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KOONTZ Dean / Ticktock

The story opens with Tommy getting a new corvette. He argues with his mother, refusing her offer for dinner. In a fit of rebellion, he eats two cheeseburgers, something his mother dislikes. He meets a blond waitress there (which he will meet later in the story again). His radio quits working during one of these two trips, and in the static are eerie voices.

Once home, he finds a Rag doll on his front steps, along with a note, written in Vietnamese, which he knew when he was a child but has forgotten in his quest to be a true American. After taking the doll into his study, it soon bursts open to reveal an evil creature who seems intent on killing Tommy. A message is left on his computer screen saying he has until dawn, but what will happen at dawn, Tommy does not know. After fate brings a meeting with Del, a woman who appears to speak somewhat cryptically, they embark on a race to flee the creature. She believes him too quickly, and often has mixed stories for all of her abilities. (At one point she stole a car, saying one minute she hotwired it, and the next that the key was in the ignition.)

The doll appears to be growing larger as their journey continues. They visit Tommy's brother, Gi, to try and translate the note. They then go to Del's apartment, where we learn she's quite rich, but is a waitress anyway. She also shows another side to her when Tommy wants to see her paintings, and she threatens to shoot him if he does. Her dog seems incredibly smart, something that unnerves Tommy.

In their journey to escape the ever growing doll, Tommy's Corvette is trashed, two cars are stolen, and one large boat is trashed. They arrive at Del's mother's home, which seems utterly odd. They claim to be able to listen to live stuff from the past with their radio. Del's mother shows an uncanny sense of time when she knows exactly when the rain will stop.

Gi calls and tells Tommy to go to their mother, and not to bring the blonde along. Tommy brings Del along anyway, where he then learns the doll was conjured to scare him back home by a friend of his mother. They begin a ritual that, after a few harrowing minutes, completely dispels the monster.

Tommy sees Del's paintings and they're of him. She had remotely viewed him over the past 2 years because she knows he is her destiny.

He and Del get married in Vegas. Then they go back to their normal town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticktock_(novel)

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KRANTZ Judith / Dazzle

Encountering characters named Jazz (nee Juanita Isabella) Kilkullian and Crumpet Ives, there's no doubt that one has entered the la-la land of Krantz, the doyenne of dish. The erstwhile mistress of the un-put-downable novel, however, has come a cropper in her latest effort: the seams and strain are a bit too evident. The narrative careens giddily among the lives and loves of Jazz, a brilliant celebrity photographer somewhere between Avedon and Mapplethorpe; her rugged rancher father, whose passion has ebbed following the death of Jazz's mother, a legendary Swedish film star (Bergman, anyone?), but whose flames are rekindled by an only slightly over-the-hill model; Jazz's two half-sisters, Valerie and Fernanda, awash in a variety of sexual activities--and lack thereof; and assorted paramours of the above, too numerous (and too forgettable) to mention. Never a disciple of realism, Krantz's interweaving of plots here is too contrived and her relationships, both familial and amatory, too oblique. Her purple prose takes on ever deeper hues, and her customary parade of hyperbolic description is in constant evidence. Jazz's tresses, for example, are variously presented as ``cornflake-colored,'' ``streaked with every color from chutney to tortoiseshell'' and ``French toast, a little burned around the edges, with melted butter streaking over it.'' One hardly knows whether to commend Lady Clairol or Julia Child. 500,000 first printing; first serial to Cosmopolitan; BOMC main; major ad/promo; author tour. (Jan.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-517-57501-7

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KRANTZ Judith / Spring Collection

High fashion takes some low blows in Krantz's naughty newest (after Lovers), which eschews the author's usual across-the-decades saga for an intimate two weeks of posing and passion. Swiss billionaire Jacques Necker has launched the model search of the century; three unknown young women will be whisked off to Paris to model in the Necker-financed first collection of Marco Lombardi. After the show, one will be given a $12 million contract to represent the designer. When former model Justine Loring learns that all three candidates--blond April Nyquist, red-haired Tinker Osborn and African American Jordan Dancer--are from her Loring Model Management, she's not thrilled but furious. Necker, she confides to her astonished right-hand woman, Frankie Severino, is her father. He deserted Justine's pregnant mother 34 years ago and now wants to be a father to a daughter he has never met. Determined to frustrate Necker's plan, Justine sends Frankie, who narrates portions of the story, to Paris in her place. In classic Krantz style, it's not long before love is in full bloom--Frankie meets her unrequited high-school crush; Tinker falls for an expatriate painter; April comes out of the closet; Jordan wins a tycoon's heart; and, back in New York, Justine embarks on a torrid affair with a handsome contractor. Only when a rival agent tries to lure the models away does Justine give in and board the Concorde--just in time to see a most surprising winner chosen. While not Krantz's crowning achievement, this rich mix of sin and serendipitous love has what it takes. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections. (Apr.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-517-59334-9

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LAHIRI Jhumpa / The Namesake

One of the most anticipated books of the year, Lahiri's first novel (after 1999's Pulitzer Prize–winningInterpreter of Maladies) amounts to less than the sum of its parts. Hopscotching across 25 years, it begins when newlyweds Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli emigrate to Cambridge, Mass., in 1968, where Ashima immediately gives birth to a son, Gogol—a pet name that becomes permanent when his formal name, traditionally bestowed by the maternal grandmother, is posted in a letter from India, but lost in transit. Ashoke becomes a professor of engineering, but Ashima has a harder time assimilating, unwilling to give up her ties to India. A leap ahead to the '80s finds the teenage Gogol ashamed of his Indian heritage and his unusual name, which he sheds as he moves on to college at Yale and graduate school at Columbia, legally changing it to Nikhil. In one of the most telling chapters, Gogol moves into the home of a family of wealthy Manhattan WASPs and is initiated into a lifestyle idealized in Ralph Lauren ads. Here, Lahiri demonstrates her considerable powers of perception and her ability to convey the discomfort of feeling "other" in a world many would aspire to inhabit. After the death of Gogol's father interrupts this interlude, Lahiri again jumps ahead a year, quickly moving Gogol into marriage, divorce and a role as a dutiful if a bit guilt-stricken son. This small summary demonstrates what is most flawed about the novel: jarring pacing that leaves too many emotional voids between chapters. Lahiri offers a number of beautiful and moving tableaus, but these fail to coalesce into something more than a modest family saga. By any other writer, this would be hailed as a promising debut, but it fails to clear the exceedingly high bar set by her previous work. Agent, Eric Simonoff. (Sept. 16)

Forecast:Lahiri's previous collection is beloved by booksellers and readers alike, and despite the likely lukewarm reviews, orders and sales are sure to soar for this one.Lahiri, who appeared awkward working the crowd at BEA, may take some time to warm up to audiences on the road. Foreign rights sold in 12 countries.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-395-92721-2

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Le CARRE John / The Constant Gardener

As the world seems to move ever further beyond the comparatively clear-cut choices of the Cold War into a moral morass in which greed and cynicism seem the prime movers, le Carr 's work has become increasingly radical, and this is by far his most passionately angry novel yet. Its premise is similar to that of Michael Palmer's Miracle CureDcynical pharmaceutical firm allied with devious doctors attempts to foist on the world a flawed but potentially hugely profitable drugDbut the difference is in the setting and the treatment. Le Carr has placed the prime action in Africa, where the drug is being surreptitiously tested on poor villagers. Tessa Quayle, married to a member of the British High Commission staff in corruption-riddled contemporary Kenya, gets wind of it and tries in vain to blow the whistle on the manufacturer and its smarmy African distributor. She is killed for her pains. At this point Justin Quayle, her older, gentlemanly husband, sets out to find out who killed her, and to stop the dangerous drug himselfDat a terrible cost. Le Carr 's manifold skills at scene-setting and creating a range of fearsomely convincing English characters, from the bluffly absurd to the irredeemably corrupt, are at their smooth peak here. Both The Tailor of Panama and Single & Single were feeling their way toward this wholehearted assault on the way the world works, by a man who knows much better than most novelists writing today how it works. Now subject and style are one, and the result is heart-wrenching. (Jan. 9) Forecast: Admirers of the author who may have found some of the moral ambiguities and overelaborate set pieces of his last two books less than top-drawer le Carr will welcome a return to his best form. There is a wonderfully charismatic and idealistic heroine, which will bolster female readership, and the appearance of the book shortly after the release of a movie of Tailor (starring Jamie Lee Curtis) is bound to create an extra rush of media attention. Be prepared for the biggest le Carr sales in years.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7432-1505-3

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Le CARRE John / The Secret Pilgrim

Fang Lizhi, China's leading dissident intellectual, now in exile in England, lays down a gauntlet to the world's leaders: ``Appeasement of governments which revel in slaughter is an invitation to world-wide catastrophe.'' In this collection of plainspoken articles, fiery speeches, informal travel notes, scientific essays and interviews, the astrophysicist/human rights activist fully lives up to his reputation as ``China's Sakharov.'' Equally conversant with Western traditions and his own, this slightly owlish-looking freethinker strives to put China's problems within a global perspective. His critique of Deng's modernization drive--he stresses that China needs to import a new value system, not just foreign capital and technology--grows ever more timely. Within his own field, cosmologist Fang was branded a criminal for writing about the Big Bang. Here he goes even further, questioning the orthodoxy of Einsteinian space-time. These subtle, brilliant writings convey a powerful message of hope. (Mar.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-394-58842-1

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LEM Stanislaw / The Cyberiad

The Cyberiad (Polish: Cyberiada) is a series of humorous short stories by Stanisław Lem. The Polish version was first published in 1965, with an English translation appearing in 1974. The main protagonists of the series are Trurl and Klapaucius, the "constructors".

The vast majority of characters are either robots or intelligent machines. The stories focus on problems of the individual and society, as well as on the vain search for human happiness through technological means. Two of these stories were included in the book The Mind's I.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cyberiad

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LUDLUM Robert / The Bourne Trilogy

THE BOURNE IDENTITY: He has no past. And he may have no future. His memory is blank. He only knows that he was fished out of the Mediterranean Sea, his body riddled with bullets. There are a few clues: evidence that plastic surgery has altered his face, a Swiss bank account containing four million dollars, and a name: Jason Bourne. But he is marked for death, racing for survival through the layers of his buried past into a world of murderous conspirators - led by the world's most dangerous assassin, Carlos. And no one can help Bourne but the woman who once wanted to escape him. THE BOURNE SUPREMACY: In a Kowloon Cabaret, scrawled in a pool of blood, is a name the world wanted to forget: Jason Bourne. The Chinese vice-premier has been slain by a legendary assassin. World leaders ask the same fearful questions: Why has Jason Bourne come back? Who is the next to die? But US officials know the truth: there is no Jason Bourne. The name was created as cover for David Webb on his search for the notorious killer Carlos. Someone else has taken the Bourne identity and unless he is stopped, the world will pay a devastating price. So Jason Bourne must live again. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM: The world's two deadliest spies in the ultimate showdown.Two men, each mysteriously summoned by telegram, witness a bizarre killing. The telegrams are signed Jason Bourne. Only they know Bourne's true identity and understand the telegram is really a message from Bourne's mortal enemy, Carlos, the world's deadliest and most elusive terrorist. And they also know that he wants a final confrontation with Bourne. Now David Webb must do what he hoped he would never have to do again - assume the terrible identity of Jason Bourne.

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LUDLUM Robert/ The Cassandra Compact

Ludlum continues to imitate his imitators in his second Covert-One biotech thriller (after The Hades Factor), this time with coauthor Shelby (Days of Drums, etc.). Medical researcher and sometime spy Lt. Col. Jonathan Smith—aided by CIA agent Randi Russell, British operative Peter Howell and ultrasecret spymaster Nathaniel Klein—faces another villainous plot to unleash a deadly disease on an unsuspecting populace. Retired from the Army Medical Research Unit for Infectious Diseases after the death of his fiancée, Smith heads to Venice to meet a Russian scientist who is killed by Sicilian mercenaries before he can warn Smith that a sample of smallpox is about to be stolen from a Russian bioresearch facility. Up against a global military-corporate conspiracy with moles at NASA, the Pentagon and the KGB, Smith follows the smallpox across the Atlantic to Houston Mission Control and beyond. The cinematic chase through changing landscapes and mounting body count gives the book its rapid pace, while insider politics, tradecraft and technical wizardry lend an extra kick. Boilerplate dialogue ("The hit came down as arranged. But there was an unexpected development. I'm expecting an update shortly") and movie logic (after ordering the space shuttle to land in Nevada with the most virulent smallpox strain ever and several dead astronauts aboard, the president hops Air Force One to go meet it) show Ludlum may leverage his brand name, but no longer delivers the complex situations that earned him his reputation as a premier writer of international intrigue. National advertising. (May 15)

Forecast:Ludlum died just last month, and word is he left a few books in the works. It's been a while since he was in top form, but some readers are bound to overlook the telltale "Robert Ludlum's" in the title.

From : http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-25343-1

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To offer you a pleasant moment to read

At the request of the Departemental Mediatheque of Evreux, this selection of books has been lent to the Lery-Poses Library by the Anglo-French Mediatheque of Bois-Normand Pres Lyre, which has, among others, several thousand English books.

June GILLIS

Happy Reading !

MCBN  / Médiathèque Communale de Bois-Normand Un lien pour tous / A cultural link for all

mcbn27330.blogspot.fr

mcbn27330@gmail.com

MDE Departemental Mediatheque of Evreux

http://mediatheque.cg27.fr/

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MARTIN George R.R. / A Dance with Dragons

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American authorGeorge R. R. Martin. In some areas the paperback edition was published in two parts titled Dreams and Dust and After the Feast. It is the first novel in the series to be published following the commencement of the HBO series adaptation, Game of Thrones.

A Dance with Dragons was originally intended to be the title of the second novel in the sequence, when Martin still envisioned the series as a trilogy. Some early US editions of A Game of Thrones (1996) list A Dance of Dragons as the forthcoming second volume in the series. The 1998 anthology Legends, which features the novella The Hedge Knight from the same universe, lists A Dance of Dragons as the third installment of a four-book series. Like the previous four volumes in the Ice and Fire series, the book includes a lengthy appendix, with the volume running a total of 1,040 pages.

On March 3, 2011, publishing imprint Bantam Spectra announced that the novel would be released on July 12, 2011.[1] Martin delivered the manuscript to his editor on April 27, 2011;[3] however, as early as 2006, Martin made sample chapters available on his website[4][5][6] and at Amazon.co.uk.[7] Additionally, the German branch of Amazon.com (Amazon.de) released a reported 180 copies two weeks early by mistake.[8] The US hardcover was officially published on July 12, 2011, having gone back to press for six printings (totaling more than 650,000 copies) prior to the 1,000+ page novel being available; 298,000 copies in print, digital, and audio formats were sold that first day alone, becoming publishing giant Random House's biggest book of 2011 and a runaway bestseller. The book was the second in the series to debut at the #1 position on the New York Times bestseller list.[9] A few weeks after publication, A Dance with Dragons went on to be #1 on both Publishers Weekly and USA Today Bestsellers lists.

The novel, along with A Feast for Crows, has been adapted for television as the fifth season of Game of Thrones, although elements of the book previously appeared in the series' third and fourth seasons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dance_with_Dragons

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MARTIN George R.R. / A Storm of Swords

The third volume of the high fantasy saga that began with A Game of Thrones and continued in A Clash of Kings is one of the more rewarding examples of gigantism in contemporary fantasy. As Martin's richly imagined world slides closer to its 10-year winter, both the weather and the warfare worsen. In the north, King Joffrey of House Lannister sits uneasily on the Iron Throne. With the aid of a peasant wench, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, escapes from jail in Riverrun. Jaime goes to the other youthful ruler, Robb Stark, to secure the release of Joffrey's prisoners, Robb's sisters Arya and Sansa Stark. Meanwhile, in the south, Queen Daenarys tries to assert her claim to the various thrones with an army of eunuchs, but discovers that she must choose between conquering more and ruling well what she has already taken. The complexity of characters such as Daenarys, Arya and the Kingslayer will keep readers turning even the vast number of pages contained in this volume, for the author, like Tolkien or Jordan, makes us care about their fates. Those two fantasy greats are also evoked by Martin's ability to convey such sensual experiences as the heat of wildfire, the chill of ice, the smell of the sea and the sheer gargantuan indigestibility of the medieval banquet at its most excessive. Perhaps this saga doesn't go as far beyond the previous bounds of high fantasy as some claim, but for most readers it certainly goes far enough to command their attention. (Nov.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553106633

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MATTHEWS Carole / Lest’s Meet on Platform 8

Suddenly Teri’s life is Brief Encounter meets Wuthering Heights

After knocking her down while rushing to catch the 6.07 from London, Jamie Duncan bandages Teri Carter’s knee, buys her new stockings, seats her on the train with her foot in his lap and taxis her home from the station. Who says chivalry is dead?

Not only is Jamie a romantic hero – tall, dark, with greeny-gold eyes and a Scottish burr – he’s witty, charming and eager to share their daily commute. Suddenly Teri’s life is Brief Encounter meets Wuthering Heights. But then she discovers Mr Right is also Mr Married. Jamie’s not the type to cheat, and Teri doesn’t want him to… or does she?

After dating Mr Lazy, Mr Greedy, Mr Completely Selfish and Mr Downright Pervert,can she renounce Mr Perfect?

http://www.carolematthews.com/books/lets-meet-on-platform-8/

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MAZO de la ROCHE / The Master of Jalna

Review

First published in 1933, The Master of Jalna is Renny Whiteoak, who owns the old house and property. After the death of Grandmother Adeline, Renny attempts to carry on the family tradition. He and his wife Alayne have a daughter named Adeline, who has inherited her namesake's red hair, strong will, and fierce temper. While Alayne is preoccupied trying to tame this wild, red-headed child, Renny has a love affair with Claire, the widow of his best friend. The whole Whiteoak family is back at Jalna, and Renny looks after everyone, including Claire and her daughter. He faces a financial crisis and struggles to keep the estate intact. This is book 10 of 16 in The Whiteoak Chronicles. It is followed by Whiteoak Harvest.

From the Inside FlapIn the fourth novel of the series, a love affair with the widow of his best friend hampers Renny Whiteoak's efforts to keep his estate and family traditions intact.

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McBAIN Ed / There was a Little Girl

After 40 years and more than 100 books, McBain (aka Evan Hunter) continues to amaze and entertain. In this 11th Matthew Hope novel (Mary, Mary), the hero spends most of his time in a semi-coma after being shot outside a bar on the seedy side of Calusa, Fla., despite his vow to avoid the criminal side of his law practice. Meanwhile, Hope's PI pals Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, as well as police detective Morris Bloom, try to reconstruct Hope's previous week, probings that are intercut with flashbacks to Hope's own investigation of the years-old suicide of a circus star. What emerges is an intricate, lurid tale of sex, blackmail and murder fueled by greed. ``Little girl'' refers to the dead circus star, a fully developed woman only three feet tall. Or it may be an old slang term for cocaine, in high demand among certain circus folk. Or it may even stand for lesbian child abuse-or all of the above. The tracings and retracings of Hope's trail among a large, colorful, unsavory cast are fascinating, and the final revelations-about some very nasty people-are stunning. This is the kind of book we hope for from a grandmaster like McBain. Major ad/promo. (Oct.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-51739-3

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McCALL SMITH Alexander / Tears of the Girafe

Alexander McCall Smith (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) offers the second and third installments of his dignified, humorous Botswanan series. In Tears of the Giraffe, PI Precious Ramotswe tracks a missing American man whose widowed mother appeals to Ramotswe; meanwhile, the imperturbable detective is endangered at home by her fianc 's resentful maid.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7486-6273-9

Tears of the Giraffe is the second in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, set inBotswana, and featuring the Motswana protagonist Precious Ramotswe.Plot outline[edit]Mma Ramotswe has become engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the garage owner, but his rude and exploitative maid has other ideas, and tries to frame her for a serious offense. Mma Ramotswe helps an American woman whose son disappeared in Botswana some years previously, and deals with a paternity case. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni adopts two orphans, and Mma Makutsi is promoted.Plot summary[edit]Mma Ramotswe is not impressed with Mr. J.L.B Matekoni's maid, who has been sleeping in his bed with other men and not feeding him properly. The maid, sensing that the forthcoming marriage will involve her dismissal, attempts to plant a gun on Mma Ramotswe in order to have her jailed, but the maid's plan is foiled and it is she who ends up behind bars.Mma Ramotswe also investigates a butcher's wife who is suspected of an affair, and discovers that the woman's son has – unknown to her husband – been fathered by another man who is paying for his private education. The resolution of this case highlights differences between the methods and moralities of Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. Mma Makutsi has expressed her yearning to do detective rather than administrative work, and Mma Ramotswe promotes her to assistant detective (although also retaining her secretarial role). The solution of the paternity case proves to be the first test of Mma Makutsi's detective and diplomatic skills.Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is maneuvered into offering a home to Motholeli and Puso, two orphaned children with a tragic past. He worries that this may affect his engagement to Mma Ramotswe, but she accepts the children. Mma Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni both see potential in the children, particularly in the girl, Motholeli, who uses a wheelchair but displays a real aptitude for, and interest in, the work of the garage. A family unit begins to emerge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_of_the_Giraffe

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McCARTNEY Annie / Your Cheatin’Heart

An excellent insider's view of the U.S. music business that keeps your interest throughout. Annie's loosely autobiographical story of an Irish young woman working at U.S. radio stations will have you laughing out loud.