Finn
by Jon Clinch
ISBN-10: 1400065917
ISBN 13: 9781400065912
Random House
$23.95 Hardcover
February 2007


What's It About?

In his debut novel, Clinch takes readers on a journey into the history and heart of one of American literature's most brutal and mysterious figures: Pap Finn, Huck's father.
Why Did He Write It?
Read the interview.
Who's Going to Read It?
Customers who read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as children, or even later in life, will find this book a darker continuation of Mark Twain's original. Clinch's interpretation of the particulars in Pap Finn's room when Jim discovers his dead body--the words and pictures on the walls, the men's and women's clothing, the whiskey bottles, and the black cloth masks--are meticulously detailed as Clinch reveals Pap Finn to readers.
How Can I Promote It?
While displaying Finn alongside other Twain works might seem obvious, doing so will have customers trying to remember the details of Huck and Tom Sawyer as well as Jim and the Widow Douglas--not to mention Pap Finn. Be sure to have plenty of copies on hand for your customers who haven't read these truly American stories in a long time.



Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
ISBN-10: 0061147931
ISBN 13: 9780061147937
William Morrow
$24.95 Hardcover
February 2007


What's It About?

A collector of the bizarre, Jude Coyne knew he had to buy the ghost for sale on the Internet. But his new acquisition--delivered to his doorstep in a black heart-shaped box--is everywhere Jude turns, waiting with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from a bony hand.
Why Did He Write It?
“When I started to experiment more with stories that were surreal and fantastic, I felt more excited, involved, and morally invested. It's a good thing to let your freak flag fly, to follow your instincts and write what you want, not what you think other people would like.”--interview with Locus magazine
Who's Talking About It?
“Hill writes some of the best ghost stories I've read in years.”--Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners

“...the book has genuinely touching emotional moments as well as action-packed confrontations with the dead.”--Library Journal

“...a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations. Hill (20th Century Ghosts) gives his characters believably complex emotional lives that help to anchor the supernatural in psychological reality and prove that (as one character observes) 'horror was rooted in sympathy.' His subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut.”--Publishers Weekly, starred review
How Can I Promote It?
If they haven't figured it out from the author's photo, customers will be intrigued to discover that Joe Hill is the son of horror god Stephen King and author Tabitha King.




Napoleon's Pyramids
by William Dietrich
ISBN: 0060848324
ISBN 13: 9780060848323
HarperCollins
$24.95 Hardcover
February 2007


What's It About?
What mystical secrets lie beneath the Great Pyramids? Traveling with Napoleon's ambitious expedition through Egypt, American adventurer Ethan Gage solves a 5,000-year-old riddle with the help of a mysterious medallion.
Who's Talking About It?
“A master at blending accurate historical fact with fictitious love and war storytelling.... For readers who find history books dull and dry, Dietrich has the antidote.”--Seattle Times

“A magnificent adventure shot through with mystery.... a marvelous tale!”--Bernard Cornwell, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Kingdom

“Page-turning historical fiction seething with action, adventure, and passion.”--Booklist

“As in previous novels like Hadrian's Wall and Scourge of God, Dietrich combines a likable hero surrounded by a cast of fascinating historical characters. Riveting battle scenes, scantily clad women, mathematical puzzles, mysteries of the pharaohs, reckless heroism, hairsbreadth escapes and undaunted courage add up to unbeatable adventure rivaling the exploits of George Macdonald Fraser's Harry Flashman. Readers will cheer as the indomitable Gage floats off in a runaway hot-air balloon, hard on the trail of his next exotic undertaking.”--Publishers Weekly, starred review
Why Did He Write It?
When discussing if “intelligent and popular” equate an oxymoron in the literary world, the author responded, “Not at all! This is snobbery put forth by a minority of critics and literature professors who claim the interior mind is the only thing worth writing about and that pretension, obscurity and dullness is somehow a mark of seriousness, instead of a mask. Dickens was the Stephen King of his day. Melville wrote the 19th Century equivalent of Jaws. Tolstoy wrote really good melodrama. Twain got em' laughing, then thinking. Yes, there are differences in quality but the greats first became great by becoming popular. Some had to wait until they were dead. But a good book is a good book if it reaches you.”--from the author's Web site




Broken Paradise
by Cecilia Samartin
ISBN-10: 0743287797
ISBN-13: 9780743287791
Atria Books
$23.95 Hardcover
February 2007


What's It About?
Cousins Nora and Alicia are accustomed to living in a Cuban paradise until Castro's rise to power forces Nora's family to flee the country, leaving Alicia behind. The cousins' letters depict the contrasts between their everyday lives and the constant clash between identity and loyalty.
Who's Talking About It?
"Cecilia Samartin writes with shimmering grace about homeland and exile, passion and loyalty.... A richly textured story, sensuous and haunting."--Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

"Gripping, poignant, and enlightening... a profound meditation on the complexities of the human heart and the redeeming power of love."--Carlos Eire, National Book Award-winning author of Waiting for Snow in Havana

"It's like drinking a full bottle of Cabernet by yourself."--New Zealand Public Radio

"I dare anyone not to be moved.... the book is ultimately uplifting--a testimony to the strength of love and the human spirit."--Traveller Magazine

"Cecilia Samartin delivers a novel rich in passion, heartbreak and love. Broken Paradise captures the textures and rhythms of my homeland of Cuba with its musical, agile prose and kept me engrossed to the last page. An important, timely work of fiction, it goes to the heart of what it means to be an exile. A truly American story."--Victor Rivas Rivers, actor and author of A Private Family Matter
From Broken Paradise:
All of the rooms in my grandparents' large house at Varadero overlooked the sea, and the dinning room was no exception. Abuela kept the windows open most of the time as she believed fresh air to be the best defense against the many diseases she worried about. Lace curtains fluttered on the incoming ocean breeze as Abuelo said the blessing over our meal. It wasn't until he lifted his head and took up his fork that we were allowed to do the same.

I was lucky to be sitting closest to the fried bananas, my favorite, and to have Alicia right next to me. At home, our parents knew better and always separated us so we wouldn't talk and giggle when we should be learning proper table manners. It seemed that Mami was more concerned with what fork I used for the salad than with my school work.

Most of the time, Abuelo and Abuela were amused by our antics and laughed at what our parents called foolishness.

"Look at how dark you're getting," Abuela said as she handed me a large bowl of fluffy yellow rice. "People will think you're a mulatica and not the white, full-blooded Spaniard that you are." Being a full-blooded Spaniard was also a very important thing, even more important than proper manners.