Fans of Charles Todd’s Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries take heart: “A Long Shadow” is in bookstores. A year ago the world was reeling from the scenes of the Asian tsunami. Erich Krauss looks at the effect of the monster wave on four families in “Wave of Destruction.” Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” is finally out in paperback. Coming soon you can expect fiction from Jeffrey Archer, Emily Barton and a look at the Pentagon from James Carroll.
FICTION
A Long Shadow, by Charles Todd, HarperCollins, 452 pages, $23.95 |In his eighth psychological thriller featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge, Todd describes a mystery that may have to do with the recently ended World War I.
Leaving Home, by Anita Brookner, Random House, 224 pages, $23.95 |Emma Roberts, another of Brookner’s reticent heroines, seems to be perfectly happy giving others in her life exactly what they want, ignoring her own needs.
Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris, HarperCollins, 432 pages, $24.95|Harris (“Holy Fools”) sets this story of the battle between the haves and the have-nots in the hallowed halls of St. Oswald’s Grammar School for Boys, where things are finally starting to change.
NONFICTION
Wave of Destruction: The Stories of Four Families and History’s Deadliest Tsunami, by Erich Krauss, Rodale, 244 pages, $24.95|Journalist Kraus illuminates the incredible will to survive in recounting the stories of these families from the Thai village of Nam Khem who were caught in the giant wave that struck the area in late 2004.
Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World, by Nicholas A. Brisbanes, HarperCollins, 360 pages, $29.95|Brisbanes never tires of touting the book, and in this one he discusses how books have affected events and what they have meant in the lives of readers and writers.
Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams, by Michael D’Antonio, Simon & Schuster, 305 pages, $25|The Pulitzer Prize-winning author offers an evenhanded look at the man who founded a utopian village and brought the world the 5-cent candy bar.
PAPERBACKS
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond, Penguin, 575 pages, $17|The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” is back, this time examining why societies in the past rose, then failed and what lessons we can learn from them.
The Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty, Penguin, 358 pages, $14|In this touching road story/tragedy, Smithson Ide is an obese couch potato who, after his parents are killed, jumps on his childhood bicycle and travels across the country.
Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, by Mitchell Zuckoff, Random House, 416 pages, $14.95|Here is the first nonfiction account of the life of the man behind the most famous scam in the financial world. Despite his wicked behavior, the author contends that Charles Ponzi was likable.
COMING UP
False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer, St. Martin’s, 384 pages, $27.95, March|In his first novel in seven years, Archer tells the story of a series of killings in the rarefied world of great works of art.
House of War, by James Carroll, Houghton Mifflin, 704 pages, $30, May|The author of “Constantine’s Sword” is back with an in-depth look at the Pentagon, the most powerful institution in America. His controversial conclusion is that it has operated beyond control of the government and the people.
Brookland, by Emily Barton, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 512 pages, $25, February|In this novel set in 18th-century New York, Prudence Winship has long harbored a vision of building a bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan. When she inherits her father’s distillery, she is able to act on her vision.
