Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (Vintage, $15.95)
Most of Angelmaker, Nick Harkaway's second novel (after The Gone-Away World), takes place in a fantastical London that combines edgy urban fantasy with cerebral action-movie pacing as a particularly weird assignment drops Joe Spork into a world of robot bees, killer esthetic monks (no, that's not a typo) and an aging ex-spy named Edie, who roams around London with her blind dog. With a sleek retro style and a sexy sense of humor, Harkaway's world is one in which readers will gladly immerse themselves.
Blood in the Water by Jane Haddam (St. Martin's Paperbacks, $7.99)
Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is back with another deceptively tricky mystery in Blood in the Water, the 27th novel in Jane Haddam's series. Struggling with a recent loss in his personal life, Gregor confronts the dirty secrets that lurk within a respectable upscale community, and is forced to contend with small-town ineptitude, monstrous egos and upper-middle-class hypocrisy to get to the bottom of a case of not exactly mistaken identity.
History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason (Vintage, $15.95)
Piet Barol is the eponymous hero of Richard Mason's History of a Pleasure Seeker, a novel set in belle époque Amsterdam. The handsome, sexually adventurous Piet is eager to leave provincial Holland behind; he's well-educated, fluent in several languages and musically gifted, so he becomes tutor to the young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Amsterdam. Indulging in erotic adventures before moving on to a bright future, he's in a set-up made in heaven, or thereabouts, for a randy young tutor.
The Cove by Ron Rash (Ecco, $14.95)
Four years after the publication of Serena, Ron Rash returns to the mountains of western North Carolina to tell a love story set in the waning days of the First World War. Basing his novel in part on a true incident involving German sailors interned in a prison camp in the state, Rash leaves the strong impression he's only begun to mine a rich lode of memory and imagination his region has delivered to him.
The Healing by Jonathan Odell (Anchor, $15.95)
In the pre-Civil War South, Master Ben Satterfield's plantation has been ravaged by cholera. His daughter dies, his opium-addicted wife takes a newborn slave, Granada, from her mother to keep as a pet, and he purchases a reputed healer, Polly Shine. Seventy years later, Granada recounts past history, recalling the influence Polly had on the plantation and its occupants. Jonathan Odell uses the language of the day, its idiom and its music to great advantage in a compelling work in the pantheon of Southern literature.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Reagan Arthur/Back Bay Books, $14.99)
The Snow Child by debut novelist Eowyn Ivey (a bookseller in Alaska) is a fresh and exquisite adaptation of the snow maiden folk tale in which a child is brought to life from a figure made of snow. This version is set against the cinematic backdrop of 1920s Alaskan territory and follows Jack and Mabel as they build a homestead in the untamed wilderness. Nature in this tale is cruel and awe-inspiring; however, it also brings unexpected moments of joy. One of those is the snow maiden who becomes like a daughter to the couple, albeit one who thrives in the same wilderness that is so at odds with them.
Those Who Love Night by Wessel Ebersohn (Minotaur Books, $15.99)
Ebersohn has written four thrillers set in his native South Africa; The October Killings introduced readers to Abigail Bukula and her friend and associate, Yudel Gordon. Like too many of her South African countrymen, Advocate Bukula of the Justice Department is no stranger to the shared memories of the harrowing and often deadly struggles to overthrow the apartheid regime. When she is told that a cousin she thought slain by death squads is alive, in a Zimbabwean prison with six other political activists, she has no option but to travel to Zimbabwe with Yudel Gordon, a criminal psychologist, and his wife, Rosa, to try to free them.
Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster, $13.99)
Carrie Fisher has made a cottage industry of her addictions--think Wishful Drinking--and has no inhibitions about sharing. After rehabs and the death of a good friend, she was having troubles again and submitted to Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy. Fisher's only complaint about it is that it zaps the memory, although that isn't apparent from this memoir, whose underlying theme is "celebrity." Fisher peppers her excellent yarns with bon mots and insight.
Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs (Simon & Schuster, $16)
A.J. Jacobs has shared his quest for self-improvement over the course of several books: The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically and The Guinea Pig Diaries. Having conquered the mind and the spirit, Jacobs turned his attention to the body in a memoir of his efforts to become the healthiest man in the world. Drop Dead Healthy, like Jacobs's previous books, is often laugh-out-loud funny. For many enthusiastic readers, though, it might also be surprisingly informative and, hopefully, motivating.