PREPUB ALERT.(February 2002)

COMING IN FEBRUARY 2002 ... in fiction, old friends like Ford, Grisham, and Rice and some welcome newcomers, like McBride, who has already made a name for himself elsewhere. In nonfiction, there are two Clancys, plus very different memoirs of growing up from O'Connor and Young.

FICTION

[] BARR, Nevada. Hunting Season.

Putnam. Feb. 2002. 320p. ISBN 0-399-14846-9. $24.95.

Anna Pigeon, who has already starred in nine mysteries for Bart, encounters what appears to be murder by S&M ritual at a historic plantation deep in the heart of Mississippi.

[] BASU, Jay. The Stars Can Wait.

Holt. Feb. 2002. 192p. ISBN 0-8050-6887-2. $21.

The folks at Holt are pinning their hopes on this first novel by a Cambridge graduate of mixed Indian-Polish-Russian descent. A young Polish boy, fond of gazing at the stars, has to look around him after the Germans occupy his country.

[] BERG, Elizabeth. Ordinary Life.

Random. Feb. 2002. 304p. ISBN 0-679-43746-0. $24.95.

Everyone seems to love Berg's novels, including Oprah, who chose Open House for her book club. But here's an interesting departure: Berg's first story collection.

[] FORD, Richard. A Multitude of Sins.

Knopf. Feb. 2002. 304p. ISBN 0-375-41212-3. $25.

Another story collection from another well-loved author. Set in places as disparate as Montreal and the Grand Canyon, Ford's tales deal with the perpetually disrupted relationships between men and women. With a 13-city author tour.

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