Help for the HauntedBy John Searles (William Morrow)The title of John Searles’ captivating third thriller, “Help for the Haunted,” refers to the headline of a personal ad run by the late Sylvester Mason when he and his wife set up shop as Christian ghostbusters. In the years preceding their shooting in a church ― a scene that opens the book ― the couple became well-known due to a muckraking book by a local reporter.The events surrounding her parents’ murder are narrated by Sylvie, 14, now in the

 Sister Mother Husband Dog: EtcBy Delia Ephron(Blue Rider)When filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron was in the hospital last year undergoing treatment for leukemia, she sent her younger sister, Delia Ephron, a bouquet of flowers ― not just any flowers, but “two-dozen gorgeous plump peach roses in full bloom,” as Delia recalls in her new essay collection, “Sister Mother Husband Dog: Etc.”The gesture was thoughtful, but it was also, according to Ephron, “a heartbreaking way to have a bit of control” ―

It’s Not Love, It’s Just ParisBy Patricia Engel (Grove)Patricia Engel sets her first novel in late ’90s Paris, where recent college graduate Lita del Cielo arrives to take language classes for a year. It’s a respite of sorts as she attempts to forestall the expectations of her Colombian immigrant parents, who arrived in the United States with nothing and built a Latin food empire in short order.Twenty-year-old Lita is to live in the House of Stars, a crumbling old mansion on the Left Bank. Her l

DeceivedBy Randy Wayne White (Putnam)Randy Wayne White has made Florida’s Gulf Coast an iconic part of crime fiction with his novels about Marion “Doc” Ford.His new heroine Hannah Smith, introduced in last year’s “Gone,” isn’t a substitute for Ford. But she is an intriguing enough character to make readers look forward to her second appearance in the suspenseful “Deceived.” Smith, a Gulf Coast fishing guide who inherited a nearly defunct private detective agency from her uncle, lives near Ford’s

NEW YORK (AP) ― The book world is finally honoring Maya Angelou.The poet and author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” will be this year’s recipient of the Literarian Award, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community, the National Book Foundation announced last Thursday. It is the first major U.S. literary prize for the 85-year-old Angelou, who has been celebrated everywhere from the Grammy Awards to the White House. She has received three Grammys for best spok

When news emerged three years ago that filmmaker Shane Salerno and writer David Shields were working on a lengthy oral biography (with accompanying documentary) about J.D. Salinger, I assumed it would be all smoke and no fire. Salinger, after all, had gone to ground after the publication of his novella “Hapworth 16, 1924” in the June 19, 1965, issue of the New Yorker; even in the wake of his death, in January 2010 at age 91, his estate had preserved the silence of his final 45 years.What had he

Night FilmBy Marisha Pessl (Random)Labeling the films of enigmatic director Stanislas Cordova “scary” is a grotesque understatement. Cordova ― the unseen, menacing, malignant force at the heart of Marisha Pessl’s new novel ― makes movies that are terrifying, catastrophic; they are hypnotic black holes into which viewers plunge and emerge shaken and obsessed.“Maybe your next-door neighbor found one of his movies in an old box in her attic and never entered a dark room alone again,” the prologue s

The Year of What NowBy Brian Russell (Graywolf)On the surface, Brian Russell’s first book of poems, “The Year of What Now,” seems nothing if not traditional.Winner of this year’s Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize, it reads as a confessional, a sequence of reflections by a man whose wife is undergoing treatment for cancer.But if part of Russell’s purpose is to explore the dynamics of a relationship stretched by crisis, there is something else at work here also ― an exploration of genr

What do Harrison Ford and Joan Didion have in common? They’ll both be at the PEN Center USA awards dinner in October, where he will present her with the lifetime achievement award. Their connection is personal rather than literary: The actor and author have known each other since 1971, when the not-yet movie star built her beach house.“He was a carpenter,” she explains by phone from New York. “I was happy with his work ― and even happier with his presence in the house because he was a great mora

A recently published collection of academic papers explores retirement trends in the Korean job market, focusing on the impact of forced retirement at a young age ― mid-50s for most workers ― and how it affects individuals. Coedited by scholars Thomas R. Klassen and Yang Yun-jeong, the book, titled “Korea’s Retirement Predicament: The Aging Tiger,” comprises a total of 10 academic papers regarding retirement issues in Korea and overseas, including income security for the elderly, retirement pens

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― In the half century since Martin Luther King’s march on Washington came to symbolize the Civil Rights struggle, black literature has found its place at the heart of American culture.Before the era of King’s march, which was marked on Wednesday when huge crowds returned to the scene of his speech on the National Mall, books by African Americans were little known and rarely studied or celebrated.But, as America learned to accept black citizens into its political mainstream and s