Autumn is slowly creeping into the atmosphere with its dropping temperatures and beautifully changing leaves, and Overlook has brand new paperbacks to enjoy while you're wrapped up in a sweater enjoying a mug of hot cocoa. From crime thrillers and totalitarian art to celebrity stories and a history of magic, this list will surely provide something for every book lover.
To help get you started we’re even
giving some books away. Subscribe to the Winged Elephant before 9a.m. (EST)
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contact a winner at the end of the week to select three books of their choice. Good luck and
happy reading!
Dave Zeltserman
On Sale: 8/28/2012
In A
Killer’s Essence, already optioned for the movies, Zeltserman’s unique
talent (“deserves comparison with the best of James Ellroy” —Publisher’s Weekly) is back with full,
sinister effect. Stan Green is a jaded New York City cop assigned to the most
shocking homicide of his career—and he finds only one witness, a neurologically
damaged recluse subject to demonic hallucinations. Then the murderer strikes
again. Stan’s best hope is a man who claims to be surrounded by ghoulish
apparitions. And there’s just a chance this witness isn’t insane, but instead
terrifyingly perceptive…
Dave Zeltserman’s grisly crime novel is
backgrounded by the 2004 ALCS playoffs, when the Red Sox triumphed over the
Yankees. A knuckle-whitening, surprising, and compelling trip into Stan’s
obsession with a brutal case, this serial-killer mystery is Zeltserman’s
darkest, most gripping work yet.
“A doozy of a doom-laded crime story.” —The
Washington Post
Cole Stryker
On Sale: 8/28/2012
Epic
Win for Anonymous is the first book to tell the story of
the genesis of the rogue protest groups—including Anonymous, LulzSec, and
AntiSec—currently changing our world. Longtime Web culture critic Cole Stryker
traces their growing importance to mainstream news, community activism, and new
creative media. Starting with the “anti-Facebook,” the web community at
4chan.org, the book follows the evolution of Internet culture from humorous
memes to political game-changers. Whether chronicling how Sarah Palin’s
personal email account was hacked or dissecting the threat of cyber-bullying,
Stryker’s engrossing and approachable book proves the transformative cultural
impact of the Internet and the communities it sustains.
“This sharp guide avoids the fear,
condescension, and hand-waving that dominate mainstream coverage of Internet
culture…satisfying and thoroughly researched.” —Nick Douglas, author of Twitter
Wit and editor at Slacktory
Igor Golomstock
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Totalitarian
Art achieves nothing less than a thorough and
serious comparative study of the official art of Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s
Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Mao’s China.
In the Soviet Union, and later is Maoist
China, theories of mass artistic appeal were used to promote the Revolution
both at home and abroad. In Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy they asserted the
putative grandeur of the epoch. All too often, art that served the Revolution
become “total realism,” and always it became a slave to the state and the cult
of personality, and ultimately one more weapon in the arsenal of oppression.
Igor Golomstock gives a detailed appraisal of the forms that define
totalitarian art and illustrates his text with more than two hundred examples
of its paintings, posters, sculpture, and architecture, and includes a powerful
comparative visual essay which demonstrates the eerie similarity of the
official art of these very different regimes.
“Golomstock convincingly demonstrates how
the overlapping aesthetic values of these superficially disparate regimes
underlined how much they had in common…Fascinating.” —Wall Street Journal
Sam Christer
On Sale: 9/25/2012
This thriller is “one of those very rare
books that is capable of both thrilling and chilling the reader” (James Becker,
author of The Moses Stone). Eight
days before the summer solstice, a man is butchered in a blood-freezing
sacrifice on the ancient site of Stonehenge before a congregation of
worshippers. Within hours, one of the world’s foremost treasure hunters has
shot himself in his country mansion. Teaming up with an ambitious young
policewoman, his estranged son soon exposes a secret society—an ancient legion
devoted to Stonehenge. With a ruthless new leader, the cult is now performing
ritual sacrifices in a terrifying bid to unlock the secret of the stones.
Packed with codes, symbology, relentless
suspense, and fascinating detail about one of the world’s most mysterious
places, The Stonehenge Legacy is a
breakthrough novel of addictive and eerie suspense.
“Intriguing…integrates secret diaries,
codes, hooded monks, and historical detail.” —Publishers Weekly
Elizabeth Abbott
On Sale: 9/25/2012
She has been known as the “kept woman,”
the “fancy woman,” and the “other woman.” She exists as both a fictional
character and a flesh-and-blood human being. But what do Madame de Pompadour,
Jane Eyre, and Camilla Parker-Bowles have in common? Why do women become
mistresses, and is a mistress merely a wife-in-waiting, or is she the very
definition of the emancipated, independent female?
In Mistresses,
Elizabeth Abbott intelligently examines the motives and morals of some of the
most infamous and fascinating women in history and literature. Drawing intimate
portraits of those who have—whether by chance, coercion, or choice—assumed this
complex role, from Chinese concubines and European royal mistresses to mobster
molls and trophy girlfriends. Mistresses
offers a rich blend of history, personal biography, and cultural insight.
“Has the irresistible appeal of celebrity
gossip…Full of fascinating details and illuminating insights.” —Kirkus
Reviews
Stephen Fry
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Stephen Fry, star of Wilde and host of QI, is
firmly established as a celebrated cultural figure. But when he arrived at
Cambridge he was a convicted thief, an addict, and a failed suicide, convinced
that he would be expelled. Instead, university life offered him love and the
chance to entertain. He befriended bright young things like Hugh Laurie, now
the star of House, and Emma Thompson.
This is the hilarious and utterly compelling story of how the Stephen the world
knows (or thinks it knows) took his first steps in the worlds of theater,
radio, television, and film. Tales of scandal and champagne jostle with
insights into hard-earned stardom. The
Fry Chronicles is not afraid to confront the chasm that separates public
image from private feeling, and it is marvelously rich in trademark wit and
verbal brilliance.
“Funny, poignant…His prose feels like an
ideal form of conversation.” —The Washington Post
John Avlon
On Sale: 9/25/2012
America’s story has always been best told
in newspapers. From the local and mundane—crime blotters, crop prices, and
Sunday sermons—to the Federalist Papers and Watergate, the press has played an
outsized role in our nation’s culture and history. Now in its fifth hardcover
printing, Deadline Artists celebrates
the relevance of the newspaper column through the simple power of excellent
writing. It is an inspiration for a new generation of writers—whether their
medium is print or digital—looking to learn from the best of their
predecessors.
Contributors include: Jimmy Breslin, Ernie
Pyle, Dorothy Thompson, Thomas L. Friedman, David Brooks, Ernest Hemingway,
Will Rogers, Langston Hughes, Woody Guthrie, Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, H.L.
Mencken, Art Buchwald, William F. Buckley, Dave Barry, Anna Quindlen, George
Will, and Pete Hamill.
“As far as this essential anthology goes,
it’s so well done, there’s nothing left to say.” —Publishers Weekly (starred
review)
Olga Slavnikova
On Sale: 9/25/2012
In the year 2017 in Russia—exactly 100
years after the revolution—poets and writers are obsolete, class distinctions
are stingingly clear, and mischievous spirits intervene in the lives of humans
from their home high in the mythical Riphean Mountains. Professor Anfilogov, a
wealthy and emotionless man, sets out on an expedition to unearth priceless
rubies that no one else has been able to locate. His expedition reveals ugly
truths about man’s disregard for nature and the disasters created by insatiable
greed.
Olga Slavnikova stuns with this witty,
engaging, and remarkable tale of love, obsession, murder, and the lengths
people will go to get what they want. Her biting prose is brought to life
vividly and faithfully by acclaimed translator Marian Schwartz. With 2017, Slavnikova takes up the mantle of
Russia’s unrivaled literary heritage.
“An unsettling but satisfying experience.”
—The
New York Journal of Books
Carrie Hagen
On Sale: 10/30/12
In 1874, a little boy named Charley Ross
was snatched from his family’s front yard in Philadelphia. A ransom note
arrived three days later, demanding $20,000 for Charley’s return. The city was
about to host the United States Centennial celebration, and the mass panic
surrounding the Charley Ross case plunged the nation into hysteria.
The desperate search led the police to
inspect every building in Philadelphia, set up saloon surveillance in New
York’s notorious slums, and begin a national manhunt. With white-knuckle
suspense and historical detail, Hagen vividly captures the dark side of an
earlier America. Her brilliant portrayal of its criminals, detectives,
politicians, spiritualists, and ordinary families will stay with the reader
long after the final page.
“Relentlessly suspenseful…This is an
elegantly told, superbly accomplished history of good and bad intentions gone
awry.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
Charles McCarry
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Since his reemergence with the publication
of The Old Boys, Charles McCarry has
been heralded as one of the few espionage writers whose books break out of the
genre to shine as brilliant novels. The
Secret Lovers is a McCarry tale at its finest—an exploration of the spying
game, but also a riveting psychological portrait of a man ensnared by his own
profession.
A courier delivers a dissident Russian
manuscript to Paul Christopher early one morning in West Berlin; minutes later,
the courier is dead. Meanwhile in Rome, Christopher’s wife takes a lover to
stir her husband out of his stoicism. These two seemingly discrete events set
in motion a spiral of Cold War intrigue, both personal and political, that
leads Christopher from Europe to the Congo. In this relentlessly suspenseful
novel, McCarry, who “surpasses Len Deighton and John le Carré” (Washington Post), builds his
multilayered story to a outstandingly satisfying end.
“The sheer ambition of McCarry’s spy
novels catapults him into the company of John le Carré, Eric Ambler, Graham
Greene, and Alan Furst, but his stylish voice and historic scope make him
unique.” —Los Angles Times
Ludmila Ulitskaya
On Sale: 10/30/2012
Daniel
Stein, Interpreter is seen by many as the great Russian
novel of our time. Winner of the Russian National Literary Prize and the Simone
de Beauvoir Prize, and nominated for the Russian Booker Novel of the Decade,
Ludmila Ulitskaya has earned accolades internationally for this groundbreaking
work.
This innovative novel tells the story of
Daniel Stein, a Polish Jew who narrowly survives the Holocaust by working for
the Gestapo as an interpreter. After the war, he converts to Catholicism, becomes
a priest, and finally emigrates to Israel. Despite this seemingly far-fetched
progression, the life of Daniel Stein is not an invention—he is based on a real
person, Oswald Rufeisen, a Carmelite priest.
Daniel
Stein, Interpreter ranges from before World War II to modern
times, and from the shtetl to Israel to America. It portrays a life full of
amazing contradictions and undaunted faith.
“Rarely does a novel appear that is as
commanding and brilliant as Daniel Stein,
Interpreter.” —The Chronicle Herald
Rudolf Kippenhahn
On Sale: 10/30/2012
The achievements of cryptography, the art
of writing and deciphering coded messages, have become a part of everyday life,
especially in our age of electronic banking and the Internet. In Code Breaking, Rudolf Kippenhahn offers
readers both an exciting chronicle of cryptography and a lively exploration of
the cryptographer’s craft. Rich with vivid anecdotes from a history of coding
and decoding and featuring three new chapters, this revised and expanded
edition makes the often abstruse art of deciphering coded messages accessible
to the general reader and reveals the relevance of codes to our everyday
high-tech society. A stylishly written, meticulously researched adventure, Code Breaking explores the ways in which
communication can be obscured and, like magic, made clear again.
“A breezy survey of codes, ranging from
the betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots…to the nature of credit card security.” —The
New York Times
Philip Carr-Gomm and Richard Heygate
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Have you ever wanted to know more about
alchemy, mix up a herbal remedy, dowse for water, perform a spell, or find out
more about “second sight”? Did the Harry Potter books ignite your curiosity
about wizardry? Through experiments to try and places to visit, as well as a
historical exploration of magic and interviews with leading magicians, The Book of English Magic will introduce
you to the extraordinary world that lies beneath the surface.
Magic runs through the veins of English
history, part of daily life from the earliest Arthurian legends to Aleister
Crowley to the novels of Tolkien and Philip Pullman, and from the Druids to
Freemasonry and beyond. Richly illustrated and deeply knowledgeable, this book
is an invaluable source for anyone curious about magic and wizardry, or for
sophisticated practitioners wanting to learn more.
“An accessible and immensely readable
book…A fascinating insight into a hidden world.” —Booksquawk
Pamela Stephenson
On Sale: 10/30/2012
A favorite of American audiences, Billy
Connolly, who now lives in Los Angeles, is the outrageous comedian whose
unsurpassed comedic talent has won him countless fans. Billy, the revelatory, poignant, and wildly entertaining biography
is written by the woman who knows him best—his wife.
With insight and objectivity, Pamela
Stephenson, a clinical psychologist, takes us through the heartbreaking and
hilarious life of a comic legend and what made him the man he is today. The
descriptions of Scottish life evoke the poignancy of the Ireland in Angela’s Ashes as she tells of the
troubled, abused, and desperately poor child in the docklands of Glasgow who
grew up to shock and awe audiences around the world with his notoriously bawdy
humor and a remarkable range of performances as a brilliant comic, a serious
actor who played opposite Dame Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown, and the star of the U.S. television show Head of Class.
“A triumph of the will, an Angela’s Ashes with punch lines.” —Publishers
Weekly
Susan Hill
On Sale: 10/30/2012
Susan Hill—the Man Booker Prize nominee
whose ghost story The Woman in Black
is now a major film starring Daniel Radcliffe—has written her most captivating
work in The Betrayal of Trust. The
English town of Lafferton is ravaged by flash floods. A shallow grave is
exposed; the remains of missing teenager Harriet Lowther have been uncovered.
Harriet was the daughter of a prominent local businessman, and her death twenty
years before had led to her mother’s suicide.
Cold cases are always tough, and in this
mystery in the enduringly popular series, Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler
must confront his most grisly, dangerous, and complex case yet. Susan Hill’s
understanding of the human heart, her brilliance when evoking characters, and
her tremendous powers of storytelling come into full force in The Betrayal of Trust.
“Beautifully written…Hill is giving us a
timeless panorama of life and death in an English town, one in which a murder
investigation is only one drama among many.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington
Post
