Library JournalIn a sewer beneath Chicago's streets, James Flannery of the city's Department of Sewers, Canals and Drains finds the body of a man. This is no ordinary dead man, as he has been bitten in two by a species of crocodilian. Next Flannery is asked to help a woman from Haiti who keeps 100 pigeons in her bathroom. Flannery (also in the paperback originals The Junkyard Dog and The 600 Pound Gorilla ) comes through once again. Low-key action, marvelous true-to-life characters, and a very neat story make this enjoyable reading. JV

The author’s most famous and well-loved work, the Starbridge series, six self-contained yet interconnected novels that explore the history of the Church of England through the 20th century. Beneath the smooth surface of an Episcopal palace lurks the salacious breath of scandal. Charles Ashworth is sent to untangle the web of self-delusion and corruption only to become embroiled in a strange ménage à trois that threatens to expose the secrets of his own past… In Glittering Images tension and drama combine in a compelling novel of people in high places, of desperate longings and the failure to resist them, of lies and evasions, of tarnished realities behind brilliant glittering images.

Out of the savagery of the Paris barricades there was born the most sinister of all the terrorist groups of the 1960's.  Secretly funded by Moscow, trained in subversion and assassination in Italy, the Crystal Faction came to England.  To wage war... For Nick Ryder of Special Branch, finding and infiltrating the cell presented a daunting challenge.  Hampered by the deviousness of his own superiors and lack of cooperation from MI5, he was drawn slowly but inexorably into a tangled web of sex, drugs, murder, intrigue and lost innocence. And at the centre, the Gabrielle Schroeder, leader of the Crystal Faction.  A tough, daring, utterly ruthless woman for whom killing had become a pleasure...

"An unpretentious, finely-crafted novel that will linger with the readers like the last strains of a favorite hymn. It is more enjoyable than a pitcher full of sweet tea and one of Mattie's home-cooked dinners."—The Atlanta Journal & ConstitutionShe had as much business keeping a stray dog as she had walking across Egypt—which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She's Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen, who at 78, might be slowing down just a bit. When young, delinquent Wesley Benfield drops in on her life, he is even less likely a companion than the stray dog. But, of course, the dog never tasted her mouth-watering pound cake....Wise witty, down-home and real, Walking Across Egypt is a book for everyone.

A.S. Byatt's short fictions, collected in paperback for the first time, explore the fragile ties between generations, the dizzying abyss of loss and the elaborate memories we construct against it, resulting in a book that compels us to inhabit other lives and returns us to our own with new knowledge, compassion, and a sense of wonder.From Publishers WeeklyIn a uniquely expressive and sensuous response to life's enduring ambiguities, Byatt, author of the critically praised novel, Still Life (1985), unfolds the ll stories that make up this collection. The tales are long, for the most part, and intricately constructed, requiring a reader's full attention. In "Precipice-Encurled" there are intriguing glimpses of poet Robert Browning, now a widower, grappling with self-doubt in an Italian retreat, while a family to whom he is to be an honored visitor experiences a death. Mortality is the leitmotif of the title story as the death of her father in an Amsterdam hospital allows a daughter to examine with new understanding some of the family relationships. Menace is palpable in "In the Air" when a lonely dog walker nearly lives out her prophecy of disaster. In other stories, questions of eternity, of near- and after-death experiences, of desiring the unobtainable form a matrix of complex narrations rich in cultural allusions. For judicious readers, the literary overtones of a probing writer will provide considerable pleasure. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalByatt's formidable intellect and fine sensibility illuminate this varied collection. The title story is dense with recollection and complexity, an intimate family history saved from sentimentality by the intricacy of its detail. In another story, the penetrable conversational border between the living and the dead is as near as "The Next Room." "The Dried Witch" is an immersion in primitive magic, immediate and total; "The July Ghost," a touching chiller. Byatt's interest in the interplay between life and art, memory and creation, the "true moment" and the "storied event" finds expression in such stories about writing as "The Changeling," "On the Day that E. M. Forster Died," and "Precipice-Encurled." Eminently satisfying, for admirers of the excellent Still Life ( LJ 11/15/85). Mary Soete, San Diego P.L., Cal.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Christmas is in the air as teen-age twins Chris and Susan Pratt head to their grandparents' house in a charming, snow-covered village in Vermont. But the girls do more than engage the entire town in a festive holiday celebration. With their usual cleverness, they use their identical appearance to solve a mystery that threatens to close the local children's hospital. Young Adult Fiction by Cynthia Blair; originally published by Fawcett Juniper

Inside the world's most advanced submarine, Vulkan, a man holds a list of U.S. targets — each one will mean millions of casualties and a world thrown into nuclear chaos. Capt. Cooksey knows that his elusive prey can be brought down only one way-betrayal. Someone within the Russian hierarchy is about to give the Americans the one tool they need to stop the Vulkan.

This Depression Era tale tells of the rise and fall of the Chicago Bear that could not stay onside—Gloomy Gus, alias Iron Butt, i.e., Dick to his friends from Whittier, CA. Coover takes apart myth making with this one.

Thirty hair-raising tales, selected from international ghostlore, have been skillfully retold especially for young people. Eerie black-and-white illustrations, ghastly details, and strong, shuddery endings make these the kind of stories young readers crave. Famous stories like "The Robber Bridegroom" by the Brothers Grimm, "Tailypo," and "The Golem" are included, as well as retellings of stories by some of the world's greatest authors, including Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving.From the Trade Paperback edition.

From an International Horror Guild Award winner comes a shocking novel of twisted love. Jeff has loved Georgianne since they were kids and he doesn't think there's room in Georgianne's life for anyone else but him. Now he's ready to kill everyone in her life.

Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens. Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father. The date of his death is recorded as 30th April, 1916. But Leonora wasn't born until 14th March 1917. Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little. But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.