“The Last Good Girl” 　By Allison Leotta　Touchstone (288 pages, $25)　Former federal sex-crimes prosecutor Allison Leotta continues her series featuring her fictional counterpart Anna Curtis in a too frighteningly real scenario in “The Last Good Girl.” 　College student Emily Shapiro has gone missing. She was last seen leaving a bar with a young man named Dylan, but he was chasing her down the street. The investigation reveals a video diary that Emily kept that detailed how Dylan had raped her, and

“Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn” 　By Ace Atkins　G.P. Putnam’s Sons (320 pages, $270)　A troubling series of fires in mostly abandoned Boston buildings turns deadly in “Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn,” the latest crime thriller in the long-running but still potent Spenser series.　Spenser, a private detective, is called upon when the arson unit of the fire department hits dead ends investigating a fire at an old, shut down Catholic church. Three firefighters entering the church died when flames erupted

NEW YORK (AP) -- Judy Blume has many projects on her mind.　She recently helped open a bookstore in Key West, Florida, where she lives much of the year. She’s starting to promote the paperback edition of her novel “In the Unlikely Event,” set in her native New Jersey in the early 1950s. She has just launched a Tumblr account (judyblumeofficial.tumblr.com), on top of her popular Twitter feed and Facebook page. And, she hasn’t ruled out a new book, despite indicating last year that “In the Unlikely

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A novelist who was twice rescued from storm-battered sailboats hopes his next adventure lacks in such drama.  　 South Carolina author Michael Hurley plans to sail around the world after using the experience of scuttling his sailboat on a failed trans-Atlantic crossing for his new book, “The Passage.” “The Passage” by Michael Hurley (Ragbagger Press)　“I love the freedom of sailing on the ocean. There’s no limit. The horizon extends. There’s nothing to stop you from going w

Glamour of luxury brands attract fashion-conscious foodies, selfie lovers and tourists to in-house cafes and restaurants

NEW YORK (AP) -- For decades, argues Andrew Bolton, the star curator of blockbuster fashion exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we’ve all been looking at fashion through a flawed prism. We’ve assumed, he says, that hand-made garments are better, purer, fancier, more luxurious. And that machine-made garments are inherently inferior, even mediocre. 　We’re wrong, Bolton says, and his new Met exhibit opening this week, “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” seeks to prove that t

Second-hand smoking increases the risk of extreme thoughts in people such as wanting to take their own lives, according to a new report published  Monday.The joint study by Yoo Jun-hyun, professor of Department of Family Medicine at Sungkyunkwan University, and Kim Wook of Gangneung Dong-in Medical Center, showed a correlation between people’s exposure to indirect smoking and its impact on their psychological health. (123RF)Based on the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surve

A mosquito that is known to be capable of carrying the Zika virus has been found in Korea for the first time this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.The Aedes albopictus mosquito, also known as the Asian tiger mosquito, was spotted in three of the 39 inspection sites monitored by the CDC since March. While Aedes aegypti is the species most commonly associated with Zika, Aedes albopictus has also been linked to outbreaks.(Yonhap)The three areas include Seogwipo on Je

Children’s Day, which to some may just be a day off to catch up on sleep or binge watch their favorite TV shows, has a rich history indebted to the efforts of one man -- Pang Chong-hwan.The late children’s advocate and political activist was a pioneering figure in children rights and literature, introducing the country’s first children’s magazine in 1923. He made efforts to improve children’s welfare, especially during Japan’s colonial rule of the peninsula.However, to modern day Koreans, Pang’s

GWANGMYEONG, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap) -- The fate of Gwangmyeong Cave has fluctuated with the various happenings in the wild Korean modern history.　During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), it was abused for precious metals like gold and copper for the Japanese. When the specter of exploitation had finally gone, it became a shelter for Korean refugees during the Korean War (1950-1953). In peacetime, the abandoned gold mine served as a storage for salted shrimp.　Now, the beautifully tran

 Springtime eateries on Jejudo Island　The following are two eateries on Jejudo Island featuring natural, seasonal dishes that travelers may want to visit during their spring outings.　Temple Stay Food in the southwestern district of Jejudo Island is a restaurant that specializes in temple food. The eatery serves healthy, fresh vegetable-based dishes that the Buddhist monks eat in their mountainside Buddhist temples. Key dishes include lotus leaf-wrapped rice and seaweed flower rice set. The resta

 Sheraton D Cube City presents Sheraton Wine Market　　Sheraton Seoul D Cube City is holding Sheraton Wine Market from noon to 9:30 p.m. on May 1-31.　During the promotion period, guests can enjoy wine with no corkage fee during the meal, and purchase a great selection of wines -- red, white, sparkling wines and champagne -- at special prices. More than 20 kinds of wines are available, including the sparkling wine Chandon, the chocolate, blackberry, and fresh black pepper scented Clos du Val, and t