NPR has been running a “Crime in the City” series that explores mysteries set in particular cities. Generally, it features well-known authors such as Robert Parker (for Boston, of course), Michael Connelly (L.A.), John Burdett (Bangkok) and Donna Leon (Venice).

Today’s episode (on “All Things Considered”) features an author with a much shorter track record. Chelsea Cain’s first book in her Portland, Maine (oops — make that Oregon — thanks for the correction, Wendy!) series, Heartsick was pubbed just last year. Many of you may remember how enthusiastic Talia Ross, Macmillian library marketing director, has been about it (spleen removal, anyone?). Talia may have been one of the book’s earliest enthusiasts, but she was soon joined by others; the book appeared on several bestseller lists, including the NY Times, where it debuted at #8 and stayed on for four weeks. Entertainment Weekly callled the book’s villain, “one of the most seductive and original psychopaths since Hannibal Lecter.”

Cain’s next book in the series, Sweetheart, will be pubbed on Sept. 2nd. with an aggressive 200,000 copy first printing. Booklist’s Bill Ott, a man who knows his mysteries, gave both books starred reviews. We hear that the violence has been dialed back in the second book and the plot has been dialed up, which may make this one accessible to an even broader audience.

Some libraries show modest ordering, but most are clearly anticipating strong demand.

The third title in the series, Heartbreaker, is planned for Fall of ‘09. The mass market paperback of Heartsick is coming the end of the month.

The next author to be covered in the Crime in the City series will be Joseph Wambaugh.

Sweetheart

Chelsea Cain

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur; (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 031236847X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312368470

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $39.95
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; (September 2, 2008)
• Reader: Carolyn McCormick
• ISBN-10: 1427205035
• ISBN-13: 978-1427205032

• Large Print Hardcover: $30.95
• Publisher: Gale Cengage; (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1410408833
• ISBN-13: 978-1410408839

Heartsick — Mass Market Pbk

Chelsea Cain

• Mass Market Paperback:$7.99
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur (July 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0312947151
• ISBN-13: 978-0312947156

The phrase “eagerly anticipated” is not only cliched, but rarely documented. In the case of Palace Council, we are justified in using the term, since the book is featured on four Summer Reading lists (USA Today, L.A. Times, O the Oprah Magazine and the Washington Post. See the “Books of Summer — Picks” list at the right).

Ironically, People did not include Palace Council on their list, but they’re the first of the consumer pubs to review it (expect more this week). They say,

Carter’s third novel, set between 1952 and 1972, is a fast-paced political thriller…readers will enjoy the novel’s plot twists…In this story, no one can be trusted.

Most ibraries have the book on order in all formats, with comfortable holds to copy ratios; a few have not ordered the large type or audio editions.

• Hardcover: $26.95
• Publisher: Knopf (July 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0307266583
• ISBN-13: 978-0307266583

• Audio CD: Abridged edition, $29.95
• Publisher: Random House Audio, (July 8, 2008)
• Reader: Dominic Hoffman
• ISBN-10: 0739343408
• ISBN-13: 978-0739343401

• Unabridged Audio: $129.00
• Publisher: Books on Tape, July 8
• Narrator: Mirron Willis
• CD: 9781415955963
• Tape: 9781415956366

• Large Print (Trade Paperback): $26.95
  
• Publisher: Books on Tape, July 8
• ISBN: 978-0-7393-2813-2

Denis Johnson’s new noir novel, Nobody Move, is being serialized in Playboy. New York magazine’s blog claims this finally gives them a reason to buy the magazine.

The July issue, with the first of four installments, came out on Friday. No news yet on whether the National Book Award winner (Tree of Smoke) has increased the mag’s newsstand sales. The only review to date is from the LA Times’s David Ulin. The verdict on installment one? Mixed, but he’s ready to sign on for the whole series.

Come September ‘09, Nobody Move will be released between hardcovers by FSG.

As we predicted, Spies of Warsaw landed on bestseller lists this week:

NYT Fiction - #15

Washington Post Fiction — #5

SF Chronicle Fiction — #1

USA Today — #74

Some libraries show it still on order (pub date was last Tuesday), with holds building. Time to get it on the shelves!

Furst is considered one of the best espionage authors alive today, but his books have only recently been bestsellers (his most recent, from ‘06, Foreign Correspondent was on the lower rungs of the Times list for a few weeks and higher on West Coast lists).

The book has been reviewed widely, (including a rave from NYT daily reviewer, Janet Maslin). The Times also featured an interview with Furst by Charles McGrath on Saturday.

For an interesting take on the recent revival of espionage fiction, see Sara Weinman’s “The Spies Came Out of the Cold” from the Barnes and Noble Review.

• Hardcover: $25.00
• Publisher: Random House (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400066026
• ISBN-13: 978-1400066025

• Audio CD: Unabridged; 39.95
• Reader: Daniel Gerroll
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743533879
• ISBN-13: 978-0743533874

• Large Print: $33.95
  
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; (July 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1410408035
• ISBN-13: 978-1410408037

Alan Furst is often referred to as one of the best espionage writers alive. His tenth book received a rave from Janet Maslin in the New York Times last week (Dan Cryer in the San Francisco Chronicle was less enthusiastic, however ).

His most recent title, Foreign Correspondent, spent a few weeks at the bottom of the NYT bestseller list (it was higher on the independent bookseller’s and West Coast lists). It’s currently at #54 on Amazon, which means it is likely to begin appearing on print lists this week. Libraries show it still on order and some have heavy reserves to copy ratios.

Furst began his book tour this week. Stops are scheduled in Corte Madera, CA; Boulder, CO; Aurora, CO; Winetka, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Houston, TX; Coral Gables, FL; Raleigh, NC; New York City; Cambridge, MA and Fairfield, CT.

• Hardcover: $25.00
• Publisher: Random House (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400066026
• ISBN-13: 978-1400066025

• Audio CD: Unabridged; 39.95
• Reader: Daniel Gerroll
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743533879
• ISBN-13: 978-0743533874

• Large Print: $33.95
  
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; (July 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1410408035
• ISBN-13: 978-1410408037

Salon’s summer reading recommendations are coming in parts. On Monday, June 2nd, the Salon staff picked four chick lit titles. Most summer roundups focus on titles published during the season, but the Salon staff doesn’t confine itself to pub date or format.

Louis Bayard selects a UK title, This Is How It Happened, pubbed here in trade paperback, calling it “a black-humored romp.” Reading a man write about chick lit is a bit like watching a guy hold his girlfriend’s purse. He’s agreed to do it, but he has to make sure you know he’s not comfortable with it. The main character describes how hard she works to appeal to her man. Says Bayard;

she’s shaving and plucking like a maniac and wearing makeup on Saturday mornings and getting a bikini wax every other week. On and on it goes, a litany of biological self-denial, to which a stupefied male reader can only respond: We are so not worth it.

This is How it Happened (Not a Love Story)

by Jo Barrett

• Paperback: $13.95
• Publisher: Avon A (January 22, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061241105
• ISBN-13: 978-0061241109

———————————

Rebecca Traister loses her heart to Anne Rivers Siddons:

Off Season

Anne Rivers Siddons

• Hardcover: $24.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 13, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446527874
• ISBN-13: 978-0446527873

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Sara Hepola chooses a debut novel by Liz Tuccillo, the co-author of a little piece of nonfiction, He’s Just Not That Into You. The movie version hits theaters Oct. 24, starring nearly everybody (for a little guilty pleasure, check the trailer under our “Books to Movies” listing).

Tuccillo was also head writer for Sex and the City. Hepola sees a similarity “her dialogue bears some of the show’s hallmarks — tart and briskly paced and occasionally sappy.”

How to Be Single: A Novel

by Liz Tuccillo

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Atria (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1416534121
• ISBN-13: 978-1416590149

• Audio CD: Abridged, $29.95
  
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743569679
• ISBN-13: 978-0743569675

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Joy Press chooses April pub Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (covered here earlier), saying “Weiner has chosen smartass amusement over depth every time — but that’s what makes Certain Girls an imperfectly perfect summer read.”

Certain Girls

by Jennifer Weiner

• Hardcover: $26.95
• Publisher: Atria; (April 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743294254
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294256

• Audio CD: Abridged; 29.95
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (April 8, 2008)
• Readers: Michele Pawk, Zoe Kazan
  
• ISBN-10: 0743569865
• ISBN-13: 978-0743569866

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Last week, Salon chose thrillers. Four of the five, all pubbed in April, are already well-known:

• Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Dutton)
• Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
• Losing You by Nicci French (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber (Morrow)

The less predictable choice is a debut title from February, selected by Laura Miller. It’s difficult to condense Miller’s review but a quote from PW gets at the strangeness Miller describes — “a thriller that will strike some as a mix of John Fowles’s The Magus and Stephen King’s The Shining.”

Obedience

Will Lavender

• Hardcover: $24.00
• Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books (February 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 030739610X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307396105

• Audio CD: Unabridged, 7 CD’s $90
  
• Publisher: Books On Tape
• ISBN: 9781415946442

Next week, Salon will do memoirs. The finl list will be historical fiction.

New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin doesn’t have a problem with commercially successful authors (she reviewed the latest by John Grisham, Stephen King and Anne Rice very positively). But she is not enthusiastic about Child 44, a book she says is “looking like this summer’s most hotly promoted thriller.”

Earlier coverage has been very strong. On Sunday, NYT Book Review’s crime columnist, Marilyn Stasio, found the opening scenes “static and wordy,” but after that, “the narrative whips into action…The language becomes leaner, the style more fluid and cinematic…” Newsweek’s critic saw no slow down, saying simply “The thriller plot moves briskly along from start to finish.”

Critic Sarah Weinman (who writes the blog, “Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind”) is a fan and reviews it on B&N’s Review site this week (she is quick to point out that she wrote the review two months ago, before the chain picked it for the Barnes and Noble Recommends program). Prophetically, Weinman suggested in her Tuesday blog post that the current strong critical coverage “means a contrarian take will show up soon enough.” In any case, she says, “I still think about the book six months after my first read.”

It’s currently at #126 on Amazon, but at #13 on B&N.com, likely a result of their promotion efforts for the title.

My money is on Sarah’s take. Library orders seem low on this one — reserves are already running 5 to 1 in some places. It looks poised for good word of mouth; consider adding copies.

Child 44
by Tom Rob Smith

• Hardcover: $24.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446402389
• ISBN-13: 978-0446402385

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $39.98
• Reader: Dennis Boutsikaris
• Publisher: Hachette Audio (April 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 160024159X
• ISBN-13: 978-1600241598

• Large Type: $26.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446509256
• ISBN-13: 978-0446509251

Speaking of dueling reviewers, The Elegant Variation’s Mark Sarvas, puts up his dukes to NYT Book Review Mystery columnist, Marilyn Stasio, calling her review last week of The Silver Swan “bewildering.” Stasio felt that the book takes too many liberties with “the conventions of crime fiction.” Sarvas counters, “we urge you to ignore Ms. Stasio’s confining notions of what makes a good read and check out this wonderfully moody novel for yourself.”

The Silver Swan, Benjamin Black

• Hardcover:$25.00
• Publisher: Henry Holt (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0805081534
• ISBN-13: 978-0805081534

• Audio CD: $34.95
  
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1427202893
• ISBN-13: 978-1427202895

Written under the pen name of Benjamin Black, the book is by “literary” author John Banville (his literary credentials proved by winning the 2005 British Man Booker Prize for The Sea).