Sano Ichiro, the Shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, has his doubts about the partnership that he and his spirited new wife, Reiko, have forged: While he can't help recognizing that her help on his cases can be invaluable, he sometimes longs for a more traditional wife. Still, when a botched case and the resulting loss of face send Sano to the Imperial city to find a killer whose methods are as terrifying as they are elusive, Sano needs the talents of his wife more than ever to inflitrate the emperor's inner circle. Rowland's series "positively smokes with historical atmospherics" (Publishers Weekly), and THE SAMURAI'S WIFE is her most intricate and compelling novel to date.Amazon.com ReviewSano Ichiro, the Shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, is back in action in Laura Joh Rowland's latest, The Samurai's Wife. After a heated dispute with his colleague and archrival, Honorable Chamberlain Yanigasawa, Sano finds himself in Miyako, Japan's imperial capital, investigating the mysterious death of Minister Konoe Bokuden. Apparently a victim of murder by kiai, a martial arts technique in which a burst of pure mental energy is concentrated in the voice of the killer, Konoe had been plotting an overthrow of samurai rule. Sano must determine whether his death is a personal or political matter, all the while tiptoeing around the delicate sensibilities and violent tempers of the Emperor and his Imperial Court. His roster of suspects ranges from the Emperor himself to Kozeri, Konoe's former wife, a Buddhist nun whose habit barely conceals a powerful and disturbing sensuality.Rowland has obviously done her homework; her zest for historical detail complements, rather than overwhelms, the story, giving the reader a glimpse into the ceremoniality of 17th-century imperial Japanese culture: "In the southern sector of the imperial enclosure stood the Purple Dragon Hall.... The austere half-timbered building faced a courtyard bounded with covered corridors supported by vermilion posts. The ground was covered with white sand to reflect the light of the sun and moon onto the hall. A cherry tree and a citrus tree flanked the entrance, representing the guardian archers and horsemen of ancient tradition. Leading up to the door, eighteen steps, framed by red balustrades, symbolized the number of noble ranks in the court hierarchy. Sano and Hoshina slowly approached the bottom of the steps, where a line of courtiers waited."Unfortunately, Rowland seems sometimes to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of action, creating a bond between Sano and his spirited wife Reiko so modern that one feels that even the most liberated Genroku woman would have been far more circumscribed by ritual and expectations. On the level of plot, rather than philosophy or politics, Sano's deductions have less to do with dogged investigation than with divine inspiration. Laura Joh Rowland's previous Sano mysteries include The Concubine's Tattoo and The Way of the Traitor. Mystery fans intrigued by the notion of a Japanese mise en scène may be interested in Dale Furutani's Death at the Crossroads and Jade Palace Vendetta, also set in 17th-century Japan. --Kelly FlynnFrom Publishers WeeklyWith her fifth mystery set in 17th-century Japan, Rowland (The Concubine's Tattoo, Bundori, etc.) offers a rich historical that is equal parts police procedural and political thriller. The shogun sends his Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations and People, Sano Ichiro, to the ancient court city of Miyako to investigate the murder of imperial minister Konoe Bokuden. Normally such a crime wouldn't concern the shogun, but the victim was a spy who reported on activities among nobles of dubious loyalty. Sano has to solve the murder and diffuse any resulting political tensions, a job that requires delicacy and etiquette--and vigilance. Felled by a rare martial art that can vanquish the most skilled samurai, Bokuden had discovered a secret plot against the shogun involving members of the court, feudal lords, gangsters and ronin. To find the killer and avert civil war, Sano must step on imperial toes and risk both censure from the shogun and the displeasure of Reiko, Sano's spirited young wife. Rowland delineates the class distinctions of her characters with subtlety and pulls together the strands of her multifaceted plot with enviable grace. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Embroiled in an all-out war in the Mediterranean Sea, the Sixth Fleet finds itself being slowly taken apart by the enemy. Hope appears in the form of reinforcements — a fully armed task force led by the carrier "Stennis". But the new battle group must first face its own test under fire by fighting its way past the gates of the enemy in the hellish Straits of Gibraltar.

Colson Whitehead’s eagerly awaited and triumphantly acclaimed new novel is on one level a multifaceted retelling of the story of John Henry, the black steel-driver who died outracing a machine designed to replace him. On another level it’s the story of a disaffected, middle-aged black journalist on a mission to set a record for junketeering who attends the annual John Henry Days festival. It is also a high-velocity thrill ride through the tunnel where American legend gives way to American pop culture, replete with p. r. flacks, stamp collectors, blues men , and turn-of-the-century song pluggers. John Henry Days is an acrobatic, intellectually dazzling, and laugh-out-loud funny book that will be read and talked about for years to come. From the Trade Paperback edition.

"The peace of the nation of Tir Tanagiri had been bitterly won. But after years of fighting against rival kingdoms and Jarnish invaders, the warrior Sulien ap Gwien and her lord, King Urdo, had finally won it, through great strength of arms - and greater strength of vision. For Sulien was inspired by Urdo's dream of a kingdom ruled by justice, whose subjects all were equal under a single code of law. But where many see a hopeful new future for the land, others believe they sense the seeds of a new tyranny." Soon the land faces the terrible blight of civil war, and Sulien ap Gwien must take up arms again. But where once her enemies were barbarian invaders and unrepentent usurpers, now they are former comrades and loved ones. And as the conflict tears her country and her family apart, and life-long friends go to meet their destinies, Sulien must fight harder and harder to hold on to Urdo's shining dream.

Jemima Jones is overweight. About one hundred pounds overweight. Treated like a maid by her thin and social-climbing roommates, and lorded over by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented but better paid) at the Kilburn Herald, Jemima finds that her only consolation is food. Add to this her passion for her charming, sexy, and unobtainable colleague Ben, and Jemima knows her life is in need of a serious change. When she meets Brad, an eligible California hunk, over the Internet, she has the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself–as JJ, the slim, beautiful, gym-obsessed glamour girl. But when her long-distance Romeo demands that they meet, she must conquer her food addiction to become the bone-thin model of her e-mails–no small feat. With a fast-paced plot that never quits and a surprise ending no reader will see coming, Jemima J is the chronicle of one woman's quest to become the woman she's always wanted to be, learning along the way a host of lessons about attraction, addiction, the meaning of true love, and, ultimately, who she really is.

"A headlong plunge into dark places and dark minds" from the Edgar Award–winning author of the Gideon Oliver Mysteries (Statesman Journal). Pete Simon's all-American life was everything he ever wanted: a good home, a satisfying career, and a marriage still strong and loving after nearly twenty years. But in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, everything is about to change. It starts with the appearance of an old man at his door, ranting madly about money, death, and forgiveness. The man is a stranger to Pete—but not to his wife, Lily. Only later does the truth come out. The unwelcome visitor was Lily's father, who she had claimed died during World War II in their native France, executed by the Nazis. The next day, he truly is dead, his savagely beaten body washed up in a nearby marsh—and Lily disappears, leaving behind only a brief, enigmatic note asking Pete not to look for her. Now, with a business...

"It has always seemed strange to me that no one has ever endowed a professorship in criminal science in any of our large universities." Craig Kennedy laid down his evening paper and filled his pipe with my tobacco. In college we had roomed together, had shared everything, even poverty, and now that Craig was a professor of chemistry and I was on the staff of the Star, we had continued the arrangement. Prosperity found us in a rather neat bachelor apartment on the Heights, not far from the University. "Why should there be a chair in criminal science?" I remarked argumentatively, settling back in my chair. "I\'ve done my turn at police headquarters reporting, and I can tell you, Craig, it\'s no place for a college professor. Crime is just crime. And as for dealing with it, the good detective is born and bred to it. College professors for the sociology of the thing, yes; for the detection of it, give me a Byrnes." "On the contrary," replied Kennedy, his clean-cut features betraying an earnestness which I knew indicated that he was leading up to something important, "there is a distinct place for science in the detection of crime. On the Continent they are far in advance of us in that respect. We are mere children beside a dozen crime-specialists in Paris, whom I could name."

This old adage is familiar to all golfers but is especially resonant with Dr. Bob Rotella, the bestselling author of Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and one of the foremost golf authorities today. In Putting Out of Your Mind, Rotella offers entertaining and instructive insight into the key element of a winning game -- great putting. He here reveals the unique mental approach that great putting requires and helps golfers of all levels master this essential skill. Much like Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and Golf Is a Game of Confidence, Putting Out of Your Mind is an informative and valuable guide to achieving a better golf game. While most golfers spend their time trying to perfect their swing so they can drive the ball farther, Rotella encourages them to concentrate on their putting -- the most crucial yet often overlooked aspect of the game. Great players are not only aware of the importance of putting, they go out of their way to master it, and...

Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts, and the game warden--especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way--is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in. Even after the "outfitter murders," as they have been dubbed by the local press after the discovery of the two more bodies, are solved, Joe continues to investigate, uneasy with the easy explanation offered by the local police. As Joe digs deeper into the murders, he soon discovers that the outfitter brought more than death to his backdoor: he brought Joe an endangered species, thought to be extinct, which is now living in his woodpile. But if word of the existence of this endangered species gets out, it will destroy any chance of InterWest, a multi-national natural gas company, building an oil pipeline that would bring the company billions of dollars across Wyoming, through the mountains and forests of Twelve Sleep. The closer Joe comes to the truth behind the outfitter murders, the endangered species and InterWest, the closer he comes to losing everything he holds dear.

Time is a resource. Everyone knows it has to be managed. And on Discworld that is the job of the Monks of History, who store it and pump it from the places where it's wasted (like underwater -- how much time does a codfish need?) to places like cities, where there's never enough time. But the construction of the world's first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time, for Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd. Because it will stop time. And that will only be the start of everyone's problems. Thief of Time comes complete with a full supporting cast of heroes and villains, yetis, martial artists and Ronnie, the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse (who left before they became famous).

From Publishers WeeklyBest known as the creator of Forgotten Realms, the Dungeons & Dragons-based heroic fantasy series, Greenwood continues to give his audience exactly what they want stereotypical heroes and villains caught up in predictably dirty schemes full of violence, magic and PG-13 humor in this sequel to 2000's The Kingless Land. The Four gruff warrior Hawkril, sly thief Craer, grumpy healer Sarasper and beautiful sorceress Lady Embra Silvertree assisted Kelgrael Snowsar to assume the throne as the rightful "Risen King" of Aglirta, yet there are still plenty of lords who'd rather see someone else in his place. To quiet their complaints, Snowsar decrees that he will hold a "recoronation" at the start of the new year, after everyone has decided which side to take, for or against him. Meanwhile the king sends his faithful Four off to recover the missing fourth Dwaer-stone, a magical gem that, when added to the three they already possess, will give the king and his allies the power to defeat any enemy. Of course the Four immediately become the target of every bad guy in the realm, even as Snowsar busies himself with avoiding assassins at every turn. A choppy, haphazardly constructed story speeds along from one unnecessary side trip to another. While new readers looking for an undemanding, fast, furious read may find this book a reasonable way to kill an hour or two, they're unlikely to come back for more. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistThe sequel to The Kingless Land (2000) establishes that the troubles of that land, Aglirta, are by no means over. The Dwaerindim Stones have lifted the curse of the Sleeping King, but the feudal magnates, long accustomed to having their own way in the matter of private wars and armies, also have abundant resources and few scruples about using them to preserve their position. Some of those resources are magical and threaten to provoke a situation beside which the curse is petty. Hawkril the warrior, Craer the thief, Sarasper the healer, and Embra Silvertree the Lady of Jewels have to match wits and weapons against the ruthless feudality and to seek out a powerful magical secret whose possession confers the rule of Aglirta--or worse. Greenwood's background in game-related fiction shows again, but so does his singular sense of humor, and his world-building skills compensate for occasional slow pacing. Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved