Readers > New Books > Fiction, November 2008
Fiction, November 2008
General Fiction |Mysteries |Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
General Fiction
- Braver, Adam
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Braver's historical fiction explores the intersection of stories and memories, and reveals how together they have come to represent and mythologize that fateful day.
- Bostwick, Marie
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The moment Evelyn Dixon sets foot in New Bern, Connecticut, she realizes she's found her home. The abrupt end of her marriage was Evelyn's call to get busy making her dream of opening a quilt shop come true. When she opens it, in walk Abigail Burgess and her niece Liza, and Margot Matthews. As they stitch their unique creations, Evelyn, Abigail, Liza and Margot form a sisterhood they never anticipated.
- Cumming, Charles
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Alec Milius, the troubled agent from Cumming's acclaimed A Spy by Nature, is in exile, in danger and on the run.
- Fasman, Jon
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In this atmospheric novel by the author of the The Geographer's Library, a young American finds himself adrift in Russia amid murderous bureaucrats, Central Asian mobsters and a conspiracy to sell Soviet bioweapons to the highest bidder.
- Glavinic, Thomas
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The routine of daily life is such that one goes to sleep with the security that tomorrow will arrive, just as it did today. Jonas, a young professional in contemporary Vienna, wakes up one morning to discover that he may be the last living being on Earth, in this fast-paced, psychological thriller.
- Graziano, Michael S. A.
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In a surreal exile on the floor of the Atlantic, a young man faces his own death and his wife’s infidelity. Precise and beautifully crafted, this modern fable is rich with humor and deep thought.
- Humphreys, C. C.
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The latest in the adventures of Jack Absolute, "a redcoated James Bond."
- King, Stephen
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King delivers a stunning collection of short stories, his first in six years.
- Lott, Malena
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A 36-year old widow and mother of two finds her way back to La Dolce Vita with the help of a gorgeous 25-year-old Italian immigrant, whose name just happens to be Leonardo da Vinci.
- Marai, Sandor
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What is it like to be in love with a pathological liar and fantasist? Esther is, and has been for more than 20 years.
- Morrison, Toni
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Nobel Prize-winning author Morrison's latest masterpiece centers on a powerful tragedy involving a mother and daughter, and reveals how acts of mercy have unforeseen consequences.
- O'Neill, Tony
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After exhausting their resources in the slums of Los Angeles, a junkie and his wife settle in London's "murder mile," the city's most violent and criminally corrupt section. Novelist O'Neill, a recovered heroin addict and lapsed rocker, draws on his experiences for this fast-paced, compulsively readable portrait of a young would-be rocker junkie.
- Orth, Lucia
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In steamy, corruption-ridden Manila, at the height of Ferdinand Marcos' brutal regime, two unlikely young lovers come together: Rue Caldwell, the wife of an American counter-insurgency specialist and Domingo Aquinaldo, a Filipino dissident working under a secret identity as chauffeur for Rue's husband. Part political thriller, part love story, Baby Jesus Pawnshop explores the struggle of two ordinary individuals to lead a moral life when reality defies conventional notions of right and wrong.
- Santis, Pablo De
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In the tradition of Caleb Carr's The Alienist and Eric Larsen's The Devil in the White City comes a gripping tale of murder and the art of crime solving, atmospherically set during the 1889 Paris World's Fair.
- Sargent, Colin
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From deprivation in the wilderness to the lavish courts of European nobility, this poignant historical novel explores the life and quest of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea.
- Sebbar, Lela
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Toward the end of the Algerian war, the FLN, an Algerian nationalist party, organized a demonstration in Paris to oppose a curfew imposed upon Algerians in France. About 30,000 Algerians gathered peacefully, but the protest was brutally suppressed by the Paris police. Between 50 and 200 Algerians were killed and their bodies were thrown into the Seine. Following three young protagonists — one French, one Algerian, and one French national of Algerian descent — Sebbar takes readers on a journey of discovery and comprehension.
- Theorin, Johan
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Set predominantly on the Baltic island of Öland, Theorin's deeply disturbing debut will remind many of Swedish crime author Henning Mankell both in its thematic intensity and dark tone.
Mysteries
- Black, Michael A.
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Private eye Ron Shade and news reporter Alex St. James nearly ran into each other in the final chapters of their respective adventures, A Final Judgment and Deadly Interest. Now, in Dead Ringer, their first adventure together, Shade is looking for Bob Bayless, a dead-and-buried executive who was recently spotted playing blackjack in Vegas, while Alex fights off the attentions of a creepy mortician who's a little too eager to show Alex his backroom moves. Although it seems their two cases couldn't be further apart, clues — and bodies — start adding up to tell a different tale.
- Chang, Henry
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He's been transferred to a different precinct, but Detective Jack Yu can't get away from Chinatown's criminals — his old friends — who have hooked up with the Hong Kong-based triads in an elaborate nationwide credit card fraud. He also can't escape the Chinese victims whose stories cry out for justice, like the teenage Chinese takeout delivery boy brutally murdered in the projects.
- Ewan, Chris
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Charlie Howard — mystery writer and professional thief — is flush with the success of his Paris book reading when he agrees to show a novice how to break into an apartment. The next day, Charlie's hired to steal an ordinary-looking oil painting — from the same address.
- Hart, Carolyn
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Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not.
- Ironside, Elizabeth
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British author Ironside convincingly depicts the trauma of life in Vichy France in her compelling second novel.
- James, P. D.
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Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a murder at a private nursing home for rich patients being treated by the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell.
- Jungstedt, Mari
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The Inner Circle opens with a group of young archeology students sweating on a dig on the island of Gotland, uncovering a Viking fortification dating back over a millennium. They're a fun-loving lot, partying together every night, but the good vibe turns to horror when one of them, 21- year-old Martina Flochten, disappears. When her body is found a short while later, her injuries indicate that she is the victim of a ritual killing. Inspector Knutas and his team work feverishly to catch the killer, but before long there are more victims, all of whom have been killed and mutilated the same way.
- May, Peter
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Enzo MacLeod made a bet that he could crack seven old unsolved murder cases and has successfully solved two. Now someone seems intent on sabotaging his life. Can he stay alive long enough to catch the long-hidden killer?
- Raymond, Derek
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An ax-wielding psychopath carves young Dora Suarez into pieces. On the same night in London, a firearm blows the top off the head of Felix Roatta, part-owner of the seedy Parallel Club. The unnamed narrator, a police sergeant, becomes fixated on Dora and is determined to solve her murder. Then a photo links Suarez to Roatta, and inquiries at the club reveal how vile and inhuman exploitation can become.
- Rowland, Laura Joh
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Japan, March 1700. Troops ambush and attack Lady Reiko, the wife of Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence. The troops who have attacked Reiko appear to belong to Sano's enemy, Lord Matsudaira, who denies all responsibility. But if the rivals are not to blame, who is?
Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Buckner, M M
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From storm drains, illegal dumps and flooded landfills, all of North America's most advanced technology flows down the Mississippi River — microchips, nano-devices, pharmaceuticals, genetically modified seeds — and lodges in the Louisiana delta. Out of this mire emerges a self-organized neural net, drifting in the water: the Watermind. It can freeze, boil, condense and move —seemingly at will.
- Butcher, Jim E.
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Tavi of Calderon, now recognized as Princeps Gaius Octavian and heir to the crown, has achieved a fragile alliance with Alera's oldest foes, the savage Canim. But when Tavi and his legions guide the Canim safely to their lands, his worst fears are realized. The dreaded Vord — the enemy of Aleran and Cane alike —have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland. When the Alerans are cut off from their ships, they find themselves with no choice but to fight shoulder to shoulder if they are to survive.
- Freeman, Pamela
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Centuries ago, Acton and his people displaced the Travellers, the original inhabitants of the Eleven Domains. Now, Saker the enchanter is driven by this ancient rage. With the bones of his fallen ancestors and the blood from his own veins, he will raise armies of the dead to slake his revenge.
- Hamilton, Laurell K.
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Meredith, princess of faerie, wielder of the hands of Flesh and Blood, is with child — twins, fathered by her royal guard. Now she must stay alive to see her children born and claim her place as queen.
- Lerner, Edward M
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An artificial life form escapes onto the Internet, causing disasters far worse than those created by any virus, eventually getting into our missile launch programs and threatening to destroy humanity.
- Lindskold, Jane
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As far as college freshman Brenda Morris knows, there is only one Earth and magic exists only in fairy tales. Brenda is wrong.
- McDevitt, Jack
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Interstellar antiquities dealer Alex Benedict receives a cryptic message asking for help from celebrated writer Vicki Greene, who has been mind-wiped. She has no memory of her life, or of her plea for assistance. The answers to this mystery lie on the most remote of human worlds, where Alex uncovers a secret connected to a decades-old political upheaval.
- Meluch, R M
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The forced alliance between the interplanetary Empire of Rome and the United States-led Earth forces is shattered as Caesar Romulus declares war, striking at the U.S. Deep Space base, and then following with a direct attack against Earth. Merrimack has no choice but to retaliate with an assault on the Roman capital world of Palatine. In the midst of this chaos, the Hive renews its invasion.
- Phillips, Holly
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Lanterns and flickering bulbs light the shadowy world of the rasnan, the island at the edge of a world-spanning ocean that harbors, in its ivory towers and mossy temples, the descendants of men and women who long ago fled a world ruined by magical and technological excess. But not all the island's inhabitants are resigned to exile.
- Priest, Cherie
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The ageless water witch Arahab has been scheming for eons, gathering the means to awaken the great Leviathan. She aims to bring him and the old gods back to their former glory, caring little that their ascendance will also mean an end to the human race. However, awakening the Leviathan is no small feat. In fact, Arahab can't complete the ritual without human aid.
- Smith-Ready, Jeri
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In a world besieged by escalating conflict, fate has marked Rhia to deliver the Reawakened from oppression. Now, with a mighty army of Descendants threatening to crush what's left of her people's magic, she must trust an ancient prophecy and accept the power that is her birthright.
- White, Steve
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Ponce de Leon is remembered for his fruitless search for the mythical fountain of youth. In an alternate universe, his quest had found something very different — and very dangerous. After his return to Spain, bizarre rumors fly about what he had found there, and what had come back with him.