In his sophomore novel, Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) relies on one of literature's most familiar scenarios: the young orphan embroiled in tragedy. William Eng has occupied a Catholic orphanage in Depression-era Seattle for five years when, in an outstanding coincidence, he learns of his now-famous mother's upcoming local show, and so begins the painful quest to reconnect with the woman who put him up for adoption. From the wicked stepfather's predilections to William's anguished friend Charlotte, the tragedy in this story is largely predictable. It's hard to get a feel for the character of the mother—Liu Song/Willow Frost; the plot hinges repeatedly on her view that she cannot trust honorable people who care for her with the truth. Other characters sound alike—detached and cleanly contemplative. Straining against the heavy-handed symbolism—the gateway-to-salvation rosary, the blind girl ripping off a teddy bear's eyes—and moments of true sentiment sacrificed to convenient/clever phrasing, there are sections that glow. When the sheet music store where Willow first gained notoriety loses its footing as society embraces radio, the story opens up to more natural turns. On whole, Ford's second literary visit to Seattle's Chinatown, though quick-moving and occasionally warmhearted, is little more than a contrived evocation of the darkest element of fairytales and classics. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

War-torn Ethiopia remains the backdrop to DeMille's (The Panther) re-imagining of this intense thriller, originally published in 1975 and set during the country's brutal revolution. Two journalists, Frank Purcell and Henry Mercado, and photographer Vivian chase the struggle outside the relative safety of Addis Ababa and share a harrowing night in the jungle where they meet a dying Italian priest. A captive for 40 years, the escapee confirms the existence of the fabled Holy Grail, the vessel used at the Last Supper, and a secret guarded by Coptic monks deep in the bush. Narrowly escaping court martial and probable torture by sadistic General Getachu of the revolutionary forces, the three are booted from Ethiopia before they can investigate with orders never to return. Despite an interlude in Rome, the mystique of the grail compels the intrigued journalists and their knowledgeable companion Colonel Gunn to sneak back to Africa for a story "good enough to pursue to the end." Divergent motives—faith, fatalism, and skepticism—and a brewing love triangle drive the often disturbing pilgrimage founded on hearsay and instinct. The explorers never earn the credibility of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon; the location of the Holy Grail in Ethiopia, despite all the tales and legend, never gains enough momentum to work as a thrilling probability. Still, DeMille creates excitement and dread through his elaborate descriptions of the jungle. Ethiopia looms at the novel's heart as the "the most blessed and most cursed land." Agent: Jennifer Joel, International Creative Management Partners. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Argentine author Havilio impresses with this flawed but fascinating first novel. The unnamed narrator, a young veterinary assistant based in Buenos Aires, arrives in the eponymous town for a routine to checkup on a horse and quickly finds herself laying down roots, enjoying drugs, and engaging in erotic encounters with locals of all sexes and ages. When one of her lovers disappears, she is targeted as a suspect and seeks lodging at the horse owner's ranch. When she is targeted as the suspect in the disappearance of her lover back in Buenos Aires, the narrator seeks refuge at the horse owner's ranch and slowly begins to discover secrets surrounding the town's origin and people. The descriptions of village and its surrounding country are rich with the type of detail that alone is not particularly remarkable, but when taken together create a palpable sense that something is off, making the revelations much more rewarding when they happen. Though dragged down by long stretches in the second half in which little occurs, this surreal novel is both dense enough and short enough to warrant re-readings and will especially appeal to fans of the TV series Twin Peaks. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Jane Fields grows up idolizing her brother John, the talented, beautiful older sibling. When John has a psychotic break at college and comes home a deeply troubled young man, Jane is shattered. Her brother stabilizes briefly and then disintegrates again, and the family starts running out of options. John suggests to Jane that the two of them move away from the suburbs to the city, so he can have "time to breathe." But John is too unstable to even drive a car, or hold down a job, and so the siblings decide that Jane will assume John's identity—to "hold his place…so that one day he [can] get well and become that guy again." The siblings look alike, and Jane (in boy's clothes) starts working at a music store, while the real John roams their apartment "mad and unmedicated" frequently "accusing [Jane] of treason." Jane soon becomes interlaced with her brother's identity. Krughoff handles John's character skillfully; his madness is never fetishized or overdrawn, even as he becomes more and more sinister, and the boundaries between the siblings become harder to discern. The passages dealing with Jane's parents, as they struggle with the surreal defection of both their children, are drawn with gravity and loveliness. While at times the plot moves a little predictably towards disaster, the book remains a unique and intricately aligned debut. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

The London we encounter in Ridgway's (Animals) unsettling new novel is a city of mystery, a cloud of fog which allows few glimpses of clarity—despite the many attempts at crime-solving made by the two police detective protagonists. The book reads like a collection of short stories, unified only by the continuing presence of the police partners, a crime lord named Mishazzo, and an atmosphere in which answers are always just out of reach. Characters, with varying levels of criminality, appear and disappear: a man shot by someone in a vintage car no one else witnesses; a potentially psychopathic editor who obsesses over a strange fantasy manuscript; a pickpocket; a daughter in the throes of her first sexual relationship. In spite of the book's general obscurity, two protagonists are fully realized, intriguing characters: exact opposites, one black, straight, good-looking, and secure; the other white, gay, and neurotic. Their appearance is always a welcome moment within each chapter. Ridgway's writing is beautiful, sardonic, and well-contained. A detective novel with many crimes and few solutions concerned more with human connection (or lack thereof) than cases and clues, Ridgway's book is successfully thought-provoking and haunting. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Pitigrilli will find a new generation of readers with this new edition translation of his comic cautionary tale flaunting the ludicrous excesses and depths of despair in the underbelly of Europe in the roaring '20s. Medical student Tito Arnaudi refuses on a misguided principle to remove his monocle while sitting for an exam, and is therefore unable to obtain a degree. In a huff, he leaves Italy for Paris where he declares himself a professor and doctor on his visiting cards, cons his way into a job as a journalist at a newspaper called The Fleeting Moment, and almost immediately becomes addicted to cocaine. Arnaudi becomes equally obsessed with a marginally talented dancer and accomplished party girl, Maud. Unable to write proper articles due to his nightly debauchery, Arnaudi resorts to sensational yellow journalism to fulfill his duties until the editor becomes so distraught he pays Arnaudi not to write. The novel takes a melodramatic turn after Arnaudi follows Maud to Buenos Aires only to be cuckolded and spurned after she undergoes a drastic operation to prolong her other career as a kept woman. Along the way, Pitigrilli never loses his droll sense of humor, or playful use of language, which ensures this little romp is always a pleasurable one. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Daltow presents the breadth, vitality, and literary value of the horror genre in this impressive anthology consisting of 28 of the best short stories published in 2012. Almost half of the stories are by women, and they come from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This anthology does a remarkable job of being multicultural; not only do settings range from Japan to Namibia, but the authors also pay homage to the rich horror literary traditions of these different cultures. All of the stories are perfectly creepy and astoundingly original, demonstrating both how incredible the current horror scene is and its promising future. Some of the most notable pieces include "The Callers" by Ramsey Campbell, "The Magician's Apprentice" by Tamsyn Muir, "Dead Song" by Jay Wilburn, "The Pike" by Conrad Williams, and "Final Exam" by Megan Arkenberg. To top it off, Daltow includes a comprehensive summary of all that was published within the genre in 2012 from notable novels to journals to chapbooks, with short notes on each work, making this book an enjoyable for everyone, die-hard horror fans or literary fiction readers alike. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Jianqun (The Last Hun) returns to ancient China to depict the exciting but short, life of the Xiongnu warlord Helian Bobo from his birth in a wagon to his death in a sheep enclosure. In the time between those moments, he survives the massacre of his family and betrayal by allies to unify his people into a force able to carve out for a time an impressive empire and found the eponymous city, only known city of the nomadic Xiongnu. Along the way he will demonstrate a prodigious talent for war and shameless betrayal. The accomplishments of the founder of the short-lived Xia empire is contrasted with the more lasting legacy of the monk Kumarajiva, then revolutionizing Chinese Buddhism. Although the link between Hun and Xiongnu is open to question, the author uses that connection and Helian Bobo's supposed blood relationship with Attila to draw illuminating parallels between the careers of the two warlords, both operating in times of imperial collapse. Translated by Eric Mu, this novel ambles back and forth through time, leaping from one event to another to produce an astonishingly compact epic tale. Nevertheless the book provides an exciting entryway into the complex and relatively obscure history of ancient China. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

Brooks returns to the world of Wolfgang Schmitt, reluctant undercover agent for the FBI, with great success. Wolfgang is rebuilding his shattered romantic life while considering how best to spend his illicit earnings from 2004's Bait and Switch when he finds himself once again drawn into the machinations of those more ruthless than him. With his fortune missing and the government taking far too close an interest in him, Wolfgang has no choice but to acquiesce to a demand that he once again apply his peculiar skills in the service of the FBI. This time, however, the operation is unsanctioned, the circle he is infiltrating is Las Vegas's mob community and his employer, ruthless businesswoman and aspiring widow Lynn Valentine is less in Wolfgang's skills as a trainer and far more interested in his fabricated talent as a contract assassin. Surrounded by killers, the amiable cynic soon learns that his is not the only life at stake; unless he can navigate the hidden shoals of criminality and conspiracy around him, a young woman will die. Nearly a decade may have passed since Wolfgang's first appearance but the affable rogue remains as charming as ever, in part because his air of cynical self-interest is clearly a patina over a far more sympathetic character. Brooks is clearly an advocate of tossing his characters into the deepest, most shark-infested waters; the result is a quick-moving, engaging comic escapade. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink

In Mickle's (The Assigned Visit) extraordinary new novel, a cache of letters from the Civil War era is discovered in a relative's attic, bringing the powerfully narrative, ancestral voice of Eliza Goode to life in her own words, and through the character of Susan Masters, a novelist living in modern day. Raised in Madame Francine's high-end New Orleans parlor house, where her mother was a prostitute, beautiful Eliza was promised as a courtesan to an older, wealthy client on her 17th birthday. Days before the deal is sealed, and after the client forced himself on her, Eliza runs away; she survives by her wits and unparalleled beauty, becoming a Confederate camp follower and caregiver to ungrateful, judgmental Rissa McFerrin. The letters are discovered in 2004 by Hadley, who begs her cousin Susan to write Eliza's story; Hadley sees parallels between Eliza's shame and her own, and hopes to use her ancestor's life as a "blueprint." In the tradition of exquisite Southern storytelling, Mickle graciously blends the richness of history, believable characters and a gifted imagination for an exceptional story. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 10/11/2013 | Details & Permalink