We've got a "shortlist" of potentially great books coming up in the 4th quarter of the year. Let us start with OCTOBER, to keep things brief.
Get your pens, open a tab to your Amazon Wish List, fiddle with your Nook or start memorizing:
by Justin Cronin
Oct. 16
Probably the biggest book hitting the shelves before year-end as far as I'm concerned. Cronin's first entry in this trilogy, THE PASSAGE, was a literary horror sci-fi epic post-apocalyptic wonderfest. Set on the near future and a hundred years hence, it followed the survivors of a nation (world?) wide "vampire" pandemic. I could drape this book in hyperbole and it would still deliver for whoever picks it up. THE TWELVE takes place in Year Zero of the outbreak and then (we hope) catches up to the "100 years present," where we were cruelly left with a cliffhanger. Cronin was known for mainstream or literary ("New York," as I've termed it) fiction prior, but he's chiseled his name into the annals of genre history with this series.
by David Wong
In Stores
In this sequel to JOHN DIES AT THE END (which is on my shelf, but unread. Our good friend Buck Spidero finished it recently and gave it a modest to positive review) -> zombies. That's about the size of it. Zombies. Early reviews are good for this horror-comedy, and based on what I've read of the original and a further (possibly spoilery) plot intro, it promises much entertainment.
And check out that cover! Whoever does his marketing is quite clever. I'm sure, had the previous installment been unknown to me, this would have grabbed my attention regardless on my next bookstore outing.
By Tom Wolfe
Oct. 23
An expansive author, Wolfe here tackles Miami's tricky immigrant scene - as well as a raft of other "issues." Classic or dud? He doesn't seem to have much middle ground. For the literary crowd, or George W Bush (hey, he read I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS).
It's hard not to be skeptical of his ability to write the frothing cast laid out in the jacket copy (black, Haitian, white, Russian, youth, Ivy-league, crack-dealer, gang-bangers, concept artists, sex addicts). I remember that being a major source if criticism of I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS: how can he, old white man, write a vibrant college girl as lead character, plus her attendent peers, with any semblance of true understanding and empathy? Is it all research, as one reviewer said, with no soul?
By John Grisham
Oct. 23
A judge is murdered and a jailed lawyer knows who did it. Mystery! Law! Murder! Grisham! I haven't ready many of his recent outings, but I know some of you love him.
By Lis Wiehl and Pete Nelson
In Stores
Chanced across this one on a mystery website that now I can't find. Long/short, it picks up where its predecessor (WAKING HOURS) left off in the town of East Salem. The supernatural is making a disturbing appearance in our world, specifically behind the walls of St. Adrian's Academy. Our two sleuths (a forensic psychiatrist and ex-football star) "race" to uncover the growing mystery. Sounds simple, but I like a good supernatural mystery, and the first is averaging 4 stars out of 100 reviews - not too shabby.
We'll look at November and December books soon.
-Erik
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