Monday, December 10, 2012

"The Trouble with Fate"

New from St. Martin's Paperbacks: The Trouble with Fate (A Mystwalker Novel) by Leigh Evans.

About the book, from the publisher:

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again…
Visit Leigh Evans's website.

"Live and Let Love"

New from St. Martin's Paperbacks: Live and Let Love (An Agent Ex Novel) by Gina Robinson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Though Willow Pierce has moved forward since her husband died two years ago, she can’t ignore her sixth sense that Jack is alive.When newcomer Con Russo comes to town, Willow is convinced he’s Jack. She’d never forget his eyes. Willow is determined to learn the truth about Con’s identity—even if it means brazenly seducing him.

Secret agent Jack Pierce was almost killed in an explosion that left him severely disfigured. Thanks to reconstructive surgery, he has a new face and a new life. But when the terrorist who tried to assassinate him suspects he’s still alive, Jack’s forced to go undercover—and destroy him for good. But before he can complete his mission, he must protect the only woman he’s ever loved...
Learn more about the book and author at Gina Robinson's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Spy Who Left Me.

Writers Read: Gina Robinson.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

"Living Proof"

New from Forge Books: Living Proof by Kira Peikoff.

About the book, from the publisher:

In 2027, destroying an embryo is considered first-degree murder. Fertility clinics still exist, giving hope and new life to thousands of infertile families, but they have to pass rigorous inspections by the United States Department of Embryo Preservation. Fail an inspection, and you will be prosecuted.

Brilliant young doctor Arianna Drake seems to be thriving in the spotlight: her small clinic surpasses every government requirement, and its popularity has spiked—a sudden, rapid growth that leaves the DEP chief mystified. When he discovers Arianna’s radical past as a supporter of an infamous scientist, he sends undercover agent Trent Rowe to investigate her for possible illegal activity.

As Trent is pulled into Arianna’s enigmatic world, his own begins to unravel. The secret he finally uncovers will deeply move him—and jeopardize them both. With the clock ticking her life away, he finds himself questioning everything he knows to be true, and then must summon the courage to take the greatest risk of all. Nothing less than human life—and a major scientific breakthrough—hang in the balance.

A thought-provoking thriller by debut author Kira Peikoff, Living Proof is a celebration of love and life that cuts to the core of a major cultural debate of our time.
Visit Kira Peikoff's website.

"Found Guilty at Five"

New from Berkley Prime Crime: Found Guilty at Five by Ann Purser.

About the book, from the publisher:

She’s had her hands full sorting out both clues and clutter in the village of Long Farnden. But a mother’s work is never done, and Lois Meade is discovering detective work is both dirty and dangerous...

A wedding is always a happy occasion, even if Lois Meade must remind herself she isn’t losing a daughter, but gaining a policeman. Luckily, her new son-in-law is in the Tresham force—and the nephew of her friend and collaborator Inspector Cowgill—so Lois has another link to the law at her disposal.

But sleuthing suddenly seems a little too close to home when her youngest son invites a mysterious young woman, Akiko, as a guest. Lois isn’t the only one who wonders why she refuses to talk about herself or her past. And when a thief waltzes off in the night with the young woman’s cello, Lois wastes no time in enlisting the inspector to help find the valuable instrument.

Before Lois can take note of the whereabouts of the vanishing cello, Akiko goes missing. The discovery that this could be another in a string of murderous musical thefts means Lois must pull out all the stops to find the girl and protect her son—before the music stops permanently...
Visit Ann Purser's website.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

"Frozen"

New from Tor Books: Frozen by Kate Watterson.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Kate Watterson's thrilling suspense novel Frozen, Bryce Grantham wants a quiet vacation at his family’s cabin. On his first night in town, he meets a lovely girl at a bar and gives her a ride home. The next day, he finds her cell phone in his car. When he tries to return it, Bryce discovers that the young woman has vanished, leaving behind only a bloody shoe.

Suddenly Bryce Grantham is the primary suspect in a murder investigation.

Detective Ellie MacIntosch has a serial killer on her hands, but without a body, she has few leads and the stalled investigation has her on edge. Bryce Grantham seems to be the perfect suspect.

Eighteen months have gone by without a clue, and yet Grantham starts reporting stumbling across the bodies of the missing women with unbelievable frequency. The evidence against him is almost irrefutable…but Ellie’s gut tells her the case is not so cut and dry.

Before Ellie compromises the investigation, her career, and possibly her life in order to prove Bryce’s innocence, she must determine whether he is a manipulative, cold-blooded killer…or the victim of a madman playing a sickening game.
Visit Kate Watterson's website.

"The Two Week Wait"

New from St. Martin's Griffin: The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner.

About the book, from the publisher:

A memorable and moving page-turner about two very different women, each yearning to create a family of her own

What if the thing you most longed for was resting on a two week wait? From the author of the international bestselling One Moment, One Morning, comes a moving portrait about what it truly means to be a family.

After a health scare, Brighton-based Lou is forced to confront the fact that her time to have a baby is running out. She can't imagine a future without children, but her partner doesn't seem to feel the same way, and she's not sure whether she could go it alone.

Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, Cath is longing to start a family with her husband, Rich. No one would be happier to have children than Rich, but Cath is infertile.

Could these strangers help one another?

With her deft exploration of raw emotions and her celebration of the joy and resilience of friendship, The Two Week Wait is Sarah Rayner at her best.
Visit Sarah Rayner's website.

Friday, December 7, 2012

"Deadly Little Lessons"

New from Hyperion Books for Children: Deadly Little Lessons (Touch Series #5) by Laurie Faria Stolarz.

About the book, from the publisher:

Camelia Hammond's trying junior year of high school is finally over...but her troubles aren't. After she discovers a painful truth about her family, she escapes to a summer arts program in Rhode Island. Determined to put family - and boyfriend - drama behind her, she throws herself into her artwork.

At the arts school, she gets caught up in the case of Sasha Beckerman, a local girl who is missing. Even though all signs suggest that the teen ran away, Camelia senses otherwise. Eager to help the girl, she launches her own investigation. She finds a blog by someone named Neal Moche, a psychometric who might have clues to Sasha's whereabouts. There is something familiar about Neal, and Camelia realizes how much she misses Ben, despite being committed to Adam.

But time is running out for Sasha, and Camelia will have to trust her powers if she's to save her. Will the lessons Camelia has learned in the past give her the strength to do so?
Visit Laurie Faria Stolarz's website.

"Science on American Television"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Science on American Television: A History by Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette.

About the book, from the publisher:

As television emerged as a major cultural and economic force, many imagined that the medium would enhance civic education for topics like science. And, indeed, television soon offered a breathtaking banquet of scientific images and ideas—both factual and fictional. Mr. Wizard performed experiments with milk bottles. Viewers watched live coverage of solar eclipses and atomic bomb blasts. Television cameras followed astronauts to the moon, Carl Sagan through the Cosmos, and Jane Goodall into the jungle. Via electrons and embryos, blood testing and blasting caps, fictional Frankensteins and chatty Nobel laureates, television opened windows onto the world of science.

But what promised to be a wonderful way of presenting science to huge audiences turned out to be a disappointment, argues historian Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette in Science on American Television. LaFollette narrates the history of science on television, from the 1940s to the turn of the twenty-first century, to demonstrate how disagreements between scientists and television executives inhibited the medium’s potential to engage in meaningful science education. In addition to examining the content of shows, she also explores audience and advertiser responses, the role of news in engaging the public in science, and the making of scientific celebrities.

Lively and provocative, Science on American Television establishes a new approach to grappling with the popularization of science in the television age, when the medium’s ubiquity and influence shaped how science was presented and the scientific community had increasingly less control over what appeared on the air.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

"The Darkest Minds"

New from Hyperion Books for Children: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.

About the book, from the publisher:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.
Visit Alexandra Bracken's website.

"On the Map"

New from Gotham Books: On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks by Simon Garfield.

About the book, from the publisher:

Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the author of bestselling the Just My Type reveals the fascinating relationship between man and map.

Simon Garfield’s Just My Type illuminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on Comic Sans and care about kerning. Now Garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts: maps.

Imagine a world without maps. How would we travel? Could we own land? What would men and women argue about in cars? Scientists have even suggested that mapping—not language—is what elevated our prehistoric ancestors from ape-dom. Follow the history of maps from the early explorers’ maps and the awe-inspiring medieval Mappa Mundi to Google Maps and the satellite renderings on our smartphones, Garfield explores the unique way that maps relate and realign our history—and reflect the best and worst of what makes us human.

Featuring a foreword by Dava Sobel and packed with fascinating tales of cartographic intrigue, outsize personalities, and amusing “pocket maps” on an array of subjects from how to fold a map to the strangest maps on the Internet, On the Map is a rich historical tapestry infused with Garfield’s signature narrative flair. Map-obsessives and everyone who loved Just My Type will be lining up to join Garfield on his audacious journey through time and around the globe.
Visit Simon Garfield's website.

See Garfield's top 10 books with maps.

The Page 99 Test: Simon Garfield's Just My Type.