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APRIL 10, 2012
Even better than the bestselling Serena (2008), for here Rash has elevated melodrama to tragedy. Full review >
FEB. 1, 2012
His prose spare but spirited, Glynn (Winterland, 2011, etc.) spins an all-too-likely tale of secrets, lies and power... Full review >
FEB. 14, 2012
A romping good read that is character-driven yet intellectually provocative on issues of law, religion and... Full review >
JAN. 9, 2012
Engaging and accessible, thoughtful without being daunting: This may be the novel that brings Muslim-American fiction into... Full review >
MARCH 1, 2012
As a follow-up to Groff’s well-received debut (The Monsters of Templeton, 2008), this novel is a structural conundrum,... Full review >
APRIL 5, 2012
At every turn, James’ prose is crisp, observant and carefully controlled; unlike the narrator of “Escape Key,” who grows... Full review >
JAN. 3, 2012
A head-shakingly perfect blend of zombie schlock, deadpan wit, startling profanity, desperate improvisation and inventive... Full review >
MARCH 15, 2012
A charity sends Jonas to live with the Martins, an evangelical family in Pennsylvania. There he attends high school, an... Full review >
FEB. 7, 2012
Gallagher loves character development but respects plotting enough to give it full measure. The result is that rare beast, a... Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
At the start of the novel’s coda, when Dell explains that he teaches his students “books that to me seem secretly about my... Full review >
APRIL 3, 2012
An exceptionally fine study of love, war and the double-edged role of memory, which can both sustain and destroy.... Full review >
JUNE 26, 2012
Riveting, heartbreaking, profoundly moving. Full review >
APRIL 12, 2012
Complex in theme, complex in narrative, this is a masterful literary exploration of the specter of conscience and the... Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
War is hell in this novel of inspired absurdity. Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
This is the first of Icelandic author Ómarsdóttir’s novels to appear in English, and it shouldn’t be the last. Somewhere in... Full review >
JUNE 12, 2012
A superb romp. Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
The inventiveness of Mantel’s language is the chief draw here; the plot, as such, will engage only the most determined of... Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
Grim indeed, yet eloquent and utterly compelling. Full review >
JUNE 1, 2012
Independently intelligible but best appreciated after volume one—and with a huge surprise twist in the last sentence. Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
As in Mulligan’s hard-nosed debut, the real star here is Providence, which the author knows intimately. Full review >
SEPT. 4, 2012
Stern weaves an intricate and clever web of stories steeped in both sacred and mundane Jewish culture. Full review >
JULY 3, 2012
Readers familiar with Stross' dazzling science fiction should relish this change of pace and direction. Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
The blond beauty is Sigrid, a stenographer living alone with her unpleasant mother-in-law while her husband, Kaspar, serves... Full review >
SEPT. 15, 2012
An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted,... Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
A flawlessly assembled thriller. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
A great cure for the blues, especially for anyone who might feel bad about growing older. Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
A dazzling document, beautifully if most idiosyncratically drawn; in this iteration, sure to become a collector’s item,... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Whether recent or from his earliest period, these pieces show Alexie at his best: as an interpreter and observer, always... Full review >
NOV. 20, 2012
Maron (Three-Day Town, 2011, etc.) adroitly melds ugly American (open) government secrets with classic whodunit intrigue and... Full review >
NOV. 6, 2012
A top-notch, edge-of-the-seat thriller in which there are no villains, only mysteries. Full review >
JAN. 12, 2012
Brutal, irreverent and very funny. An honest-to-goodness heir to Portnoy’s Complaint. Full review >
FEB. 1, 2012
Landay is yet another lawyer-turned-writer, and it’s inevitable that he’ll be compared to Scott Turow, but this novel... Full review >
JAN. 24, 2012
Enthralling, dizzying and as impressive as they come. Full review >
MARCH 25, 2012
The river, the raft, a stash of money coveted by bad guys, nonstop adventures that edify, terrify and deepen the bond... Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
An evocative work about love, fate and redemption. Full review >
FEB. 14, 2012
Screwball romance with a likable and vulnerable heroine. Full review >
APRIL 12, 2012
Failed by the adults in her life and forced to be the grown-up when she should be experiencing first dates and football... Full review >
MARCH 13, 2012
With his third featuring brash, breezy, unflappable Carter (Eyes of the Innocent, 2011, etc.), Parks propels himself to a... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
An inventive, impressive and witty book. Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
Tends toward the claustrophobic at times, but superior and fulfilling. Full review >
MAY 7, 2012
Emotionally unflinching stories of considerable power, wonder and humor. Full review >
MARCH 5, 2012
Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the... Full review >
APRIL 1, 2012
A veteran cop herself, Dial (The Broken Blue Line, 2010, etc.) does authenticity to the max, and readers will like that. But... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
Once again Stroby demonstrates how adept he is at making readers empathize with the essentially unworthy. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
Castro’s first mystery is fierce and intense, with both harrowing depictions of New Orleans after Katrina and psychological... Full review >
MAY 29, 2012
With dialogue that can go off like gunfire and a streak of nostalgia that feels timeless, this book takes its place among... Full review >
JUNE 5, 2012
One of those rare thrillers whose revelations actually intensify its suspense instead of dissipating it. The final pages are... Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
A technocratic Kafka nightmare—heavy on surreal diagnosis of the world’s ills, light on the traditional rewards of... Full review >
JUNE 12, 2012
A dazzling novel of great intensity and power. Full review >
AUG. 24, 2012
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel continues to remind us of the brilliant possibilities of the philosophical and political... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
A wonderfully executed debut novel, so rich as to inspire rereading, right down to its inevitable resolution, both ironic... Full review >
SEPT. 4, 2012
Grace and empathy infuse this melancholy landscape of complex loyalties enfolded by brutal history, creating a novel of... Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
Although their fates are known, Gregory creates suspense by raising intriguing questions about whether her characters will... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
Even so, Eggers’ fiction has evolved in the past decade. This book is firm proof that social concerns can make for resonant... Full review >
OCT. 9, 2012
The ideal companion to the elevation of Hildegard by the pontiff who rebuked American nuns for their outspokenness, an irony... Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
Offers humor, heart and characters you’ll cheer for. Romantic women’s fiction at its best. Full review >
OCT. 9, 2012
Sheer delight. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
It’s a grand entertainment to watch Silva putting Gabriel Allon’s skills to work, whether shedding blood or daubing varnish.... Full review >
DEC. 24, 2012
Astonishing stuff that leaves readers with plenty of work to do. Full review >
NOV. 13, 2012
The author knows what matters, and the stories pay attention to it. Full review >
MARCH 1, 2012
Jane has so little trouble breaking James Shelby, framed for murdering his wife, out of police custody at the Clara... Full review >
FEB. 28, 2012
A truly spellbinding work even audiences jaded by standard U.S./U.K. fantasy will devour. Kudos to the publishers for taking... Full review >
FEB. 28, 2012
Strengthened by characters with depth and something interesting to say, this winning first installment in a trilogy is sure... Full review >
MARCH 29, 2012
Let’s hope Laukkanen writes more thrillers like this one. Full review >
MARCH 27, 2012
Gripping, perfectly balanced and highly recommended. Full review >
MARCH 13, 2012
Good cops, bent cops, tormented and demented cops, cops of every description inhabit Rizzo’s world, all of them utterly... Full review >
OCT. 23, 2012
The setup is wonderfully engrossing; the denouement doesn’t deliver quite enough. But this is stylish work by an author of... Full review >
MAY 15, 2012
Immediate, poignant and rarely predictable, this searchingly observant work captures a huge terrain of personal aspiration... Full review >
MAY 15, 2012
It’s hard to do justice to the outré and eccentric but gorgeous quality of Pilch’s prose. Here he manages to pull off some... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
There is much to admire in this novel. The subtle insight on sibling rivalry and the examination of love make for a poignant... Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
Shepherd offers an intricate plot and a thousand details of the least-admirable side of Victorian life. A must-read. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
A sweetheart of a novel, complete with a hazy ending. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
A gruesome, unforgettable exposition of the still too-little-known facts of the Armenian genocide and its multigenerational... Full review >
JULY 31, 2012
Often lyrical, sometimes a bit ponderous: a painful, personal record of Cambodia’s holocaust. Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
A compulsively readable novel about brothers on opposite sides of life. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
The evocation of “Useless, by James Joyce” attests to the humor and ambition of the novel, as if this were a Joyce-an remix... Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
George’s all-too-familiar story is so richly observed, subtly characterized, precisely written—her syncopated paragraphs are... Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
Not as ambitious as Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), but sharply observed and... Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
Unrelenting in its anger, pain and sorrow, but hard to put down. Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
Superb work from an abundantly gifted young writer. Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
A fine thriller that succeeds on every level. How often do you read about a hero who just wants to die in peace? Full review >
SEPT. 18, 2012
A hauntingly affecting historical novel with a touch of magic. Full review >
OCT. 1, 2012
Guttridge’s third Brighton thriller is so well-written that it would be well worth your time even if it were not such a... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Subtle, smart, compelling and blessed with both an intelligent storyline and top-notch writing, this book will grab readers... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Where earlier novels provide a better introduction to Hole, this one best takes the full measure of the man. Full review >
OCT. 11, 2012
Short stories don’t get much better than this, and for once, the overarching framework strengthens rather than dissipates... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
A satirical masterpiece, very funny for all its footnotes. You can bet the authorities in Beijing are scratching their heads... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
All the more impressive for being a significant departure from previous entries. Full review >
SEPT. 25, 2012
Beard’s take on Lazarus is nothing less than astonishing—and he respects the reader by taking religion and religious... Full review >
APRIL 24, 2012
Romance star Higgins pens a near pitch-perfect blend of comedy and touching emotion with this delightful winner. Full review >
FEB. 15, 2012
The author at his best. Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
Profound empathy and understated eloquence mark a novel so artfully nuanced that the last few pages send the reader back to... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
The third in Dean’s series is another delight, complete with perfect regency prose and an excellent mystery. Full review >
MAY 8, 2012
A gripping thrill ride that’s also a thoughtful coming-of-age story. Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
An excellent debut. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
Powers writes with a rawness that brings the sights and smells as well as the trauma and decay of war home to the reader. Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
For those who have an affinity for metaphysical fiction written with a surgeon’s precision, this collection will spur... Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking... Full review >
OCT. 16, 2012
Guy’s not a lucky guy, to be sure, but if there’s justice, Jacobson will enjoy best-sellerdom in his place with this latest... Full review >
NOV. 13, 2012
A Cold-War spy novel for the top shelf. Full review >
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