Bitten and Smitten

For Buffy fans...

Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowen
From PW: Rowen hits the nail (or is it the stake?) on the head with her feisty debut novel about a reluctant vampire trying to cope with her newfound otherworldly status. After a blind date bites Sarah Dearly on the neck and is killed by vampire hunters, she discovers she's not only a vampire but also has been left to learn the ropes of the night by herself. Thank goodness for wise "master" vampire Thierry de Bennicoeur, who saves her life, shows her to the nearest vampire hangout and wins her heart in the process. Next comes a mix of misplaced trust, stakings and bad double dates, all with the goal of outwitting the vampire hunters and getting Thierry to see that Sarah's the one for him. Rowen perfectly balances suspense and wit by tossing in one-liners just when the novel could start getting too serious ("I just need to wash my face and brush my fangs first and we can get out of here," Sarah says). Mentions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Anne Rice ground the novel and make it a true modern girl's guide to (vampire) life.

Nordic Noir

I came across the phrase "Nordic Noir" in a review today and felt compelled to use the phrase, especially since there have been some interesting titles out lately that fit the phrase (that apparently all share the same color scheme). Here are a few:

Jar City: A Reykjavik Murder Mystery by Arnuldar Indridason (Iceland)
The American debut of the winner of the 2002 Nordic Crime Novel Award. Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson heads up the investigation into the killing of a solitary man, found murdered in his Reykjavik apartment, only to discover that the victim has only two friends, one in prison and one missing for twenty-five years, and that the dead man had been accused but not convicted of a rape forty years earlier.


The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson (Sweden)
When a jogger stumbles upon the mutilated body of the local reformed troublemaker and tropical fish expert during a morning run, Inspector Ann Lindell takes time off from maternity leave to uncover the killer and is drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a vicious murderer.



Lang by Kjell Westo (Finland)
Unable to resist his passion for a beautiful and secretive woman, Lang, a famous novelist and television show host, finds himself caught in a sinister love triangle that includes the woman's psychotic former husband, a situation that becomes increasingly violent.

New Next Week

Two new books coming out next week that look interesting:

Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass (blurbed by Kathy Reichs)
From PW: "The pseudonymous Bass makes a successful first foray into fiction. The author is actually the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass, the forensic anthropologist who founded the legendary Body Farm (Tennessee's experimental laboratory devoted to the study of the way human corpses decompose), and Jon Jefferson, a journalist and filmmaker. Their new sleuth, Dr. Bill Brockton, is obviously based on Dr. Bass, sharing his first name, initials and his status as founder of the Body Farm. (The two coauthored Death's Acre , a nonfiction account of that macabre if scientifically valuable facility.) Still recovering from the emotional devastation of his wife's death, Dr. Brockton stumbles across a mummified female body, and his passion for the truth enmeshes him in a probe that verifies rumors of local corruption. His particular skills are vital to identifying the corpse as well as those who might have been motivated to kill the victim decades earlier. The pacing and action bode well for this crime series, though mystery fans who enjoy whodunits might hope that subsequent books pose more of a puzzle."

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon
Growing up under the watchful eye of her father, an eccentric chemist, young Emilie Selden is a female scientist--and alchemist--in an eighteenth-century world that dismisses female accomplishment, until an unexpected encounter with the temptations of the outside world lures her away from her home, her work, and her father.

Love Monkey

So lately I have far more books that I want to read than books that I have read. Love Monkey by Kyle Smith is another one I want to read after Faith at Wyoming mentioned that the new TV show Love Monkey is actually based on this book. I had been looking forward to the show because I enjoyed Tom Cavanagh in Ed. Sadly, I missed the first show this week. Did anyone watch it or read the book?

The Thin Place

Entertainment Weekly's A grade for The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis sparked my interest, but it was this line from Jessa Crispin's review in the Chicago Sun-Times that actually made me want to read it: "While the girls are the entry into the story, The Thin Place encompasses the entire life cycle of the town. The dogs, the cats, the beavers, the chickens, even the corn, "fascist at heart," gets a turn telling the story."

New Da Vinci Code Readalikes

The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra
A European bestseller about Da Vinci's Last Supper with a 350,000 first printing.






Receiving okay reviews and with a far smaller printing is The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. However, the Da Vinci comparison promises some popularity.






The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi
From LJ: A secret religious brotherhood? Clues buried deep in the Vatican? No, it's not another Da Vinci Code but the first English-language publication from Spanish author Asensi-and an international best seller to boot.




The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
A "well-tooled Da Vinci Code -knockoff" with a 120,000 first printing.






Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
From Kirkus: Dan Brown probably need not move over, but he may have to share the wealth with this well-researched tale, set in both contemporary and 13th-century France (Carcassonne), and featuring two intrepid heroines.Written by the British literary insider who co-founded the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction, this is a quickly paced adventure that wears its considerable learning lightly—and of higher literary quality than The Da Vinci Code, to which it will inevitably be compared...Fun for most of the way—and very likely to be one of next summer’s popular vacation reads.

New Books

I'm quite excited about the pile of holds that arrived on my desk today:

Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda
From LJ: There's something for everyone in this new series debut--mystery, history, adventure, travel, even a bit of romance, plus one of the most appealing heroines to appear in the pages of a mystery. American Jade del Cameron, driving an ambulance on the battlefront in 1919 France, sees her RAF pilot fiancé crash in a dogfight and vows, as he dies in her arms, to find his half-brother, a quest that takes her to Africa. With an assignment for a travel magazine, Jade's off to Nairobi, where she stumbles onto a possible murder and finds herself the target of a shape-shifting witch, repelled only by an ill-smelling paste made by a Kikuyu sorcerer. Arruda evokes the landscape of colonial Africa beautifully, creates a fine cast of characters, and spins a spine-tingling story, all of which should create demand for her next book.

Sunstroke by Jesse Kellerman

From Kirkus: From the son of the bestsellers Kellerman (Faye and Jonathan), a superb debut thriller about love, lust, vengeance, murder and a good girl coping.



The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
I loved The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and can't wait to read the sequel. From BookPage: In Lauren Willig's sequel to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, the intrigues of the French Revolutionary era continue to haunt graduate student Eloise Kelly. On a trip to England, she pursues papers that will help to reveal the histories of English and French spies, most of whom used floral sobriquets. Colin Selwick is keeper of those secrets and his ancestor is one of the bouquet, the Purple Gentian. As The Masque of the Black Tulip begins, Eloise has discovered the 1803 papers of the Gentian's sister, Henrietta (Hen) Selwick. Hen is determined to help the English cause by exposing a mysterious spy, the Black Tulip, and her amateur efforts run up against her friend Miles Dorrington's more official assignment from the War Office. As the intrigues swirl, so does the romance as fiery passions surface between Miles and Hen. Their story is interwoven with Colin and Eloise's modern-day attempt to piece together the history and perhaps begin a romance of their own. An appealing tale that deftly blends the intrigues of wartime with the oldest story of all.

Also excited about the hold I received last week, which was published last year in the UK and is finally available in the US:

Utterly Monkey by Nick Laird (husband of Zadie Smith)
From LJ: This is an utterly engaging modern social satire with an unpredictable, violent edge. Danny Williams is a lovable yet flawed 28-year-old Northern Irish ex-pat chained to his desk at one of London's top law firms. Danny and his colleague Albert amuse themselves with sarcastic emails and mild corporate subterfuge. Then Geordie Wilson lands on Danny's doorstep, on the run from vicious Loyalist thugs. Geordie's a childhood friend with whom Danny shares a dark, never-discussed secret, and he's got something the bad guys want. Danny's other troubles begin to pile up: his firm is sending him back home to work on an ugly takeover bid that will result in the layoffs of hundreds of locals, and he can't seem to get it right with his captivating new assistant, Ellen. An excellent exploration of modern relationships, this novel is thick with hip British slang that lends authenticity but may challenge even the above-average Anglophile. Laird, who is married to literary darling Zadie Smith, pulls off his first novel with confidence and style. Highly recommended for all libraries.