Look for new fiction by mystery writer Faye Kellerman, who leaves her regular characters behind in “Straight Into Darkness” to tell a story set in Europe between the two world wars. In nonfiction, historian Adam Nicholson uses the famous naval battle of Trafalgar to discuss our concepts of heroism. In paper, social satirist Tom Wolff lambastes the world of higher education in his novel “I Am Charlotte Simmons.” In October you can expect another novel by Joyce Carol Oates called “Missing Mom,” about grief and renewal.
FICTION
“Straight Into Darkness,” by Faye Kellerman, Warner, 418 pages, $25.95 |Taking a break from her Peter Decker-Rina Lazarus series, the author writes of insanity and homicide in the Europe of the early 20th century.
“The Tattoo Artist,” by Jill Ciment, Pantheon, 207 pages, $23|The story of the life of a surrealist artist in New York who learned about the art of tattooing from South Pacific natives.
“Lunar Park,” by Bret Easton Ellis, Knopf, 308 pages, $24.95|The controversial author of “American Psycho” uses himself for a hero in a tale of father-son relationships.
NONFICTION
“Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light and Shadow,” by John B. Weller, Westcliffe, 127 pages, $19.95 |Photographer Weller displays 80 photographs and writes 13 essays about the new national park.
“Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar,” by Adam Nicolson, HarperCollins, 341 pages $26.95|The author uses the naval battle between the British and French fleets to explore our ideas of what exactly is heroism.
“America’s Uncivil Wars: The Sixties Era from Elvis to the Fall of Richard Nixon,” by Mark Hamilton Lytle, Oxford, 416 pages, $30|A wide-ranging history of the United States, with its social, cultural, political movements from the mid ’50s through Watergate.
PAPERBACKS
“I Am Charlotte Simmons,” by Tom Wolfe, Picador, 738 pages, $15|A sprawling story from social critic Wolffe that pillories America’s universities and the emotionally bankrupt students who attend them.
“Nora Jane: A Life in Stories,” by Ellen Gilchrist, Back Bay, 420 pages, $14.95|The National Book Award-winning author tells the story of Nora Jane Whittington in 13 shorts stories and a novella.
“Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld,” by James B. Twitchell, Simon & Schuster, 327 pages, $14|The author shows how branding has become so prevalent that churches, museums and universities have come crave market share so much that they embrace Wall Street.
COMING UP
“Dean and Me: A Love Story,” by Jerry Lewis and James Kaplan, Doubleday, 352 pages, $26.95, October |The comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were huge stars, but an acrimonious split left the partners unable to talk to each other for 20 years. This is Lewis’ memoir.
“The Turning,” by Tim Winton, Scribner, 336 pages, $25, September|Australian Winton has been short-listed for the Booker Prize and this collection of linked stories shows why.
“Missing Mom,” by Joyce Carol Oates, Ecco, 448 pages, $25.95, October|The prolific Oates rerturns to upstate New York of “We Were the Mulvaneys” fame for a story of grief and renewal.
