Publishers Weekly articles from September 2007

Publishers Weekly archives from September 2007

Is borders at a tipping point? Execs encouraged by second-quarter results.(Foreword)(Borders Group Inc.' sales)
September 3, 2007... Borders Group CEO George Jones used the strong revenue gains posted by the retailer in the second quarter to tout the progress the company has made to analysts in Borders's quarterly conference call. Among the signs of improvement Jones pointed...

RH gives $1 mil to First Book.(Random House Inc. donates to First Book)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Random House has made its largest philanthropic donation to date: $1 million to literacy nonprofit First Book. The multiyear monetary gift accompanies a company matching program, which matches employees' donations up to $25,000 and up to $1,000...

Cooper Square buys Northland.(Cooper Square Advertising acquires Northland Publishing)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Cooper Square has acquired the assets of Northland Publishing, headquartered in Flagstaff, Ariz. It is the second purchase this month by Cooper Square, the joint venture of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group and a private equity firm....

Quarto group by the numbers.(Foreword)(Quarto Group Inc. )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... $35 million: Revenue of Motor Books International, acquired by Quarto last week. $73 million: Total Quarto revenue in first six months of 2007. $50 million: Revenue from Quarto publishing group in first six months. 27%: Sales increase...

Big Read radio deal.(National Endowment for the Arts ventures with XM Satellite Radio Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... The NEA has partnered with XM Satellite Radio to bring the Big Read to an even larger audience. An audio version of the program, dubbed The Big Read on XM, will debut September 10 on Sonic Theater, a channel about audiobooks and theater. The...

B&N to sell 'Did It;' print run upped.(Barnes & Noble Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Barnes & Noble has reversed its decision not to carry If I Did It in its stores, and will stock the controversial title when it is released in mid-September. B&N cited stronger than expected consumer interest in the book for its change of...

Turning podcasters into authors.(Talent Pool)(writers use of podcasting)
September 3, 2007... Until now, podcasting has been a technology publishers have used primarily to promote authors and books, but that may be changing as more publishers are tuning in to podcasts to find new talent. Scott Sigler turned to the airwaves in 2005...

Biblio downsizing.(Biblio Distribution client management)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Biblio Distribution, the small press affiliate of National Book Network, has stopped signing new clients and will substantially cut its client list of 450 small presses over the next several years. The Biblio team, headed by Davida Breier,...

'Scissors' suit settled.(Turcotte family's defamation suit against St. Martin's Press )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... The defamation lawsuit filed against St. Martin's Press and Augusten Burroughs by the Turcotte family for the author's characterization of them in Running with Scissors has been settled. Financial terms of the settlement have not been...

Emily D'Amour, Books & Books, Coral Gables, Fla.(Galley Talk)(The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... In his masterful YA debut, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Sept. 11), acclaimed author Sherman Alexie reaches into his own past to craft the captivating story of Junior, a 14-year-old boy...

Two debuts for Nelson.(Deals)(Kristin Nelson)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Agent Kristin Nelson just concluded an auction for a debut novel by Jamie Ford titled Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet; Jane von Mehren at Ballantine won North American rights in this six-figure deal. The story is set in Seattle and told...

Kargman to Dutton.(Deals)(Jill Kargman book deals in E.P. Dutton Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Momzillas author Jill Kargman will move to Dutton for two new novels; Trena Keating bought world rights from Jennifer Joel at ICM. The first book is The Ex Mrs. Hedge Fund, about best friends married to brothers who divorce them, and who...

NAL gets Kagen follow-up.(Deals)(Penguin Books USA Inc. bought rights for Lesley Kagen's second novel)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Ellen Edwards at NAL bought North American rights to Lesley Kagen's second novel, Land of a Hundred Wonders, from Jeff Kleinman at Folio. Set in a small Kentucky town in 1973, the book follows a brain-injured young newspaperwoman determined to...

On voyeurism.(Deals)(City Lights Books)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Elaine Katzenberger at City Lights acquired U.S. rights to a new book by Hal Niedzviecki titled Peep Culture: How Pop Became Peep and We Learned to Love Spying on Our Neighbors. Niedzviecki, founder and fiction editor of Broken Pencil, a...

Chris Evans at Stackpole has acquired world rights to Blood Stripes author David Danelo's On the Border.(The Briefing)(Stackpole Books)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Chris Evans at Stackpole has acquired world rights to Blood Stripes author David Danelo's On the Border, a firsthand account of the U.S.-Mexican border in its natural beauty, lethal reality and political complexity; agent E. J. McCarthy made...

Harper's Jeanette Perez bought world rights to the next book by The Hookup Handbook authors Andrea Lavinthal and Jessica Rozler, titled Friend or Frenemy, via agent Adam Chromy.(The Briefing)(HarperCollins Publishers Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Harper's Jeanette Perez bought world rights to the next book by The Hookup Handbook authors Andrea Lavinthal and Jessica Rozler, titled Friend or Frenemy, via agent Adam Chromy. The book will offer a realistic look at the friends women need and...

Justin Schwartz at Wiley bought world rights to James Beard Award-winner James Villas's The Glory of Southern Pig via agent Jane Dystel.(The Briefing)(John Wiley & Sons Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Justin Schwartz at Wiley bought world rights to James Beard Award-winner James Villas's The Glory of Southern Pig via agent Jane Dystel. Villas will highlight hundreds of traditional pork dishes from all over Dixie, and Wiley will pub in fall...

Calendar: Sept. 9-14.(Deals)(book release)(Brief article)(Calendar)
September 3, 2007... 9/9 PW said "there's plenty of fun to be had" with Garrison Keillor's Pontoon: A Lake Wobegon Novel (Viking). Fans of Keillor's sonorous voice: he reads the unabridged High-Bridge audiobook. 9/11 Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine...

Not just books--HBO books.(Licensing)(Home Box Office Inc.'s books)
September 3, 2007... After nearly eight years releasing distinctive and often bestselling tie-in books for its hit TV series, HBO is working to unify its marketing efforts and to highlight its book publishing program. HBO v-p of licensing and retail James...

Rugged Land's Coyne joins Endeavor.(Next Act)(Shawn Coyne)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Shawn Coyne, cofounder of the New York indie publisher Rugged Land, has joined Endeavor's New York book division as a literary agent. Coyne was a senior editor at Doubleday before launching Rugged Land, along with Webster Stone, in 2001. ...

New Beijing home.(Foreword)(2007 Beijing International Book Fair)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... With their numbers growing, English-language publishers moved into a roomier exhibit hall for the 2007 Beijing International Book Fair. Deal-making was reported to be brisk in the first two days of the fair, which ran August 30-September 3. For...

New formats lead audiobook sales.(Soundings)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Sales of audiobooks increased 6% in 2006, to $923 million, according to the latest industry sales survey conducted by the Audio Publishers Association. CD sales accounted for 77% of sales ($710 million) in 2006, up from 74% in the prior year,...

Loehnen to Collins Business.(People)(Ben Loehnen )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Ben Loehnen has been named senior editor at Collins Business, Loehnen, who worked in finance before entering the publishing business, has worked at Hyperion and Random.

McKenzie to AtlasBooks.(People)(Randall McKenzie)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Randall McKenzie, formerly with Book-World, has joined distributor AtlasBooks as national sales manager.

Houle to Basic Books.(People)(Greg Houle in Basic Books Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Greg Houle has been named publicity manager at Basic Books. Houle arrives from Cambridge University Press, where he held the same title.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
September 3, 2007... "My name is Lillian Leyb. I speak Yiddish very well, as you can hear, and I also speak Russian very well. If you prefer it. My English is coming along.... And I am fluent in sewing of every kind." --FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF Away, IN WHICH...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.(ranking of best selling books)
September 3, 2007... While David Zinczenko notes that his earlier bestseller, The Abs Diet, can work well for both men and women, he says on his Web site, "Women have some special needs and interests that many men don't necessarily have... many women do like to...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.(best selling books)
September 3, 2007... "I read reviews, good and bad. They rarely affect my writing because I don't think anyone can fully understand what I am trying to do hut me. Good or bad, it is hard to take a review to heart unless the intelligence of the reviewer is evident...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.(ranking of best selling books)
September 3, 2007... Back in April, when Oprah selected The Road for her book club, Vintage moved the original September date forward and released the book with an 855,000-copy first printing; currently the publisher reports 1,201,000 copies after a 12th printing....

Comics bestsellers.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Bleach. Vol. 20, takes over the #1 slot on the list. The story of a high school student who can see ghosts, Bleach is also an anime airing on the Adult Swim block on the Cartoon Network. Dark Horse has sold more than 20,000 copies of...

Ohio.(United States of Bookselling)(bookstores' market trends)
September 3, 2007... Roy Schonfeld, a sales rep with the Abraham Associates group, declared. "Ohio isn't a strong market for independents. Years ago, there were so many stores, but Borders has really taken over. It's still a strong market, but everything is...

Secrets for a New Age: a bestseller revitalizes interest in mind/body/spirit titles.(Mind/Body/Spirit)(forecasts in book publishing industry)
September 3, 2007... Once a secret gets out, it usually becomes old news. So perhaps the most surprising thing about the blockbuster success of Rhonda Byrne's The Secret may be that it keeps getting sold, then sold and sold again. The Secret passed the bona fide...

Teen marketing 2.0.(book publishing's youth market)
September 3, 2007... Yes, teens spend a lot of time online. But for publishers trying to use that to their advantage, it takes more than just shifting promotional dollars to the Web. "Part of the trick to marketing books to teens online is that the most effective...

Preview: winter 2008.(book release)(Calendar)
September 3, 2007... John Grisham returns on January 8 with his first thriller in three years, and a first printing of 2.8 million. But there could be a post-holiday scrum as booksellers unpack two other major laydowns now scheduled that day--from Stephen King (1.5...

Fanon.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Fanon JOHN EDGAR WIDEMAN. Houghton Mifflin, $24 (288p) ISSN 978-0-618-94263-3 Psychiatrist and revolutionary Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) fought to free Algeria from French rule, and wrote several key texts on colonialism, including The...

A Fraction of the Whole.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** A Fraction of the Whole STEVE TOLTZ. Spiegel & Grau, $24.95 (544p) ISBN 978-0-385-52172-7 At the heart of this sprawling, dizzying debut from a quirky, assured Australian writer are two men: Jasper Dean, a judgmental but forgiving son,...

Past Secrets.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Past Secrets CATHY KELLY. Pocket/Downtown, $15 paper (616p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3159-3 Kelly's ninth novel, a cross-generational contemporary romance set in Ireland, is packed with high drama and the emotion to match. At 60, Christie Devlin...

The Dead of Summer.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Dead of Summer CAMILLA WAY. Harcourt, $23 (224p) ISBN 978-0-15-101370-8 From the U.K. comes this promising debut novel narrated by the sole witness and survivor of a set of murders that left three children dead in an abandoned...

The Heroines.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Heroines EILEEN FAVORITE. Scribner, $24 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4810-2 On a picturesque acreage near Prairie Bluff, Ill., 13-year-old Penny Entwistie, and her mother, Anne Marie, run a retreat where literary heroines seek temporary...

Light Fell.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Light Fell EVAN FALLENBERG. Soho, $22 (240p) ISBN 978-1-56947-467-9 When literature professor Joseph Licht invites his five adult sons to celebrate his 50th birthday in 1996 Tel Aviv, he hopes to win his boys' love and forgiveness by plying...

PW talks with David Baldacci: seeking the Stone Cold truth.([Q&A])(Interview)
September 3, 2007... John Carr (aka Oliver Stone), former CIA assassin, and his spy boy compadres of the Camel Club expose political corruption in bestseller David Baldacci's new thriller, Stone Cold (Reviews, Aug. 27). How did you come up with the character of...

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen SYRIE JAMES. Avon A, $13.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-144369-5 James speculates in her easy-reading debut on a romance between Austen and a landed British gentleman. The prologue presents the narrative as a...

A Long and Winding Road.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... A Long and Winding Road WIN BLEVINS. Forge, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-0577-0 Blevins's ninth western novel--the fifth to feature mountain man Sam Morgan--picks up in 1828 as Sam and his trapper friends are whooping it up at a Mexican...

Shame in the Blood.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Shame in the Blood TETSUO MIURA, TRANS. FROM THE JAPANESE BY ANDREW DRIVER. Shoemaker & Hoard, $24.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-59376-171-4 A young man struggling under his cursed family history marks Japanese author Miura's first work translated...

The Quiet Girl.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Quiet Girl PETER HOEG, TRANS. FROM THE DANISH BY NADIA CHRISTENSEN. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26 (416p) ISBN 978-0-374-26369-0 Hoeg built his bestselling mystery, Smilla's Sense of Snow, around the science of ice. In this labyrinthine,...

Them.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Them NATHAN McCALL. Atria, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4915-4 The embattled characters who people McCall's trenchant, slyly humorous debut novel (following the i994 memoir Makes Me Wanna Holler and a 1997 essay collection) can't escape...

The Late Hector Kipling.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Late Hector Kipling DAVID THEWLIS. Simon & Schuster, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4121-9 This laugh-out-loud, darkly intelligent debut suggests that Thewlis might meet with considerable success should he decide to quit acting and take up...

The Chase.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Chase CLIVE CUSSLER. Putnam, $26.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-399-15438-6 Cussler takes a breather from his several ongoing series with this historical thriller set in the western states, circa 1906. The U.S. government hires the renowned Van...

Darkness Falls.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Darkness Falls KYLE MILLS. Vanguard, $24.95 (324p) ISBN 978-1-59315-459-2 Masterful thriller writer Mills returns to his series hero, former FBI agent Mark Beamon (last seen in 2002's Sphere of Influence), with a pulse-pounding...

Absolution.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Absolution CARO RAMSAY. Pegasus, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-1-933648-41-5 Scottish author Ramsay's atmospheric melancholic novel is a solid but unremarkable debut. Deeply flawed Glaswegian police constable Alan McAlpine is obsessed with an...

The Contractor.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Contractor CHARLES HOLDEFER. Permanent, $26 (200p) ISBN 978-1-57962-173-5 Though billed as a critical examination of the interrogation camps run by the U.S. military, this dramatic thriller is more a finely tuned character study of a...

Someone Knows My Name.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Someone Knows My Name LAWRENCE HILL. Norton, $24.95 (512p) ISBN 978-0-393-06578-7 Stunning, wrenching and inspiring, the fourth novel by Canadian novelist Hill (Any Knawn Blood) spans the life of Aminata Diallo, born in Bayo, West...

Omega Minor.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Omega Minor PAUL VERHAEGHEN, TRANS. FROM THE DUTCH BY THE AUTHOR. Dalkey Archive, $16 paper (696p) 188N 978-1-56478-477-3 A sprawling take on the dark legacies of WWII and its aftermath, Verhaeghen's debut follows three main characters:...

The Unforgiving Years.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** The Unforgiving Years VICTOR SERGE, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY RICHARD GREEMAN. New York Review Books, $15.95 paper (376p) ISBN 978-1-59017-247-6 Born in Brussels of Russian revolutionary exiles, Serge (1890-1947) has long had a...

Take Two.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Take Two ELSA KLENSCH. Forge, $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1445-1 The third novel to feature television producer and accidental sleuth Sonya Iverson (who appeared last in 2006's Shooting Script) promises A-list celebrity scandal and...

Between Sundays.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Between Sundays KAREN KINGSBURY. Zondervan, $21.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-3102-5772-1 Bestselling author Kingsbury (Forever; Sunrise) sets her first hardcover novel in the world of professional football. Derrick Anderson, a retiring quarterback for...

A Monk Jumped over a Wall.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... A Monk Jumped over a Wall Jay NUSSBAUM. Toby, $14.95 paper (358p) ISBN 978-1-59264-201-4 A young associate at a white shoe New York law firm, J.J. Spencer finds himself with a morally repulsive client who has purchased a bundle of...

The Rowing Lesson.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Rowing Lesson ANNE LANDSMAN. Soho, $23 (288p) ISBN 978-1-56947-469-3 Scenes from the rich, contentious life of a dying Jewish South African country doctor flash before his expatriate daughter's eyes in Landsman's frustrating second...

Undoing I Do.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Undoing I Do ANASTASIA ROYAL. St. Martin's/ Dunne, $23.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-31236965-1 The pain involved in a drawn-out divorce is conveyed through a blend of poetry, prose and journal entries in Royal's debut novel. From the very first...

Lady First.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Lady First RELENTLESS AARON. St. Martin's Griffin, $14.95 paper (272p) ISBN 9780-312-35936-2 In Aaron's latest steamy relationship drama (after Extra Marital Affairs) a sharp African-American kid goes from bagging groceries to bedding a...

Bang Bang.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Bang Bang THEO GANGI. Kensington, $15 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2054-7 Gangi serves up a judicious portion of gangsta street talk ("Break out the raws, cuzzie-cuz"), rough romance and raw violence in this exciting and gritty debut...

Zero-G.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Zero-G ALTON GANSKY. Zondervan, $12.99 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-310-27211-3 Gansky's suspenseful novel grabs hold of the reader on the first page and doesn't let go. The hero--and he is very much a courageous, old-style hero--is "Tuck"...

Fire in the Blood.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Fire in the Blood IRENE NEMIROVSKY, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY SANDRA SMITH. Knopf, $22 (160p) ISBN 978-0-307-26748-1 When she was writing Suite Franfalse in 1940, Ndmirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942 before turning 40, was also...

Mausoleum: A Ben Abbott Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Mausoleum: A Ben Abbott Mystery JUSTIN SCOTT. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (254p) ISBN 978-1-59058-468-2 The well-crafted fifth Ben Abbott whodunit (after 2006's McMansion) opens on the beautiful summer's day that graces the tercentennial...

Hidden Moon.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Hidden Moon JAMES CHURCH. St. Martin's Minotaur/ Dunne, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-31235209-7 The former U.S. intelligence agent writing as James Church offers a unique perspective on North Korea in his standout second Inspector O...

Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table EDITED BY OTTO PENZLER. Harcourt/ Penzler, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-18101277-0 Despite some excellent individual efforts from a Who's Who of crime writers, this uneven anthology of...

The Wandering Ghost.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The Wandering Ghost MARTIN LIMON. Soho, $24 (336p) ISBN 978-1-56947-481-5 The turbulent Korean peninsula provides the backdrop to this fine military mystery, the fifth (after 2005's The Door to Bitterness) to feature U.S. Army criminal...

Salamander Cotton.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Salamander Cotton RICHARD KUNZMANN. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-36034-4 South African author Kunzmann clearly establishes himself as a major league talent with his second book (after 2006's Bloody Harvests)...

Runoff.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Runoff MARK COGGINS. Bleak House (www. bleakhousebooks.com), $24.95 (260p) ISBN 978-1-932557-53-4; $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-932557-54-1 How much does it cost to fix an election? That's the question uppermost in PI August Riordan's mind in...

Why Mermaids Sing: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Why Mermaids Sing: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery C.S. HARRIS. Obsidian, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-451-22226-8 While appending a serial killer plot line to a historical setting is nothing new, Harris imbues what could be an overdone and tired...

Shrouds of Holly.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Shrouds of Holly KATE KINGSBURY. Berkley Prime Crime, $13 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0425-21849-5 In Kingsbury's charming third holiday-themed Pennyfoot Hotel mystery (after 2006's Slay Bells), hotel proprietor Cecily Sinclair Baxter is...

The River Horses.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... The River Horses ALLEN STEELE. Subterranean (www. subterraneanpress.com), $35 (100p) ISBN 978-1-59606-132-3 Steele's intimate stand-alone novella of the frontier planet of Coyote chronicles the redemptive journey of two colony exiles,...

Gentlemen of the Road.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Gentlemen of the Road MICHAEL CHABON. Del Rey, $21.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-345-50174-5 Pulitzer Prize winner--Chabon (The Yiddish Policemen's Union) recreates 10th-century Khazaria, "the fabled kingdom of wild red-haired Jews on the...

When All Seems Lost.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... When All Seems Lost WILLIAM C. DIETZ. Ace, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-441-01524-5 The seventh Legion of the Damned novel (after 2004's For Those Who Fell) continues the unapologetically brutal military SF saga with a pedal-to-the-metal plot...

Ha'penny.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Ha'penny JO WALTON. Tor, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1853-4 This provocative sequel to acclaimed alternate history Farthing (2006) delves deeper into the intrigue and paranoia of 1940s fascist Great Britain. Denied help from the United...

Devices and Desires: The Engineer Trilogy, Book One.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Devices and Desires: The Engineer Trilogy, Book One K.J. PARKER. Orbit, $12.99 paper (672p) ISBN 978-0-316-00338-4 Parker (the Scavenger trilogy) raises the bar for realistic fantasy war craft with this series opener. When the engineering...

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Edition.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Edition EDITED BY ELLEN DATLOW AND KELLY LINK & GAVIN J. GRANT. St. Martin's Griffin, $35 (608p) ISBN 9780-312-36943-9; $21.95 paper ISBN 9780-312-36942-2 In the two decades...

1634: The Bavarian Crisis.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... 1634: The Bavarian Crisis ERIC FLINT AND VIRGINIA DEMARCE. Baen, $26 (720p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4253-7 The intricacies of Habsburg family relations make surprisingly fascinating reading in the latest episode in Flint's saga of a 20th-century...

In for the Kill.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... In for the Kill JOHN LUTZ. Pinnacle, $6.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-7860-1843-7 Shamus and Edgar award--winner Lutz gives us further proof of his enormous talent for crafting great police fiction in his latest, a deceivingly standard story that...

Fatal Feng Shui.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Fatal Feng Shui LESLIE CAINE. Dell, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-440-33599-3 Despite the homeowner's attempt to harmonize her household through the Chinese art of feng shui, death and a series of near-fatal accidents stalk a job site manned by...

Mending Fences.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Mending Fences SHERRYL WOODS. Mira, $6.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2457-7 Compulsively readable, the latest romantic drama from bestselling author Woods (Feels Like Family) traces beautifully and honestly two suburban Miami families'...

Sword of God.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... Sword of God CHRIS KUZNESKI. Jove, $7.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-515-14356-0 Retired soldiers Jonathon Payne and D.J. Jones return to action (after last year's Sign of the Cross), investigating a secret bunker off the coast of Korea where a...

All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present AARON MCGRUDER. Three Rivers, $16.95 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-30735266-8 Since it started national syndication in 1999, McGruder's comic strip has been famous for its sharp satiric perspective on...

Chance in Hell.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 3, 2007... ** Chance in Hell GILBERT HERNANDEZ. Fantagraphics, $16.95 (120p) ISBN 978-1-56097-769-8 The rich emotions and passionate characters of Hernandez (Love & Rockets; Luba) are translated to a welcome new graphic novel, which fills B-movie...