In a clever take on the World War II novel, Markus Zusak’s narrator in “The Book Thief” is Death himself. In nonfiction, look for “Flapper,” by Joshua Zeitz, which takes a charming look at the Jazz Age vamps. And, believe it or not, the paperback version of “The Da Vinci Code” is finally making it into book stores, just as the movie version is coming to a theater near you. Coming in May is a satirical novel – “Moonlight Hotel” – that tells the story of a small Middle Eastern city that comes under siege from rebels.
FICTION
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, Knopf, 550 pages, $16.95|This clever story for young adults is narrated by Death himself and tells the tale of a small German village during World War II.
The Minotaur, by Barbara Vine, Shaye Areheart, 341 pages, $25|Ruth Rendell, writing as Barbara Vine is out with her 12th novel in which a man is caught in a family struggle after he is diagnosed as schizophrenic.
The Enemy Within, by Noel Hynd, Forge, 432 pages, $25.95|Hynd opens a new series featuring Secret Service agent Laura Chapman. Assigned to the White House, she is assigned the task of uncovering a covert Secret Service agent bent on assassination.
NONFICTION
Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, by Joshua Zeitz, Crown, 352 pages, $24.95|The author takes a look at the Jazz Age through its most visible representatives.
Howling Near Heaven: Twyla Tharp and the Re-Invention of Modern Dance, by Marcia Siegel, St. Martin’s, 326 pages, $25.95|The author, a renowned dance critic, takes a look at the life of this modern dance legend.
Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea, by Jeffrey T. Richelson, Norton, 702 pages, $34.95|The authors offer a comprehensive look at U.S. espionage efforts into other countries’ nuclear capabilities from the early World War II days to the present.
PAPERBACKS
The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, Anchor, 454 pages, $14.95|The mega-selling and controversial story is out in paperback. It all has to do with ancient societies and clues contained in Da Vinci works of art that concern a long-held biblical secret.
3 Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy; Inside the Mind of a Manager, by Buzz Bissinger, Mariner, 287 pages, $13.95|The author tells the story of one three-game series through the eyes of legendary Major League Baseball manager Tony La Russa.
Windows on the World, by Frederic Beigbeder, Miramax, 306 pages, $13.95|The French novelist weaves together the story of a father and his two small sons trapped in the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11 and a novelist writing in France a year later.
COMING UP
Moonlight Hotel, by Scott Anderson, Doubleday, 384 pages, $24.95, May|A novel set in a fictional Middle East city and what befalls an American diplomat as rebels lay siege to the city and its government.
Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission, by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, Knopf, 336 pages, $25.95, Aug.|The chairman and co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission tell how the commission went about creating its landmark report on the attacks.
The Pale Blue Eye, by Louis Bayard, 432 pages, $24.95, June|From the author of the acclaimed “Mr. Timothy” comes a story set in the early days of West Point and featuring a murder and a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe.
