GRITTY, NOIR THRILLER features a San Francisco setting and an ex-spy protagonist in unrelievedly grim conflict. B MINUS

NAKED MOON (NORTH BEACH MYSTERY)
Minotaur Books
2010

SLICK, EVENTFUL gangsta soap opera offers high life and loads of drama; less well crafted than Turner’s best. B MINUS

RELAPSE
One World
2010

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER that never quite takes off, despite a vividly imagined academic setting, characters. B MINUS

THE EXECUTOR
Putnam Adult
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

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

A HYPERVERBAL CHILDHOOD transformed by a love of debate is at the heart of this perhaps too detailed memoir. B MINUS

WISENHEIMER: A CHILDHOOD SUBJECT TO DEBATE
Free Press
2010

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY details shine in an otherwise formulaic thriller about family secrets and lost memory. B MINUS

BLOOD VINES
St. Martin’s Press
2010

BUZZ ALDRIN? You gotta love him. His confessional memoir? Not so much; admirably candid, but stodgy and dull. B MINUS

MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: THE LONG JOURNEY HOME FROM THE MOON
Crown Archetype
2009

ATMOSPHERIC NOVEL set in 1992 Havana has some vivid detail, but an annoying protagonist and convoluted plot. B MINUS

HAVANA LUNAR
Akashic Books
2009

MEDICAL THRILLER shines when it offers insider detail, grates with over-the-top plot and soap-opera characters. B MINUS

THE SECOND OPINION
St. Martin’s Press
2009