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Fiction, August 2006
General Fiction |Mysteries |Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
General Fiction
- Bahr, Howard
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It's been 20 years since Cass Wakefield returned from the Civil War to his home town in Mississippi, but he is still haunted by battlefield memories. Now, one afternoon in 1885, he is presented with a chance to literally retrace his steps from the past and face the truth behind the events that led to the loss of so many friends and comrades.
- Baricco, Allesandro
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The author of the bestseller Silk now offers a bold reimagining of our civilization's greatest tale of war — the siege of Troy, as told through the voices of 21 Homeric characters in the narrative idiom of our modern imagination.
- Bigsby, Christopher
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Beautiful Dreamer brings a unique viewpoint to the American past, dealing with issues of race, perspective and simple human nature in the startlingly real voices of early 20th century Tennessee. Bigsby gives a remarkable edge to the claustrophobia, unease and suspense as the characters race through forests, rivers and along railroads as time closes in on the novel's surprising and dramatic showdown.
- Blachman, Jeremy
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Written in the form of a blog, Blachman's wickedly funny debut novel is about high-powered lawyer whose shockingly candid blog about life inside his firm threatens to destroy him.
- Bourne, Sam
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Legend says that in every generation, there are 36 righteous men on whom the fate of humanity depends. One by one, these men are being murdered, and journalist Will Monroe smells a big story. As Will's wife is kidnapped and another innocent life is in danger, he begins to realize he must stop the killings or the future of the world may be at stake.
- Carey, Lisa
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The author of In the Country of the Young and The Mermaids Singing presents a darkly absorbing, deeply realistic portrait of adolescence and a family that must learn to face its past in order to find a future.
- Drury, Tom
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In its tender, cool irony, The Driftless Area recalls the best of neo-noir, and its cast of bona fide small town eccentrics adrift in the American Midwest makes for a deeply pleasurable read.
- Egan, Jennifer
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Two cousins, devastated by a childhood prank, reunite 20 years later to renovate a castle in Eastern Europe. The fortress has a bloody history that stretches back hundreds of years. Amid extreme paranoia and eerie silence, the men reenact the signal event of their youth, with even more catastrophic results.
- Forsyth, Frederick
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A chilling story of modern terrorism from the grandmaster of international intrigue.
- George, Margaret
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The author of Mary, Called Magdalene delivers a lush, seductive novel of the legendary beauty whose face "launched a thousand ships."
- Graham, Laurie
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Filled with delicious throne-side gossip, the fictional diary of Wallis Simpson's best friend chronicles the scandalous divorcee's campaign to land the catch of the century — the Prince of Wales.
- Hardieker, Kerry
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Ellen McKinnon's clairvoyant experiences damage her mental and physical health. She must face and assimilate an unwanted but unavoidable family secret, experiencing a revelation that turns her life around in this insightful look at the rift between mysticism and rationalism.
- Harris, Robert
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From the author of Fatherland and Pompeii comes an epic blockbuster about the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics and the struggle for supreme power.
- Hernandez, Gilbert
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Troubled teenager Miguel Torres has had it with life. The only alternative he sees is to willfully slip into a coma. But one year later, Miguel becomes a walking urban legend after he wakes up virtually unchanged — except for his sloth-like pace. Will Miguel find love? Or has he risen from his slumber just to end up another rock and roll suicide? From the author of the Love and Rockets graphic novels.
- Levin, Janna
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This remarkable work of fiction reimagines the lives of two of the most important and influential minds of our time — Kurt Godel, the greatest logician of many centuries, and Alan Turing, the extraordinary mathematician and breaker of the Enigma Code during World War II.
- Malarkey, Tucker
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A thrilling and provocative mystery and love story based on the historical discovery of the Gnostic Gospels in Egypt that asks the startling question: Was Mary Magdalene the first apostle?
- Masters, Hilary
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Middle-aged and nostalgic, restaurant owner Sam Emerson ruminates on his unconventional childhood as he faces the prospect of life without his much younger lover in pre-9/11 Pittsburgh.
- Maxted, Anna
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The author of Being Committed pens a study on the bonds between sisters. They were the best of friends, they were the worst of friends — Cassie and Lizbet are sisters. They are very different and believe they want different things in life. But just how different are they?
- McGowan, Kathleen
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Two thousand years ago, Mary Magdalene hid a set of scrolls in the rocky foothills of the French Pyrenees, a gospel that contained her own version of the events and characters of the New Testament. Protected by supernatural forces, these sacred scrolls could be uncovered only by a special seeker, one who fulfills the ancient prophecy of l'attendue — The Expected One. When journalist Maureen Pascal begins the research for a new book, she has no idea that she is stepping into an ancient mystery so secret, so revolutionary, that thousands of people have killed and died for it. She becomes deeply immersed in the mystical cultures of southwest France as the eerie prophecy of The Expected One casts a shadow over her life and work and a long-buried family secret comes to light.
- Melissa, P.
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Melissa P.'s fictionalized memoir, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, became an international literary phenomenon. The Scent of Your Breath, the second installment in her series of confessions, is a smoldering tale of obsessive love and destructive passion.
- Nganang, Patrice
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In the vanguard of a new generation of writers, Nganang tells — through the voice of a dog — the story of an Africa born of military dictators and absolute poverty.
- Petterson, Per
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Petterson's American debut novel tells the story of a writer whose life stands still after a terrible accident takes the lives of his parents and younger brothers. The grief and guilt he feels over having survived is too overwhelming, and work on his novel stalls as he moves through life in a cold haze. Arvid's only human contact is with his Kurdish neighbor and with a woman whom he glimpses in a flat across the road. Then, slowly, the memories begin to return. He begins to write again.
- Powers, Tim
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From the author of Declare and Last Call comes a standout literary thriller in which one man finds the discovery Einstein tried to keep hidden.
- Quindlen, Anna
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Megan, host of the country's highest ranking talk show — before she uttered profanity on air — and her social worker sister Bridget share smart mouths, a fractured childhood and a powerful connection that even the worst tragedy can't rupture.
- Silva, Daniel
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Israeli agent and art restorer Gabriel Allon faces terrorism once again in this follow-up to Prince of Fire, filled with remarkable characters and breathtaking turns of plot.
- Thiong'o, Ngugi Wa
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In exile now for more than 20 years, the author has become one of the most widely read contemporary African writers. This volume is an ambitious attempt to sum up the Africa of the 20th century in the context of two thousand years of world history, exploring themes of globalization, greed, power, love, corruption and resurrection.
- Toole, F. X.
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This posthumously published novel by the author of Million Dollar Baby follows a legendary boxing trainer and a young man trying to make a name for himself as both are forced to fight on in the face of pain, to overcome obstacles and confront their demons — in and out of the ring.
- Welsh, Irvine
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Welsh pens a gothic parable about the great obsessions: food, sex and minor celebrity in this brilliant examination of identity, male rivalry and the need to belong in the world.
- Welsh, Louise
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This literary thriller, a follow-up to The Cutting Room, delves into the subterranean world of grifters, con men, exotic dancers and worse from London to Berlin.
- Wier, Allen Birkelund
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African American freedmen and slaves, Native American warriors and their women, Confederate and Union veterans, immigrants and a host of other citizens enact their destinies in Comanche territory in Texas during the final years of the nineteenth century.
- Woodrell, Daniel
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When Ree Dolly's father skips bail, the 16-year-old knows if he doesn't show up to answer the drug charges against him, her family will lose their home. Her goal had been to leave her messy life of poverty and join the army, but first she must find her father, teach her little brothers to fend for themselves and escape a downward spiral of misery.
- Yehoshua, Abraham B.
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A victim of a suicide bombing lies nameless in a hospital morgue and a Jerusalem newspaper accuses her employer of "gross negligence and inhumanity." Overwhelmed by guilt, her employer entrusts the task of identifying and burying the victim to another employee. As the facts of the woman's life take shape, the employee yields to feelings of regret and atonement.
Mysteries
- Ashford, Lindsay
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Megan Rhys has been asked to advise on the murders of two young prostitutes, dumped like rubbish, seemingly the victims of two men working together. But there is something wrong with the information the police are giving her. Is someone is trying to manipulate Megan, or are her own prejudices clouding her judgment?
- Bloom, Elizabeth
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A suspended New York City policewoman returns home to investigate the murder of her best friend's son. She races to uncover the killer's identity before she becomes his fourth victim.
- Clemens, Judy
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Halfway through Stella's sitting at Wolf Ink, her tattoo artist and his wife disappear into the back room. Stella dozes off — when she awakes, and they've not come back, she drives home. Before long, the police arrive to inform her that Mandy has been discovered dead behind the tattoo parlor, while Wolf is nowhere to be found.
- Cleverly, Barbara
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It's 1926, and Joe Sandilands is back from Ranipur, yet there is a darkness behind all the postwar gaiety. Against the background of a looming general strike and pressure from an unseen governmental presence, Joe struggles to solve four murders, picking his way through the political panic and rebelling against authority.
- Cotterill, Colin
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Dr Siri Paiboun, reluctant national coroner of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, is summoned to a remote location in the mountains of Huaphan Province to supervise the disinterment of a body, identify the corpse and discover how he died.
- Dunbar, Anthony P.
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Just when Tubby Dubonnet thought it was safe to come back to New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina boils up a rich gumbo of trouble. Tubby rides out the storm okay, but then the levees break, the city floods and he ends up with thousands of other refugees in the hellish convention center. In the chaos, an escaped psychopath assaults and then stalks Tubby's daughter. The police are no help, and Tubby must use his wits and his connections to protect himself and his family, while trying to restore his home and help bring his beloved city back to life. The fast-paced story includes incisive vignettes of the dangerous days just after Katrina hit and of the frustrating weeks that followed.
- Green, Norman
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Stoney gave up drinking, but it couldn't save his marriage. Leaving the big house in New Jersey to his wife and kids, he's living in the City — still working the profitable, if not 100 percent legal, angles with his partner, "Fat Tommy Bagadonuts." Then, out of the blue, Stoney's teenage daughter shows up with an unwanted admirer who needs to be cooled down — or eliminated.
- Jance, Judith A.
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Coping with the impending birth of her second child as well as a staff shortage, the last thing Sheriff Joanna Brady needs are two murders with roots deep in the past.
- Keating, H. R. F.
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Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens takes great pride in her twin sons, who decided to follow in her footsteps by joining the police force in London. She is devastated one night when she learns that one of her sons has been killed by a terrorist bomb and that the other is in the hospital, gravely injured. In the wake of the bomb outrage, every available police officer is occupied with antiterrorist precautions. Harriet, on the other hand, finds herself investigating the theft of a herbicide specimen from a Birchester research station. The stolen sample is capable of causing more destruction than any single bomb. Harriet must work in secrecy, all the while fighting off her overwhelming grief and unceasing fears. All but alone in a deceptive world where people aren’t quite what they seem, she has to become, once again, the Hard Detective.
- Krueger, William Kent
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The sixth novel in Krueger's award-winning suspense series finds Cork O'Connor running for his life — straight into a murderous conspiracy involving teenage runaways.
- MacBride, Stuart
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A detailed authenticity combines with a dark Scottish sense of humor and a lively cast of characters in MacBride’s second Tartan Noir novel.
- Maron, Margaret
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Judge Deborah Knott's new marriage will be tested as she and her husband are drawn into an emotional hunt for his missing ex-wife and son.
- Pelecanos, George P.
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It's been 20 years since three teenagers were killed and their abused bodies were left in public parks. The case was never solved, but the two lead detectives on the case have pursued very different paths during the last two decades.
- Pessl, Marisha
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Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class, this mesmerizing debut unites the trials of a postmodern upbringing with a murder mystery.
- Raichev, Raiko
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On the day of the 'Royal Wedding' in July 1981 at a house party on the banks of the Thames, a little girl wanders off on her own. Her doll is found floating in the river, but of the girl herself there is no sign. Twenty years on and Antonia Darcy, divorcee and assistant librarian at the Military and Naval Club, still puzzles over the disappearance of Sonya Dufrette and the strange behavior of the awful Lawrence Dufrette, his exotic wife Lena, and intelligent and charming Lady Mortlock — not to mention the strange absence of the nanny. Ably assisted by her new admirer, Major Payne, Mrs. Darcy embarks on the first adventure in a new series of ingeniously plotted whodunits set against the background of country house life.
- Tracy, P. J.
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Minneapolis sponsors an old-fashioned snowman-building contest to perk up another bleak winter. But things take an awful turn when the dead bodies of Minneapolis police officers are discovered inside two of the snowmen. As Grace MacBride and her crack computer jocks at Monkeewrench comb cyber-murder Web sites for connections, a terrifying link emerges — a link that must be broken before it's too late.
- Vining, Dan
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Vining, author of The Quick, continues his suspense series, featuring an astonishing world peopled by "Sailors," those who drift between the lands of the living and the dead.
- Walters, Minette
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When five woman are brutally murdered in Sierra Leone, Reuters correspondent Connie Burns suspects a British mercenary who seems to be using the chaos of war to act out sadistic, misogynist fantasies. Connie's suspicions fall on deaf ears, but she's determined to expose the man and his secret — a choice that causes devastating consequences.
- Walton, Jo
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World Fantasy Award-winner Walton crosses genres without missing a beat with this alternative history set in 1949, eight years after Britain agreed to peace with Nazi Germany, leaving Hitler in control of the European continent.
- Williams, Liz
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The second Detective Inspector Chen novel returns us to Singapore Three. A mysterious murder sends Chen and his demonic partner Zhu Irzh on the trail of a conspiracy between hell and one of the heavenly hosts.
- Winspear, Jacqueline
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Maisie Dobbs investigates the mysterious death of a controversial artist — and World War I veteran — in the fourth entry in the series set in 1931 London.
Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Kushner, Ellen
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Welcome to Riverside, where the aristocratic and the ambitious battle for power in the city's ballrooms, brothels and boudoirs. Into this alluring world walks a well bred country girl versed in the rules of conventional society. When her uncle decides it would be more amusing for his niece to learn swordplay than to follow the usual path to marriage, her world changes forever.
- Shepherd, Joel
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The first novel in a new series follows the adventures of Cassandra, an artificial person who experiences a moral awakening and must forge new friendships with old enemies, while attempting to confront the most disturbing and deadly realities of her own existence.