Debuting on the Indie Fiction Best Seller list at #10 is The Expats by Chris Pavone (it is also lands at #47 on the USA Today list; you can expect it to appear on the upcoming NYT list).

The author’s first novel, about Kate, a CIA agent who packs it in to be a stay-at-home Mom when her husband moves the family to Luxembourg, is a March 2012 Indie Next List Great Read. It got strong pre-pub reviews, but the NYT‘s Janet Maslin nearly damned it with faint praise, noting its “well-calibrated monotony. This book’s abundant treacheries and tricks arise from the fact that its heroine, Kate Moore, is bored stiff.”

As Kate’s husband begins to behave strangely, her instincts go on red alert. In the NYT Book Review‘s mystery columnist Marilyn Stasio says,

Pavone is full of sharp insights into the parallels between political espionage and marital duplicity, and he understands the disorientation Kate shares with other expats — including Pavone himself, who joined that community when he gave up a career in publishing after his wife took a job in Luxembourg.

The UK’s Guardian, calls it “Expertly and intricately plotted, with a story spiralling into disaster and a satisfyingly huge amount of double crossing, The Expats certainly doesn’t feel like a first novel. This is an impressively assured entry to the thriller scene.”

Several libraries are showing holds as high as 20/1 on fairly strong ordering.

The Expats Chris Pavone Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: RH/Crown – (2012-03-06) ISBN 9780307956354

RH Audio; Thorndike Large Print; OverDrive eBook and audio

The word-of-mouth success of Fifty Shades of Grey, the first title in a trilogy of erotic novels, has been covered by news sources from The New York Post to the Today Show. It is now #1 on the NYT Combined Print & E-Book Fiction best seller list.

Libraries trying to fill the demand have had difficulty ordering it; it’s published by a small Australian press and print runs are sold out quickly. That will soon be solved; according to the NYT, RH/Knopf/Vintage has won a bidding war to republish the book and 750,000 copies of the redesigned paperback edition will be available within “weeks” (the Amazon database lists the release date as April 3).

Libraries aren’t the only ones who have had trouble ordering the book, NYC’s McNally Jackson bookstore tweeted  “Thanks to today’s Times, I’m down to explaining our lack of 50 Shades of Grey to customers only a single time an hour.”

Baker and Taylor replied to our inquiry that they will make the Random/Vintage editions available for ordering once the publisher supplies the data and will continue to supply the Australian version (POD, via Lightning Source; ISBN 9781612130293).

OverDrive confirmed that the Random House eBook edition will be available to libraries soon; it is in their metadata feed from Random House. They plan to make it live later today or by tomorrow at the latest.

Former publisher Judith Regan, who published several controversial titles in her time at HarperCollins, called the book “really badly written” on the Dr. Drew show on CNN on Thursday (after the ad; 1:19 minutes in to the show).

Next week, Lyndsay Faye‘s historical novel about a serial killer in 1845 New York, The Gods of Gotham, builds on her breakout debut, while Mark Allen Smith‘s debut thriller The Inquisitor features a professional torturer who unexpectedly breaks character. There are also two notable magical realist novels: Tiffany Baker‘s The Gilly Salt Sisters and Heidi Julavit‘s The Vanishers. And in nonfiction, Marilynne Robinson returns with an essay collection about her Christian faith and “Pioneer Woman” Ree Drummond delivers a new recipe collection.

Watch List

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (Penguin/Putnam/Amy Einhorn Books; audio from Dreamscape is also downloadable from OverDrive) is set in 1845 New York, where an officer in the newly organized police force, encounters a blood-soaked girl who leads him to evidence of an anti-Irish serial killer at work. Library Journal raves, “vivid period details, fully formed characters, and a blockbuster of a twisty plot put Faye in a class with Caleb Carr. Readers will look forward to the sequel.” PW adds, “this one “improves on her impressive debut, Dust and Shadow.”

The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker (Hachette/Grand Central Publishing; Thorndike Press) follows two sisters whose family has always harvested salt and who that may or may not have magical powers over their Cape Cod community, and the wealthy bachelor who forces his way into their lives. LJ says, “fans of Baker’s acclaimed The Little Giant of Aberdeen County won’t be disappointed with this quirky, complex, and original tale. It is also sure to enchant readers who enjoy Alice Hoffman and other authors of magical realism.”

The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith (Macmillan/ Holt; Macmillan Audio) is a thriller about a professional torturer in the “information retrieval” business, who instills fear rather than pain and has a gift for recognizing when he hears the truth. But this time, he must interrogate a 12-year-old boy, whom he decides to protect. LJ says “this is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. But Geiger, who’s seeing a psychiatrist and suffers disabling migraines, is a fascinating protagonist with a revealing backstory. A compelling debut thriller that blurs the lines between the good and bad guys.”

Literary Favorite

The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits (RH/Doubleday; Audio, Dreamscape Media) is set at an elite school for psychics, where a young student surpasses her troubled mentor, unleashing much wrath, in this novel (after The Uses of Enchantment) by the editor of the literary magazine The Believer. LJ calls it “reminiscent of Arthur Phillips’s The Egyptologist: clever, humorous, with supernatural elements. While one can easily get confused about what is real and what is imagined, readers who surrender to the narrative may be rewarded with rich insights about losing a parent.”

Usual Suspects

Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Wheeler Publishing; MacMillan Audio) focuses on a just-married woman whose angry new stepdaughter is determined to undermine her, and what motherhood truly means. LJ says, “Green is at her finest with this compelling novel. Deeper, more complicated, and more ambitious than her previous books, it will keep readers on edge as they wait to see how these tense family dynamics play out.”

Deep Fathom by James Rollins (HarperCollins Morrow; Harperluxe) finds ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfacing from an aborted salvage mission to find the United States on the brink of a nuclear apocalypse.

Young Adult

Infamous(Chronicles of Nick Series #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin; Macmillan Audio) follows the further adventures of teenager Nick Gautier, whose first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him. He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, as well as divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive and keep a girlfriend so hard, let alone survival? Kenyon’s books and fans keep mounting: there are 23 million copies of her books in print in over 30 countries,

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls Series #5) by Ally Carter (Hyperion Books; Brilliance Corporation) is the latest installment in the popular spy-girl series, in which Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed since she left the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family, and her memory is a black hole.

Starters, Lissa Price, (RH/Delacorte Young Readers; Listening Library) is a new entry in the crowded field of YA dystopian novels. This one imagines a world in which teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. Kirkus wasn’t impressed with the writing, but predicted, “twists and turns come so fast that readers will stay hooked.” In its spring preview, the L.A. Times called it “the next, best entry” in the genre. It comes with a book trailer that makes you wonder how quickly it will be snapped up by Hollywood.

Nonfiction

When I Was a Child I Read Books:  Essays by Marilynne Robinson (Macmillan/FSG) is a new collection that returns to her major themes: the role of faith in modern life, the inadequacy of fact, and the contradictions inherent in human nature. Kirkus says, “Robinson is a splendid writer, no question–erudite, often wise and slyly humorous (there is a clever allusion to the birther nonsense in a passage about Noah Webster). Articulate and learned descriptions and defenses of the author’s Christian faith.”

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond (HarperCollins/Morrow) intersperses recipes with photographs of the author’s life on her ranch. Kirkus says, “some readers may delight in Drummond’s down-home way of speaking directly to the reader, while others may find the interaction a bit snarky and annoying. A collection of basic recipes to guarantee a full belly and an empty plate.”

We admit we were a bit skeptical when GalleyChatters first raved about The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller (HarperCollins/Ecco), a debut novel based on The Iliad.

Turns out we’re not the only ones with reservations; Mary Doria Russell, in her review in the Washington Post, admits, “Until I was 60 and writing about Doc Holliday (who read the classics in their original languages), the closest I came to The Iliad was watching Brad Pitt in Troy.”

Russell goes on to say that the book “draws the personal and the intimate” out of Homer’s story and makes it partly a “quiet love story” (about the adolescent friendship between Achilles and Patroclus, causing the Independent to dub it, “Brokeback Mountain sets sail for Troy“), peppered with “tense and exciting” battle scenes.

If you’ve been putting off reading the advance readers edition (HarperCollins was giving them away liberally), Russell’s review should put you over the top.

Sunday’s NYT Book Review caught up with Robert Harris’s Fear Index (RH/Knopf, Jan 31). Dozens of other reviews have already appeared (see summary here). It hit the 2/18 NYT fiction hardcover best seller list at #12 and is currently on the extended list at #24.

Last month, in a profile in The Washington Post, Harris was described as,

…[belonging to] the international community of the airport reader — the people of the paperback who demand burning plots and tense suspense. His stuff is Dan Brown, but better written. It’s Ken Follett, but less discovered. He does refined thrillers; he does restrained mania; he does social commentary disguised as potboiler.

A movie is also in the works, with Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) directing. No cast has been announced.

Several libraries are showing heavy holds.

Lots of buzz on next week’s titles, including two novels that are the #1 and #2 Indie Next Picks for March: Carol Anshaw‘s Carry the One and Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. Literary favorites Kathryn Harrison and Jeanette Winterson are back too  – Harrison with a novel of the Romanovs and Winterson with a memoir of overcoming her difficult relationship with her adoptive mother. Usual suspects include Clive Cussler, Patricia Briggs, Thomas Perry and a tie-in to the second season of the George R.R. Martin HBO TV series.

Watch List

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw (Simon and Schuster; Tantor Audio; Thorndike Large Print) begins with a fatal car crash after a wedding reception that haunts the bridal party for the next 25 years. Booklist‘s starred review sums up the universally positive trade reviews: “masterful in her authenticity, quicksilver dialogue, wise humor, and receptivity to mystery, Anshaw has created a deft and transfixing novel of fallibility and quiet glory.” It just received an “A” rating from Entertainment Weekly and is the #1 Indie Next Pick for March 2012.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (HarperCollins/Ecco Press) retells Homer’s epic from the point of view of Patroclus, an exiled Greek prince taken in by the father of Achilles. Over the years, the two boys’ tentative friendship grows into a deep and passionate love that stands firm despite disapproval of the elders and the gods. The #2 Indie Next Pick for March, the annotation says, “Miller’s homage to The Iliad is sharp and strengthened by her knowledge and exquisite prose.” It’s also on Oprah’s Must-Read List for March.

Monday Mornings by Sanjay Gupta (Grand Central Publishing; Hachette Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is a debut novel by CNN’s chief medical correspondent, also the host of TV’s House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and author of the best-selling Cheating Death. It pulls back the curtain on the Morbidity and Mortality conference at Chelsea General, where surgeons answer for bad outcomes. LJ says, “Anyone who enjoys medical fiction should like this novel, despite a few less-than-realistic plot developments. Gupta keeps his numerous characters and their intermingled lives and crises in play and convinces readers to care about each one.”

Literary Favorites

Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison (Random House; Center Point Large Print) is set in the final days of Russia’s Romanov Empire, as the Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest and Rasputin’s 18-year-old daughter, Masha finds solace with the Czar’s son, Prince Alyosha. LJ says, “though the narrative can be confusing as Masha’s tales move rapidly from reality to fantasy, the ever-fascinating story of the fall of the Romanov dynasty will appeal to readers of historical fiction.” The author will appear on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered on March 4, and the book will be covered in the New York Times Book Review on March 11. It’s also on Oprah’s Must-Read List for March.

Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru (RH/Knopf; Thorndike Large Print) follows a husband and wife after their son, Raj, vanishes during a family vacation in the California desert and reappears inexplicably unharmed—but not unchanged. This one is also on Oprah’s Must-Read List for March, which says “at its core, this thrill ride of a novel is about searching for truth, even as wife Lisa finally comes to realize, ‘at the heart of the world…is a mystery into which we are not meant to penetrate.'” Reviewed in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, it gets a B+, with points off for not always being “narratively satisfying,” although “it’s still a compelling exploration of cosmic-American weirdness.”

Usual Suspects

The Thief by Clive Cussler (Penguin/Putnam; Wheeler Large Type; Penguin Audio) is set on the ocean liner “Mauretania,” where two European scientists with a dramatic new invention are barely rescued from abduction by the Van Dorn Detective Agency’s intrepid chief investigator, Isaac Bell.

Fair Game (Alpha and Omega Series #3) by Patricia Briggs (Ace Books) is the third book in the popular urban fantasy series.

Poison Flower: A Jane Whitefield Novel by Thomas Perry (Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press; Tantor Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the seventh novel in this series about a Seneca woman who helps abused women and other victims disappear. Here, Jane spirits James Shelby, a man unjustly convicted of his wife’s murder, out of a  criminal court building, and must endure the torment of men posing as police who kidnap her.

Young Adult

Everlasting by Elizabeth Chandler (Simon Pulse) finds fallen angel Ivy reunited with her her formerly dead boyfriend Tristan. But he has been cast down in the body of a murderer, and they must clear him before they can be together.

TV Tie-in

A Clash of Kings (HBO Tie-In Edition): A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two by George R.R. Martin (RH/Bantam; Random House Audio) is a tie-in to the HBO series that begins April 1.

Nonfiction

Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson (Grove Press) is a memoir about this accomplished author’s life work to find happiness, after growing up in a north England industrial town with an abusive Pentacostal adoptive mother. But getting herself into Oxford and becoming an acclaimed literary author doesn’t satisfy her quest for love. Kirkus says, “this is a highly unusual, scrupulously honest, and endearing memoir.”  It’s also on Oprah’s Must-Read List for March.

Shades of Hope: A Program to Stop Dieting and Start Living by Tennie McCarty (Penguin/ Amy Einhorn Books; Penguin Audio) offers advice breaking the diet cycle, by one of the foremost experts on eating addiction who has a famous retreat center, Shades of Hope. This is the first foray into self-help for star editor Amy Einhorn, who is better known for fiction (The Help, The Postmistress, The Weird Sisters).

Next week, St. Martin’s republishes Torn, the second title in Amanda Hocking’s previously self-published ebook series, barely two months after the first one, Switched. They will be arriving quickly; the third title, Ascend, is scheduled for April.  The second title in another YA series, Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver, also arrives this week. Both series, of course, have been optioned for film adaptations. Among the big names, Jodi Picoult’s new book features real (not supernatural) wolves and Lisa Lutz’s sly humor is on display in the fifth in her Spellman series.

Watch List

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung (Penguin/Riverhead) is the story of two sisters with very different reactions to their Korean parents and heritage, by one of Granta magazine’s “New Voices.” Kirkus says, “despite some missteps into cliches about abuse, Chung delves with aching honesty and beauty into large, difficult questions–the strength and limits of family, the definition of home, the boundaries (or lack thereof) between duty and love–within the context of a Korean experience. Chung’s limpid prose matches her emotional intelligence.” A syndicated  Reuters Q&A with the author appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

Blue Monday by Nicci French (Penguin/Pamela Dorman) is the first in a series of psychological thrillers by the  husband-wife writing team of Sean French and Nicci Gerard, and involves the solitary psychotherapist Frieda Klein in modern London. PW says, “with its brooding atmosphere, sustained suspense, last-minute plot twist, and memorable cast of characters, this series debut will leave readers eager to discover what color Tuesday will be.”

Usual Suspects

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult (S&S/ Atria/Emily Bestler Books; Center Point Large Print) focuses on prodigal son Edward Warren, who has been living for five years after an irreparable fight with his father, a wolf expert. But he must return to New Hampshire, where his dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara. Kirkus says, “the thoroughly researched wolf lore is fascinating; the rest of the story is a more conventional soap opera of hospital, and later courtroom histrionics. Readers will care less about Luke’s prospects for survival than they will about the outcome for his wild companions.” Attention ALA Annual attendees; Picoult and her daughter will speak during the ALA President’s Program.

Victims by Jonathan Kellerman (RH/Ballantine; RH Audio; Thorndike Large Print) finds L.A. psychologist Alex Delaware stymied by a string of seemingly random slayings with only one clue left behind — a blank page bearing a question mark. PW says, “Too many plot contrivances make this one of Kellerman’s weaker efforts, but the usual effective interplay between Alex and [his pal Lt. Milo Sturgis] should satisfy series fans.”

Trail of the Spellmans: Document #5 by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster; Thorndike Large Print) is the fifth installment in the popular Edgar- and Macavity-nominated series about San Francisco PI Isabel Izzy Spellman and her eccentric sleuthing family. PW says “Lutz’s dry, biting humor is in full force, yet theres more than a hint of melancholy to be found in Izzys increasingly solitary pursuits.”

Young Adult

Torn by Amanda Hocking (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin; Brilliance Corporation) is the second paranormal romance in the paperback Trylle Trilogy, after Switched. Kirkus says, “while the writing certainly lacks the depth and polish it takes to win major literary awards, there is no denying that Hocking knows how to tell a good story and keep readers coming back for more.” Hocking was picked up by St. Martin’s after she hit the Amazon bestseller list as a self-published author.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins) is the sequel to the YALSA Best Teen title, Delirium, with heroine Lena now living the Wilds, having evaded the required government procedure that eliminates amor deliria nervosa (a.k.a love). Kirkus says, “the novel’s success can be attributed to its near pitch-perfect combination of action and suspense, coupled with the subtler but equally gripping evolution of Lena’s character.”

Ripper by Stefan Petrucha (Penguin/Philomel) is the story of orphan Carver Young, adopted by a detective who investigates a vicious serial killer in New York City, with what appear to be uncanny ties to Young. PW: “Petrucha’s story hits the ground running and doesnt let up, the brisk pace making the inevitable twists effective; he also incorporates some fun steampunk-style gadgetry. Appearances by the Pinkertons, Jack the Ripper, and then New York City police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt add flair to the historical setting.”

Movie Tie-in

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (Hachette/Grand Central) is the mass market edition that ties in to the film releasing on April 20, 2012, starring Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner.

If you haven’t already, you will soon begin seeing the ad on the left in magazines and on billboards.

What does GCB stand for? Originally, it was Good Christian Bitches, from the book this new tv series is based on. ABC got cold feet, however, and changed it to Good Christian Belles and, then, in a burst of creativity, reduced it to textese.

The network says the plot “Centers on Amanda Vaughn, a recently divorced mother of two who, to get a fresh start, moves back to the affluent Dallas neighborhood where she grew to find herself in the whirling midst of salacious gossip, Botox, and fraud.”

Starring Kristin Chenoweth and Annie Potts, it premieres Sun., March 4, 10 p.m. EST on ABC. It is the network’s attempt to replace the lucrative Desperate Housewives, which ends in May.

The book, originally published by Brown Books in Dallas, was reissued last month by Hyperion. Booklist, reviewed it, saying,  “Chick lit tackles the Christian Right, with amusingly predictable results in Gatlin’s solid freshman effort,” but LJ Express said, “The characters are obsessed with labels and bank balances, and the book is a tiresome exercise in unfettered consumption. Of possible interest to Texans who may enjoy identifying the thinly veiled Dallas environs. Other than that, there’s nothing to like here.”

Some libraries are showing holds on light ordering.

Good Christian Bitches Kim Gatlin Retail Price: $14.99 Trade Pbk: 306 pages Publisher: Hyperion – (2012-01-17) ISBN / EAN: 9781401310707/1401310702

Today is publication day for former Senator Russ Feingold’s book, While America Sleeps. After his appearance on NPR’s Morning Edition today, he is headed to the Daily Show for an interview with Jon Stewart. The New York Times blog, “The Caucus” today says that in the book, Feingold, who was the only one to vote against the Patriot Act, offers an “insider’s viws of the Senate Post-Sept. 11,” one that was “off kilter.”

While America Sleeps: A Wake-up Call for the Post-9/11 Era Russ Feingold Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: RH/Crown – (2012-02-21) ISBN / EAN: 0307952525 / 9780307952523

According to the recent NYT profile, Katherine Boo, author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Random House), a look at life in a Mumbai slum, hates publicity.

She’s had to endure a great deal of it in the last few weeks, from NPR to the Charlie Rose show.

It’s been worth the effort; the book arrived at #9 on Sunday’s NYT Nonfiction Best Seller list, right behind two other books that have received media attention; Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford at #7 and Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting  by Pamela Druckerman at #8.

It is also #1 on the Indie Nonfiction Bestseller list.

Foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, died while on assignment in Syria for the NYT, apparently from an acute asthma attack (NYT obituary).

His third book, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East, has been moved up from its original publication date of March 27th to next Tuesday (USA Today).

The book is a memoir of the year Shadid spent in Lebanon, restoring the estate built by his great-grandfather. Reviewing it, Kirkus concluded,

Much of the narrative is a gentle unfolding of observation and insight, as the author reacquaints himself with the Arabic rhythms, “absorbing beauties, and documenting what was no more.” A complicated, elegiac, beautiful attempt to reconcile the physical bayt (home) and the spiritual.

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East Anthony Shadid Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade – (2012-02-28) ISBN / EAN: 0547134665 / 9780547134666

Two notable historical novels arrive next week: Jonathan Odell‘s The Healing, about a 75 year-old woman raised as a slave, and Kate Alcott‘s The Dressmaker, which gives the Titanic disaster a fresh twist. Usual suspects include Alex Berenson, Kim Harrison, J.D. Robb, Matthew Pearl and Thomas Mallon. And in nonfiction, David Brock takes on Fox News and Roger Ailes, plus there’s a lavish guide to the art of the popular gaming series The Mass Universe.

Watch List

The Healing by Jonathan Odell (RH/Knopf/Nan A. Talese; Wheeler Large Print) is the story of a 75 year-old woman who was raised as a slave by the unstable wife of a plantation owner, and revives buried memories to heal a young girl abandoned to her care. Library Journal says, “bound to be compared to Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling The Help, this historical novel relegates its few white characters to distinctly minor status and probes complex issues of freedom and slavery, such as the dangers of an owner’s favor, making it more like Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s acclaimed Wench.” This one has also been mentioned favorably by librarians on our own Galley Chat.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott (RH/Doubleday; Center Point Large Print; Random House Audio) follows a young woman hired as a personal maid on the Titanic, who becomes involved in a public scandal after her mistress’s questionable actions are revealed by the shipwreck. Library Journal says it gives the tale of the Titanic “a fresh feel. Tess makes a praiseworthy heroine, [but] one fewer suitor might have been more plausible. Still, an engaging first novel.”

Flatscreen by Adam Wilson (Harper Perennial) follows the dangerous friendship and YouTube stardom of Eli Schwartz, who thinks of himself as a loser, and Seymour J. Kahn, a twisted former TV star who has purchased Eli’s old family home. Booklist gives it a starred review, calling it “a standout addition to a new generation of writers.” PW adds, “comedy and pathos abound in Seymours absurdist world…Fans of Jack Pendarvis and Sam Lipsyte will enjoy Wilsons fresh, fantastical perspective.”

Usual Suspects

Shadow Patrol by Alex Berenson (Putnam Adult; Wheeler Publishing; Penguin Audiobooks) is this Edgar-winning author’s sixth spy thriller starring ex-CIA operative John Wells. It focuses on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who engage in drug smuggling while fighting the Taliban. Kirkus says, “the prose is airtight, the pacing is excellent and the phenomenal action sequences more than make up for minor weaknesses in the plot. Berenson’s highly enjoyable series continues with more of the rock-solid same.”

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison (Harper Voyager; Blackstone Audiobooks) is the 10th installment in the landmark urban fantasy series, and finds Rachel Morgan, a witch-turned-demon, at a crime scene involving a university student. LJ says: “Harrison’s colorful cast of supporting characters keeps the story moving among the fast-paced action scenes. Longtime fans will obviously be standing in line for this one. However, readers with any interest in urban fantasy can easily jump into the story.”

Celebrity in Death by J. D. Robb (Penguin/Putnam; Brilliance Audio) is the 35th Eve Dallas novel, which finds the Lieutenant at a party celebrating a film based on one of her cases, that suddenly turns into a crime scene. Kirkus says, “readers count on Robb to deliver the goods, and [this] will not disappoint. The plot is cleverly conceived, cinematically riveting, and sexily charming, and Eve is her usual no-nonsense self.”

The Technologists by Matthew Pearl (Random House; Random House Audio) is set at the close of the Civil War, as students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology form a secret society that is determined to find the truth behind a recent string of commercial disasters. LJ says, “Pearl has a special talent for making likable detectives out of historical figures, and for pulling compelling plotlines from biographies. Here, MIT and Harvard are brought to the foreground and so well depicted that they become historical characters in their own right. This thriller won’t disappoint Pearl’s many fans.”

Watergate by Thomas Mallon (RH/Pantheon; Blackstone Audiobooks) retells the story of the Watergate scandal from the perspectives of seven key characters, suggesting answers to some of the incident’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Although it’s not due for publication until Tuesday, it’s already racked up a number of newsstand reviews; The Washington Post (“imaginative political farce“); NYT (a “lively, witty drama“) and the L.A. Times (“It’s [the] human touches that ultimately make Watergate work.”)

Young Adult

Fever (Chemical Garden Series #2) by Lauren DeStefano (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) returns to the dystopian worldbuilding, moral dilemmas and romantic possibilities of Wither but Kirkus says they “never heat up… [the characters’ constant running and hiding overshadow the interesting questions about the ethics of science, relationships, sexuality and power raised in the first book. Readers who want to know more about the causes and effects of the mysterious virus will have to wait for the third installment, purposefully set up by another rushed ending.”

Paperback

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium Trilogy Series #3) by Stieg Larsson (Knopf Publishing Group; Random House Large Print Publishing; Random House Audio) finally arrives in two paperback editions: a trade paperback edition with a 325K first printing, and a mass market edition with a 680K first printing.

Nonfiction

The Fox Effect: How Roger Ailes Turned a Network into a Propaganda Machine by David Brock (RH/Anchor Books) is a catalogue of Fox News president Roger Ailes’ alleged misdeeds as head of the controversial network, written by Brock, the founder and CEO of Media Matters, and Rabin-Havt, the organization’s executive vice president, who say they were the object of personal attacks authorized by Ailes in retaliation for their organization’s critical coverage of Fox. Kirkus says, “worth reading for anyone who suspects Fox News of distorting the truth and is eager to spend hours sifting through the evidence.”

Art of the Mass Effect Universe by Various (Dark Horse Comics) is a companion to The Mass Effect science fiction gaming series, with concept art and commentary by BioWare on the games’ characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, and more.

On the Colbert Report “TA-night”, the man who has made yoga controversial (and his book a best seller; it’s currently at #41 Amazon’s rankings and has heavy holds in libraries), William J. Broad.

The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards William J Broad Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster – (2012-02-07) ISBN / EAN: 1451641427 / 9781451641424

Coming to the show on Thursday, the woman who brings introverts their due, Susan Cain. Her book, Quiet, debuted is #5 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction best seller list after two weeks.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking Susan Cain Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 266 pages Publisher: RH/Crown – (2012-01-24) ISBN : 9780307352149

RH Audio; ebook and audio on OverDrive

On The Daily Show tonight, Jon Stewart interviews Fawzia Koofi, Afghanistan’s first female deputy speaker of parliament (2005 to 2007) and a candidate for her country’s 2014 presidential elections. Her book, The Favored Daugher, was released early this year.

The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future Fawzia Koofi, Nadene Ghouri Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan – (2012-01-03) ISBN / EAN: 0230120679 / 9780230120679

William Landay’s thriller, Defending Jacob, landed at #4 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction best seller list on Sunday, after its first five days on sale.

Playing a bit of catchup, Janet Maslin reviews it in today’s NYT. She presents the review as its own mystery; whether Landay, “a former district attorney with two well-received novels behind him, has developed the chops to catapult himself into the Scott Turow tier of legal-eagle blockbuster writers.”

While she doesn’t definitively answer that question, she comes close to saying “yes,” giving Landy kudos for “creating a clever blend of legal thriller and issue-oriented family implosion,” calling the result “ingenious.”

Libraries are showing heavy holds (as high as 35:1) on modest orders. Those that own the audio (Blackstone) are showing heavy holds on that format. Ebook and downloadable audio are available via OverDrive.

Defending Jacob William Landay Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: RH/Delacorte – (2012-01-31) ISBN : 978-0-385-34422-7

Blackstone Audio; Thorndike Large Print