Booklists · Beyond Bestsellers: Notable New Fiction Titles (November 2009)

In his debut of short stories that explore such far-reaching subjects as the apocalypse to an astronaut’s failed expedition to Jupiter, Holt delves into the realms of immortality, human frailty, and memory. “This collection, with its allusions to mythology and tragic conundrums, demands intelligence and rewards the reader with Borgesian riches.” says Publishers Weekly.

Murder, mummies and mayhem abound at a dude ranch in Oaxaca, Mexico, where forensic scientist Gideon Oliver escaped for a vacation. When Oliver is called to investigate a mummified body and a corpse of a murdered young woman, Edgar-winning Elkins’ mystery thriller swiftly becomes a fascinating study in forensic anthropology. Kirkus Reviews says, “Professor Gideon finds happiness in baffling the minds of the simple, hardworking policeman—and everyone else.”

Patricia Wildman inherits the family estate in Derbyshire, England-- the setting of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Struggling with an identity crisis over the loss of her father, Patricia is haunted by menacing villains both real and imaginary. With references to Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan of Greystoke, Farmer blends horror, suspense and dark erotica into a novel that reads like pulp fiction with a gothic flavor.

Winner of the 2009 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, Ostlund deftly crafts eleven humorous tales, enveloping eccentric characters in love that is lost, while positioning her protagonists in unsettling life experiences, oftentimes obsessed by perfect grammar and a painstaking quest for perfection. "Ostlund’s artful prose is playfully complex and illuminating, evocative and unsentimental. . . each piece is sublime."—Publishers Weekly

Mad inventor Leviticus Blue created the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine to mine for gold in the Alaska ice. Tragedy struck however, when the machine backfired, destroyed Seattle, and released an eerie subterranean gas that transformed people into zombies. Years later, Blue’s son Zeke—followed by his mother in a dirigible-- returns to Seattle to redeem his father’s name. “…A must-read for the discerning steampunk fan.” --Publishers Weekly

Ellie Dillahan, an orphan of a County Cork convent, is courted by charming photographer Florian Kilderry in the tiny Irish town of Rathmoye in the 1950s. Yet Ellie is trapped in a childless, lonely marriage to a widowed farmer, riddled with guilt by the death of his first wife and child. In his 14th novel, Trevor masterfully paints a portrait of colorful, unforgettable townspeople who are transfixed by the blossoming romance of Ellie and Florian.

Indomitable but lonely Olivia tends her grocery store shack at Big Foley Mountain when illegal wolf hunters invade her territory, forcing her to protect her grandson Will’m, who had been cast aside by Olivia’s daughter. As Olivia avenges the wolf killers, the unfolding of explosive secrets threatens the segregated and loving Rowe Street community, forcing Olivia to come to grips with betrayal, lost love, and heartbreaking injustice. “Haunting, lyrical, entirely absorbing, Sweeping Up Glass deserves a place on the shelf next to classics like True Grit and To Kill a Mockingbird.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

On the heels of her stunning memoir The Glass Castle, Walls’ illuminates her feisty grandmother Lily Casey Smith in Half Broke Horses. Irresistible Lily sparkles as a self-taught teacher at 15 in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Texas. Follow whip-smart Lily through drought, tornadoes, blizzards, bootleggers, and broken marriages as she comes of age amidst World War I, and survives Prohibition and the Great Depression. “Walls does her grandmother proud in this historically revealing and triumphant novel of a fearless, progressive woman who will not be corralled.” Booklist