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

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

INTERESTING IDEAS just never quite jell in this novel of snarky New York media and environmental terrorism. B MINUS

AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE
Scribner Book Company
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

TIGHTLY CRAFTED legal thriller is full of plot twists, sharp dialogue that redeem over-the-top storyline. SOLID B

FALSE CONVICTIONS
Grand Central Publishing
2010

SLEUTHING TAKES A BACK SEAT to interpersonal drama in this ninth Brodie Farrell mystery from Jo Bannister. B MINUS

LIARS ALL
St. Martin’s Press
2010

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

A YEAR ON THE INSIDE of a couples’ therapy group brings us absorbing stories of five marriages in transition. SOLID B

THE HUSBANDS AND WIVES CLUB: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A COUPLES THERAPY GROUP
Touchstone
2010

FASCINATING, IF FLAWED, historical thriller features author Charlotte Bronte as an unlikely spy and sleuth. SOLID B

BEDLAM: THE FURTHER SECRET ADVENTURES OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE
Overlook Press, The
2010