Editor’s Choice
Signed, Mata Hari, by Jannick Murphy, $23.99. Was she or was she not a victim of time and circumstance? Did she really deserve to be executed as a spy? In the end all that matters is that Murphy has fashioned a mesmerizing novel that reimagines the life of one of the most notorious women of all time. Booklist
FICTION
Hollywood and Crime: Original Crime Stories Set During the History of Hollywood, edited by Robert J. Randisi, $25. The 14 stories in this entertaining anthology from Shamus Award-founder Randisi span Tinsel Town history from the 1930s to the present and intersect, literally, at Hollywood and Vine. Top billing should go to Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch story, “Suicide Run,” and to Lee Goldberg’s “Jack Webb’s Star” — the former for the detection and the latter for biggest laughs. Publishers Weekly
Dreamsongs, Vol. II, by George R.R. Martin, $27. The second volume in a collection of Martin’s shorter works. Science fiction, fantasy and horror fans alike will be blown away by the diversity and quality of stories. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Entering Hades: The Double Life of a Serial Killer, by John Leake, $25. Austrian Jack Unterweger was many things to many people — celebrated author, well-known bon vivant and loyal friend. To prostitutes plying their trade in Vienna, he was a ruthless killer. Publishers Weekly
Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism, by Umberto Eco, translated by Alistair McEwen, $27. Internationally renowned novelist and philosopher Eco (“Foucault’s Pendulum,” “The Name of the Rose”) delivers a provocative and enlightening ride in this collection of essays first published in two leading Italian newspapers. He delves deeply into such subjects as Mideastern and European politics, myth, prejudice, globalization, “The Da Vinci Code,” magical thinking, rhetoric, religion, intelligent design and Harry Potter. Publishers Weekly
Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend, by Barbara Oakley, $28.95. Oakley collects detailed case histories of famed evil geniuses such as Slobodan Milosevic and Mao Zedong, interspersed with a memoir of sister Carolyn’s life. Oakley posits that they all had borderline personality disorder or antisocial personality disorder, a claim she supports with evidence from scientists’ genetic and neurological research. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
The Mission Song, by John le Carre, $14,99. Metaphors abound, both in deeds and words, and le Carre maintains a tight, three-act plot. Readers will delight in his jaundiced view of affairs of state. Kirkus
Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed Off the Coast of Vietnam, by Frank Pope, $14. Filled with the fascinating stories of the large international crew of archaeologists, scholars, divers, businessmen, and treasure hunters, Pope’s tale defines the environments, personalities, and dangers that now accompany underwater archaeology, where the stakes are tremendously high.Library Journal
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, by John Grisham, $7.99. “The Innocent Man” chronicles the story of Ron Williamson, how he was arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit, how his case was (mis)handled and how an innocent man was sent to death row. Grisham’s first work of nonfiction is shocking, disturbing, and enthralling.
COMING UP
Killer Heat, by Linda Fairstein, $26, In “Killer Heat,” Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper confronts a serial killer whose deadly exploits lead her through the little- known islands surrounding Manhattan. (March)
The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate, by James Rosen, $35. Rosen draws on more than 250 original interviews to tell the life story of President Nixon’s attorney general and confidant. (Feb.)
