FROM SWINGING LONDON in the 1960s to today’s New York, an Australian writer is haunted by her family past. SOLID B

LOLA BENSKY
Counterpoint LLC
2013

SWASHBUCKLING HISTORICAL ADVENTURE has a dashing secret-agent hero, lively supporting cast, and Napoleon too! B PLUS

THE BARBED CROWN : AN ETHAN GAGE ADVENTURE
Harper
2013

AN AFFECTIONATE PORTRAIT OF ARMENIA in the early 1960s; gorgeous, newly translated work by Vasily Grossman. B PLUS

AN ARMENIAN SKETCHBOOK
New York Review Books
2013

GRITTY BLUE-COLLAR MAGIC and the dream of hope for a broken city are the core of this hypnotic urban fantasy. A MINUS

MERMAID IN CHELSEA CREEK
McSweeney’s Books
2013

THE MOST NOTORIOUS FEUD in US history, the long conflict between the Hatfields and McCoys, vividly recounted. B PLUS

THE FEUD: THE HATFIELDS AND MCCOYS: THE TRUE STORY
Little Brown and Company
2013

LIFE WITH A NARCISSISTIC mother whose beauty and glamour masked her cruelty to some. Compassionate, candid. B PLUS

CHANEL BONFIRE
Gallery Books
2013

A HARDENED MERCENARY RACES against time, with the lives of her loved ones held hostage. Gripping thriller. SOLID B

THE DOLL (VANESSA MICHAEL MUNROE SERIES #3)
Crown Publishing Group
2013

CLIMBER GEORGE MALLORY and his fatal 1924 attempt to summit Everest, explored in vivid, fascinating detail. B PLUS

LAST HOURS ON EVEREST
Collins Publishers
2013

THE ELUSIVE STREET ARTIST Banksy, profiled in a well-reported unauthorized bio. Lots of intriguing stories! SOLID B

BANKSY: THE MAN BEHIND THE WALL
St. Martin’s Press
2013

AN ALIEN WARRIOR POSSESSES the body of a sadsack techie schlub; many adventures ensue. Wildly inventive SF! A MINUS

THE LIVES OF TAO
Angry Robot
2013