Readers > New Books > Fiction, April 2007
Fiction, April 2007
General Fiction |Mysteries |Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
General Fiction
- Bolano, Roberto
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New Year’s Eve, 1975: Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, founders of the realist movement in poetry, leave Mexico City in a borrowed white Impala. Their quest: to track down the obscure, vanished poet Cesárea Tinajero. A violent showdown in the Sonora desert turns search to flight, and 20 years later Belano and Lima are still on the run. This is the posthumously published English translation of the prizewinning novel that made Chilean Roberto Bolano famous.
- Cercas, Javier
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As a young writer, the novel’s protagonist — perhaps a version of Spanish author Cercas himself — accepts a post at a Midwestern university and soon he is in the United States, working and writing. It will be years before he understands that his friendship with the Vietnam vet Rodney Falk, a strange and solitary man, will reshape his life, or that he will become obsessed with Rodney's mysterious past.
- Chiaverini, Jennifer
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A roaring 1920s adventure unfolds in Chiaverini's latest addition to her Elm Creek Quilts series. A reading group guide is included.
- Dickey, Eric Jerome
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Dickey introduces a new bad-boy narrator: a hit man who goes by the name of Gideon. He’s a man who lives off the grid, drifting along while making love on the run, enacting the revenge of the broken-hearted — for a price.
- Englander, Nathan
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The long-awaited first novel from the author of the short story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges is a stunning historical tale set at the start of Argentina's Dirty War, a hallucinatory journey into a forbidden city and a world of terror.
- Fielding, Joy
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Fielding's latest thriller alternates between the chilling journal entries of a cold-blooded murderer and the sizzling scandals of small-town life.
- Flanagan, Richard
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What would you do if you turned on the television and saw you were the most wanted terrorist in the country? Gina Davies is about to find out when, after a night spent with an attractive stranger, she becomes a prime suspect in the investigation of an attempted terrorist attack.
- Green, Tim
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Using his investigative skills to find his son's birth mother, journalist Jake Carlson uncovers a horrifying ring of deceit and black market child trafficking. Now, Jake knows that it's no longer only his life that is at risk, but his son's as well.
- Gruber, Michael
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Hidden in the binding of a charred and ruined book is a cache of letters written by a 17th-century British soldier and spy. The letters are encrypted and the key to unlocking the mysterious code has been lost for 400 years. If the letters are read, they will lead to one of the most valuable items in the history of the world. Fans of The Da Vinci Code will enjoy this bibliothriller.
- Hamid, Mohsin
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Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America — but in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, which unearths allegiances more fundamental than money, power and even love.
- Hamilton, Masha
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Reminiscent of Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Camel Bookmobile is a captivating novel about a young American woman who leaves her everyday life behind to bring the joy of reading to a small African village.
- Howard, Tracie
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Escape into the glamorous lives of three gold diggers — Paulette, Gillian and Reese — and their to-the-manor-born friend Lauren, as they navigate their way into the inner circle of Hollywood and the NBA. Along the way at least one is forced to realize that all that glitters isn't gold.
- Ignatius, David
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Roger Ferris is one of the CIA's soldiers in the war on terrorism whose mission is to penetrate the network of a master terrorist. In a scheme that binds friend and foe in a web of extraordinary subtlety and complexity, Ferris finds himself flying blind into a hurricane.
- Lamarche, Phil
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A teenager in southern New England is confronted by a moral dilemma following a firearms accident in his home.
- Levi, Primo
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The first English publication of 17 classic Primo Levi stories marks the 20th anniversary of his death.
- Mankell, Henning
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Mankell, author of the Kurt Wallander series, moves beyond the crime genre in this disquieting story of obsession.
- Olmstead, Robert
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When 14-year-old Robey Child is sent by his mother to search for his father, a doomed soldier, he witnesses the horrors of war both on and off the battlefield. Riding a talismanic black horse, he embarks upon a life-altering journey that will challenge him physically, emotionally and spiritually.
- Phillips, Arthur
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From the author of The Egyptologist comes an evocative historical thriller — part Victorian ghost story, part literary and psychological puzzle.
- Robards, Karen
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A woman survives a horrific attempt on her life, only to feel like a stranger in her own home.
- Robertson, James
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A Scottish minister who doesn't believe in God meets the devil in this beguiling American debut. Online reading group guide available.
- Ross, Ann B.
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America's favorite Woman of a Certain Age takes the law into her own hands when a band of jewel thieves targets her town.
- Skloot, Floyd
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Award-winning Portland author Skloot describes the battleground of human medical research — from the patient's point of view.
- Shapiro, Dani
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From the author of Family History and the memoir Slow Motion comes a new novel about mothers and daughters. A reading group guide is included.
- Slouka, Mark
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Slouka, the son of Czech immigrants, draws on his personal experience and creates a literary page-turner about the vagaries of love and the need to make sense of life through the telling of stories.
- Somoza, Jose Carlos
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ABC's Lost meets Michael Crichton's Timeline in a techno-thriller about the dark side of advanced technology. A reading group guide is included.
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel)
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Presented for the first time as a complete, standalone story, this book reunites fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with elves and men, dragons and dwarves, eagles and orcs.
- Vachon, Dana
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This stylish and hilarious novel follows the lives and loves of well-to-do young Manhattanites beginning their first year on Wall Street.
- Woods, Stuart
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Stone Barrington embarks on his most dangerous adventure yet when he takes a job as a lawyer for a sleazy and clueless con man and ends up getting embroiled in the underworld of the New York mafia.
- Zhu, Tianxin
The Old Capital is centered on the question, "Is it possible that none of your memories count?" and explores the reliability of remembrances and the thin line that separates fact from fantasy.
Mysteries
- Albert, Susan Wittig
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China Bayles has her work cut out for her when her half brother shows up and wants to investigate their father's supposedly accidental death. While unraveling secrets that hit close to home, China must set the record straight — and find the killer.
- Alleyn, Susanne
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Amidst the sights and sounds of revolutionary Paris, Aristide Ravel, the charming freelance investigator for the Paris police, comes to the aid of Jeannette Moineau, an illiterate servant girl, when she is accused of poisoning the master of the house where she works. The case against her seems clear, but Aristide is convinced that Jeannette is innocent. Proving her innocence, however, is another story.
- Armstrong, Derek
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In this darkly humorous thriller, reality television becomes too real when a killer with a message preys on the contestants of America's number one TV show.
- Cannon, Taffy
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Everybody loved adoption guru Sam Brennan, the founder and head of Adoption Central, whose life’s work was the creating loving adoptive families and reuniting birth relatives — until somebody beat him to death with a statuette of Michael Jackson. Who could have wanted to hurt the man who did such wonderful things for so many grateful people? Roxanne Prescott, the down-to-earth detective in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, investigates.
- Cleland, Jane K.
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Antiques appraiser Josie Prescott gets mixed up in murder when a friend is poisoned at a gala benefit.
- Drake, Nick
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Just days before a festival to celebrate the new capital, Akhetaten, Queen Nefertiti suddenly vanishes. Rai Rahotep, the youngest chief detective in the Thebes division, with a rising reputation for his original methods, is secretly assigned to investigate. He has ten days to find the Queen and return her in time for the celebrations. Success will bring glory — but if Rai fails, he and his family will die.
- Edwards, Ruth Dudley
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When the proper Baroness Troutbeck accepts a visiting professor position at an American university, she is instantly at odds with the liberals that make up the faculty. But does she believe the late Provost was murdered, and if so, what should she do about it?
- Estleman, Loren D.
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Hard-boiled detective Amos Walker returns for his 19th outing in his most challenging case yet. A murder has taken place that seems like an open-and-shut case. But every time Walker thinks he has solved the case, he finds out he is further from the truth than when he started.
- Haddam, Jane
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Philadelphia has been gripped by a serial killer, dubbed the Plate Glass Killer. When a down-and-out member of a socially prominent family is arrested and falsely confesses to the latest murder, Gregor Demarkian is called to look into the case.
- Hart, Carolyn
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When retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins responds to a former lover's call for help, she discovers that the flame of love, once kindled, is never completely extinguished in this twisting tale set aboard a murder-filled Baltic cruise.
- Johnson, Craig
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Walt has been the sheriff in Wyoming's Absaroka County for 24 years, where his wit and charm have helped him solve many crimes — but that can’t prepare him for the savage attack on his daughter, Cady, a Philadelphia lawyer who has unwittingly become embroiled in a political cover-up. As Walt and his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, scour the city for clues, he gets help from his deputy Victoria Moretti and her family of Philly police, and shows the big city that this old-timer has a few moves left in his saddlebag of tricks.
- Kellerman, Jonathan
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A former patient of child psychologist Alex Delaware asks for his help when she's troubled by an apparent deathbed murder confession by the woman who raised her. Alex and LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis begin to unravel a secret buried in the past — a dark truth whose discovery ignites deadly repercussions in the present. Watch for the interactive online game.
- Leon, Donna
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Commissario Brunetti is summoned to investigate an attack on a pediatrician and the kidnapping of his eighteen-month-old boy. As he delves into the case, he uncovers a story of infertility, desperation and illegal dealings. Doctors and pharmacists are conspiring in a money-making scam, and it appears as if one pharmacist is after more than money.
- McCall Smith, Alexander
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For Mma Ramotswe, there is rarely a dull moment, and in the eighth installment of the beloved series, the same holds true. One thing above all else is keeping her occupied — her estimable husband has been hinting that he intends to do something special for their adopted daughter.
- Noort, Saskia
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When Evert dies in his burning villa, everything points to suicide. The other members of the "dinner club," a group of five women who meet regularly and whose husbands do business together, rally around to support Babette, his grieving widow. But events soon spiral out of control. Within weeks, a member of the club falls from the balcony of a hotel and dies. Something is poisoning their smug world and bringing death in its wake. Originally published in 2004, The Dinner Club has topped the Dutch bestseller list.
- Petrovich, Aaron
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Funny and frantic, Petrovich's Keatonesque heroes, Detectives Smith and Smith, stumble upon a bizarre new religion while tracking a murder victim's stolen organs.
- Rankin, Ian
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A vicious serial killer is on the hunt and only Rebus can stop him. The Naming of the Dead marks the 20th anniversary of Edinburgh's Inspector John Rebus.
- Rosett, Sara
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Ellie Avery is stunned when another military wife, Penny Follette, is found dead. Things get more complicated when a feisty young female pilot is poisoned and hospitalized. When Ellie investigates, she finds plenty of suspects with secrets to protect.
- Sansom, C. J.
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In Sansom's third Shardlake novel, set in autumn 1541 during the reign of Henry VIII, lawyer Matthew Shardlake is faced with the most terrifying fate of the age: imprisonment in the Tower of London.
- Saums, Mary
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Unlikely friends Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg stumble on a dead body and become partners in investigation in Saums’s humorous Southern cozy.
- Seranella, Barbara
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The author of the Munch Mancini crime novels introduces crisis management expert Charlotte Lyon, who channels her obsessive-compulsive disorder into productive hypervigilance.
- Tursten, Helene
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In Swedish author Tursten's third police procedural, Irene Huss of the Göteborg Violent Crimes Unit investigates a local Satanist movement's connection to a triple homicide.
- Westlake, Donald (E.)
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Hapless crook John Dortmunder is back with all the wrong moves in another tale of larcenous greed from one of America's favorite authors.
Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Abnett, Dan
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Inquisitor Ravenor's pursuit of his arch-nemesis Molotch takes him and his team into the dangerous reaches of space known as the Halo Stars. Unknown to Ravenor, one in his team hides a deadly secret that could doom them all in this third book of the series.
- Bear, Greg
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With terrorism almost beyond control and the FBI under political assault, there's a good chance that agents William Griffin, Fouad Al-Husam and Jane Rowland will be part of the last class at Quantico — but the terrorist plot they uncover proves far more complex than anyone expects.
- Brenchley, Chaz
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The city of Maras-Sund has stood for more than 20 years, two lands joined together by a magical bridge the Marasai used to conquer the Sundain. But the man known as Issel has magic of his own — an ability to manipulate water — which he will use to free his people. He finds an ally in Jendre, the daughter of a general in Maras's army and a woman with her own vendetta against the regime. Her sister is held captive, along with others whose life essences power the magical bridge between her land and Sund. Her plan: to help Issel enter the palace and break the spell.
- Butcher, Jim
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Professional wizard Harry Dresden investigates a series of deaths where someone is killing the minor practioners of magic in Chicago and uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but those closest to him.
- Drake, David
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The long-awaited collection of David Drake's weird and fantastic fiction, Balefires brings together stories set in the worlds of his fantasy novels and contains original fiction, as well as extensive story notes.
- Erikson, Steven
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After decades of warfare, two opposing tribes gather for a pivotal treaty neither truly wants. Their impending struggle ireflects a more profound, primal battle — a confrontation with the wound of an old betrayal and the craving for revenge.
- Farris, John
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Chase Emrick was 14 when her mother married Crow Tillman, a man Chase disliked. One terrifying night of horror proved what she already knew — Crow was pure evil. Now ten years' dead, he still haunts Chase. There is only one way to get him to stop: she must first die.
- Feist, Raymond E.
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The Conclave of Shadows has smashed the Nighthawks' plot to destroy the Empire of Great Kesh through civil war, putting an end to the murderous brotherhood's reign of terror. But there is no time for the victors to celebrate, for the mad sorcerer, Leso Varen, has taken refuge with the Magicians of the Assembly on the world of Kelewan, and is lost among the most powerful men and women of that empire.
- Herbert, Frank
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America is a police state and about to be threatened by the most hellish enemy in the world: insects. First published in Galaxy magazine in 1973, Herbert's vivid imagination and view of nature and ecology have never been more evident than in this classic of science fiction.
- Klages, Ellen
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Mysticism, heroism, cruelty and compassion thread through these multifaceted tales, which range from the origins of the Manhattan Project to a culinary object lesson, from 1950s corruption to a slight glitch in Creation.
- Ringo, John
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The Posleen are coming and the models all say the same thing — without the Panama Canal, the U.S. is doomed to starvation and defeat. Despite being overstretched preparing to defend the U.S., the military sends everything it has left: a handful of advanced Armored Combat Suits, rejuvenated veterans from the many decades that Panama was a virtual colony, and three antiquated warships.
- Rothfuss, Patrick
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Rothfuss's debut novel is the tale of Kvothe, the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king, form a gripping coming-of-age story.
- Sawyer, Robert J.
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Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first ever radio transmission received from aliens. Thirty-eight years later a second message is received and Sarah, now 87, may hold the key to deciphering this one, too — if she lives long enough.
- Scalzi, John
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Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up. That is, until the past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds.
- Shepherd, Joel
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Cassandra Kresnov, a highly advanced hunter-killer android, becomes involved with two young troubleshooters for the secret service and finds out more than she ever wanted to know about the Tanushan underground and those on the fringes.
- Steele, Allen M.
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In the year 2344, the Galileo's shuttle returns to Earth carrying three expedition members, who appear to be the same age they were when they departed. They report that they have made contact with an alien race — and have come face to face with the most apocalyptic force in the galaxy.
- Wright, John C.
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In book three of The Chronicles of Chaos, five orphans raised in a strict boarding school have discovered that they are not human — and their true battle for survival begins.