John Darnton (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)
"The novel is flat-out engrossing, and deftly weaves present-day amateur detectives, young Darwin's voyage of discovery, and his last, troubled days. Darwin changed everything, deflating our conceit about human importance and elevating our knowledge. His careful observations turned pieties about 'God's creation' into a rich, ever-evolving, as it were, engagement with the natural world. He was not, even so, a 'god,' or even demiurge, and The Darwin Conspiracy elevates his accomplishment while examining, with Darwinian attention to detail, his feet of clay." —Greg Correll (10/05)
The Devil's Backbone
Kim Wozencraft (St. Martin's Press, 2006)
"Take that flashlight with you to the parking lot, and lock your doors. Stone Ridge author Kim Wozencraft has just unleashed a mile-a-minute, heart-thumping new novel. The Devil's Backbone provides not only suspense but texture, psychological depth, and a thrill ride that only comes to a halt on the last page." —Erin Quinn (9/06)
Eat the Document
Dana Spiotta (Scribner, 2006)
"A mesmerizing page-turner with much to say about the nature of identity in a culture based on starting over, and what individuals and groups can do to save the world—or not. If this weren't 2006 and I had less respect for its author, I'd say, 'Steal this book!'" —Susan Piperato (7/06)
The Ghost Orchid
Carol Goodman (Ballantine, 2006)
"No ordinary blossom...will make Stephen King fans remember what they missed about Henry James. The Ghost Orchid will delight anybody who remembers loving a good ghost story and then tiring of the genre's clichés. It's fresh and fragrant." —Anne Pyburn (4/06)
Gullboy: The Inconceivable Life of Franco Pajarito Zanpa
Wade Rubenstein (Counterpoint Books, 2005)
"It could only happen in the world of magical realism. A scavenging seagull finds a latex bag of love, and soon after, hatches one mighty weird chick. An outrageous fable set in a modern-day Coney Island that's a far cry from the seaside getaway our grandparents cherished. It's become a seedy, timeworn wreck, where Russian mobsters outnumber the fun-seekers—the perfect backdrop for this earthy farce." —Susan Krawitz (10/95)
The Rabbit Factory
Marshall Karp (MacAdam/Cage, 2006)
"Don't look for Disney to make this into a movie—the concept of a regimented fantasy world founded by a crazed eccentric might hit a tender spot or two. It would be nice if somebody did, though: The mayhem and mirth are both visual and original, and the denouement is enormously satisfying. The Rabbit Factory rocks." —Anne Pyburn (6/06)
Tetched: A Novel in Fractals
Thaddeus Ruttkowski (Behler Publications, 2005)
"Don't let Tetched's fits-and-starts fragments fool you. Ruttkowski's novel has the depth and complexity required to engage the reader utterly in a seamless, forward-moving narrative. There are moments of hilarity and beauty throughout the book, bright glimmers of the underside of bleak despair." —Susan Piperato (12/05)
Veronica
Mary Gaitskill (Pantheon, 2005)
"Gaitskill is a sensual writer in the broadest possible way, a mistress of metaphor: Music has colors, scenes evoke sensations, gestures or phrases evoke vivid, almost hallucinatory imagery. The story of Alison's life in the fast lane rocks along with a gathering depth." —Anne Pyburn (12/05)
The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of ObituariesMarilyn Johnson (HarperCollins, 2006)
"As Marilyn Johnson points out in The Dead Beat, her lighthearted, insightful and fact-packed ode to obits and those who write them, the obituary is now an art form. Each 'tight little coil of biography with its literary flourishes reminds us of a poem,' writes Johnson, whose reportage is just as moving and compelling as the contemporary obituarists she lauds. As she discovers, it's not only a great time to die, but a fascinating time to be alive." —Susan Piperato (4/06)
Historic Hudson: An Architectural Portrait
Byrne Fone (Black Dome Press, 2005)
"Fone is an elegant writer. His sentences glide over the page like tall ships with stately masts as he tells the story of this architecturally distinguished New York community, founded in 1793 by New England Quaker merchants and whalers. They navigate the story of the rise and fall and rise of a great, though small, American city." —Carolyn Bennett (12/05)
Pride & Politics: The Tale of a Big Story in a Small Town
Erin Quinn (Hudson House Publishing, 2005)
"There's nothing like being in the right place at the right time, especially if you're a newspaper reporter whose controversies usually run to franchise coffeehouses and broken sewer pipes. A whopper of a story—New Paltz Mayor Jason West's decision to marry 25 same-sex couples on February 24, 2004—gives her readers a chance to find out just how good she is. And Erin Quinn, who writes for the New Paltz Times, is very good, indeed. One of the most appealing narrators I've encountered in a long time." —Jane Smith (10/05)