“Human Traces,” the new novel by Sebastian Faulks, traces the early days of psychiatry and tries to determine why madness occurs in humans. In nonfiction, look for Daniel Mendelsohn’s search for what happened to his family members during the Holocaust in “The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million.” Nobel Prize- winner J.M. Coetzee’s “Slow Man,” just out in paperback, is the story of a man who loses a limb and must rely on others. Richard Ford will continue the Frank Bascombe story started in “The Sportswriter” and “Independence Day” with a new novel, coming in November, called “The Lay of the Land.”
FICTION
Human Traces, by Sebastian Faulks, Random House, 576 pages, $25.95 |The author of “Birdsong” and “Charlotte Grey” returns with a story set in the early days of psychiatry when two young men set off to learn how the mind works.
Death Do Us Part, edited by Harlan Coben, Little, Brown, 337 pages, $25.95|Coben, an acclaimed mystery writer, edits a compilation of mystery tales by the likes of Jeff Abbott, Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Ridley Pearson and others.
The Grays, by Whitley Strieber, Tor, 336 pages, $24.95|A group of aliens has been ensconced in a small Kentucky town for decades preparing young Conner Callaghan for the coming invasion.
NONFICTION
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, by Daniel Mendelsohn, HarperCollins, 528 pages, $27.95|The author took a series of journeys to find out what happened to his family members during the Holocaust. The result is a memoir of lost and found, love and death.
The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God, by Joe Eszterhas, St. Martin’s, 416 pages, $24.95 |Eszterhas takes no prisoners, once again, as he talks about life in Hollywood, with all its sycophants and wannabes.
Postcards From Ed: Dispatches and Salvos From an American Iconoclast, by Edward Abbey, Milkweed, 304 pages, $24.95|A chronological collection of assorted works from the late author covers subjects like nature, hunting, police helicopters and conservation.
PAPERBACKS
Through Thick & Thin: The Terri Lipsey Story, by Terri Lipsey with Dr. Dick Newman|Lipsey tells her inspirational story of how she went from weighing 300 pounds to under 150 in two years with discipline and patience.
Slow Man, by J.M. Coetzee, Penguin, 272 pages, $15|A man must come to grips with injury and loss of independence from the Nobel Prize-winning author.
Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, Or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, by Lynne Truss, Gotham, 206 pages, $12|The author of “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” thinks the lack of manners is a catastrophe.
COMING UP
The Lay of the Land, by Richard Ford, Knopf, 496 pages, $26.95, Nov.|In his first novel in more than a decade, Ford continues the Pulitzer Prize-winning story (“The Sportswriter,” “Independence Day”) of Frank Bascombe. The story resumes in the fall of 2000 with Frank, a real estate agent, confronting personal issues.
Bringing Down the Mob: The War Against the American Mafia, by Thomas A. Reppetto, Henry Holt, 352 pages, $26, Nov.|In his “American Mafia,” Reppetto told the origins of the Mafia. Now he relates how the government made crushing it a national priority.
The Widow, by Carla Neggers, Mira, 320 pages, $21.95, Oct.|Four days after their wedding, Abigail Browning’s husband is shot and killed. Was it random or premeditated? Abigail, now a detective, is determined to find the answer.
