Editor’s Choice
The Late Hector Kipling, by David Thewlis, $25. This laugh-out-loud, darkly intelligent debut suggests that Thewlis might meet with considerable success should he decide to quit acting and take up the pen full time. Readers who have mourned the end of Sue Townsend’s wonderful, long-running Adrian Mole series will find solace of a sort here, as will anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking skewering of modern art by a knowledgeable writer and an inescapably doomed but appealing hero. Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Stone Cold, by David Baldacci, $26.99. The modern-day paladins of the Camel Club are back in their third exciting adventure (after 2006’s “The Collectors”). Justice-seekers Milton, Caleb and Reuben, and honorary member Alex Ford, a Secret Service agent, are led by feisty Oliver Stone, a.k.a. former CIA assassin John Carr. Publishers Weekly
Third Degree, by Greg Iles, $25.95. While not as twisty as “True Evil” (2006), best seller Iles’ new thriller injects both depth and novelty into a genre convention – the jealous husband who’s tipped off to his wife’s infidelity. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times, by Dennis McDougal, $25.95. Taking on not just a legendary subject but a legendarily private subject. Nicholson prefers “the occasional magazine Q&A or quickie newspaper interview.” Author and New York Times film writer McDougal has turned out a model biography: exhaustive, full of action and startlingly illuminating. Publishers Weekly
Opium Season, by Joel Hafvenstein, $24.95. Hafvenstein offers a revealing if narrowly critical insider perspective on the workings of U.S.-sponsored schemes in Afghanistan and worldwide. Publishers Weekly
The Landmark Herodotus, edited by Robert B. Strassler, $45. Editor Strassler, who won praise for his work on “The Landmark Thucydides,” takes on another fifth-century B.C. Greek historian. This exhaustive work includes a new translation of Herodotus’ texts, along with maps, photos and tons of textual notes. Quite impressive. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
World War Z, by Max Brooks, $14.95. Brooks remarkably identifies and articulates the nuances and unconsidered realities of what a zombie war would look like. This intriguing “oral history” stands apart from his previous zombie-related book, “The Zombie Survival Guide,” as Brooks uses the postwar culture here to provide political and social commentary on a wide range of real-life individuals and institutions. Publishers Weekly
What Is the What, by Dave Eggers, $15.95. A story of real global catastrophe. It reminds us how memoirs can transcend the personal to illuminate large, public tragedies as well. Publishers Weekly
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield, $15. Setterfield’s interest is in relationships – the emotions, history and scars that connect us to each other and make it impossible to escape who we are and where we’ve come from. Haunting, romantic and very, very English. Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
The Senator’s Wife, by Sue Miller, $24.95. The author of “The Good Mother” and “While I Was Gone” returns with the story of two unconventional women who, while apparently on different tracks in life, are remarkably similar. (January)
Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder in the Rocky Mountain West, by Kathryn Eastburn, $25. Almost two years after the Columbine massacre, three teenage boys plotted the murder of a classmate and his grandparents at their mountain home outside Colorado Springs. The author covered the court proceedings for nearly three years for the Colorado Springs Independent. (January)
