New Fiction Releases
December 2011

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General Fiction . Mystery & Detective . Romance . Science Fiction & Fantasy

General Fiction

420 Characters: Stories
By Lou Beach
A first volume of prose by the acclaimed artist and illustrator best known for his daily stand-alone stories published online features selections that represent his lyrical and whimsically surreal style and are accompanied by original collage artwork.

77 Shadow Street
By Dean R. Koontz
The affluent occupants of luxury apartments, housed in a 200-year-old mansion with a checkered past, enter into a terrifying waking nightmare when the haunted house reawakens, leaving no one safe from its grip.

The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories
By Don DeLillo
The author of Underworld and White Noise collects nine stories that all were originally published between 1979 and 2011.

The Artist of Disappearance
By Anita Desai
A trio of artful novellas by the award-winning author of The Zigzag Way ruminates on memory, illusion, and expectation and is set in India of the recent past, where its protagonists embark on unexpected journeys that offer renewed hope and opportunity.

Black Thunder: An Ella Clah Novel
By Aimée and David Thurlo
Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah and her team must work a delicate joint investigation with the New Mexico police to identify four bodies found just outside the reservation borders, one of whom turns out to be a construction firm owner who is believed to have been embezzling funds.

Blink of an Eye
By William S. Cohen
After a nuclear bomb flattens a major American city, national security adviser Sean Falcone is charged with identifying the attackers, but if his sources are incorrect, it could mean inciting war with the entire Muslim world.

Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan
By Conn Iggulden
Iggulden tells the story of the rise of Kublai Khan to take over his grandfather Genghis Khan’s empire, as well as China, and focuses on the brutal competition between Kublai and his three brothers.

Dark Men: A Silver Bear Thriller
By Derek Haas
After retiring to a small Italian coastal village, Columbus becomes embroiled in a kidnapping after he is mentioned in the ransom note.

Dark Revelations
By Anthony E. Zuiker
A conclusion to the trilogy by the creator of  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation finds Steve Dark tackling the most intense case of his career when a brutal serial killer who calls himself Labyrinth begins delivering cryptic riddles before murdering high-profile individuals and targeting government agencies.

Dead Last (Thorn)
By James W. Hall
When a real-life serial killer begins to copy storylines featured on a popular cable television crime series, the reclusive Thorn reluctantly leaves Key Largo to join forces with an Oklahoma policewoman in a case that implicates a pair of brothers, including the show’s head writer and leading man.

The Devil’s Elixir
By Raymond Khoury
When rival forces on both sides of the law discover the existence of a lost herb that induces profound experiences capable of shattering the foundations of Western civilization, a violent competition to locate the herb is overseen by FBI agent Sean Reilly and his girlfriend, Tess Chaykin, who race to prevent a cataclysmic disaster.

Egypt: The Book of Chaos
By Nick Drake
A concluding installment in the trilogy that includes Nefertiti and Tutankhamun finds the young widow of King Tut struggling to maintain power by dispatching loyal chief detective Rahotep to forge a dubious alliance with the militant Hittites.

Hot Water
By Erin Brockovich with C. J. Lyons
After protesters and terrorists lead a nuclear power plant owner to enlist the help of AJ Palladino, AJ’s son goes missing and soon AJ is placed at ground zero as a nuclear catastrophe threatens to erupt.

The Innocent: A Vanessa Michael Monroe Novel
By Taylor Stevens
Two former members of an Argentinian cult ask Vanessa Michael Munroe to infiltrate the group in order to free a girl who was kidnapped eight years earlier.

Lawyer Trap
By R. J. Jagger
New attorney Aspen Wilde tries to unravel a number of intertwined murders while searching for a missing associate and enlists the help of edgy Denver homicide detective Nick Teffinger when the stakes get higher.

Micro
By Michael Crichton & Richard Preston
The acclaimed late author of Jurassic Park and the award-winning author of The Hot Zone present the story of a group of graduate students who accept work with a mysterious biotech company in Hawaii only to be abandoned in a treacherous wilderness when they discover their employer’s dark agenda.

Paper Angels
By Jimmy Wayne & Travis Thrasher
When he picks the name of a teenager from the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, 43-year-old businessman Kevin Morell is moved and intrigued by Thomas Reed’s list, and finally discovers the true meaning of Christmas through a random act of kindness.

Queen of America
By Luis Alberto Urrea
The sequel to The Hummingbird’s Daughter finds Teresita Urrea fleeing to Arizona with her father after the Tomochic Rebellion but is inundated with visits from pilgrims seeking her skills as a healer until she is chased to New York by assassins.

Red  Mist (Kay Scarpetta)
By Patricia Cornwell
As she investigates the murder of her former deputy chief, Kat Scarpetta discovers links in a series of otherwise unrelated killings, and soon finds herself unraveling a global terror conspiracy.

The Richest Hill on Earth
By Richard S. Wheeler
When newspaperman John Fellowes Hall arrives in Butte, Montana, in 1892, he finds himself deeply embroiled in the fight among the Copper Kings, as they battle for control of the money-making copper mines.

Silence
By Jan Costin Wagner
When a young girl vanishes and her abandoned bike is discovered in the exact same spot where another girl was murdered 33 years before, Detective Kimmo Joentaa suspects the same killer has struck again and tries to solve both cases.

The Silver Lotus
By Thomas Steinbeck
Expanding his trading empire, Captain Jeremiah Macy Hammond faces pirates, storms, and illness as he crosses the Pacific seeking new markets in the Orient and falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy Cantonese merchant family.

Soft Target
By Stephen Hunter
A follow-up to Dead Zero finds retired marine sergeant Ray Cruz confronting a band of terrorists who have taken over the Mall of America, where they begin to systematically execute more than 1,000 hostages.

The Temple Mount Code
By Charles Brokaw
After an old friend who summons linguistic professor Thomas Lourds to Jerusalem to examine an ancient text turns up dead and his apartment is found ransacked, Lourds races against the clock to seek out the dangerous document that, in the wrong hands, could mean a global jihad the likes of which has never been seen before.

The Third Reich
By Roberto Bolano
Returning with his girlfriend to the small Costa Brava town of his childhood summers, German war-game champion Udo Berger is introduced to a band of locals and the darker side of resort town life before his world is upended by the disappearance of a fellow vacationer, a situation that compels Udo to lose himself in his favorite strategy game.

Twelve Gates to the City
By Daniel Black
A sequel to They Tell Me of Home follows the experiences of Sister, who discloses family secrets sent to her from the spirit realm to TL while sharing with him the events that transpired while he was away, revelations during which TL takes a schoolmaster position and searches for answers.

The Uninnocent: Stories
By Bradford Morrow
This collection of gothic short stories from the author of Trinity Fields features tales of a young man who becomes obsessed with his brother’s girlfriend, and a blind motivational speaker who regains his sight and discovers he was better off before.

Vigilante
By Stephen J. Cannell
A final novel by the Emmy Award-winning television writer best known for such programs as The Rockford Files and The A-Team follows LAPD detective Shane Scully and his partner Sumner Hitchens as they investigate a possible killer in their precinct after a trouble-making activist is found dead in her home.

Mystery & Detective
(some titles may also be found in General Fiction)

The Alpine Winter (Emma Lord)
By Mary Daheim
Christmas is anything but quiet in Alpine, Washington, after a body turns up in a cave and Emma Lord and her beau, Milo, are stalked by a killer.

Boca Daze
by Steven M. Forman
Armed with his unfailing wit, his Boston-bred fighting skills and his courage in the face of danger, retired Boston cop Eddie Perlmutter is walking on gimpy knees straight into the most dangerous game of his life when he tries to shut down a string of illegal pill mills.

Broken Music
By Marjorie Eccles
In 1919, in the small English village of Broughton Underhill, former police sergeant Herbert Reardon struggles to solve two murders, one before World War I and one just after, which just may be linked.

Cat Telling Tales: A Joe Grey Mystery
By Shirley Rousseau Murphy
When a suspicious fire leaves a 12-year-old boy homeless and the body of his alcoholic elderly guardian is discovered in the smoldering ruins, Joe Grey and his P.I. posse follow a trail that leads to a scam involving a group of shady real estate agents.

A Corpse’s Nightmare (Fever Devilin)
By Phillip DePoy
After a brutal attack and a months-long coma, Fever Devilin wakes up to discover that the would-be killer was seeking a blue tin box that contained the photo of an angel – and that the killer is still out there.

Dead Man’s Grip (Detective Superintendent Roy Grace)
By Peter James
Traumatized by a car accident in which a Brighton University student was killed, Carly Chase learns that the drivers of the other two cars were subsequently tortured and murdered, a situation that forcers her to assume a new identity and seek protection from Detective Supt. Roy Grace of the Sussex Police.

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (Isabel Dalhousie)
By Alexander McCall Smith
Approached by a visiting Australian philosopher for help in finding her biological father, Isabel reluctantly agrees to take the case, which is complicated by her young son’s demanding interest in kites, her housekeeper’s questionable financial advisor, and ongoing doubts about her engagement to Jamie.

Foul Play at Four
By Ann Purser
After her daughter’s grocery shop is the latest establishment hit in a series of robberies in Long Farnden, Louis Meade tries to track down the thieves.

I Am Gold (Harpur & Iles)
By Bill James
Detective Harpur and Chief Constable Iles investigate the murder of the wife and son of a notorious drug baron and the suicide of a former bodyguard.

Miss Dimple Rallies to the Cause
By Mignon F. Ballard
Participating in a community rally to raise funds for World War II troops, first-grade teacher Miss Dimple Kilpatrick enlists the aid of her fellow teachers when a skeleton is found at the edge of a field at the same time an event helper goes missing with the war bond money.

Murder in Mount Holly
By Paul Theroux
Forced to leave college to seek employment during the time of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, Herbie Gneiss works at a military toy-producing factory until he is drafted, prompting a former co-worker who has fallen in love with Herbie’s chocolate-loving mother to rob a man they believe to be a communist.

Murder Season
By Robert Ellis
Assigned to investigate a double murder at an A-list celebrity club, LAPD detective Lena Gamble tackles complications in the form of one victim’s Hollywood connections and the other victim’s recent acquittal for murder.

Physical Education (Murder 101)
By Maggie Barbieri
Struggling with her husband’s dangerous undercover assignment at the same time she takes over as head coach of the women’s basketball team, college English professor and sometime sleuth Alison Bergeron stumbles on clues that suggest that her predecessor did not die of natural causes.

The Scottish Prisoner
by Diana Gabaldon
In the 18th century, paroled prisoner Jamie Fraser and his old friend Tobias Quinn must travel from London to Ireland on a mission of intrigue surrounding a packet of documents and an ancient relic.

Storm Damage
By Ed Kovacs
Investigating the murder of a politically connected New Orleans bar owner in the aftermath of a devastating Category 5 hurricane, former police officer and mixed-martial artist Cliff St. James discovers possible CIA involvement in the crime and disturbing clues about his client.

Swift Edge
By Laura DiSilverio
Hired by a world-class figure skater to find her missing pairs partner in time for the upcoming Olympics, Charlie Swift and Gigi Goldman tackle complications in the form of a smitten teen, an attack on the pair’s coach, and the murder of the missing athlete’s colleague.

The Talk Show Murders (Billy Blessing)
By Al Roker & Dick Lochte
After an ex-cop threatens to expose his past as a con-man – and ends up dead – celebrity chef Billy Blessing must find the true killer before the media and public run him out of Chicago on a rail.

Templar Magician
By P.C. Doherty
After Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is assassinated in 1152 Jerusalem during the Crusades, Robert de Payens and Edward Sendal investigate, wondering whether someone in the secretive Templar Order is involved.

Threadbare
By Monica Ferris
Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, investigates the common thread between the murders of two homeless people.

Too Much Stuff
By Don Bruns
Private investigators Skip More and James Lessor of More or Less Investigations are hired to find a quarter million dollars in gold that went missing during a 1935 hurricane and must battle ruthless competitors and brushes with death if they are ever going to complete their mission.

The Villa of Death (Daphne du Maurier)
By Joanna Challis
When a friend’s long-anticipated wedding is shattered by the groom’s untimely murder, young Daphne du Maurier investigates clues at 1927 Thornleigh Manor to prove her friend’s innocence, a case that is further complicated by tensions between the two families.

Romance

Science Fiction & Fantasy
(some titles may also be found in General Fiction)

Earthbound (Marsbound)
By Joe Haldeman
Using ancient 19th-century technology, Carmen Dula and her colleagues struggle to find a way to reclaim the future that was stolen from them when the Martians and Others destroyed Earth’s entire fleet of starships and prohibited human space travel.

Eve: Templar One
By Tony Gonzales
As power-hungry starship captains keep the people of New Eden locked in perpetual battle, a secret program in a prison camp may just lead to a lasting peace.

Himmler’s War
By Robert Conroy
In a latest World War II alternate history tale, Heinrich Himmler assumes control of the Reich days after Normandy, prompting Allied forces to consider negotiating with his new government while investigating disturbing rumors about a new German super-weapon.

Scholar (The Imager Portfolio)
By L. E. Modesitt
On his way to Tilbor on a military scouting mission, scholar-imager Quaeryt must face pirates, storms, poisonings, attempted murder – and stunning revelations about himself.

Supervolcano: Eruption
By Harry Turtledove
Survivors of a supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park must rise from the ashes of the apocalyptic catastrophe to continue civilization, in the first book in a new series.

The Thirteen Hallows
By Michael Scott and Colette Freedman
The last time the 13 Hallows were gathered together was in the time of Arthur when they were used to drive the Demonkind from this world and seal the entrance between this and the Otherworld, but now the sacred objects of Britain are once again being brought together.

When the Saints
By Dave Duncan
In the sequel to Speak to the Devil, after the Brothers Magnus assemble in Cardice to defend a castle from attack, Wulfgang Magnus finds himself falling in love with a woman already betrothed to someone else, as well as being confounded with strange rules of magic that command the battlefield.

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11/2011