Editor’s Choice
Lush Life, by Richard Price, $26. Master of the Bronx and Jersey projects, Price (“Clockers”) turns his unrelenting eye on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in this manic crescendo of a novel that explores the repercussions of a seemingly random shooting. Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Standing Still, by Kelly Simmons, $23. What mother wouldn’t sacrifice herself for her child? In Simmons’ electrifying debut, the answer is delivered through the harrowing ordeal of a mother held for ransom by an anonymous kidnapper. Publishers Weekly
The First Patient, by Michael Palmer, $25.95. Citing specific medical and technological processes, Palmer convinces readers that his novel is logical and reasonable, even as he mixes the unlikely with the insanely hyperbolic. The roller-coaster ride of a plot builds to an undeniably shocking conclusion. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed, by Michael Kodas, $24.95. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kodas finds avarice, theft and worse on the slopes of Mount Everest during a troubled 2004 expedition. … A riveting narrative. Kirkus
Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, by Robin Wright, $26.95. Wright reports that “the majority of the people in the Middle East still (want) the kind of political change that has swept the rest of the world over the past quarter-century.” Kirkus
The World on Fire: 1919 and the Battle With Bolshevism, by Anthony Read, $27.95. Read (“The Devil’s Disciples: Hitler’s Inner Circle”) offers a gripping history of how the leaders of Western democracies reacted to the Russian revolution. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
The Year of Fog, by Michelle Richmond, $12. In this spare page-turner, Richmond (“Dream of the Blue Room”) draws complex tensions from the set setup of a child gone missing … The sure-handed denouement reflects the focus and restraint that Richmond brings to bear throughout. Publishers Weekly
Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris, $13.99. Not too many authors have written the Great American Office Novel. … To their ranks should be added Joshua Ferris, whose “Then We Came to the End” feels like a ready-made classic of the genre…. A truly affecting novel about work, trust, love and loneliness. The Seattle Times
The Unknown Terrorist, by Richard Flanagan, $14. The standard model of good and evil is simple if not simplistic: Everybody on our side is good, and everybody on their side is bad. For anyone in the post- 9/11 world who still believes this . . . “The Unknown Terrorist” should be required reading. The Washington Post
COMING UP
The Tempest Tales, by Walter Mosley, $19.95. Mosley gets away from his mysteries to tell the story of Tempest Landry, who has been denied access to heaven and refused St. Peter’s command to go to hell. (May)
When Men Become Gods: Morman Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back, by Stephen Singular, $24.95. Denver author Singular traces Jeffs’ rise and fall while taking a look at the breakaway Mormon sect he used to lead, based in southern Utah. (May)
The Whole Truth, by David Baldacci, $26.99. In his first international thriller, Baldacci describes a world on the brink of catastrophic war and a man who travels the world trying to keep the peace. (April)
