Alex Cross's Trial, by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

A:  Jennifer Rudolph Walsh/William Morris Agency  P:  Little, Brown  C:  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
NYT:  1     LAT:  1     BS:  1

Instead of an Alex Cross story, per se, this new entry in the endless parade of novels with James Patterson's name on the cover is a story told by Alex about the past.  Alex tells the story of Ben Corbett, a brave lawyer at the turn of the century who takes on the Ku Klux Klan.

South of Broad, by Pat Conroy

A:  Marly Rusoff Literary Agency  P:  Doubleday  C:  Mainstream Fiction
NYT:  3     LAT:  2     BS:  3

Pat Conroy returns with his first novel in fourteen years with a book full of tearfilled moments as a gossip columnist in Charleston, South Carolina looks back on his life, his group of friends, and their loves and losses.

 

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

A: Susan Ramer      P: Putnam     C: Literature/Fiction
NYT:  22     LAT:  13     BS:  29

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.

206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs

A: William Morris     P:  Scribner     C:  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
NYT:  1     LAT:        BS:  1

The twelfth thriller to feature Dr. Temperance Brennan finds her tied up and injured in a tomb, with flashbacks detailing how she found herself in this troublesome situation.  Someone is out to sabotage Dr. Brennan, and she's determined to find out who wants to derail her successful career.

The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

A:  Esther Newberg     P:  Touchstone     C:  Historical
NYT:  2     LAT:  2     BS:  2

The wars of the Plantagenets are detailed by Philippa Gregory as the the kings and queens prior to the Tudor era battle for power, including the White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville.  Woodville catches the eye of the young king and quickly pushes for her sons to rise up the royal ladder, until the Tower of London collides with her plans.

The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson

A:                     P:  Knopf     C:  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
NYT:  5     LAT:  5     BS:  5

The "girl with the dragon tattoo", Lisbeth Salander, returns in the second thriller in Stieg Larsson's posthumous trilogy in a thriller mixing journalism, cybercrimes, murder and sex trafficking. 
That Old Cape Magic, by Richard Russo

A:  Sobel Weber Associates     P:  Knopf     C:  Mainstream Fiction
NYT:  4     LAT:  3     BS:  4

Richard Russo has a Pulitzer Prize on a shelf somewhere at his house, so even if the quick blurb about his new book seems a little dull, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Anyhow, a middle-aged man looks back on his parents' marriage, his own, and what his daughter's life has become in an apparently uplifting way, except written by the guy who wrote Empire Falls.

The Eleventh Victim, by Nancy Grace

A:  Frank Weimann     P:  Hyperion     C:  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
NYT:  3     LAT:       BS:

TV "personality" Nancy Grace writes her first novel.  The lead character is remarkably Nancy Grace-like.  I really hate to say more about this book than that.

Even Money, by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

A:  Johnson and Alcock    P:  Putnam     C:  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
NYT:  1     LAT:       BS:

I could read about bookmaking all day long, and Dick Francis' Ed Talbot is a bookie struggling to keep up with the new big firms, when his life seems to fall apart as his long-last father is murdered, although the same father was a suspect in Talbot's mother's death, and yet there's a horse-racing scandal in the middle of all that.

Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris

A:  Joshua Bilmes     P:  Ace     C:  Mainstream Fiction
NYT:  17    LAT:       BS:

The eighth novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series has been critiqued even by fans of Harris' writing as being filled with far too many plot gaps, but if you've invested this much time with these characters, why not pinch your nose and do your best to push through as Stackhouse chases werepanthers and runs from the FBI.

Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon

A:  Melanie Jackson    P:  Penguin Press   C:  Literary/Literature
NYT:        LAT:  4     BS:  4

Pynchon returns to the themes of California that ran through novels like Vineland and The Crying of Lot 49 with Inherent Vice, as PI Larry Sportello cruises through the imaginary Gordita Beach in the early 70's.  Life is marked by high calorie food, hot babes and a series of plots and subplots sure to confuse even the sharpest reader.

The Magicians, by Lev Grossman

A:  Tina Bennett     P:  Viking     C:  Literary/Literature     NYT:       LAT:  2     BS:  2

The quick pitch for The Magicians is Harry Potter meets Narnia, but that's hardly an accurate summary of a book that's definitely more for savvy teens and grownups than either of those references.  Quentin Coldwater, a melancholy magician is sent to run with a group of his charismatically flawed peers and end up fighting off evil.

Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

A: Jodi Reamer       P: Little, Brown     C: Mainstream Fiction
NYT: -      LAT:  59       BS: -

Seriously, by now, you know what this book is about.

The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

A:  Antonia Kerrigan    P:  Doubleday    C:  Literary
NYT:         LAT:  10         BS:  11

Carlos Ruiz Zafón solidifies his place among the world's most renouned authors with another journey into The Cemetery of Forgotten Books from his previous novel The Shadow of the Wind.  This time, an author is approached by a mysterious figure with an offer to write a book unlike another other, albeit a commission that the author might not live to see the completion of.