New voices

Keep your eye on these talented first-time authors

DEBUT NOVELS

REVIEW BY JONI RENDON

ELIZABETH KOSTOVA

The legend of Dracula is one of the world's most enduring, spanning over 500 years since the death of the fearsome Romanian prince who inspired it, Vlad the Impaler. Thus it seems only fitting that any literary endeavor attempting to take on a historical and mythical figure of this magnitude should require time, patience and fortitude. Fortunately, debut novelist Elizabeth Kostova didn't shy away from the challenge, investing 10 long years of writing and research into what has become one of the most anticipated novels of the year, The Historian.

Kostova's keen interest in the subject stems from a childhood of being entertained by her father's stories of Bram Stoker's Dracula. From these early fictional seeds, her fertile imagination took flight, eventually percolating into an epic and unforgettable story of such breathtaking scope that it seems to belie classification as a debut novel.

Arcing back and forth between the 1970s and the 1950s, The Historian follows a motherless young girl's quest to learn the truth about her father's secret past and his search through Cold War-era Eastern Europe for the murderous fiend that has cost him so much—Dracula. The two journeys eventually become one as the story traces the monster's footsteps from the hallowed halls of Oxford to the mist-shrouded mountains of Transylvania and finally to a medieval monastery that yields a shocking truth. Going back in time to the Middle Ages, the novel peels back centuries of history and myth, threading together a chilling hypothetical portrayal of Dracula's lingering bloodthirsty presence into modern times.

It is this stunning fictional premise, made all the more plausible by the novel's rich historical context and use of epistolary narrative devices and archival documents, that makes The Historian so viscerally alluring. Ambitiously transcending genres, it succeeds equally as a terrifying gothic thriller, enlightening historical novel and haunting love story. Though the shifts between the two main storylines are occasionally awkward, Kostova's masterful and atmospheric storytelling yields a bewitching and paradoxical tale that would satiate even the prince of darkness himself.

Joni Rendon writes from Hoboken, New Jersey.

REVIEW BY ABBY PLESSER

STEPHANIE DOYON

For as long as most adults could remember, Cedar Hole had been a haven for the unmotivated, the hopeless and the downright destitute. For generations of families, mediocrity was an aspiration and, all too often, just getting by was good enough.

That is, until Cedar Hole meets Robert J. Cutler, the bright and eager only child of reclusive parents who, unlike anyone else in the town, is proud to have been born and raised in Cedar Hole. Over the years, Robert establishes himself as a model citizen and the symbol of hope for a town previously resigned to failure. Yet when Robert dies a premature death, Francis "Spud" Pinkham, the youngest of the rabble-rousing Pinkham brood and the prototypical Cedar Hole resident, must work to overcome his longstanding rivalry with Robert and reinvent himself as a leader of his fractured community.

In her striking debut novel, Stephanie Doyon, who has ghostwritten several novels for young adults, creates characters so rich that readers will automatically (and perhaps, eerily) feel at home in Cedar Hole. Along with Robert and Spud, we meet townies such as Kitty Higgins, the obsessive and incorrigible librarian; Bernie Cutler, Robert's widow with a serious vendetta against her late husband's mentor; the entire Pinkham clan, including Spud's exhausted parents and nine hard-drinking, trouble-seeking sisters; and Harvey Comstock, the local cop more interested in midday trysts with the disreputable schoolteacher Miss Pratt than patrolling the town.

Much of the book's movement centers not on the action of the story, but on the day-to-day lives of the residents of Cedar Hole. This unique approach provides readers with the opportunity to actively participate as Doyon steadily and artfully guides us through her decrepit, yet somehow charming landscape. Readers should expect to be both repulsed and infatuated with Doyon's motley cast of characters and consumed with a story that, on first glance, could appear mundane.

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole, for all of its merits, should not be selected as a quick read. Instead, it should be savored as an intimate glimpse into the lives of some utterly unique, highly memorable characters. What resonates is that life is best understood—and perhaps best enjoyed—through the careful observation and consideration of the people around us.

Abby Plesser writes from New York City.

REVIEW BY JOANNE COLLINGS

MARTHA O'CONNOR

The Bitch Posse begins with some sly but apt "Consumer Product Information," which warns the reader about what is to come with an intense sense of immediacy. Fortunately for the reader, first-time novelist Martha O'Connor occasionally relaxes her grip a bit, or the novel's stunning rawness would be almost too much.

O'Connor wrote The Bitch Posse in retaliation against chick lit, which she finds too neat and too unlike her own life. In response, she brings us the horrifying, sad and valiant stories of three best friends. There's Amy, the cheerleader who quit cheering; Rennie, the brightest of the bright and seemingly utterly in control; and Cherry, obsessed with Princess Diana. We get the points of view of each, both as high-school seniors and as women in their early 30s who are still grappling with their various demons, made all the harder to conquer by a shared violent secret that keeps them apart after it occurs. O'Connor, describing a moment between Amy and her husband, could be talking about any one of the trio: "They have a conversation without words and without tears (they've been driven so deep they'll never come out)."

There is nothing easy about the world O'Connor brings to life with strokes both bold and detailed. Self-mutilation is a theme, but she is very convincing on why anyone would feel the need to do it. And The Bitch Posse makes a strong case for how children, no matter how smart or rational, can be victims of the adults meant to protect them. Amy's parents are alcoholics occupied with their older mentally handicapped daughter and expect Amy to give them no additional worries. Rennie, who still looks like a child and is intellectually gifted, is involved in an affair with a married teacher; and Cherry, an artist and poet who believes she is not the equal of her friends and doesn't hesitate to sacrifice her future for theirs, remains under the control of a drug-addicted mother.

Still, O'Connor doesn't rule out the possibility of hope and redemption and, after what the reader has gone through with these young women, that possibility is very welcome indeed.

Joanne Collings writes from Washington, D.C.

REVIEW BY MARTIN KICH

JOEL ROSS

Joel Ross' page-turner of a debut novel, Double Cross Blind, opens in the early months of World War II, when the British intelligence services identified almost all of the Nazi agents operating in the United Kingdom and gave them the option of being executed or becoming double agents. Enough chose the latter that the British were able to deceive the Nazis in ways that significantly enhanced Allied military operations.

Into this world in which nothing is what it seems, Ross inserts several Americans. The protagonist, Tom Wall, has volunteered to serve with the Canadian Army and has been physically and psychologically traumatized by his experiences during the battle for Crete. At the center of that trauma is his belief that his brother, Earl, who is in the American diplomatic service, is a Nazi double agent who caused the death of most of Tom's squadron on Crete. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Tom had been romantically involved with Harriet, Earl's eventual wife, before Earl entered the picture. Add in a couple of eccentric Nazis, the unreal chaos of the Nazi Blitz against London and other British cities, and advance intelligence about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the novel becomes a compellingly disorienting mix for the reader as well as for Tom Wall.

Double Cross Blind does exhibit some of the limitations of a first effort. The characters aren't always quite as interesting as Ross seems to think they are, and the very gradual revelation of what is actually occurring may cause some readers to give up on the story prematurely. Still, Ross (whose editor is former Putnam bigwig Phyllis Grann, who groomed Patricia Cornwell and Robin Cook for bestsellerdom) is very good with detail and with choosing descriptive language that often seems perfectly suited to the person, place or situation and is unusually perceptive without being self-indulgently flamboyant. Even the murkiest events are imbued with a vivid immediacy. And that in itself is more than enough to carry the story.

Martin Kich teaches English at Wright State University.

REVIEW BY THANE TIERNEY

JOHN TWELVE HAWKS

Do you ever wonder if we are living in the last great age of freedom? Credit card companies, merchants, utilities, insurers and the government have always collected data on citizens, but the databases weren't linked. With the explosion of the Internet, surveillance cameras, global positioning satellites and supercomputers, those days are over.

John Twelve Hawks' tautly strung and disquieting page-turner, The Traveler, drops us into a dystopian near future where information technology (which he calls "the Grid") threatens personal freedom—though the average citizen doesn't realize it. A shadowy group called the Tabula has focused for years on integrating all the data and assuming the role of puppet master to the masses. As Tabula plan architect General Nash says, "most of us would gladly give up a little privacy in exchange for security." Sound familiar?

Certain gifted individuals, called Travelers, have the ability to escape their bodies and travel to other planes; they also tend to introduce new and unsettling ideas into society, making them the Tabula's natural adversary. Historically, Travelers were protected from the Tabula by a ronin-like group called Harlequins. Two brothers, descended from a Traveler, appear on the scene, as does one of the few remaining Harlequins, and the race is on. If either brother possesses the gift and can be turned to the dark side, the Tabula could achieve their hegemony. The stakes couldn't be higher—should the Tabula accomplish their goal, 1984 would collide with Brave New World in an ugly union.

The Traveler is the latest major acquisition for The Da Vinci Code editor Jason Kaufman, and it offers readers the same winning combination of breakneck pacing and paranoia-inducing conspiracy theory. Twelve Hawks is a pseudonym for an author who jealously guards his privacy—he uses a satellite phone so his calls can't be traced and won't pose for publicity photos. Pitting brother against brother, Tabula against Harlequin and freedom versus security this anonymous writer has concocted a brilliant, if alarming, summer read.

Thane Tierney is a record executive in Los Angeles.

REVIEW BY AMY SCRIBNER

ANNE GIARDINI

What is more fleeting, more elusive than happiness? First-time novelist Anne Giardini delivers a powerful story that answers that question as clearly as anyone ever can. Maggie Selgrin is a typical early 30-something living in urban Vancouver. She has a perfectly respectable job, a few good friends and a decent apartment. Yet something is missing (aside from good dating prospects). She can't quite pinpoint it until her roommate, who designs magazine quizzes for a living, gives Maggie a quiz that indicates she has mere months left to live.

When Maggie realizes that it was her negative answer to the question "Are you happy?" that dragged down her life expectancy, she decides to take charge and find happiness. If only this were something waiting on the side of the road or conveniently packaged and available on a shelf at the local grocery, she'd be set. But Maggie, who prefers her life straightforward and uncomplicated, thank you very much, finds that happiness is a bit more elusive than she'd hoped.

Along the way, she becomes unwittingly embroiled in a nasty custody dispute between her flaky sister Lucy and the married Italian man who is the father of Lucy's newborn son. Hoping to protect her sister, Maggie takes the baby and goes on the run. She finds help along the way from several strong women, who both hide Maggie and the baby and help her rethink her own approach to life and to the nature of happiness.

Giardini, the daughter of beloved author Carol Shields, is a nimble storyteller who creates a character for the ages in dignified, wise-beyond-her-years Maggie Selgrin. Happiness, as Maggie learns, can best be found when you don't look too hard for it.

Amy Scribner writes from Olympia, Washington.

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