Publishers Weekly articles from October 2007

Publishers Weekly archives from October 2007

Who killed the six-figure serial? How publishers place excerpts.(Foreword)
October 1, 2007... How much is an excerpt worth to a magazine? According to a recent New York Times story, the asking price these days is just $1; that's the amount the newspaper said Newsweek paid for an excerpt from Alan Greenspan's memoir, The Age of...

New top execs at S&S.(Michael Selleck and Dennis Eulau)(Simon and Schuster Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Simon & Schuster CEO-designate Carolyn Reidy has promoted Michael Selleck to executive v-p, sales and marketing, and Dennis Eulau to executive v-p, op erations. Selleck's promotion will unite the sales and marketing functions for S&S under his...

Reviews are mixed: more bestsellers: good or bad?(Foreword)
October 1, 2007... Apparently, when you're in the book reviewing business, you just can't win. Mostly, over the past year, we've heard about what we, as a culture, are losing in terms of book coverage. To wit: several major newspapers have faced major cutbacks...

Perseus gets PGW name.(Perseus Books Group)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The court overseeing the proceedings in the AMS bankruptcy case has approved Perseus Books Group's purchase, for $80,000, of the PGW name plus the assumption of leases on offices in New York and Berkeley, Calif. The PGW name will continue to be...

Macmillan's Charkin to Bloomsbury.(Richard Charkin)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Richard Charkin has resigned as CEO of Macmillan UK to become the executive director of Bloomsbury Plc. In his new role, Charkin will be responsible for the operations of Bloomsbury UK and USA, A&C and Berlin Verlag, and will look for...

Simply Audiobooks to abandon DRM.(Trend)(Digital Rights Management)
October 1, 2007... Following last month's announcement that eMusic is selling downloadable audiobooks without DRM, Simply Audiobooks is joining the DRM-free movement. The Oakville, Ontario, company, which began offering audiobooks for rent--similar to the Netflix...

Miller leaving Random House.(Nancy Miller)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Nancy Miller will step down as senior v-p and executive editor of the Random House Publishing Group later this month. Miller joined Random House in 2000 as editor-in-chief of Ballantine and moved to the executive editor spot in 2006.

Sports Publishing hoping for rebound.(Retooled)(Sports Publishing LLC)
October 1, 2007... The decision to retool its business model plus an awful first half of 2007 has resulted in a number of changes at Sports Publishing LLC, the Champaign, Ill., independent publisher. About 18 months ago, president Peter Bannon began outsourcing...

Web comics with ads on ComicMix.(Online Publishing)
October 1, 2007... Launched earlier this year by a group of veteran comics editors and digital entrepreneurs, the comics and pop culture news Web site ComicMix.com is about to start a new online publishing service. Beginning this week, ComicMix will publish a...

Shareholders want borders seat.(Foreword)(Glenn Tongue to Borders Group Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... A group of large shareholders has asked that Glenn Tongue be named as its representative on the Borders Group board. The company said it is reviewing the request.

Skyhorse in Norton deal.(Foreword)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Skyhorse Press will move its distribution from Sterling to Norton beginning in January. With the move, the year-old Skyhorse will handle its own publicity, marketing and special market sales.

Yale buys Anchor line.(Foreword)(Yale University Press gets Anchor Bible Series)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Yale University Press has acquired the Anchor Bible Series from Doubleday. Yale will publish all backlist and new volumes in the series, to be renamed Anchor Yale Bible. The series, conceived in 1956, has more than three million copies in...

Memoir in verse.(Deals)(Frances Richey's The Warrior)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... It's not often that a work of poetry will prompt an auction, but that's what happened last week for Frances Richey's second book, The Warrior, which Paul Slovak at Viking bought from agent Molly Friedrich. Richey's son is a 1998 West Point grad...

Debut fiction.(Deals)(writers and publishing industry contracts)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Amy Einhorn just preempted her first fiction acquisition for her new imprint at Putnam. It is Kathryn Stockett's The Help, which follows three women in 1960 Jackson, Miss.--two African-American maids and one young white socialite who returns...

Portraits.(Deals)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Carla Kaplan, Northeastern professor and author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters, has sold a new project, a biography of Jessica Mitford. Harper's Gail Winston, who is also publishing Kaplan's forthcoming Miss Anne in Harlem: The White...

Grand Central deals.(Deals)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Rick Wolff at Grand Central won an auction for world English rights to Jonathan J. McCullough's A Tale of Two Subs: An Untold Story of World War II, Two Sister Ships, and Extraordinary Heroism via agent Sorche Fairbank. The book recounts the...

Calendar: Oct. 7-13.(Calendar)
October 1, 2007... 10/7 After 18 years, Ken Follett has penned a sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. PW said, "Readers will be captivated" by World Without End (Dutton). 10/8 PW said, "Readers hoping for sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll won't be...

Multibook deals for Nix, Speed Racer.(Deals)(Garth Nix )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Fantasy author Garth Nix has sold North American rights to three new YA books to Ruth Katcher at HarperCollins Children's via agent Jill Grinberg, who made the seven-figure deal. The three books include a prequel and a sequel to Nix's Abhorsen...

Galassi takes debut for FSG.(Hot Property?)(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Jonathan Galassi )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Farrar, Straus & Giroux head Jonathan Galassi has acquired U.S. rights to a debut novel that could be one of the bigger books at Frankfurt next week. The author is 31-year-old C.E. Morgan, and the book's working title is All the Living. After a...

'Kings' gets new paper strategy.(Makeovers)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Despite glowing reviews and extensive press attention, Michael Weinreb's year-in-the-life examination of a top Brooklyn high school chess team, Kings of New York, flopped in bookstores. The February 2007 hardcover was, according to Gotham Books...

Fresh look for Cup of Comfort.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... With more than 2.1 million copies of its 22-book Cup of Comfort series in print since 2001, Adams Media, an F+W Publications company, decided to freshen up the package with a new cover design and a larger format (5 7/8" x 7 1/2"). The series,...

DC Comics adds Rotterdam.(People)(Steve Rotterdam)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Steve Rotterdam, formerly chief creative officer of Eastwest Marketing Group, has been named senior v-p, sales and marketing, of DC and will direct sales efforts in the bookstore and the comics shop markets. He will also supervise DC's...

Wiess to Ingram.(People)(Kathy Wiess on Ingram International Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Kathy Wiess has been named v-p of international sales at Ingram International. Wiess arrives from Random House, where she was most recently senior sales director of the international division.

Bemiss to Rabiner Lit.(People)(Holly Bemiss, Susan Rabiner Literary Agency)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Holly Bemiss has been named an agent at the Susan Rabiner Literary Agency. Bemiss will be acquiring and selling narrative nonfiction and graphic novels/memoirs. Bemiss was most recently assistant director of publicity at Houghton Mifflin.

Mountaineers forms imprints.(Growing)(The Mountaineers Books)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Mountaineers Books has launched two new imprints that will account for approximately one-third of the 30 titles the nonprofit releases annually. All titles published in its Braided River conservation imprint will combine the work of a...

Ellen Richmond, owner, Children's Book Cellar, Waterville, Maine.(Galley Talk)(Brief article)(Children's Review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Well received in the U.K., The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins [Feiwel & Friends, Oct.] will find an equally receptive audience here, I'm sure. Fun for everyone, it will especially appeal to the guys and will be a good choice to hook...

Ambrosi up at Sterling.(People)(Leigh Ann Ambrosi, Sterling Publishing Company)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Leigh Ann Ambrosi has been promoted from director of marketing and publicity to v-p, marketing and publicity, at Sterling. Ambrosi has been at the publisher since 2004; before that, she was Crown's director of publicity for Clarkson Potter. ...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] James Patterson's 18th consecutive #1 bestselling novel marks the author's first foray into a new genre. "His fans are always thrilled when James tries something new, and it's a logical step from his Alex Cross...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 81-year-old former Federal Reserve chair was paid $8.5 million for his memoir and, thanks to a 60 Minutes profile, a Newsweek excerpt and even a shot of Castro holding the book (to prove he's still alive), the...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] David Baldacci's on a roll. The Collectors marks its fourth week on our list, three of those at #1. And although last year's mass market edition of The Caned Club enjoyed a 12-week run, it managed only one week in...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gilbert's memoir grabs the #1 spot for the first time in its 34-week run (it debuted at # 13 on February 12), upsetting Water for Elephant's consecutive 11-week stint. (Water also held the top position for an...

Rhode Island.(United States of Bookselling)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For Rhode Island resident and Random House district sales manager Michael Kindness, the advertising campaign for local microbrewery Newport Storm encapsulates just how tiny the nation's smallest state is--"one...

Entering 'dangerous' territory: publishers divide and conquer with gender-specific nonfiction.(Children's Books)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even before Steve Ross became president and publisher of HarperCollins's Collins division, he had to look no further than his own home to see the potential that U.K. bestseller The Dangerous Book for Boys had in the...

Southie memoir comes home: Beacon takes back rights to bestselling 'All Souls'.(Independent Publishing)(All Souls: A Family Story from Southie)
October 1, 2007... In recent years, no neighborhood in Boston has generated as much book interest as Southie--both tell-alls of street soldiers for crime boss/FBI informant Whitey Bulger, charged with killing 19 people, and analyses of him and his brother Billy,...

Football book blitz: baseball finally takes a backseat to the NFL and college football, while Ultimate Fighting kicks into action.
October 1, 2007... For those who have followed PW's coverage of the sports publishing industry over the years, the one constant has been the absolute hegemony that baseball books have enjoyed, regardless of season. Spring has always brought a plethora of baseball...

China focus.(Travel Books)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... East is East..., Rudyard Kipling said, but he'd be surprised at just how completely the twain is meeting these days, what with China fast becoming the hot travel destination and Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics. We've done an overview below...

The Ginseng Hunter.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Set on China's fraught, ruggedly beautiful border with North Korea, Talarigo's tense, atmospheric second novel (after The Pearl Diver) movingly dramatizes the human faces behind political oppression. A nameless middle-aged Chinese man--whose...

The Misadventures of Justin Hearnfeld.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Misadventures of Justin Hearnfeld DAN ELISH. St. Martin's, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-33945-6 From the author of Nine Wives comes this amusing tale of an insecure college grad who wants nothing more than to drop a few pounds, write...

Fifteen Minutes of Shame.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Fifteen Minutes of Shame LISA DAILY. Plume, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-452-28913-0 A real-life dating columnist and book author (Stop Getting Dumped!), Daily puts her debut novel's heroine into her professional shoes. Darby Vaughn, 31, is...

Willing.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Willing SCOTT SPENCER. Ecco, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-076015-1 In Spencer's (Endless Love) witty and perceptive latest, struggling New York writer Avery Jankowsky has a midlife crisis at 37. Weary of his hand-to-mouth existence and...

Souvenir.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Souvenir THERESE FOWLER. Ballantine, $21.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-345-49968-4 The melodrama is thick and heavy in Fowler's debut. Meg Powell turned her back on the love of her life, Carson McKay, to marry Brian Hamilton, the scion of a banking...

People of the Book.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... People of the Book GERALDINE BROOKS. Viking, $25.95 (372p) ISBN 978-0-670-01821-5 Reading Geraldine Brooks's remarkable debut novel, Year of Wonders, or more recently March, which won the Pulitzer Prize, it would be easy to forget that she...

The Duppy.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Duppy ANTHONY C. WINKLER. Akashic, $13.95 paper (175p) ISBN 978-1-933354-33-0 Jamaican-born novelist Winkler recounts the journey of Taddeus Augustus Baps, a 47-year old Jamaican man who becomes a "duppy," or spirit, after he dies....

The Abyssinian Proof.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Abyssinian Proof JENNY WHITE. Norton, $23.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-393-06205-2 A mysterious, holy grail-like object, a document with the potential to "bring about peace between the different peoples of the world," is at the center of...

My Liar.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... My Liar RACHEL CLINE. Random, $22.95 (274p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6227-0 Friendship, Hollywood-style, is the subject of Cline's underpowered second novel (after her well-received What to Keep). Mousy film editor Annabeth Jensen and chic,...

Courting Shadows.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * Courting Shadows JEM POSTER. Overlook, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-1-59020-032-2 In Poster's dazzling debut, set amid the Victorian gloom of 1881, snobbish John Stannard leads the restoration of a small, architecturally undistinguished church...

Breathless in Bombay: Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Breathless in Bombay: Stories MURZBAN F. SHROFF. St. Martin's Griffin, $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-37270-5 Bombay-born Shroff opens a window on that city's commercial bustle, "as lived in the heads of its people" (as his...

Desperate Hoodwives.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Desperate Hoodwives MEESHA MINK AND DE'NESHA DIAMOND. Touchstone, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3752-6 The title only hints at the freaky-deaky content in the first installment of a street lit series that could also qualify as urban...

PW talks with Dedra Johnson: the big uneasy.(Q&A)(Publishers Weekly)(Interview)
October 1, 2007... Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow, Johnson's debut (Reviews, Sept. 24), charts a light-skinned black girl's uneasy coming-of-age in 1970s New Orleans Sandrine, the young narrator, has trouble fitting in and has a rough childhood. How did the...

Girl Meets Boy.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Girl Meets Boy ALI SMITH. Canongate, $18 (176p) ISBN 978-1-84767-019-9 Veteran British novelist Smith returns from 2006's Whitbread Award--winner The Accidental with a cheerful, sexy, disorienting take on the gender-shifting myths of Iphis...

Beginner's Greek.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Beginner's Greek JAMES COLLINS. Little, Brown, $23.99 (448p) ISBN 978-0-316-02155-5 The two young professionals of Collins's polished debut, Holly and Peter, meet on a flight bound from New York to L.A. They tacitly understand they are...

Saturday's Child.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Saturday's Child RAY BANKS. Harcourt, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-0-15-101322-7 British author Banks fulfills the promise of 2000's The Big Blind with this tough and assured crime novel. Callum Innes, recently released from prison, works as an...

An Ordinary Spy.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... An Ordinary Spy JOSEPH WEISBERG. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-59691-376-9 Mimicking many nonfiction books about the CIA, Weisberg, a former CIA officer, has included a blizzard of redacted (blacked out) words and sentences in his...

My Enemy's Cradle.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * My Enemy's Cradle SARA YOUNG. Harcourt, $24 (368p) ISBN 978-0-15-101537-5 Children's-book author Young (who, as Sara Pennypacker, penned the celebrated Stuart series) makes a stunning adult debut with this beautifully told and...

The Risk of Infidelity Index: A Vincent Calvino Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Risk of Infidelity Index: A Vincent Calvino Novel CHRISTOPHER G. MOORE. Atlantic Monthly, $22 (336p) ISBN 978-0-87118-974-0 Moore, whose novels have been translated into German, Japanese and eight other languages, makes his U.S. debut...

Song of the North.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Song of the North JULES WATSON. Overlook, $24.95 (420p) ISBN 978-1-69030-001-8 Archeologist Watson concludes her popular Dalriada trilogy (after The Dawn Stag and The White Mare), with another richly imagined and action-packed saga....

Sisters, Ink.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Sisters, Ink REBECA SEITZ. Broadman & Holman, $14.99 paper (320p) ISSN 978-0-8054-4690-6 Seitz (Prints Charming) continues to integrate fiction and scrapbooking themes in her new chick lit series, with mixed results. Thirty-year-old Tandy...

Succubus on Top.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Succubus on Top RICHELLE MEAD. Kensington, $15 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-7582-1642-7 When a demon succubus falls for a mortal man, their relationship faces some sticky sweet obstacles in Mead's follow-up to her steamy 2006 paranormal debut,...

Symphony.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Symphony JUDE MORGAN. St. Martin's, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-312-36951-4 The real-life marriage of Irish actress Harriet Smithson (1800-1854) to composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is the ostensible subject of Morgan's latest (following...

Gone and Back Again.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Gone and Back Again JONATHON SCOTT FUQUA. Soft Skull, $13.95 paper (176p) ISBN 978-1-933368-77-1 In his darkly humorous adult fiction debut, Fuqua (YA novels The Reappearance of Sam Webber; Darby; etc.) mines familiar territory: adolescent...

The Kind One.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Kind One TOM EPPERSON. Five Star, $25.9.5 (377p) ISBN 978-1-59414-617-6 Screenwriter Epperson (coauthor of the script for One False Move) makes an effortless transition to novel writing with this hard-biting noir set in 1930s Los...

Evening Star.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Evening Star CAROLYN BROWN. Avalon, $21.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8034-9866-2 In this third novel of a series (Sweet Tilly; Morning Glory) about the Anderson cousins of Healdton, Okla., the newcomer is Addison Carter, a physician hired sight...

I Only Want to Be with You.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... I Only Want to Be with You LISA NORATO. Five Star, $26.95 (231p) ISBN 978-1-59414-611-4 Marcella Tartaglia is a diligent, ambitious young associate at Gracious Living magazine with top-of-the-masthead dreams. Sent on assignment to England...

Everything but a Groom.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Everything but a Groom HOLLY JACOBS. Avalon, $21.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8034-9864-8 Jacobs's latest is a lighter-than-air meringue with little conflict and anemic drama that manages to charm the reader anyway. Vancy Salo is stricken by her...

Strange Blood.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Strange Blood LINDSAY JAYNE ASHFORD. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-35580-7 Former BBC journalist Ashford follows up her debut, Frozen, with an engaging second lead appearance for British profiler and forensic...

Fiddle Game.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Fiddle Game RICHARD A. THOMPSON. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (248p) ISBN 978-1-89088-455-2 This uneven debut introduces bail bondsman Herman Jackson, who sees nothing unusual when a woman calling herself Amy Cox comes to his office to arrange...

The Remains of an Altar: A Merrily Watkins Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * The Remains of an Altar: A Merrily Watkins Mystery PHIL RICKMAN. Quercus (Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $24.95 (544p) ISBN 978-1-905204-51-9 In what may be the most captivating mystery to date in Rickman's Merrily Watkins series (after 2006's...

Cat Deck the Halls: A Joe Grey Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Cat Deck the Halls: A Joe Grey Mystery SHIRLEY ROUSSEAU MURPHY. Morrow, $16.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-112395-5 Just in time for Christmas, Murphy brings in feline sleuth Joe Grey to celebrate the season and try to rescue a frightened child in...

SPQR XI: Under Vesuvius.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... SPQR XI: Under Vesuvius JOHN MADDOX ROBERTS. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-312-37088-6 The brisk 11th Decius Metellus Roman historical (after 2006's SPQR X: A Point of Law) finds tensions increasing between Julius...

Cache of Corpses.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Cache of Corpses HENRY KISOR. Forge, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1780-3 Deputy sheriff Steve Two Crow Martinez encounters a bizarre killer in his exciting third Porcupine County, Mich., adventure (after 2006's A Venture into Murder). The...

The Mortal Groove: A Jane Lawless Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Mortal Groove: A Jane Lawless Mystery ELLEN HART. St. Martin's Minotaur, $25.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-312-34945-5 Hart's engrossing 15th mystery to feature lesbian restaurateur Jane Lawless (after 2006's Night Vision) will make excellent...

Houston Homicide.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Houston Homicide BILL CRIDER AND CLYDE WILSON. Five Star, $25.95 (261p) ISBN 978-1-59414-603-9 This disappointing procedural captures the tedium of real police work too well for its own good. It's the summer of 1969, a man is about to walk...

Twilight.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * Twilight BRENDAN DUBOIS. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-36137-2 With exceptional restraint and the accretion of small but telling details, DuBois, already acclaimed for his 2003 thriller Betrayed, leaps to the...

Opening Atlantis.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Opening Atlantis HARRY TURTLEDOVE. ROC, $24.95 (448p) ISBN 978-0-451-46174-2 Turtledove explores the mythical lost continent of Atlantis in this somewhat formulaic alternate history, the first volume of a planned trilogy revolving around...

Eclipse One: New Fantasy and Science Fiction.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * Eclipse One: New Fantasy and Science Fiction EDITED BY JONATHAN STRAHAN. Nightshade (www.nightshadebooks.com), $14.95 paper (263p) ISBN 978-1-59780-117-1 Each of the 16 selections in Strahan's superb anthology (the launch of an annual...

Reader and Raelynx.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Reader and Raelynx SHARON SHINN. Ace, $24.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-441-01469-9 At the start of Shinn's exciting fourth Twelve Houses fantasy (after 2006's Dark Moon Defender), King Baryn decides it's time to marry off his daughter, Amalie,...

The Third Lynx.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Third Lynx TIMOTHY ZAHN. Tor, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1732-2 This gripping sequel to 2006's Night Train to Rigel takes hardboiled intelligence operative Frank Compton and his winsome assistant, Bayta, in search of an...

Reserved for the Cat: The Elemental Masters, Book Five.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Reserved for the Cat: The Elemental Masters, Book Five MERCEDES LACKEY. DAW, $25.95 (336p) ISBN 976-0-7564-0362-1 A fantastic game among cat-and-mouse a shape-changing troll, Elemental Masters and a gifted dancer in Victorian England makes...

Ice, Iron and Gold.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Ice, Iron and Gold S.M. STIRLING. Night Shade (www.nightshadebooks.com), $26.95 (280p) ISBN 978-1-59780-115-7 Stirling (The Sunrise Lands) shows off his prowess in both alternate history and military SF with his first short story...

The Haunted Forest Tour.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Haunted Forest Tour JAMES A. MOORE AND JEFF STRAND. Earthling (www.earthlingpub.com), $45 (285p) ISBN 978-0-9795054-2-3 Underplotted and overstuffed with grisly mayhem, this extreme horror extravaganza unfolds like an exhibit at the...

Finding Magic.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Finding Magic TANYA HUFF. ISFiC (www.isficpress.com), $30 (312p) ISBN 978-0-9759156-4-3 This collection of 17 short stories by popular fantasy author Huff (the Smoke trilogy) celebrates an author praised for smart, funny dialogue,...

An Affair before Christmas.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... * An Affair Before Christmas ELOISA JAMES. Avon, $7.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-124554-1 Entertaining and exciting throughout, there's enough seduction, laughter and surprises in the second Desperate Duchesses installment to satisfy even the...

The Down Home Zombie Blues.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The Down Home Zombie Blues LINNEA SINCLAIR. Bantam, $6.99 (560p) 188N 978-0-553-58964-1 From its tongue-in-cheek title to its melding of romance and zombie-killing action, there's little in Sinclair's newest sci-fi romance (following Games...

Lord of the Night.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... Lord of the Night ROBIN T. POPP. Grand Central, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-446-61785-7 Since vampires murdered her parents, Kacie Renault has sworn to slay any that cross her path. After casually dispatching a bloodsucker in her father's town...