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 by Robert Harris
New York: Simon and Schuster
February 2010

FASCINATING LOOK inside the science of earthquakes and the quest to find a way to predict them, well-presented. B PLUS

PREDICTING THE UNPREDICTABLE: THE TUMULTUOUS SCIENCE OF EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION
University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton
2009

SWEET, NEVER SYRUPY novel about a family in crisis focuses on dreamer dad, autistic son, and memorable others. B PLUS

THIS IS JUST EXACTLY LIKE YOU
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

SURELY THE BEST high school football zombie novel ever written. Great concept, well excuted, scary and funny. B PLUS

PLAY DEAD
Gallery Press
2010

NEW YORK’S CHINATOWN in 1976 is the setting for gripping, gritty police procedural with an Asian-American hero. B PLUS

SNAKES CAN’T RUN: A MYSTERY
Minotaur Books
2010

THRILLING, IF BLEAK, true stories of 19th century Arctic exploration. Meticulously researched, well told. B PLUS

THE MAN WHO ATE HIS BOOTS: THE TRAGIC HISTORY OF THE SEARCH FOR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2010

ROLLICKING STEAMPUNKY prequel to her “Company” time travel books shows the (alas!) late Kage Baker in fine form. B PLUS

NOT LESS THAN GODS
Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
2010

CHATTY YET INFORMATIVE, thoroughly researched look at the history of Shakespearian authorship controversies. B PLUS

CONTESTED WILL: WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE?
Simon & Schuster
2010

SCIENCE BROUGHT TO LIFE as a reporter tracks a leading–and controversial–neurobiologist’s memory research. B PLUS

101 THEORY DRIVE: A NEUROSCIENTIST’S QUEST FOR MEMORY
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2010

TENSE SERIAL-KILLER THRILLER; well-realized 1985 setting adds dimension, interest to kids-in-jeopardy plot. B PLUS

DEEPER THAN THE DEAD
Penguin Group (USA)
2009