VIVID, RAUCOUS, CYNICAL novel depicts a group of energy traders’ professional and personal shenanigans.

SECOND MYSTERY in the “Ski Diva” series has lots of local Vermont color, slightly rambling plot.

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CAMBRIDGE university life is vividly imagined in this complex historical thriller.

SMART THRILLER with a fast pace, an SF twist, and a warm-hearted portrayal of its almost-human protagonist.

BUBBLY ROMANTIC COMEDY as only Katie Fforde can do it, with a deftly imagined and charmingly bookish heroine.

LUMINOUS DEBUT NOVEL about a complicated family is a cut above the usual stories of suburban angst.

GRITTY NOIR with a richly detailed Belize setting offers heart-stopping plot twists, quirky/seedy characters.

SUSPENSE AND THRILLER elements dominate a lightly sketched SF background in taut page-turner from Gene Wolfe.

COMPLEX WEBS of crime and a vividly depicted Quebec setting make this multivocal mystery a winner.

CULTURE CLASH, personality clashes, and the shock of the new in Nigeria are depicted in this fascinating novel.