FROTHY YET KEENLY OBSERVED COMEDY of manners follows teenage rites of passage in a wealthy Washington DC suburb. B PLUS

BEACH WEEK
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2010

BRUTAL, UNSETTLING THRILLER set in the organized crime world of South Africa. Graphic violence, racism, terror. B PLUS

WAKE UP DEAD: A THRILLER
Henry Holt & Company
2010

TOUCHING, FUNNY, INSIGHTFUL Canadian novel about incompatible people brought together by an unexpected crisis. B PLUS

GOOD TO A FAULT
Harper
2010

SMART BUT NEVER HIGHFALUTIN book presents ten thought experiments in astrophysics. A must for SF writers! B PLUS

WHAT IF THE EARTH HAD TWO MOONS?: AND NINE OTHER THOUGHT-PROVOKING SPECULATIONS ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM
St. Martin’s Press
2010

SMART BUT NEVER HIGHFALUTIN book presents ten thought experiments in astrophysics. A must for SF writers! B PLUS

WHAT IF THE EARTH HAD TWO MOONS? by Neil F. Comins
New York: St. Martin’s Press
March, 2010

BLEAK, ELOQUENT police procedural follows an embattled inspector as she investigates a London school shooting. B PLUS

A THOUSAND CUTS
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

SNARKY, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, insightful, well-researched history of conspiracy theories that just won’t die. B PLUS

VOODOO HISTORIES: THE ROLE OF THE CONSPIRACY THEORY IN SHAPING MODERN HISTORY
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

WELL-PRESENTED, well-researched true story of the family (and house) that inspired Waugh’s BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. B PLUS

MAD WORLD: EVELYN WAUGH AND THE SECRETS OF BRIDESHEAD
Harper
2010

CRAZY-WONDERFUL post-Singularity Martian picaresque with a whiff of nuclear steampunk at last gets a US edition. B PLUS

ARES EXPRESS
Pyr
2010

ROMAN HISTORY AS THRILLER! Robert Harris does it right, dramatizing Cicero’s struggle against Pompey and Caesar. B PLUS

CONSPIRATA: A NOVEL OF ANCIENT ROME
Simon & Schuster
2010