with his wife in 1975, died December 21. Taylor, who taught at Eastern Connecticut State University from 1969 to 1990, launched Curbstone to publish a book of poetry by a...

Robbins to Ecco.(Deals)(a new novel by Tom Robbins, to be published by Ecco Press)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... David Hirshey at Harper, along with Dan Halpern at Ecco, has preempted world rights to a new novel by Tom Robbins, to be published by Ecco in fall 2008; Hirshey will edit. Robbins's first novel in five years--and his first in 30 years not...

A rock 'n' roll memoir.(Deals)(Lady in Waiting: Inside the Loves, Madness and Music of the Beatles, the Stones)(Touchstone Books)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Trish Todd at Touchstone preempted world rights to Chris O'Dell's Lady in Waiting: Inside the Loves, Madness and Music of the Beatles, the Stones. Bob Dylan, and the Women in their Shadous via Linda Loewenthal at the David Black Agency. O'Dell,...

YA debut preempt.(Deals)
January 7, 2008... Virginia Duncan at HarperCollins/ Greenwillow has preempted North American rights to a debut YA novel by David Macinnis Gill titled Soul Enchilada; Rosemary Stimola made the two-book, six-figure deal. In the novel, Eunice "Bug" Smoot is shocked...

Norton again to Spotlight.(Deals)(Jim Norton signs deal with Simon Spotlight)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Comedian Jim Norton has inked a deal with Tricia Boczkowski at Simon Spotlight for a book titled Why I Hate Your Guts; Lydia Wills sold world rights. The book will be a collection of essays about people Norton hates, including Heather Mills,...

Fiction debut.(Deals)
January 7, 2008... Jeanette Perez at Harper bought world English rights to a first novel by Vanina Marsot titled Foreign Tongue; Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord made the sale. The book tells the story of a young American in Paris forced to confront her own...

From the mouths of Babes.(Deals)('Between the Covers: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures')(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Renee Sedliar at Da Calm Lifelong bought world rights to Between the Covers: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures by Margo Hammond and Ellen Heltzel via Jill Marsal at the Dijkstra Agency; columnists the Book Babes will suggest...

Calendar Jan. 13-19.(Calendar)
January 7, 2008... 1/13 PW said Roddy Doyle's "sharp wit adds a richness to every tale" in his "dynamic" first collection of short stories, The Deportees and Other Stories (Viking). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1/14 Slate editor-in-chief Jacob...

Quayside finds lucrative niche in specialty field.(Hobbies and How-to)
January 7, 2008... Since it changed its name three years ago from Rockport Publishing to Quayside Publishing Group, the American subsidiary of the London-based Quarto Group has quadrupled in size. In 2004, Quayside added Creative Publishing international and last...

Duffy, Dreyer up at Random.(People)(Christina Duffy and Benjamin Dreyer at Random House Publishing Group)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Christina Duffy has been promoted to editor at Ballantine Books. Benjamin Dreyer has been promoted from group managing editor to senior managing editor and copy chief at Random House Publishing Group. Dreyer joined RH in 1993.

Publishers, librarians clash over NIH rule.(Rights)(National Institutes of Health's Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007)
January 7, 2008... STM publishers and academic librarians are locking horns once again after a contentious rule mandating free public online access to research funded through the National Institutes of Health was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations...

Pray to Clarkson Potter.(People)(Judy Pray appointed as senior editor)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Judy Pray has joined Clarkson Potter as senior editor. Pray arrives from Black Dog and Leventhal, where she was a senior editor. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Collins assembles traveling exhibit.(Books as Art)(HarperCollins' The American Presidency)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... To promote two new books on presidential memorabilia, HarperCollins, parent company News Corp. and sister company Fox News have assembled a traveling exhibition. "The American Presidency" exhibit features 80 objects showcased in Campaigning...

Reading Hamilton in Afghanistan.(Foreword)(Matt Littel reads Laurell K. Hamilton's 'Incubus Dreams')(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Soldier Matt Littel, currently serving in Afghanistan, recently sent an e-mail to his favorite author, Laurell K. Hamilton. Littel wanted to let Hamilton know that he always keeps her novel Incubus Dreams (Berkley)...

Fleming up at Penguin.(People)(Jane Fleming promoted to editor)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Jane Fleming has been promoted to editor at Penguin Press. Fleming joined the house six years ago.

Allessi up at Harper.(People)(Ana Maria Allessi promoted to vice president at HarperMedia)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Ana Maria Allessi has been promoted from publisher of HarperMedia to v-p. Allessi has worked on such classic audio titles as To Kill a Mockingbird.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In an interview on Dailycelebrations.com, Sue Grafton says, "I chose the classic private eye genre because I like playing hardball with the boys." She adds that she does her own research, learning about murder and...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Catholics have saints--more than 10,000 of them. They're like God's customer service reps, and each of them has a specialty. Say you lose your wallet. You could bother the Creator to help you find it, but if you're...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's been a big week for Julie Garwood; her new mass market, Shadow Dance, lands on the PW list in the #4 spot with a one million-copy first printing, while her new hardcover, Shadow Music, makes it to #5 on the...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In an interview in Time magazine this past June, Ian McEwan talked about the decrease in literary reviews in newspapers and magazines: "The problem is really a small part of a larger one, which is the decline of...

Comics bestsellers.
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Marvel's comics adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born continues to sell--the hardcover edition returns to the #3 slot it filled last month, and it racked up strong sales over the last four...

15 trends to watch in 2008: industry guru Mike Shatzkin foresees big gains in e-book sales, consolidation among literary agencies, a jump in customized book sales and much more.(publishing industry)(Cover story)
January 7, 2008... Playing this game for the past 15 years or so has taught me that, like hitters in baseball, forecasters of publishing's future are doing well if they get a hit 30% of the time. This crystal-ball gazing is an uncertain business--and the bolder...

Viva la difference! As specialization becomes the fashion in Europe, publishers look for ways to differentiate themselves.(publishing industry forecasts)(Cover story)
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The buzzword for the foreseeable future in European publishing is difference, and this perspective of increasing differentiation--or fragmentation--is the fallout of globalization. For several years now, what had...

Hajdus's comic turn: from Strayhorn to Daylan to the homoerotic in Batman.(Author Profile)(David Hajdu)(Interview)
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Growing up in Phillipsburg, N.J., David Hajdu (pronounced HAY-doo) drew a comic strip for his high school newspaper and soon began contributing illustrations to the newspaper in nearby Easton, Pa. His interest in...

The listen up awards.(best audiobooks of 2007)(Audiobook review)
January 7, 2008... During 2007, PW reviewed a record-breaking 325 audiobooks in the magazine and online. It's been an outstanding year, full of quality productions. This year, relative new-kid-on-the-block Graphic Audio (launched in 2004) gained national exposure...

Emily Cook walks the talk: young marketing director with big passion.(50 Under 40)(Interview)
January 7, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Twenty-nine-year-old Emily Cook realizes she can't do it single-handedly, but she's determined to get more people to read. Cook, marketing director of Milkweed Editions, the venerable literary nonprofit press...

More Than It Hurts You.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... More Than It Hurts You DARIN STRAUSS. Dutton, $24.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-525-95070-7 The third novel from the author of Chang and Eng and The Real McCoy is an often satiric page-turner that tracks a Long Island family crisis. Josh Goldin is...

Finding Nouf.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Finding Nouf ZOE FERRARIS. Houghton Mifflin, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-0-618-87388-3 A finely detailed literary mystery set in contemporary Saudi Arabia, Ferraris's debut centers on Nouf ash-Shrawi, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared into the...

Without a Backward Glance.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Without a Backward Glance KATE VEITCH. Plume, $14 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-452-28947-5 On Christmas Eve 1967, Rosemarie McDonald walks out the door of her suburban Melbourne home, leaving her husband behind to raise their four children:...

The House on Fortune Street.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The House on Fortune Street MARGOT LIVESEY. Harper, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-145152-2 The absorbing latest from Livesey (Homework) opens multiple perspectives on the life of Dara MacLeod, a young London therapist, partly by paying...

Sun Going Down.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Sun Going Down JACK TODD. Touchstone, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4165-5048-8 Three generations of the Paint family struggle through 70 years of hardship and heartache on the Western plains in Todd's ambitious fiction debut. En route from...

The Sea of Lost Love.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Sea of Lost Love SANTA MONTEFIORE. Touchstone, $15 paper (448p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4373-2 A young woman finds love and sudden maturity in this charmingly melodramatic romance from the author of The Gypsy Madonna. Tragedy strikes an...

PW talks with Elias Khoury: the force of literature.(Q&A)(Interview)
January 7, 2008... The Lebanese novelist follows the acclaimed Gate of the Sun with Yalo (Reviews, Nov. 19), tracking a soldier's descent into criminality. Yalo's life is inextricably entwined with Lebanon's years of civil war. Where do you draw the line...

The Ten Best Days of My Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Ten Best Days of My Life ADENA HALPERN. Plume, $14 paper (272p) ISBN 978-0-452-28940-6 The hereafter is happier than ever in Halpern's debut novel. After Alex Dorenfield and her dog, Peaches, get smashed by a car, they wind up in...

Genghis: Lords of the Bow.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * Genghis: Lords of the Bow CONN IGGULDEN. Delacorte, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-385-33952-0 Iggulden, coauthor of the megaseller The Dangerous Book for Boys, continues his masterful series on Genghis Khan (following Genghis: Birth of an...

PW talks with James McBride: running to freedom.(Q&A)(Publishers Weekly)(Interview)
January 7, 2008... James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, has become a modern classic, and an adaptation of his WWII novel, The Miracle at St. Anna, is being filmed by Spike Lee. McBride's latest novel, Song Yet Sung (Reviews, Sept. 24, 2007), takes readers...

Daughters of the North.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Daughters of the North SARAH HALL. Harper Perennial, $13.95 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-143036-7 Chronicling a journey of violence, oppression and fleeting liberation, this brutal third novel from the author of The Electric Michelangelo is...

Varanger.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Varanger CECELIA HOLLAND. Forge, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7653-0558-9 Holland continues her Viking saga (following The Soul Thief and The Witches' Kitchen) with an uneven but entertaining adventure tale. After their war band is defeated in...

A Perfect Waiter.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... A Perfect Waiter ALAIN CLAUDE SULZER, TRANS. FROM THE GERMAN BY JOHN BROWN JOHN. Bloomsbury, $19.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-59691-411-7 In Alsace-based Sulzer's first translated novel, set in 1966 Switzerland, self-possessed, middle-aged Erneste...

Practically Perfect.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Practically Perfect KATIE FFORDE. St. Martin's, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-312-37854-7 In the less than sprightly latest from Fforde (Restoring Grace), newly minted interior designer Anna, 27, is renovating a run-down cottage in the Cotswold...

The Heartbreak Pill.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Heartbreak Pill ANJANETTE DELGADO. Atria, $14 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-7432-9753-0 Delgado adds a few twists to the breakup lit formula in her chronicle of Erika Luna, a research scientist at a Miami pharmaceutical company who develops...

The Darcy Connection.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Darcy Connection ELIZABETH ASTON. Touchstone, $14 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4725-9 A ston's latest foray into Austendom (after Mrs. Darcy's Daughters) follows the children of Elizabeth Bennet's friend Mrs. Collins, who married the...

M.I.A.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... M.I.A. MICHAEL ALLEN DYMMOCH. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-37371-9 Dymmoch, a writer of crime and mystery novels, takes a turn in this mostly successful novel about enduring love and family secrets. Rhiann Fahey's...

The Silver Swan.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * The Silver Swan BENJAMIN BLACK. Holt, $25 (288p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8153-4 In this stunning follow-up to 2007's Christine Falls, Black (pseudonym of Booker Prize-winner John Banville) spins a complex tale of murder and deception in 1950s...

The Amateur Spy.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Amateur Spy DAN FESPERMAN. Knopf, $23.95 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4000-4467-2 War correspondent Fesperman, the winner of the CWA's John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award, shines the light of his insider's knowledge into the dark corners of Jordan...

Killer Heat.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Killer Heat LINDA FAIRSTEIN. Doubleday, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-0-385-52397-4 At the start of bestseller Fairstein's nail-biting 10th legal thriller to feature alter ego Alex Cooper (after 2006's Bad Blood), the Manhattan ADA takes a hit from...

The Prince of Bagram Prison.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Prince of Bagram Prison ALEX CARR. Random/Mortalis, $13.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-8129-7709-7 At the start of this intelligent spy thriller from the pseudonymous Carr (the author of Flashback and other novels under her real name,...

The Truth About Sascha Knisch.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Truth About Sascha Knisch ARIS FIORETOS, TRANS. FROM THE SWEDISH BY THE AUTHOR. Overlook/ Rookery, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-58567-957-7 Swedish author Fioretos's first novel to be translated into English is an eerie, erotic tale set in...

Blind Faith.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Blind Faith SAGARIKA GHOSE. Harper Perennial, $13.95 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-135026-9 In the second novel from Ghose (The Gin Drinkers), Mia Bhagat is a 28-year-old London-based Bengali reeling from the inexplicable suicide of her...

Terra Incognita: A Novel of the Roman Empire.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * Terra Incognita: A Novel of the Roman Empire RUTH DOWNIE. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (400p) ISBN 978-1-59691-232-8 A judicious use of humor and a memorable protagonist lift Downie's sequel to her bestselling debut, Medicus (2007). Toward the...

The Invisible.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Invisible ANDREW BRITTON. Kensington, $24 (384p) ISBN 978-0-7582-1335-8 At the start of Britton's solid third thriller to feature CIA loose cannon Ryan Kealey (after The Assassin and The American), Kealey has been wandering the world,...

Miss Julia Paints the Town.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Miss Julia Paints the Town ANN B. ROSS. Viking, $24.95 (326p) ISBN 978-0-670-01864-2 Julia Springer Murdoch has survived widowhood, scandals and her share of delightfully harebrained adventures in eight previous Miss Julia outings; here...

Trudy's Promise.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Trudy's Promise MARCIA PRESTON. Mira, $13.95 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2533-8 It's been three months since East Berliner Trudy Hulst saw her husband, Rolf, a political activist who fled to the West just ahead of the Stasi in the early...

Arkansas.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Arkansas JOHN BRANDON. McSweeney's, $22 (224p) ISBN 978-1-932416-90-9 Brandon introduces his main characters gradually in his quirky debut about a bunch of rootless drifters who form an unstable drug-distribution network in Arkansas: Swin...

A Paragon of Virtue.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... A Paragon of Virtue CHRISTIAN VON DITFURTH, TRANS. FROM THE GERMAN BY HELEN ATKINS. Toby, $24.95 (250p) ISBN 978-1-59264-220-5 German historian Ditfurth's fictional alter ego, Josef Stachelmann, makes an engaging protagonist in this...

Strangers in Death.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Strangers in Death NORA ROBERTS WRITING AS J.D. ROBB. Putnam, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-399-15470-6 In bestseller Robb's slick 26th not-so-near-future crime thriller to feature Lt. Eve Dallas (after 2007's Creation in Death), the New York...

The Invention of Everything Else.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Invention of Everything Else SAMANTHA HUNT. Houghton Mifflin, $24 (272p) ISBN 978-0-618-80112-1 In Hunt's (The Seas) overstuffed and uneven novel set in New York, circa 1943, an aging Nikola Tesla lives at the Hotel New Yorker and...

Seven for a Secret.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Seven for a Secret MARY REED AND ERIC MAYER. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 9781-59058-489-7 In Reed and Mayer's engrossing seventh mystery set in sixth-century Constantinople (after 2005's Six for Gold), John, lord chamberlain to the...

The Cruelest Month: A Three Pines Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * The Cruelest Month: A Three Pines Mystery LOUISE PENNY. St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-35257-8 Chief Insp. Armand Gamache and his team investigate another bizarre crime in the tiny Quebec village of Three Pines in...

Close Call.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Close Call JOHN McEVOY. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59058-495-8 In McEvoy's so-so third horse-racing mystery (after 2006's Riders Down), failed ad man Jack Doyle, introduced in 2004's Blind Switch, is happy to land a gig as...

Island Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Island Life MICHAEL W. SHERER. Five Star, $25.95 (385p) ISBN 978-1-59414-633-6 Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series (Death Is No Bargain, etc.) with this solid stand-alone, a mystery thriller set on an island near Seattle....

The Alpine Traitor: An Emma Lord Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Alpine Traitor: An Emma Lord Mystery MARY DAHEIM. Ballantine, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-345-46818-5 Murder and mayhem once again rock the placid town of Alpine, Wash., in Daheim's 20th cozy to feature newspaper publisher Emma Lord...

Love and Night: The Complete Short Fiction: Volume One.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Love and Night: The Complete Short Fiction: Volume One CORNELL WOOLRICH, EDITED BY FRANCIS M. NEVINS JR. Dennis McMillan (www.dennismcmillan.com), $35 (254p) ISBN 978-0-930767-58-8 Fans of noir master Woolrich (1903-1968) will welcome the...

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key KAGE BAKER. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $35 (200p) ISBN 978-1-59606-162-0 This amusing but insubstantial short novel explores history and the limits of free will in a more straightforward fashion...

Black Ships.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * Black Ships JO GRAHAM. Orbit, $14.99 paper (448p) ISBN 978-0-316-06800-0 Graham's exquisite and bleak debut views the events of The Aeneid through the oracle Gull, a disciple of the Lady of the Dead. Taken to the Lady's temple after...

Deluge: Book Three of the Twins of Petaybee.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Deluge: Book Three of the Twins of Petaybee ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH. Del Rey, $23.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-345-47006-5 Precocious twin selkies Ronan and Muriel set out for their heroic third mission (after 2007's...

A World Too Near.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... * A World Too Near KAY KENYON. Pyr, $25 (456p) ISBN 978-1-59102-642-6 The fate of two universes hangs in the balance in this intricately plotted sequel to Bright of the Sky (2007). To sustain the constructed universe called the Entire, the...

Spider Star.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... Spider Star MIKE BROTHERTON. Tor, $26.95 (464p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1125-2 This hectic tale of ancient aliens on an artificial world orbits the star-sized egos of zealous archeologist Manuel Rusk and altruistic interstellar explorer Frank...

The Golden Rose.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Golden Rose KATHLEEN BRYAN. Tor, $14.95 paper (288p) ISBN 078-0-7653-1329-4 This graceful tale of magic, court intrigue and high drama follows Averil, duchess of Quitaine (introduced in 2007's The Serpent and the Rose), as she keeps...

The Number 121 to Pennsylvania and Others.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 7, 2008... The Number 121 to Pennsylvania and Others KEALAN PATRICK BURKE. Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com), $40 (552p) ISBN 978-1-58787-168-5 Paul, a widower haunted by the ghosts of his wife and unborn son in "The Grief Frequency," sums up...