Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Ace, $6.99, 260pp, pb, 9780441014897. Fantasy.
Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…
When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.
The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it anay other way…

Scattered Leaves by V.C. Andrews
Second in the All-New Early Spring Series. Pocket Star, $7.99, 389pp, pb, 9781416530817.
She was supposewd to be hidden away. But when the truth is exposed, she can’t stay silent….
After tragedy tears her family apart, Jordan March is shipped off by her domineering Grandmother Emma to live with Emma’s long-forgotten sister. Shuttered in a rundown farmhouse, Aunt Frances is the strangest person Jordan has ever met. Why has Grandmother hidden away this fragile, harmless woman—did Frances grow up much too fast, like Jordan did? In the shadows of the farmhouse, Jordan is about to unearth the shattering truth—and the March family will never be the same….
Be sure to read Broken Flower, the V.C. Andrews novel that introduces Jordan March—now available from Pocket Books!

River of the World by Chaz Brenchley
Book Two of Selling Water by the River. Ace, $24.95, 380pp, hc, 9780441014781. Fantasy. On-sale date: 3 April 2007.
In Bridge of Dreams, we entered an Arabian Nights world full of magic. Now, the saga continues.
Maras-Sund has stood for more than twenty years—the two cities joined as one, bound together by an otherworldly bridge erected by the Marasi that enabled them to conquer the Sundain. With their own magic over the water diminished by their overlords, the Sundain’s only hope for liberation lies with a man of limitless but untested power.
Possessing an affinity for water unparalleled by any of his people, Issel has led a small band of resistance fighters across the river from Sund to Maras in an attempt to break the magic binding the lands. Hunted by enemy soldiers, the fighters have taken refuge in the cistern network beneath the city—but surrounded by so much water, Issel finds his abilities threatening to tear him apart—body, mind, and soul.
The rebels find an ally in Jendre, the daughter of a general in Maras’s army, and someone with her own vendetta against the regime, but when her plan is foiled, Issel must find a way to rescue her, because the only way they can secure any future for both their people is by working together.

Daughter of Independence by Simon Brown
Book Three of The Chronicles of Kydan. DAW, $7.99, 483pp, pb, 9780756404307. Fantasy. On-sale date: 3 April 2007.
In the mighty Hamilayan Empire, no one is safe. Empress Lerena Kevleren is consolidating her powers and using human sacrifice to gain overwhelming control of the Sefid, the source of all magic. Soon, she will set her sights on the colonial city of Kydan. With the threat of the impending takeover, Strategos Galys Valera, the war leader of Kydan, must find a counter to the powerful magic of the Hamilayan Empire. But will Galys be able to summon the defense he needs in time?

White Night by Jim Butcher
A Novel of the Dresden Files. Roc, $23.95, 407pp, hc, 9780451461407. Fantasy. On-sale date: 3 April 2007.
Jim Butcher, the highly acclaimed author of The Dresden Files series, has reached a new pinnacle in his career. In January, Sci Fi Channel launched their much-anticipated television series based on Butcher’s Dresden Files books, starring Paul Blackthorne as Chicago wizard and P.I. Harry Dresden. The series premiere sparked heated discussion on message boards all over the country, including on Butcher’s own website. But whether people were praising the series for its fine on-screen adaptation, or criticizing it for not following the books more closely, one sentiment prevailed: people love Harry Dresden and are eagerly awaiting Jim Butcher’s next book, the ninth in the bestselling series.
Fans won’t have to wait much longer. White Night delivers the same ingenuity readers have come to expect from the series’ undisciplined—but still likeable—sleuth, Harry Dresden. In White Night, the city’s magic practitioners are being targeted—with deadly results—and Harry is determined to find the killer (and save his own skin). In a race against the clock, he attempts to both prevent future murders and clear the names of those closest to him. When the investigation brings him under the scrutiny of the White Council of Vampires, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance
sequel to Touch the Dark. Roc, $7.99, 374pp, pb, 9780451461520. Fantasy. On-sale date: 3 April 2007.
A recent legacy made Cassandra Palmer heir to the title of Pythia, the world’s chief clairvoyant. It’s a position that usually comes with years of training, but Cassie’s circumstances are a little… unusual. And now she’s stuck with a whopping amount of power that every vamp, Fey, and mage in town wants to either monopolize or eradicate—and that she herself doesn’t dare use.
What’s more, she’s just discovered that a certain arrogant master vampire has put a geis on her—a magical claim that warns off any would-by suitors, and might also explain the rather… intense attraction between them. But Cassie’s had it with being jerked around, and anyone who tries it from now on is going to find out that she makes a very bad enemy….

The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper
Tor, $25.95, 400pp, hc, 9780765315977. Science fiction.
The colony planet Fremont is joyous, riotous, and wild. Its grasses can cut your arms and legs to ribbons, the rinds of its precious fruit can skewer your thumbs, and some of the predators are bigger than humans. Meteors fall from the sky and volcanoes erupt. Fremont is verdant, rich, beautiful, and dangerous.
In ithe middle of Fremont’s Grass Plains, a single silver spaceship lies quiet and motionless. The seasons do not dull it, nor do the winds scratch it—and the fearful citizens of the town won’t go near it.
Six genetically enhanced children have been abandoned on the colony planet. Unfortunate events have left them orphaned in a human colony that abhors genetic engineering. With no one to turn to, the children must learn how to use their skills to make this unwelcome planet home, or find a way off it…

Forged by Fire by Janine Cross
Book Three of the Dragon Temple Saga. Roc, $14.00, 357pp, tp, 9780451461285. Fantasy.
In the explosive climax of The Dragon Temple Saga, Zarq has secured a dragon estate for herself, in violation of strict law that forbids women to own property. Though Zarq did not intend to become a revolutionary, it has become her destiny. She knows that she now must fight to overthrow the corrupt Dragon Temple and the oppression it represents. Abandoning the estate where she thought she may finally be safe, Zarq again ventures deep into the jungle to uncover the ancient dragon secret that will enable revolution. Yet Zarq faces another, equally powerful adversary: her own addiction to the hallucinogenic dragon venom.

Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Book One: The War with the Mein. Doubleday, $26.95, 416pp, hc, 97870385506069. Fantasy. On-sale date: 19 June 2007.
Leodan Arkan, ruler of the Known World, has inherited generations of apparent peace and prosperity, won ages ago by his ancestors. A widower of high intelligence, he presides over an empire called Acacia, after the idyllic island from which he rules. He dotes on his four children and hides from them the dark realities of traffic in drugs and human lives on which their prosperity depends. He hopes that he might change this, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then a deadly assassin sent from a race called the Mein, exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north, strikes at Leodan in the heart of Acacia while they unleash surprise attacks across the empire. On his deathbed, Leodan puts into play a plan to allow his children to escape, each to his or her separate destiny. And so his children begin a quest to avenge their father’s death and restore the Acacian empire—this time on the basis of universal freedom.
Acacia is a thrilling work of the imagination that creates an all-enveloping and mythic world that will carry readers away. It is a timeless tale of heroism and betrayal, of treachery and revenge, of primal wrongs and ultimate redemption. David Durham has reimagined the epic narrative for our time in a book that will surely mark his breakthrough to a wide audience.

Into a Dark Realm by Raymond E. Feist
Book Two of The Darkwar Saga. Eos, $25.95, 319pp, hc, 9780060792800. Fantasy.
Acclaimed bestselling novelist Raymond E. Feist takes his readers back to Midkemia with more adventure, danger, magic, and intrigue in his new novel, the second thrilling installment in The Darkwar Saga.
The Conclave of Shadows has foiled the attempt of the Nighthawks to plunge the Empire of Great Kesh into civil war, and now is undertaking efforts to eliminate the Guild of Assassins and all its members. But as the brotherhood of murder is being obliterated, Pug and his allies are confronted with a more dire question—where is Leso Varen? They discover that the mad sorcerer has taken refuge in the world of Kelewan, among the most powerful men and women of that empire: the Magicians of the Assembly. Pug also learns that the massive hordes of the Dasati, the most vicious group of assassins he has ever encountered, are poised to make a joint invasion of both Kelewan and Midkemia.
To save the future of both empires, Pug and the Conclave of Shadows must journey into another realm of reality—into the darkest terrain they have ever encountered—the home world of the Dasati. The champions of Midkemia will need every ally they can muster if their mission is to succeed.

Troy: Shield of Thunder by David Gemmell
sequel to Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow. Ballantine, $25.95, 491pp, hc, 9780345477019. Historical fantasy.
With a historian’s eye for detail and a novelist’s keen sense of character and plot, bestselling author David Gemmell brings Bronze Age Greece and Troy to life in all their splendor and savagery. In this extraordinary new volume in Gemmell’s epic retelling of the Trojan War, Agamemnon, bloodthirsty king of the Mykene, tightens his noose around the glittering prized city of Troy. Agamemnon uses the forced wedding of Princess Andromache and Hektor, son of Troy’s prideful King Priam, as a pretext to sow discord among his enemies. On the beach where the ships of the great kings who have come to honor the royal marriage are anchored, warriors compete in athletic contests, while in the alleys and palaces of the city, spies and assassins play a deadlier game.
At the center of it all is Andromache, the Shield of Thunder, marked at birth by Athena and prophesied to bear the Eagle Child—a son who will reign “till end of days, and fall of kings.” With her beloved Helikaon lying gravely wounded and near death, Andromache must hide her feelings from Hektor and from King Priam, who lusts after her for himself, determined that he—and no other—will father the Eagle Child.
Meanwhile, Odysseus, the wily leader of Ithaka, is maneuvered into an impossible choice between friendship and honor. And as the battle lines are drawn, a new character steps onto the stage, a fearless warrior of godlike strength and ferocity, eager to test himself against the mighty Hektor. His name: Achilles.

Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
Orb, $14.95, 256pp, tp, 9780765314949. Science fiction reprint.
This is one of the classic titles originally known as the “Heinlein Juveniles,” written in the 1950s and published for the young adult market. It has since been in print for 50 years in paperback, and now returns for a new generation.
Travel to other planets is a reality, and with overpopulation stretching the resources of Earth, the necessity to find habitable worlds is growing ever more urgent. With no time to wait years for communication between slower-than-light spaceships and home, the Long Range Foundation explores an unlikely solution—human telepathy.
Identical twins Tom and Pat are enlisted to be the human radios that will keep the ships in contact with Earth. The only problem is that one of them has to stay behind, and will grow old while the other explores the depths of space. Always a master of insight into the human consequences of future technologies, Time for the Stars is one of Heinlein’s triumphs.

Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
Delacorte, $25.00, 400pp, hc, 9780385339513. Historical fiction. On-sale date: 1 May 2007.
“Iggulden is a grand storyteller,” raved USA Today. “Brilliant… Exhilirating… Stunning,” praised the Los Angeles Times. Conn Iggulden earned dazzling acclaim for his rich, vibrant novels of Julius Caesar. Now Iggulden brings his immense storytelling gifts to a bold new novel—an epic work of historical fiction that seethes with raw adventure and human drama. For here is an unforgettable portrait of the early years of Genghis Khan: a man who transformed the world map from China to Europe—and became one of the most ruthless conquerors in history.

Too Far from Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space by Chris Jones
Doubleday, $24.95, 289pp, hc, 9780385514651. Non-fiction.
This is adventure writing on a grand scale in the narrative non-fiction traditions of Jon Krakauer, Rob Kurson, and Erik Larson. Jones, a writer-at-large for Esquire, won the 2005 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing for the story that became the basis for this book. An inspiring, jaw-dropping story of the danger of space travel, Jones vividly chronicles the behind-the-scenes drama to bring Expedition Six back to Earth after the explosion of the Columbia space shuttle indefinitely stranded the men on the International Space Station.
In the nearly forty years since Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, space travel has come to be seen as a routine enterprise—at least until the shuttle Columbia disintegrated like the Challenger before it, reminding us that the dangers are all too real. Too Far from Home captures the hazardous realities of space travel. Every time an astronaut makes the trip into space (even on a routine mission), he or she faces the possibility of death from the slightest mechanical error or instance of bad luck: a cracked O-ring, an errant piece of space junk, a space suit malfunction, an oxygen leak… There are a myriad of frighteningly probable events that would result in an astronaut’s death. In fact, twenty-one people who have attempted the journey have been killed.
Yet for a special breed of individual, the call of space is worth the risk: men such as US astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin, who in November 2002 left on what was to be a routine 14-week mission that morphed into a five-month stay on the International Space Station.
In February of 2003, the men were wrapping up their mission making repairs to the International Space Station. They had just said farewell to six colleagues who were returning to Earth on the space shuttle Columbia. And then the shuttle—which Bowersox had twice piloted—exploded beneath them and word came from Mission Control: “We’ve lost the vehicle.” Despite the numerous news reports examining the tragedy, the public remained largely unaware that three men remained orbiting Earth. In their grief, the three-man crew had to deal with a more pressing concern: How and when would they return to Earth? All space flights had been cancelled and the shuttle launch program suspended indefinitely, leaving the three men trapped in space while NASA feverishly worked on a plan to bring them home.
Too Far from Home chronicles the efforts of the beleagured Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow as they work frantically against the clock to bring their men home, ultimately settling on a plan that felt, at best, like a long shot. Latched to the side of the space station was a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, the rocket equivalent of a 1976 Gremlin (in 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian astronauts dead). Despite the inherent danger, the Soyuz became the only hope to return Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit home.
While interweaving the histories of the US and Russian space programs, Jones does a masterful job of combining the stories of the astronaut’s fascinating daily life in space alongside NASA’s desperate race to create a way home. And Jones captures life on the ground through the nerve-wracking vigils of each astronaut’s family. Pettit’s and Bowersox’s wives and kids could look to the night sky to see the space station orbiting overhead and speak to the astronauts on the phone, not knowing if they would ever see them again.
Jones has a vivid eye for detail (including descriptions of eating, doing laundry, and using the bathroom in space), paints a broad canvas of the history of space travel within the spectrum of a unique adventure, and has a true gift for storytelling. Written with immediacy and an attention to detail, Too Far from Home rivals the finest contemporary adventure-driven narrative nonfiction.

Island Heat by Susan Kearney
Tor, $6.99, 305pp, pb, 9780765356666. Paranormal romance.
He dominated her with an otherworldly seductive power…
What was happening to her? Former screen siren Shara Weston lived like a recluse on an exotic, private South Pacific island… until the disturbingly masculine and utterly captivating Cade Archer fell out of the sky and into her life. Now, Cade gives her no choice but to followe him down a sensual path that fulfills her every desire.
Cade is on a mission to open a portal between Shara’s island volcano and his world. But not everyone wants him to succeed. A powerful enemy has followed Cade to prevent him from sending the resources through the portal that will free his people. While Cade’s mission is as compelling as his dominating sensuality, Shara realizes that she must find a way to fight him—the fate of every man, woman, and child on Earth is at stake…

The House of Cthulhu by Brian Lumley
Tales of the Primal Land, Volume 1. Tor, $14.95, 256pp, tp, 9780765310743. Horror reprint. On-sale date: 3 April 2007.
British Fantasy Award-winner Brian Lumley, perhaps best known for his bestselling Necroscope series—is a critically-acclaimed master of Lovecraftian horror, a renowned creator of spine-tingling tales of the Elder Gods, their minions, and the brave heroes who battle their deadly evil.
Now available in trade paperback, The House of Cthulhu brings readers an exciting new world to discover and explore. The island continent of Theem’hdra, rimmed by oceans that teem with terrible creatures of the deep, with mountain ranges that were once home to ancient races and now are home to monsters, with fabulous Lost Cities and teeming trade centers where anything—or anyone—can be bought and sold. This is the Primal Land.

Sister Magic #1: The Trouble with Violet by Anne Mazer (illustrated by Bill Brown)
Scholastic, $3.99, 112pp, tp, 9780439872461. Children’s fantasy. On-sale date: July 2007.
Sister Magic puts a magical twist oni sibling rivalry!
This hilarious new series from bestselling author Anne Mazer gets right to the heart of what it means to be sisters. Eight-year-old Mabel likes her room to be neat, her day to be planned, and her life to be organized. If only she could organize her younger sister! Five-year-old Violet is messy and out of control. Just before Violet starts kindergarten, a surprise visit from mysterious Uncle Vartan exposes a big secret: there’s magic in their family. Mabel is sure she’ll know just how to use her powers. After all, she’s used to being mature and responsible. But her orderly world begins to fall apart when she learns she’s not the one with magic—it’s adorable, annoying Violet. Life will never be the same!
Anne Mazer is the author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series and The Salamander Room.

Thirteen by Richard K . Morgan
Del Rey, $24.95, 416pp, hc, 9780345485250. Science fiction. On-sale date: 3 July 2007.
The future isn’t what is used to be since Richard K. Morgan arrived on the scene. Named by the New York Times as “one of science fiction’s bright young lights” and winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, Morgan first unleashed Takeshi Kovacs—private eye, soldier of fortune, and all-purpose antihero—into the hard-boiled urban jungle of tomorrow in Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies. Then in Market Forces, he launched corporate gladiator Chris Faulkner into the brave new business of war-for-profit. Now, in Thirteen, Morgan reshapes and recharges science fiction yet again with a new and unforgettable hero in Carl Marsalis: hybrid, hired gun, and a man without a country… or a planet.
Marsalis is one of a new breed… literally. Genetically engineered by the US government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public condemned the supersoldiers as dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth’s distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back—and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison—a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.
Lucky for him, his “enhanced” life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedmo beckson, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bringin a fugitive. But his prey is no common criminal. He’s another Thirteen… Can Marsalis remain sane—and alive—long enough to succeed?

Expiration Date by Tim Powers
A Companion Novel to Last Call. Tor, $15.95, 384pp, tp, 9780765317520. Fantasy reprint.
Los Angeles: the beachside epicenter of glamour and fame. But in Powers’ electrifying tale, supernatural spirits have joined celebrities and media moguls as a series of disasters strike. L.A. is filled with ghosts, half-ghosts, ghost hunters, and ghost junkies chasing each other in a mad quest for immortality. When a young boy inhales the last breath of Thomas Edison, however, he becomes the keeper of the elusive vital spark they seek.
Brimming with the wild imagination and heart-stopping escapades that won Tim Powers the World Fantasy Award, Expiration Date is an exuberant and inventive tale from one of fantasy’s most original talents.
Along with the World Fantasy Award-winning Last Call and Earthquake Weather, Expiration Date forms a strange and wonderful triptych, blending mythology, fantasy, and the history of the American West in a complexx maze that entertains and enthralls.

The Music of Razors by Cameron Rogers
Del Rey, $13.95, 316pp, tp, 9780345493194. Fantasy. First novel. On-sale date: 1 May 2007.
In 1840, Henry Lockrose was a young medical student with a bright future. But a chance encounter drew him into a netherworld where Heaven and Hell compete for human souls. Now, more than a hundred and fifty years later, kept alive by magical instruments carved from the bones of a murdered angel, Henry harvests souls, all the while looking for someone he can train to take his place.
Walter is four and a half. A huge furry monster with long, sharp claws and teeth lives in his bedroom closet. Unbeknownst to Walter, the monster is there to protect him. When the frightened boy sends it away, Henry steals his soul, leaving his body in a comatose state. But before Henry can totally claim the boy, the monster, in a final sacrifice, merges its being with Walter’s essence, and something new is born.
Without Walter, Henry is forced to look elsewhere for his replacement. So he turns to Hope, Walter’s baby sister. Now, trapped in a nightmare from which there is no waking, Walter must grow up fast if he is to protect his sister from a fate that is quite literally worse than death.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day 1. DAW, $24.95, 662pp, hc, 9780756404079. Fantasy. First novel.
“My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as ‘Quothe.’ Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I’ve had more names than anyone has a right to… I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names.”
Kvothe begins his journey as a traveling performer with the Edema Ruh, but tragedy leads him to a violent and impoverished life as a street urchin. He finally enrolls as a student at the University, a formidable school of magic shrouded in mystery. Kvothe’s painful struggle from boyhood to manhood is written with the grace and humor one would expect from a master of the form. The Name of the Wind is only the first installment of The Kingkiller Chronicles, a trilogy to be published by DAW which will live in the minds of readers for years to come.

Conversations with the Devil by Jeff Rovin
Forge, $24.95, 429pp, hc, 9780765307033. Dark fantasy.
Jeff Rovin has held readers in breathless suspense with his Tom Clancy’s Op-Center novels. He has created compelling characters with vividly rendered emotions and actions, and his page-turning thrillers have addressed questions of good and evil in our times. Now, Rovin confronts the question of Good and Evil on the ultimate battleground, where a human soul hangs in the balance.
Psychologist Sarah Lynch is stunned when one of her young patients hangs himself. Evidence reveals that Fredric had become a Satanist. Intending to solve the puzzle of Fredric’s death, Sarah attempts to conjure the devil—surely then she will understand what the teenager was thinking. Sarah knows that belief in God and the Devil is a construct of the human mind and that people contain within them both good and evil.
But Satan convinces her otherwise. The Devil himself rises in Sarah’s office, sometimes a being of dark smoke, and sometimes a creature of all-too-perfect, seductive flesh. Most disturbing is Satan’s claim that only by following him can people find real happiness. And as God and Satan battle for Sarah’s soul, Sarah comes to believe him. She forgets that he is the Master of Lies….

The Secret History of Vampires edited by Darrell Schweitzer
DAW, $7.99, 310pp, pb, 9780756404109. Original fantasy anthology.
Contributors: Harry Turtledove, Mike Resnick, P.D. Cacek, Ron Goulart, Sarah A. Hoyt, Carrie Vaughn, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, John Gregory Betancourt, Darrell Schweitzer, Gregory Frost, Brian Stableford, Ian Watson, Tanith Lee, Keith Taylor.
What if vampires really exist? Gifted or cursed with immortality, what would they make of their never-ending existences? What secret agendas might they have? And how would they manipulate pivotal moments in history or key people? In thirteen highly original tales, some of fantasy and horror’s most imaginative writers offer answers to these questions.
Was Helen of Troy’s allure based purely on her beauty or did she cast a more vampiric spell over men? What secret lies hidden under St. Peter’s Cathedral? Just how did Teddy Roosevelt intend to use that “big stick” he carried? When Harry Houdini failed to heed a warning from Arthur Conan Doyle would it put an end to their friendship or expose them both to something truly deadly?
These are just a few of the stories that await readers eager to learn all about the secret history of vampires….

Blacklisted by Gena Showalter
MTV Books/Pocket, $9.95, 240pp, tp, 9781416532255. Teen paranormal fiction. On-sale date: July 2007.
Gena Showalter, author of Oh My Goth and Red Handed is back with Blacklisted, the second book in her spellbinding Teen Alien Huntress series!
Blacklisted follows an ordinary high school senior, Camille Robbins, as she stumbles upon an undercover A.I.R. (Alien Investigation and Removal) Investigation, putting several agents at risk. Camille becomes fearful that an A.I.R. agent—and not to mention the cutest boy in school—Erik Trinity, will blow her cover. Intrigued and quickly addicted to Erick’s dangerous edge, she gets swept up in the investigation. With the help of the trainees at the A.I.R. boot camp, she must now battle her insecurities and go undercover herself. With danger lurking at every corner, Camille must prove to herself that she can overcome her fears and survive…
Combining teen fiction with a paranormal plot, Blacklisted is wildly imaginative, action-packed, thrilling, and certain to electrify!

Red Handed by Gena Showalter
MTV Books/Pocket, $9.95, 288pp, tp, 9781416532248. Teen paranormal fiction. On-sale date: June 2007.
Gena Showalter, author of Oh My Goth, is back with Red Handed, the first in her spellbinding new teen alien huntress series!
Aliens have invaded earth and scientists developed a deoxygenizing drug called Onadyn to squash the problem. Many teens in New Chicago, like Phoenix Germaine, have found another use for it however: they have taken a liking to the high that the drug gives. After an embarassing episode and time in rehab, Phoenix is reunited with her friends. One night at a party in the woods, Phoenix is faced with a decision to give into peer pressure and keep taking Onadyn or refuse it and regain her mother’s trust. What she did not know was that her whole life was about to change, as she was recruited in the Alien Investigation and Removal Agency. Phoenix is taken away to a training school and takes classes like Weapons 101 and learns how to fight dirty, track hard, and destroy the enemy. The professional training will be a difficult life changing experience for Phoenix, especially with the forbidden romance blooming between her and her drop dead gorgeous instructor Ryan Stone…
Wildly imaginative, action-packed, and thrilling, Red Handed is certain to electrify.

MechWarrior: Dark Age #25: Masters of War by Michael A. Stackpole
Roc, $6.99, 290pp, pb, 9780451461377. Science fiction, a Battletech novel.
As Clan Wolf launches a daring campaign of reprisal against The Republic, three warriors will find their destinies intertwined on the field of battle and in the fight for their futures….
Alaric is a living legend among the Wolves: fearless, ruthless, merciless. But his own lust for victory may mean his undoing, unless he learns to see beyond himself—and recognize what a true warrior fights for.
Anastasia is a former Clan Wolf warrior, now leading a band of mercs against her onetime comrades. She knows that to lead, she must prove not only her ability but her complete separation from the Wolves. And there is only one way for her to do so—in combat.
Verena is the new commander of a ragtag merc force. Her desire for greatness will uncover her own superior abilities and draw her ever closer to a final confrontation in which mercy is unheard-of—and only death awaits the unworthy….

Spindrift by Allen Steele
Ace, $24.95, 345pp, hc, 9780441014712. Science fiction.
This book is reviewed in this article.
Bestselling and award-winning author Allen Steele is back with Spindrift, his latest science fiction novel that focuses on the offstage events of the acclaimed Coyote trilogy.
June 1, 2288—The EASS Galileo, Europe’s first starship, departs from Earth’s orbit, bound for the farthest reaches of the solar system and the trackless depths of interstellar space. Its classified mission: the investigation of a mysterious object, code-named “Spindrift,” that lunar telescopes have spotted traveling past the solar system.
February 1, 2344&#8212The Maria Celeste, the Galileo‘s shuttle, returns to Earth after the starship’s unexplained disappearance 56 years ago. Aboard are the three surviving members of the expedition, but they are strangely ageless, and the shuttle has been retrofitted with an advanced drive system. The crew members report that they have made contact with an extraterrestrial race, in a terrifying encounter that brought them face to face with the most lethal force the galaxy has ever known.
Now, it is up to Director General John Shillinglaw to piece together the puzzle of the Spindrift, but the truth is more difficult than it appears.
Don’t miss the latest chance to explore Allen Steele’s far-future universe and what Jack McDevitt (author of Odyssey) called “classic SF in the best sense.”

Beyond the Gap by Harry Turtledove
Tor, $24.95, 336pp, hc, 9780765317100. Alternative history.
From bestselling author Harry Turtledove comes an exciting world of adventure and peril in Beyond the Gap, a new alternative history novel from the master of the genre.
Count Hamnet Thyssen is a minor noble of the drowsy old Raumsdalian Empire, a realm formed long ago at the edge of the great Glacier. But it’s the nature of the great Glacier to withdraw a few feet every year. The ice cap has now retreated beyond the horizon, though its harsh winds still shake the Empire every winter.
Trasamund, a clan chief of the mammoth-herding Bizogots, has arrived with strange news. A narrow gap has opened in what they’d always thought was an endless wall of ice. On the other side of the Glacier are new lands, new animals, and possibly new people. The gap may even be a path to the legendary Golden Shrine, a magical ward sent by the gods.
For Count Hamnet and his several companions, the glacier has always been the boundary of the world. Now they’ll be traveling beyond it into a world that’s bigger than anyone dreamed.

Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan
Tor, $6.99, 336pp, pb, 9780765352668. Paranormal romance.
Lara of Xy and her Warlord, Keir of the Cat, have been through a lot. Lara has forsaken her lands and people for him, adopted his ways and learned of his tribe. Together they have faced plague and insurgency—and they have also experienced much happiness.
Now they face their most arduous task: Keir must introduce Lara, a city dweller, to the desert-plainsmen of his tribe, and she must be tested. She must find favor with the warrior-priests and hold her own in this dry, strange land.
In Lara’s heart, there are doubts—about his love, and about her own ability to stand up to the warrior-priests and demand the respect she knows she deserves. And if Lara is found wanting… will Keir give up everything to be with his Warprize?