I have this theory that the elections in 2008 will be determined largely on the basis of how Americans feel about the out of control illegal immigration into this nation. The candidate that carves out a position to secure the borders will be hard to defeat. One congressman has been addressing this issue for seven years and is only now beginning to be taken seriously for his views. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Arizona has written In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America’s Border and Security ($24.95, WND Books, an imprint of Cumberland House Publishing, Nashville, TN) and it is jammed-packed with facts regarding the negative impact of an estimated ten million or more illegal aliens living among us, plus a million more coming across our southern border every year. As the nation approaches a total population of 300 million and tries to cope with the on-going threat of terrorism against our homeland, Tancredo makes a powerful case about the national security and economic threats this problem poses. For anyone interested in this issue, this book is the one to read.

By contrast, you can take a pass on Michele Wucker’s Lockout: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right ($25.95, Basic Books). Wucker choose to ignore the role illegal aliens play, for example, in the pressures on education funding, the way they have caused hospitals to close, introduced diseases that have been previously eradicated, and the large role many play in crime. Instead, she offers vignettes of poor, abused immigrants, reaching back in history and forward to current times with the claim that native and naturalized Americans are incapable of surviving without the illegals. Most of her arguments are without merit or just plain wrong.

I am an armchair traveler. The world beyond my home interests me, but not enough to actually visit parts of it. Anyway, if the polls are to be believed, much of it dislikes whatever it believes America stands for. Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond by Pankaj Mishra ($25.00, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) is a great way to gain some familiarity with the histories and current trends occurring in the nations mentioned. A native of India, Mishra, a Hindu, is in a sense a citizen of the world. He currently lives in England, but his active intellect and curiosity took him on trips back to India and adjacent nations to explore, as the title reflects, the changes occurring in these places as the result of the involvement of the West, first through colonization, now through globalization, on places with ancient religions and customs. Perhaps the best thing about this interesting collection of essays is the fact that he doesn’t romanticize these places and, indeed, one senses the heat, the smells, the wretched poverty and the various caste and other systems that keep so many at the mercy of events beyond their control. There are the effects of modernization and this too is explored. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of the Central Asia these days and, in particular, where India with its huge and growing population is headed.

For more armchair travel, there’s Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between ($14.00, Harcourt softcover) in which he relates how he walked across Afghanistan in 2002, from a city near the Iranian border to Kabul through what must surely be one of the most desolate places on Earth peopled by tribal folk ignorant of and oblivious to the outside world. It is a place of great poverty despite the brisk heroin trade. In the end, one concludes that all the Westerners sent by the U.S., the U.N., and other aid organizations have no idea with whom they are dealing and that, in all likelihood, the dead hand of Islam will defeat their ambitions. His memoir of the trip, however, pursuing the route of Babur, Afghanistan’s first Mughal emperor, makes for interesting reading. Stewart writes with an historian’s eye for his surroundings. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services in Iraq and lives now in Scotland. Stewart’s book is in many ways superior to Ted Rall’s Silk Road to Ruin ($22.95, NBM Publishing). Rall is by trade a cartoonist and a columnist for Universal Press Syndicate. Given the opportunity to visit the most remote places on Earth, Rall headed for "the Stans", the central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. These places are run by an unpleasant bunch of despots and Rall apparently think it’s the fault of U.S. policy. In brief, while talented and entertaining he does, however, offer an idiosyncratic view of places where few have gone of late and which sit atop huge reserves of oil and natural gas. That alone will bring about competition among the superpowers to lay hold of it.

I have a friend who has been a great fan of jazz for as long as I have known him. It took me well into my adult years to finally understand enough about jazz to appreciate it. It is a uniquely American creation. Stanley Crouch knows jazz and has written lovingly and authoritatively about it for many years. His latest book is Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz ($27.50, Basic Civitas Book, a member of the Perseus Books Group). This is a collection of truly inspired writing by a critic, a contrarian, and an intellectual who provides us with some wonderful and sometimes startling insights involving men like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk. These are writings that touch on aesthetics, race, class, bigotry, art, and the many other elements of that mysterious, ever alluring siren called jazz.

I first encountered Hans Zeiger when he wrote Get Off My Honor, a stirring defense of the Boy Scouts of America. He was an Eagle Scout and quite young, but he did a quite credible job at a time when the BSA was under attack—if one can even imagine a reason to do so—and he is back with Reagan’s Children ($12.99, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN.) His thesis is that he and the thirty million others born when Ronald Reagan was in office constitute a generation that has found a home in a more conservative point of view and are quite distinct from the Baby Boomers now beginning to retire. Zeiger asserts that his generation is much more likely to support Republican candidates and go to church. Most certainly, through campus organizations, Internet blogs, and other means, they are more in touch with one another. This book is an interesting polemic that suggests this new generation is going to be more transformative, patriotic, and religious than the Baby Boomers. Their parents came of age in the 80s voted for Reagan, they found inspiration from him, and they intend to keep the movement going.

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The Lives of Real People

Ultimately, history is made by individuals. Some gain fame in the process, most do not. A number of biographies, autobiographies and comparable books have arrived, so let’s look at them.

Nick Byrant was recently on C-Span discussing his new book, The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality ($29.95, Basic Books), an interesting retrospective that disputes the widely held view that JFK threw his support behind the Civil Rights movement in a meaningful way. As Bryant reveals, Kennedy was far more concerned about the political implications than the cause. It was not until after the 1963 Birmingham riots and countless other protests nationwide that he advanced a civil rights bill for which he would be remembered. Here is an interesting look at JFK’s shrewd, but tentative, handling of the race issue that puts it in a proper historical perspective.

World War I was America’s baptism in international conflict and Marc Wortman has written a book that people who enjoy military history will want to read. It’s The Millionaire’s Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power ($26.00, Public Affairs). They were mostly students at Yale in 1916 and the sons of privilege, a Rockefeller, a Taft, the son of J.P. Morgan’s leading partner. Despite having it all, they risked everything to fight in a distant war in France. They had, however, been schooled in heroism and the nature of leadership, so their common valor was common to the values of their era. Of this remarkable group, one would become the principal architect of America’s first strategic bomber force and another would become the navy’s only air ace. This book captures their sense of adventure and makes an excellent contribution to our understanding of a bygone time. Also from that time period is the legendary Ty Cobb ($17.95, Southern Methodist University Press, softcover) and Charles C. Alexander has written an excellent biography of one of the most volatile, fear-inspiring presence in baseball history. He would be involved for 24 years in the major leagues, retiring in 1928 having been a player, a player-manager, and a player again. He would hold 43 different records. Baseball addicts will enjoy every statistic and every recollection of the man, worts and all.

Orson Welles’ life is told by Simon Callow in Orson Welles: Volume 1, the Road to Xanadu ($18.00, Penguin) which is now available in a softcover edition. Recognized even by his contemporaries as a genius, that did not necessarily make for an easy path through life. His early years as an actor, a director, and a writer are captured in this first volume that takes the reader up to his making of Citizen Kane, still regarded as one of the greatest films. This masterful biography is filled with rich detail and will prove, especially for those who love the theatre and films, a pleasure to read. On a more contemporary note, Lisa A. Phillips has written Public Radio: Behind the Voices ($25.00, CDS Books) in which she profiles public radio’s popular personalities ranging from Daniel Schorr, Cokie Roberts, and Bob Edwards, to the many others that include Diane Rehm and Garrison Keillor. You will find the story behind your favorite voice and personality in this portrait of PBR.

When it was finally revealed that Mark Felt, a former Associate Director of the FBI, had been "Deep Throat", guiding the young Washington Post reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, toward the revelations of the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, the public response was mostly a shrug. Many had been born well after an event that held the nation transfixed for months. Not surprisingly, it was hoped that the revelation might spur sales of A G-Man’s Life ($26.95, Public Affairs) but I am under the impression it did not help much. This autobiography, written by Mark Felt with the assistance of John O’Connor, however, does provide considerable insight into the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, and the culture he created for the law enforcement agency. To that extent, it is well worth reading. In a similar fashion, another figure from the recent past, Margaret Mead, became a legend at an early stage of her career as an anthropologist with the publication of her book, Coming of Age in Samoa, an international sensation at the time. As we have since come to know, she was deceived by some mischievous Samoan girls who responded to her questions about courtship, marriage and sex. How much she embellished or distorted her research we shall never know, but current views hold that her book was a bit of hokum. She did, however, become an iconic figure during her long life and To Cherish the Life of the World: Selected Letters of Margaret Mead ($29.95, Basic Books) reveals much of her personality through her prolific letter-writing to loved ones. Anyone interested in her will welcome this collection of her letters.

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Getting Down to Business (Books)

Americans are interested in getting rich and there is no end to books that purport to assist them in various ways. Here are some of the latest.

Internet Riches: The Simple Money-Making Secrets of Online Millionaires ($22.00, Amacom) by Scott Fox says it has never been easier, cheaper, or safer to start an Internet business. Featuring exclusive interviews with online entrepreneurs, Fox, who has made a name for himself as a consultant, reveals the many strategies to start an e-business, make money from home, turn hobbies into businesses, along with product and marketing tips, legal and financial advice. If you are thinking about this option, this would be a very good book with which to start. Email Power: How to Get What You Want from Every Email You Send by Steven Griffith ($24.95, Coaching Intelligence Press, POB 9873, Marina Del Ray, CA 90295) says that one of the least reliable ways of finding out what other people truly feel and really mean is via email. Griffith, who describes himself as a language and communications expert, does not dispute that email has become the number one way of conducting business, but says that face-to-face contact is still the most reliable. In lieu of that option, however, Griffith’s book provides insight to the emotion, tone, and "body language" of any email. A look at a virtual world in which one can make money is provided by Julian Dibbell in Play Money or How I Quit my Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot ($24.00, Basic Books). This book explores the new phenomenon of MMPORGs or Massively MultiPlayer Online Role-Playing Games in which thousands of players operate fantasy characters in virtual environmental the size of continents. This has spawned a market for virtual goods—magic swords, enchanted breastplates, and special elixirs. According to the author, the best loot farmers can make between six figures a year and six figures a month. Computer gaming, says Dibbell, is poised to eclipse all other entertainments in dollar volume. This is truly a walk on the wild side.

Red-Hot Cold Call Selling by Paul S. Goldner ($17.95, Amacom softcover) is now in its second edition and is about the real world rather than a fantasy one. This is an old-fashioned sales tutorial regarding the sales process that addresses the power of prospecting and then how to achieve results. Open it up and find all the indispensable secrets, strategies, and tips to turn yourself into a successful salesperson. The new edition shows how to define and target your ideal market, develop a personalized script, get passed lower level folk and even how to turn voice mail to your advantage. Another book along the same lines is Mental Agility: The Path to Persuasion by Robert L. Jolles ($21.95, Capital Books, Sterling, VA) who says he cannot just teach you the arts of persuasion, but train your mind to think faster, whether it comes naturally to you or not. If you’re one of those folks who has trouble starting a conversation with a potential customer and keeping it going, this book might well prove very useful. These are techniques anyone can learn.

These days many business leaders have become celebrities. But Richard Lepsinger and Gary Yukl, the authors of Flexible Leadership ($44.00, Jossey-Bas, an imprint of Wiley) say that all the hoopla that surrounds these people may not correspond to the value of their company. Indeed, they argue that in some ways having a high-profile executive at the helm can be a drawback. "There is no way that one person can be responsible for the success of an entire corporation. Rational businesspeople know this, but there is something in the human psyche that makes us long for a savior." This is a no-nonsense book about over-reliance on the leader to solve all of a company’s problems and how a single CEO misstep can have a catastrophic effect on profits. Loaded with good, commonsense advice, this book earns its cost.

The 60-Minute Estate Planner: Fast and Easy Plans for Saving Taxes, Avoiding Probate, and Maximizing Inheritance is now in its third edition ($21.95, Amacom, large format softcover). Sandy F. Kraemer’s text fully lives up to its title, providing simple, easy-to-follow instructions, along with helpful forms, charts, and worksheets that will help the reader communicate with heirs, manage medical decisions, reduce, defer, and eliminate as much gift, estate, inheritance, and other tax as possible, as well as how to use estate planning professionals while saving on professional fees for planning and administration. In short, the kind of book anyone of a certain age should read because the years come around very fast.

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Younger Readers

Deep into summer is a great time for a pre-teen and teenager to kick back with a good book and, coincidentally, turn off the television and put aside the game player gizmo. The gift of reading for pleasure is one that will last a lifetime and one which every parent should encourage.

I am happy to report that the classic novel, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White has been reissued ($16.99, HarperCollins) with wonderful illustrations by Garth Williams. White is justly famed as well for Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan. A whole new generation can become familiar with a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur and of Wilbur’s dear friend, Charlotte A. Cavatica, a large gray spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn.

A large number of novels for those aged ten and up have been published of late, so let’s take a look at them. In this case, they are all from the giant publisher, HarperCollins which maintains a division exclusively for younger readers. In no particular order, there’s Dogboy by Christopher Russell ($15.99), about Brind, an orphaned baby found in Sir Edmund’s kennels, who literally grows up surrounded by mastiffs and the largest and most powerful dog in the pack, Glaive, who is Brind’s best friend. Aurelie has been thrown out of her home as the French army prepares for the English invasion. She can either beg outside the town wall with her mother or fight the enemy. They are thrown together in a story that will please any youngster. Frances Hardince has written Fly by Night ($16.99) about Mosca Mye whose cruel uncle keeps her locked up in his mill with only her pet goose, Saracen, as a friend. In a world where books have been banned, Mosca can read. Then along comes Eponymous Clent, a smooth-talking con man who loves words nearly as much as Mosca. Soon they are living a life of danger and deceit together. This is the stuff of great fun and even the heft of this novel will not prove daunting.

Mysteries are always fun and Peter Abrahams has created a following for himself with Down the Rabbit Hole and Behind the Curtain ($21.95, HarperCollins), both set in the fictional town of Echo Falls. It’s a place where everyone seems to have a secret. Both books star Ingrid who is a great fan of Sherlock Holmes and, when the director of the fall production of "Alice in Wonderland", suffers an accident onstage, Ingrid wonders if it was, indeed, an accident. Things get more and more curious as she pursues this possibility and Echo Falls becomes a scary place in the process. The latter book is a sequel and, in this one, Ingrid’s dad’s job is in jeopardy, but he won’t explain why. Naturally, Ingrid digs into the question, gets kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a car. Even if she escapes, will anyone believe her story? I highly recommend both novels.

Another author with a following is Barry Yourgrau who is back with Another Nasty Book: The Curse of the Tweeties ($11.99, HarperCollins) and it is filled with the kind of totally demented humor that will have any young reader laughing out loud.

For a slightly older, young reader aged 12 and up, there’s Sandra Belton’s Store-Bought Baby ($15.99, Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins) told from the point of view of a girl whose brother committed suicide in what is officially listed as an automobile accident. Trying to unravel the mystery behind the event creates lots of tension in the family. This is not some light fantasy, but a serious story that will prove instantly compelling to anyone who opens to the first page. A very different treat is served up in the form of a fifth century historical fiction based on the legend of Saint Ursula, a martyr of Cologne, Germany. Philip Griffen has based Ursula’s Maiden Army on the legend of how Princess Ursula creates an army of women to defend her homeland against marauding Saxons and Picts. She takes 20,000 women across the Channel to rescue the men led by her beloved Constans. Griffen proves himself to be a terrific storyteller in his own right.

Let’s not ignore the younger set, aged 3 through 8, for whom lots of illustrations are as important as the story. They are in for a treat from The Mice of Bistrot Des Sept Freres, written and illustrated by Marie LeTourneau with some credit going to Danielle Reed Baty as well ($15.95, Tanglewood Press.) The story tells how a judge is coming to taste the famous cheese soup of the Bistro of the Seven Brothers, the trendiest mouse bistro in all of Paris! When the chef runs out of his secret ingredient, it is up to Petite Michelle, the tiniest mouse in the family, to save the day…and the soup! Here’s a delightful way to introduce a youngster to a bit of French culture and a few French words as well. The artwork is plentiful and wonderful. A slightly older group, ages 6 through 9, can be introduced to a classic Greek myth, Let’s Go, Pegasus!, as retold and illustrated by Jean Marzollo ($12.99, Little, Brown and Company), Perseus must slay the monster, Medusa, to save his mother from a forced marriage to an evil king. The winged horse still captures our imagination and this book is a very child-friendly telling of the story.

Another illustrated story is Yes, I Can! ($15.99, Waterhouse Publishing, 40 Sheridan Ave., Congers, NY 10920.) Written in verse by Devon Harris and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, it strives a tad too hard as it tells the story of a true-life Jamaican team that wanted to compete in the winter Olympics bobsled competition. Given the tropical weather of Jamaica, this dream is fraught with obstacles and the book tells the story of how it was fulfilled. Not surprisingly, the author is a motivational speaker who was one of the participants. This is a fairly modest effort in terms of text and artwork, but that is not likely to affect a younger reader.

One particular publisher, Charlesbridge Publishing of Watertown, Massachusetts, has established itself as an excellent publisher of books for younger readers and I have been given an advance look at some of the best titles from its fall catalog. For early readers just about anything interests them and Mary K. Corcoran has written The Quest to Digest ($6.96), illustrated by Jef Czekaj, which explains what goes on inside a person when they eat something. It’s great fun to read and doesn’t skip any part of the digestive process, doing so with great good humor. Little boys are frequently fascinated by any form of construction and, in particular, the large machines required. Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster have written and illustrated The Construction Alphabet Book ($7.95). Most of the alphabet is represented. This one is part of a series of alphabet books based on such themes as the desert, the ocean, dinosaurs, and many other topics. I have some Korean friends and they were delighted to learn that The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea ($14.95) has been made available to American youngsters, age 10 and older, by Anne Sibley O’Brien. It is presented comic book style with lots of text and illustrations. Music lovers will love Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Anna Harwell Celenza and illustrated by JoAnn E. Kitchel ($19.95) which comes with a CD recording of a melody so identifiable, so American, that it told the world that a unique genius had written something hauntingly beautiful for his nation and the world. This is just a super book for younger readers. Finally, if a youngster you know collects stamps, get him or her a copy of The Bald Eagle’s View of American History by C.H. Colman and illustrated by Joanne Friar ($5.95). Using illustrations of actual stamps, it takes the reader on a short tour of American history as reflected in the national symbol of the bald eagle. To learn more about this publisher’s many fine books, visit www.charlesbridge.com.

One of my favorite annual books is The World Almanac for Kids ($12.95) and the new edition debuted in June, along with a companion, Yo! I Know: Brain-Building Quizzes ($9.99). The Almanac’s annual compendium of facts is a great favorite of kids, parents, teachers, and librarians, with more than 3.5 million in print. Completely updated, the 2007 edition is a treat to the eye and the brain. The youngster who gets into its pages filled with information on all manner of timely and timeless topics is going to get a head start in school and life. The book of quizzes will provide plenty of fun, too. Check them out at www.worldalmanacforkids.com.

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Novels, Novels, Novels!

Storytelling is, I suspect, as old as man. Having little else to do while sitting around the fire, the invention of gods, myths, and just stories about the many dangers ancient peoples faced was surely a way to educate or comfort family and tribe members. The process continues.

From David Stahler, Jr. comes Doppelganger ($16.99, HarperCollins) and it is just scary enough to keep you turning the pages about a creature raised in the middle of nowhere who must leave home to kill a human and assume his identity. That’s what doppelgangers do, but they are not supposed to have any doubts about it and this one does. This is an allegory about monsters and, as you will discover, they come in all forms. In its own way, Walking Lazarus by T.L. Hines ($18.99, Bethany House) is a tale of horror, but the kind the reflects the mystery of children disappearing from Red Lodge, Montana, where Jude Allman has made a life for himself after having experienced three near-death experiences. That has put him in the public spotlight and given him a past that he did not understand and wanted to escape. Evil, though, is happening around this isolated little town and now he must face his own past to save his life and the lives of those he loves. This is one of those novels that are very hard to put down once you begin to read it.

I have been to Los Angeles many times and never liked the place. There is no "there" there. It sprawls and it a perfect setting for Scott Frost’s Never Fear ($25.95, G.P. Putnam’s Sons). Frost is the screenwriter for television shows such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files and he brings his considerable skills to a new novel about the killing, 17 years ago, of three women whose bodies were dumped in the wasteland of the L.A. River. The serial killer was never found, but Detective Alex Delillo reopens the case to help solve her own brother’s murder. As she gets closer to the truth, she begins to uncover some alarming facts about her own father. Meanwhile, the schizophrenic son of the killer’s third victim is out for his own revenge and someone is stalking Alex. Scared already? You should be. Keep the lights on and lock the door when you read this one. The dean of suspense is, of course, Dean Koontz, and he returns with The Husband ($27.00, Bantam Books). In this novel he asks what would you do for love? When an ordinary man, a landscaper, is told his wife has been kidnapped and a two million dollar ransom is required, he must undertake a harrowing journey to secure her return. Fans of Koontz will not be disappointed and new ones will be made when they read this novel.

A very different kind of novel is found in History Lesson for Girls by Aurelia Sheehan ($23.95, Viking). It is an emotional, enchanting, and poignant novel about adolescence as told through a friendshipbetween two 13-year-old girls who create a private world for themselves as a way to survive the excesses of the 1970s. A friendship blooms between Alison Glass, a newcomer and instant outcast in a Connecticut school, and the popular and troubled Kate Hamilton. The lives of two troubled families intertwine. Clearly, women more than men, will enjoy this story, but the author probably doesn’t care. Her talent is already well established. Indeed, readers may want to visit her previous novel, The Anxiety of Everyday Objects. A lighter take on literature for the female gender can be found in the hilarious novel, Man Camp, by Adrienne Brodeur ($12.95, Ballantine softcover). The sheer ineptitude of the novel’s men to create a romantic situation despite a desire to please the novel’s females creates a lot of fun for the reader as a biologist, Lucy Stone, and her best friend, Martha McKenna, try to figure out why. Man Camp is their idea of how to teach these befuddled buffoons how to please a woman.

Also now in softcover, there’s The Twins of Tribeca by Rachel Pine ($13.95, Miramax Books), a very funny account of show business politics as Karen Jacobs takes a job with Glorious Pictures, founded by twin brothers, Phil and Tony Waxman. Aside from the usual tantrums and whims of celebrities with whom she must deal as a publicist, Karen discovers that there is absolute insanity inside the company. Cheers to Miramax for publishing this novel by an author who was a former publicist for Miramax Films! This is her first book and I am looking forward to her next one. Sheila Williams explores the lives of four African American women in Girls Most Likely ($13.95, One World/Ballantine softcover) as we examine the bonds between them from fifth grade to their fifth decade together. All are interesting in their own ways, for their achievements and for their failures. This is "chick lit" for sure and one for a specific audience, but it still makes for some good reading by the side of the pool.

In late June, the American Movie Channel aired the movie version of Broken Trail starring Robert Duvall. For fans of the most authentic form of American literature, the Western, you can now read the novel by Alan Geoffrion ($14.95, Fulcrum Publishing). Duvall and Geoffrion are longtime friends and both share a fascinating for the history of the West. You will be familiar with the author’s work if you have seen the brilliant film, Open Range, one of the best westerns produced in recent years. The novel is based on a real woman, Donaldina Cameron, who in the late 1800’s, rescued and sheltered thousands of young Chinese girls sold into prostitution in San Francisco. Both the film and this novel are stirring experiences. Another slice of history can be found in Leisha Kelly’s Rachel’s Prayer ($12.99, Revell) which captures the life of a woman when a loved one goes off to war. In this novel it is World War II as two families must wait anxiously for news from their boys as days stretch into months and their letters become more sporadic. This is every family and every war because, just as September 11, 2001 set off a new war, so did December 7, 1941. The author captures the ways lives are changed forever by events that compel a response to evil.

Women with a flair of investigation are the subjects of two new novels. Mary Jane Clark, who has authored a number of bestsellers, is back with Lights Out Tonight (23.95, St. Martin’s Press). A news network is central to her story featuring Caroline Enright, a film and theatre critic who stumbles into a murder on a trip to review a summer playhouse festival. She uses her reporter’s skills to unmask the killer. All this may sound fairly familiar, but in Clark’s hands, it becomes a riveting thriller whose plot the reader is eager to unravel because it is filled with terrifying danger. The author, in real life, is a producer and writer at CBS News in New York City. A previous thriller by Clark, Dancing in the Dark is available as a paperback ($7.99, St. Martin’s Press). An author named Black Artemis—would I make up a name like that—has her third novel out, Burn, ($13.95, New American Library, softcover) and it sizzles with a gritty, street-smart and street-dangerous story filled with twists and turns, all generated by a cast of very offbeat characters. It features Jasmine, a female bond agent who immerses herself in the graffiti subculture of New York as she tries to make peace with the loss of her twin brother, Jason, whose violent death still haunts her. She discovers that a doctor in charge of painting a mural for a neighborhood health clinic has a very dangerous side to his life and she is drawn into an undercover situation that threatens her life. Filled with the kind of dialogue that reflects today’s hip-hop culture, the story will keep you jumping from page to page. It has the feel of a film noir of past times.

Fans of fantasy will enjoy the beginning of a duology by award-winning author, Dave Duncon, with Children of Chaos ($25.95, Tor). Tor is the largest publisher of science fiction and fantasy in the world. In this novel, four siblings were taken hostage, separated, and thrown into an enemy land where they grow up to be very different, only to meet again for the first time fifteen years later. Together, their actions will decide the fate of the world around them. All the elements of good fantasy fiction are to be found in this swashbuckling tale. Translated from its original Russian, Night Watch – Book 1 by Sergei Lukyanenko ($11.95, Miramax Books, softcover) was published in July. This book has taken Russia by storm, inspired a blockbuster movie, and sold more than two million copies worldwide. It is part fantasy, part vampire novel, and part detective potboiler. It tells the story of the "Others", an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. Coming in January will be Book 2, "Day Watch", and in July 2007, "Dusk Watch." Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of fantasy, science fiction and just plain scary stories, you will want to read this kaleidoscopic novel.

That’s it for August!

Don’t forget to visit our Featured Books section as some very interesting fiction and non-fiction books have been added and represent unique reading experiences.

In September, you can pick up a copy of my new book! It’s "Right Answers: Short Takes on Big Issues", a collection of the best of my weekly commentaries on the hottest issues of our times. Click here to be the first to receive an autographed copy.

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