The Dying HoursBy Mark Billingham (Grove Atlantic)British author Mark Billingham’s talent for sculpting intensely dark police procedurals complements his skill at pinpointing believable contemporary nightmares.At the helm is Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, a good cop, an insightful investigator and often a loose cannon, going off on his own hunches. That he often is right still doesn’t sit right with his supervisors. But Billingham uses Tom more as a mirror reflecting the changing times, the hor

The Affairs of OthersBy Amy Grace Loyd (Picador)“The Affairs of Others,” a debut novel by Amy Grace Loyd, former literary editor of Playboy, has such an intense and heady narrative voice that it recalls those occasions when a substance one has just ingested is a whole lot stronger than expected. One is overwhelmed by the scent of a gardenia, by disturbing sounds from the upstairs apartment, or perhaps by the features on the face of the policeman who has just knocked at the door.“ ... (H)e pulsed

NEW YORK (AP) ― Tony Wheeler wrote his first travel book with his wife Maureen in 1973 after driving across Europe and Asia. It sold 1,500 copies in a week and launched a guidebook empire called Lonely Planet. The Wheelers made a fortune when the BBC bought the company in 2007 before the recession, but the BBC sold the company earlier this year at a huge loss. Meanwhile Wheeler, 66, is still doing what he built the brand on: traveling the world and writing about it. His newest book, “Dark Lands,

Recently published book delves into history of Korean-American writers and their literary works

Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book UniverseBy Tim Leong (Chronicle)“Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe” demands a soft toilet seat and, I estimate, 17.4 hours of your time. That’s a compliment. In fact, if you don’t own a bathroom, build one immediately so you may luxuriate for obnoxiously long, undisturbed stretches with artist Tim Leong’s self-described “love letter to the medium,” an absorbing, wonderfully unnecessary pairing of inventive, beautiful designs

If I Ever Get Out of HereBy Eric Gansworth (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)“If I Ever Get Out of Here,” Eric Gansworth’s first novel for young people, rings true with a sophisticated look at what it’s like to be an outsider and what it takes to be a true friend.Lewis Blake has precious little going for him in school; he’s smart, sure. But he’s super skinny, essentially friendless, his family is dirt poor, and he’s from the “rez” in an area that routinely treats his Tuscarora Reservation community w

“Prague doesn‘t let go,” Franz Kafka once wrote of his hometown. “This little mother has claws.”That line neatly summarizes the tension in Caleb Crain’s elegant and intellectually robust debut novel, “Necessary Errors.” Its hero, Jacob, is a 20-something American navigating familiar 20-something crises: love versus lust, accomplishment versus slackerdom. Tales of such post-collegiate expats are usually thin studies in privileged narcissism. But Crain complicates the story, using the Prague setti

Rob Sheffield is the kind of true-blue music nerd who’ll pause his latest memoir ― one with a subtitle promising a book about “the rituals of love & karaoke” ― to address the topic of Rod Stewart.Not how much he loves Rod Stewart, exactly, nor which of Stewart’s songs is the most fun to sing at karaoke. (Duh: “Love Touch.”) Rather, Sheffield’s chapter on the singer, called “Hot Legs,” examines in great detail Stewart’s merry progression from “a rambling rock & roll rogue” to “an L.A. roue trappe

NEW YORK (AP) ― For much of the nine years that Shane Salerno worked on his J.D. Salinger documentary and book, the project was a mystery worthy of the author himself.Code names. Hidden identities. Surveillance cameras. Until 2010, when “The Catcher In the Rye” novelist died at age 91, only a handful of people were fully aware of what he was up to. Even now, with the release date of the film “Salinger” less than three weeks away, little is known about a production that draws upon more than 100 i

French authors of graphic novel talk about participating in Bong Joon-ho’s film adaptation and late creator Jacques Lob

Before “Babayaga,” I thought Disney had captured all the world’s folk tales and remade them as child-friendly blockbusters. But author Toby Barlow got to Baba Yaga ― fearsome witches plucked from old Russian legend ― first, and he brings them to life in 1950s Paris.At the center of the novel is Will, a young American ad man who is not a witch. He’s enjoying the pleasures of the city, although he’ll probably soon be heading home to Detroit. He’s a likable, drifting twentysomething, the kind of gu

There have been numerous books written about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.Some have detailed his work as one of the world’s best-known civil rights leaders.Others have examined his writings, philosophy and sermons.But one of his sons wants people to know another side of him ― dad.Martin Luther King III has written a children’s book, “My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” about his life growing up the son of a famous leader, who while on the go a lot, managed to still be Daddy to his four chil

HONG KONG (AFP) ― In her own words, Erica Jong wanted to “slice open a woman’s head and show everything happening inside” when she wrote her debut novel “Fear of Flying,” first published 40 years ago.The book, which is set for an anniversary re-release this year, became a sensation in 1973 and went on to shift more than 20 million copies in 40 different languages. But reaction to it also illustrated that the inside of a woman’s head ― at least as Jong saw it ― could be a polarizing place.“You ca