May 2, 2014

At our house I rarely am home alone. While I love Tom and the boys, there are times when I crave silence and aloneness. Tom wakes up and cranks up the stereo system while I prefer to hear myself think. This week, I got my alone time as Tom headed to Kansas for a business trip, Greg headed to the UK for a vacation, and Cory is still at school. I lost a few pounds as I did not indulge in big dinners, but rather grazed on healthy snacks. I got a few more pages read since there was no conversation. I worked way too late one night since no one was heading to bed, thus my day/night barometer was off. I turned on every light as I watched the season finale of "The Following" as I realized it’s a lot scarier watching a terrifying but addicting show when you are home alone.

After getting caught in a horrendous traffic jam during the rainstorm Wednesday night, I decided I was not going to drive home after the Edgar Awards last night and booked a hotel in the city. Right after I made this decision, Tom’s flight was cancelled and he was re-routed via Cleveland, which meant he spent an entire day trying to get home yesterday. Thus, we both had our lives affected by weather. I have decided sounds of silence are nice once in a while, but I am ready for the noise level to get kicked back up a notch this weekend.

Speaking of noise, at the Edgar Awards, I literally screamed with excitement when William Kent Krueger won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for ORDINARY GRACE. I remember reading this in manuscript while floating in a pool in North Carolina. When I finished it, I went inside to write Kent to tell him how marvelous it was...dripping water in the kitchen. When it published in hardcover, I picked it as a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. It’s a really special and beautiful book that is now available in paperback. If you want more than my comments about it, read our review and the Sneak Peek feedback from our readers, who agreed with me.

As always, the Edgars gave me a chance to catch up with friends in the mystery community. There was a lot of warm camaraderie, air kisses and book chatter. I sat with Matthew Guinn and his wife. Matthew had such kind words about the review that our very own Joe Hartlaub had done of THE RESURRECTIONIST; loved hearing that and texted Joe to share the news!

Last week, I told you how much I was enjoying THE WOLF by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Whoever knew I would be rooting for a bunch of mob guys? Well, when it’s a choice between terrorists and the mob, I picked the mob every time. I have a bit more to go, but I see why I have been hearing lots of buzz about it. Today I'm spending the day at the Random House Open House. I prepped by reading DELICIOUS! by Ruth Reichl, who is one of the presenting authors (you can see her pictured with me above). It’s coming out Tuesday, and the opener is set in the magazine world at a food magazine. It brought back many wonderful magazine memories for me. Reichl was the editor-in-in chief of Gourmet magazine before it folded, so her stories about Delicious the magazine are spot on. It’s a great summer read that is rich in both plot and details with a plucky protagonist who is a great character to read. I just learned this week that it is a Pennie’s Pick from Costco. It will be a Bets On selection, and you can read my comments about it the next newsletter.

I will have more about today’s Open House events next week! For any of our readers who were at the Random House event, drop me a note as we would love to interview you about your thoughts on the day. Now on to this week’s lineup.

Greg Iles is back! After a five-year absence, the bestselling author returns with NATCHEZ BURNING, the first installment in a trilogy featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage. Ray Palen has our review and says, “Iles has told a deeply personal and moving tale with NATCHEZ BURNING and opened some old wounds. Readers will be spellbound watching the past rear its ugly head and directly influence the present as Penn must battle prejudices old and new to find the truth…. I look forward to the continuation of this can’t-miss saga.” For those of you who don’t know, Greg was in a horrific accident three years ago, which is the reason it’s been so long between books for him. You can read more about it and his recovery here. I caught up with him at the ABA’s Winter Institute in Seattle, and it was really nice to see him signing books and talking to readers!

Also returning is Jonas Jonasson, whose debut novel, THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED, was an international bestseller. His follow-up, THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN, is now in stores, and is a tale of how one person's actions can have far-reaching --- even global --- consequences. According to reviewer Jana Siciliano, the book is "unexpected, crazy and exuberant. Take it on vacation and you won’t be able to put it down. If you are on staycation this summer, you will feel like you’ve been to the Moon and back by the time you are done."

This week, we feature our review of TELL ME YOU’RE SORRY and our interview with Kevin O’Brien, the latest author in our Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight. Joe Hartlaub raves, “Titles such as TERRIFIED, VICIOUS, DISTURBED and KILLING SPREE pretty much tell you in advance what you’re getting, all of which is good, not to mention grisly. So what is one to make of O’Brien’s latest, TELL ME YOU’RE SORRY, a tome with a deceptively and relatively benign title? What you can take to the bank is that this is O’Brien’s best novel thus far, a work that his loyal fan base will wholeheartedly embrace while attracting armies of new readers to his tent.” Joe also had the pleasure of interviewing Kevin for a sixth time, and you can read their latest conversation here. I finished this last Saturday morning, and all I can say is, “Bravo Kevin; it’s your best book.”

We’re also featuring a review and interview for WHERE EARTH MEETS WATER, Pia Padukone’s debut novel in which one man searches for meaning in the wake of incomparable tragedy. You may remember we awarded advance copies to 25 readers back in February, and now it's our latest One to Watch Author Spotlight title. Alexis Burling has our review and says, “Padukone’s vignettes --- set both in an India defined by its ‘mustiness of cardamom and mustard and mothballs’ and the gritty streets of a post-9/11 New York --- are imbued with vivid detail. So, too, her characters are anything but bland or passive. Sure, they act selfish or rash and make frustrating mistakes. But, more importantly, they fight for what they want, what they need --- committed love, protection, acceptance.” Alexis also asked Pia some questions about her first work of fiction, and you can read the interview here.

ONE HUNDRED NAMES by Cecelia Ahern is the latest title in our Paperback Spotlight. Constance, the woman who taught journalist Kitty Logan everything she knew, is dying. At her mentor's bedside, Kitty asks her, "What is the one story you always wanted to write?" The answer lies in a single sheet of paper buried in Constance's office --- a list of 100 names --- with no notes or explanation. But before she can ask her friend, it is too late. Determined to unlock the mystery, Kitty begins piecing together an unexpected portrait of Constance's life...and starts to understand her own. Click here to read more about the book, which releases this Tuesday the 6th.

Elise Juska’s debut novel, THE BLESSINGS, is the newest title in our New Release Spotlight. When John Blessing dies and leaves behind two small children, the loss reverberates across his extended family for years to come. His young widow, Lauren, finds solace in her large clan of in-laws, while his brother's wife Kate pursues motherhood even at the expense of her marriage. THE BLESSINGS reveals the interior worlds of the members of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family and the rituals that unite them. Click here to read more about the book, which also releases this Tuesday the 6th. This release crept up on me…I really want to read it. HOW did May happen so fast when winter dragged on and on and on?

Our eBook Spotlight is back, and this time we’re featuring LITTLE LIES by Heather Gudenkauf, a prequel to LITTLE MERCIES, which we gave away 25 copies of recently. When the body of a woman is discovered in a local park --- with her bewildered four-year-old son sitting beside her --- veteran social worker Ellen Moore is called in to assist in the police investigation. Positioned beneath a statue of Leto, the goddess of motherhood, the crime is weighted with meaning and, Ellen discovers, remarkably similar to one from a decade past. Click here to read more about the book, which is available as an eBook Original. Read it now to prep for LITTLE MERCIES!

Our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight of Lauren Francis-Sharma and her debut novel continues for one more week. ’TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY is a multi-generational, multicultural saga that begins in the 1940s and sweeps through the 1960s in Trinidad and the United States. Would you like to be one of 25 readers who will win a copy of the book and comment on it? Then please fill out this form by Thursday, May 8th at noon ET. As promised, I’m making ’TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY my latest Bets On pick. Click here for my commentary.

The latest title in our Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight is Camilla Läckberg’s new psychological thriller, THE HIDDEN CHILD, the chilling struggle of a young woman facing the darkest chapter of Europe’s past. We have 35 copies of the book, which releases on May 15th, to give away to readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 8th at noon ET. This will be a Bets On selection later this month. It’s a complete page-turner, and I’m looking forward to catching up on Camilla’s previous titles!

Also running for another week is our giveaway of ENDURING COURAGE: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed by John F. Ross, which kicks off our first-ever Nonfiction Author Spotlight. As the subtitle suggests, this is the biography of Eddie Rickenbacker, an innovator on the racetrack, a skilled aerial dualist and squadron commander, and founder of Eastern Air Lines. We have 25 copies to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on May 13th, and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 8th at noon ET. Greg finished this on his flight to the UK and was raving about it to me via Google Hangouts. I'm looking forward to his review and our interview with Ross.

We'd also like to point out three contests that are currently appearing on the righthand side of the Bookreporter.com homepage. We're giving 25 readers the chance to win a copy of FOUR FRIENDS by Robyn Carr (the deadline for entries is Monday, May 5th at noon ET). In addition, 25 readers will be awarded a copy of THE OLEANDER SISTERS by Elaine Hussey before its release date of July 29th (the deadline is Thursday, May 8th at noon ET), and 25 more readers will win a copy of THE SAINT by Tiffany Reisz (the deadline is Tuesday, May 13th at noon ET).

Our Mother’s Day Author Blogs are back for a fifth year! From now until Mother’s Day, we’re sharing pieces from authors who talk about how their moms influenced them to become readers and writers, along with their own experiences as mothers and their views on motherhood. We’re leading off this year’s series with Francine Rivers, whose latest novel BRIDGE TO HAVEN we’ve been featuring in our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight. In the days to come, we’ll be hearing from Lynn Cullen, Dorothea Benton Frank, Cassandra King, Holly Peterson and more. In the meantime, click here for Francine's opening piece.

Speaking of Mom’s big day, there’s only one more week left in our Ninth Annual Mother's Day Contest, where we’re awarding 10 readers a Bookreporter.com Mother's Day prize package. Each package includes a selection of 10 books, along with Tazo Tea, a Divine dark chocolate bar, and a Crabtree & Evelyn bar of soap and bath sponge shaped like a flower. Please fill out this form by Friday, May 9th at noon ET for your chance to be a winner. And, ahem, as a mom, I want to remind you that it’s time to think about book shopping for mom and buying a card!

Above is an ad for the NOOK GlowLight eReader, which is now available for just $99, $20 off the regular price. Click on the ad or here to purchase one for yourself, your mom, or anyone else you may have in mind! The offer expires on Mother's Day, May 11th, so please take advantage of this special opportunity while you can!

We’re curious to know what percentage of your friends are avid readers. Please tell us by taking our latest poll here. I had an interesting comment from Judy, who is one of our readers, about our poll question, where she said, “Wish you'd do another poll asking “What percentage of your friends WERE avid readers. So many have succumbed to TV, videos, YouTube, etc. They still are my friends, but I sometimes think they humor me when I wax on about the 'best book I’ve read in years'...and they say, 'Oh! Let me write that down.' Sites like yours are a sanity life saver." We love hearing that.

What books have you finished reading? Let us know by filling out the form found on our Word of Mouth page by Friday, May 8th at noon ET, and you’ll be in the running to win the aforementioned NATCHEZ BURNING and THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN, along with Maeve Binchy’s final novel, CHESTNUT STREET, which we reviewed last week.

Besides the finale of "The Following," I have been doing some video/TV catchup of my own. I failed to share how much I loved the season finale of "Scandal." We’ve been catching up on Oscar nominees with both 12 Years a Slave and Philomena, both of which were based on books! I am glad I saw 12 Years a Slave on video; it was such an intense film that I preferred to have my emotions of sadness and anger about the issue of slavery played out on my couch instead of in a theater. It deserves every award it got. And Philomena is brilliant. I loved watching the story unfold. If you rent it, I recommend the bonus tracks, which will provide additional insight, even giving you a chance to meet the real Philomena. I heard from someone who has a friend who had been through the same experience.

My husband is a race car enthusiast and has been an active member of the BMW Club for years as he trains instructors and students. I spent a lot of time at the track before we had the boys and can remember flagging (where you note danger ahead) many a day at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. Thus, when we watched Rush, the story of the rivalry between race car drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 racing season, I knew a lot about the track sequences. This was an era when drivers in Formula One regularly died in crashes, and safety was nothing like it is today. I think the last driver to die was the great, in fact often called “the best,” Ayrton Senna, who passed away 20 years ago.

Quiet weekend ahead, and I think the weather FINALLY is going to be nice enough to take the cover off the pool (I am doing a real happy dance about this) and to start clearing out the gardens. Oh, and also time for that outdoor activity I love the most --- reading in a lawn chair!

Have a great week, and read on. We have yet another terrific update this week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Kevin O’Brien has come a long way since his days as a railroad inspector. Now he’s the bestselling author of 14 internationally published thrillers; his latest, TELL ME YOU’RE SORRY, may be his best to date. In this interview with Bookreporter.com’s Joe Hartlaub, O'Brien talks about what inspires his thrillers (including movies, nimble editors and metaphorical landladies), constructing his settings from memory, and how his experience as a wannabe screenwriter is elemental to the cinematic scope of his novels. He also explains why he loves throwing in odd details that are familiar to readers (“blasts from the past”) and considers what he would do if someone bought Jeffrey Dahmer’s boyhood home --- recently put on the market --- for him as a gift.

TELL ME YOU'RE SORRY by Kevin O'Brien (Thriller)
Stephanie Coburn has barely recovered from her sister's mysterious suicide before her brother-in-law and his new wife are murdered, her face disfigured beyond recognition. Stephanie never met the bride, but she knew her sister and knows something is desperately wrong. Her only ally is another victim's son. Step by step, they're uncovering a trail of brutal vengeance and a killer who will never relent --- and whose forgiveness can only be earned in death. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read Kevin O'Brien's bio.
-Click here to visit Kevin O'Brien's official website.
-Click here to connect with Kevin O'Brien on Twitter.
-Click here to see the 25 winners selected to read and comment on the book.
-Click here to read more in our Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight.

In Pia Padukone’s debut novel, WHERE EARTH MEETS WATER, a man searches for meaning in the wake of incomparable tragedy. Bookreporter.com’s Alexis Burling talks to Padukone about what she has learned from her first publishing experience and why she is fascinated by other writers’ processes, as well as the important and not-quite-lost art of diary writing. She also considers the difference between the very human states of wanting and needing, how secrets can be both helpful and harmful, and the joy of co-writing a blog with her husband, Two Admirable Pleasures, which combines her two major loves: cooking and reading.

WHERE EARTH MEETS WATER by Pia Padukone (Fiction)
Karom Seth should have been in the Twin Towers on the morning of 9/11, and on the Indian shores in 2004, when the tsunami swept his entire family into the ocean. Karom can’t be sure if it’s a curse or a blessing, but his absence from these disasters has left him with crushing guilt --- and a belief that fate has singled him out for invincibility. Will he ever be able achieve the clarity he’s been looking for all these years?

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read Pia Padukone's bio.
-Connect with Pia Padukone on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
-Click here to read more in our One to Watch Author Spotlight.

Mother’s Day is a time to recognize the woman who raised and nurtured us. To celebrate, we're giving you the opportunity to win some books and goodies for you or the special lady in your life in our ninth annual "Books Mom Will Love" contest. From now through Friday, May 9th at noon ET, readers will have the chance to win one of our 10 prize packages. Each package is filled with a selection of 10 of the varied and wonderful books featured below, along with a marvelous array of gifts to treat yourself or Mom: Tazo Tea, a Divine dark chocolate bar, and a Crabtree & Evelyn bar of soap and bath sponge shaped like a flower.

To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, May 9th at noon ET.

This year's featured Mother's Day titles are:

• APART AT THE SEAMS: A Cobbled Courts Quilt Novel by Marie Bostwick
• THE APPLE ORCHARD by Susan Wiggs
• BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers
• DARK WITCH: Book One of The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts
• DRIVING LESSONS by Zoe Fishman
• FOUR FRIENDS by Robyn Carr
• GOODNIGHT JUNE by Sarah Jio
• THE IDEA OF HIM by Holly Peterson
• THE LAST ORIGINAL WIFE by Dorothea Benton Frank
• A LONG TIME GONE by Karen White
• MARRY SMART: Advice for Finding THE ONE by Susan Patton
• MRS. POE by Lynn Cullen
• THE MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS by Alice Hoffman
• THE ONE & ONLY by Emily Giffin
• ONE HUNDRED NAMES by Cecelia Ahern
• THE QUAKER CAFÉ by Brenda Bevan Remmes
• THE ROAD TO TESTAMENT by Eva Marie Everson
• THE SAME SWEET GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE: Advice from a Failed Southern Belle by Cassandra King
• SHADOW SPELL: Book Two of The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts
• TEST OF FAITH by Christa Allan

IN PARADISE by Peter Matthiessen (Fiction)
In the winter of 1996, more than a hundred individuals gather at the site of a former concentration camp for a weeklong retreat. They will offer prayer and witness at the crematoria, while eating and sleeping in the quarters of the Nazi officers who sent more than a million Jews to their deaths. Clements Olin, an American academic of Polish descent, is forced to abandon his observer’s role and embrace a history his family has long suppressed. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN by Jonas Jonasson (Fiction)
Nombeko Mayeki was fated to grow up fast and die early in her poverty-stricken township. But she finds work as a housecleaner and eventually makes her way up to the position of chief advisor, at the helm of one of the world's most secret projects. South Africa developed six nuclear missiles in the 1980s, then voluntarily dismantled them in 1994. This is a story about the seventh missile, the one that was never supposed to have existed. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

RUBY by Cynthia Bond (Historical Fiction)
Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby, who has suffered beyond imagining, flees Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, 30-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy. Reviewed by Jennifer Romanello.

CAVENDON HALL by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
For hundreds of years leading up to England's Edwardian era, the fates of the elite Ingham family and their servants and confidantes, the Swanns, have been intertwined in ways that leave each group wondering how they would ever survive the triumphs and tragedies of life without the help and love of the other. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.

THUNDERSTRUCK & OTHER STORIES by Elizabeth McCracken (Fiction/Short Stories)
At the center of Elizabeth McCracken's stories is often a jagged space left by loss: a neighborhood is haunted by a child's ghost, a library staff grapples with the mystery of a patron's death, a corner store manager obsesses over a missing woman, a son absconds forever with his parents' savings. But equally present in this new story collection --- McCracken's first in 20 years --- are passion, charm, humor and joy. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.

MONDAY, MONDAY by Elizabeth Crook (Historical Fiction)
On an oppressively hot Monday in August of 1966, a student and former marine named Charles Whitman hauled a footlocker of guns to the top of the University of Texas tower and began firing on pedestrians below. Before it was over, 16 people had been killed and 32 wounded. It was the first mass shooting of civilians on a campus in American history. Elizabeth Crook's latest novel, MONDAY, MONDAY, follows three students caught up in the massacre. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

FALLOUT by Sadie Jones (Historical Fiction)
Budding playwright Luke Kanowski, aspiring producer Paul Driscoll, and Paul's girlfriend, Leigh Radley, found a small theater company that enjoys unexpected early success. Then Luke meets Nina Jacobs, who drifts into a marriage with a manipulative theater producer. As Luke becomes a highly sought-after playwright, he stumbles in love, caught in two triangles where love, friendship and art will clash with terrible consequences for all involved. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

MIND OF WINTER by Laura Kasischke (Psychological Thriller)
On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens with the fragments of a nightmare floating on the edge of her consciousness. Thirteen years ago, she and her husband Eric adopted baby Tatty. Now, at 15, Tatiana is more beautiful than ever --- and disturbingly erratic. As a blizzard rages outside, Holly and Tatiana are alone. With each passing hour, Tatiana’s mood darkens, and her behavior becomes increasingly frightening…until Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE FRANGIPANI HOTEL: Fiction by Violet Kupersmith (Supernatural Fiction/Short Stories)
A beautiful young woman appears fully dressed in an overflowing bathtub at the Frangipani Hotel in Hanoi. A jaded teenage girl in Houston befriends an older Vietnamese gentleman she discovers naked behind a dumpster. A trucker in Saigon is asked to drive a dying young man home to his village. In these evocative and always surprising stories, the supernatural coexists with the mundane lives of characters who struggle against the burdens of the past. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

APART AT THE SEAMS: A Cobbled Court Quilts Novel by Marie Bostwick (Fiction)
New Bern, Connecticut is the ideal place to buy a second home and reignite the spark in Gayla and Brian's 26-year marriage. But when she finds a discarded memo in which Brian admits to a past affair and suggests an amicable divorce, a devastated Gayla flees to New Bern. This solo sabbatical is a chance to explore the creative impulses she sidelined long ago --- quilting, gardening, and striking up new friendships with the women of the Cobbled Court circle. Reviewed by Melody Dean Dimick.

STARS AND STRIKES: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76 by Dan Epstein (Sports/History)
As the nation saluted the 200th birthday of its independence in a spectacle of festivities, Major League Baseball players waged a war for their own liberties, demanding free agency. For both the nation and its national pastime, the year would turn out revolutionary, indeed. STARS AND STRIKES tracks the tumultuous year from White House to shorts-wearing White Sox, chronicling a time on the eve of the disco era, after which the sport and the nation would never be the same. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.

THEY CALLED ME GOD: The Best Umpire Who Ever Lived by Doug Harvey and Peter Golenbock (Sports/Memoir)
Doug Harvey went from working the overnight shift at a seedy bar to umpiring the World Series. After reaching the major leagues in record time, Doug enjoyed an amazing career that spanned 30 years. Now he’s ready to share the greatness, violence, pranks, rivalries and triumphs, providing a window into the game that only someone who is himself a legend can offer. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.

CALLED OUT BUT SAFE: A Baseball Umpire's Journey by Al Clark with Dan Schlossberg (Sports/Memoir)
If an umpire could steal the show in a Major League game, Al Clark might well have been the one to do it. Tough but fair, in his 30 years as a professional umpire, he took on some of baseball’s great umpire baiters, while ejecting any number of the game’s elite. CALLED OUT BUT SAFE is Clark’s outspoken and often hilarious account of his life in baseball, from umpire school through the highlights to the inglorious end of his stellar career. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.
 

THE FURIES by Mark Alpert (Paranormal Thriller)
For centuries, the Furies have lived among us. They’re human just like us, except for a rare genetic mutation that they’ve hidden from the rest of the world for hundreds of years. Now, a chance encounter with a beautiful woman named Ariel has led John Rogers into the middle of a secret war among the Furies. Ariel needs John’s help in the battle between a rebellious faction of the clan and their elders. The grand prize in this war is a chance to remake the human race. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

TROIKA by Adam Pelzman (Fiction)
When Julian is forced into an orphanage, he discovers that he has more in common with his father than he originally thought. Taken under the wing of a gruff, elderly businessman, Julian makes his way to New York City…and, years later, into the club where a beautiful woman named Perla is dancing. Soon after they meet, Perla is on a plane to Manhattan at the mysterious request of Julian’s friend --- a journey that will change the course of her life. Reviewed by Robert Doyle.

PLASTER CITY: A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco by Johnny Shaw (Adventure/Humor)
Jimmy Veeder and Bobby Maves are back at it, two years after the events of DOVE SEASON. When Bobby’s teenage daughter goes missing, he and Jimmy take off on a misadventure that starts out as merely unfortunate and escalates to downright calamitous. Bobby won’t hesitate to kick a hornets’ nest to get the girl to safety, but when the rescue mission goes riotously sideways, the duo’s grit --- and loyalty to each other --- is put to the test. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.