Here is where you will find what's new at St. Thomas' well-known, well-read Dockside Bookshop at Havensight Mall. Every week you will find new titles to peruse. Look for updates of our "picks" for fiction and nonfiction and, at the end of the reviews, a list of new paperback fiction.
"Behind the Lines," by Andrew Carroll , Scribner Book Company, non-fiction hard cover, 512 pp. $30
For three years Andrew Carroll traveled through-out the United States and around the world to seek out the most powerful and unforgettable letters ever written during US wars.
"Behind the Lines" is the result of that extraordinary trip and represents the first book of its kin: a dramatic, intimate, and revealing look at warfare as seen through the personal correspondence of U.S. and foreign troops and civilians who have experienced major conflicts firsthand. From handwritten missives penned during the American Revolution to e-mails from Afghanistan and Iraq, "Behind the Lines" captures the full spectrum of emotions — exhilaration, fear, devotion, despair, courage, heartache, patriotism, rage, and even humor — expressed in times of war.
Featured here are approximately two hundred rare and previously unpublished letters and e-mails, including:
• Vivid descriptions of guerrilla warfare dating back t the American Revolution
• Fierce exchanges between brothers who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War
• Eyewitness accounts by foreign and American troops overwhelmed by the carnage caused by a new generation of weapons during World War I
• Letters between World War II pen pals who fell in love and became engaged solely through their correspondence
• Secret messages to loved ones written by POWs while in captivity
• Final words by troops who knew they were dying
• Gripe letters, humorous accounts from the frontlines, and "provocative" letters intercepted by censors
• Profound reflections on faith and humanity
• A moment-by-moment description of 9-11 by a survivor of the attacks in New York City
• E-mails and letters by Iraqi civilians telling family members abroad about the bombings in Baghdad
• Letters of reconciliation between veterans from countries that were once enemies
"Marker," by Robin Cook , Putnam Publishing Group, fiction hard cover, 533 pp. $25.95
Twenty-eight-year-old Sean McGillin is the picture of health, until he fractures his leg while in-line skating in New York City's Central Park. Within twenty-four hours of his surgery, he dies.
A thirty-six-year-old mother, Darlene Morgan, has surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee. And within twenty-four hours, she is dead.
New York City medical examiners Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton are back, in Robin Cook's electrifying 25th novel. Last seen in Vector, the doctors now confront a ballooning series of puzzling hospital deaths of young, healthy people who have just undergone successful routine surgery.
Despite institutional resistance from her superiors, and from the staff at Manhattan General, Laurie doggedly pursues the investigation as the death toll mounts. It seems impossible to determine why and how the patients are dying, yet she comes to suspect that not only are the deaths related — they're intentional, suggesting the work of a remarkably clever healthcare serial killer with a very unusual motive, which may involve frightening ties to both developing genomic medicine and the economics of modern-day healthcare.
As if to heighten the tension, Laurie is dealt a double blow: While coping with Jack's inability to commit to their relationship, she discovers she carries a genetic marker for a breast-cancer gene. With her personal life unraveling, the need for answers becomes more urgent, especially when she is inexorably pulled into the nightmare as a possible victim herself. Time winds down, and Laurie and Jack must race to connect the dots — and save her life.
"Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana," by Umberto Eco , Harcourt, fiction hard cover, 469 pp. $27
Yambo, a sixtyish rare-book dealer who lives in Milan, has suffered a loss of memory — he can remember the plot of every book he has ever read, every line of poetry, but he no longer knows his own name, doesn't recognize his wife or his daughters, and remembers nothing about his parents or his childhood. In an effort to retrieve his past, he withdraws to the family home somewhere in the hills between Milan and Turin. There, in the sprawling attic, he searches through boxes of old newspapers, comics, records, photo albums, and adolescent diaries. And so Yambo relives the story of his generation: Mussolini, Catholic education and guilt, Josephine Baker, Flash Gordon, Fred Astaire. His memories run wild, and the life racing before his eyes takes the form of a graphic novel. Yambo struggles through the frames to capture one simple, innocent image: that of his first love.
A fascinating, abundant new novel-wide-ranging, nostalgic, funny, full of heart-from the incomparable Eco.
We will gladly order any books you want. E-mail us at dockside@islands.vi, or call 340-774-4937.
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Phone: 340-774-4937
E-mail: dockside@islands.vi
