A Selection of Interesting Books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/GENERAL/OTHER:

Co-author with James Patterson of five books (three billed on the jacket) Andrew Gross's individual debut THE BLUE ZONE, about a young woman on the hunt for her missing father -- a successful businessman forced into the Witness Protection Program who has suddenly disappeared -- who comes to question who he really is and whether either of them can come out alive, to David Highfill at William Morrow, for three books, for publication beginning in 2007, by Simon Lipskar at Writers House (world).
Italian rights to Longanesi, in a pre-empt. Harper UK will publish along with Morrow.debbie.stier@harpercollins.com

DEBUT:
Jennifer McMahon's POTATO GIRL, about a woman whose past and present collide when she returns home to care for her aging mother on the night a young girl is killed -- a crime that mirrors the murder of her childhood best friend, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).dlazar@writershouse.com

THRILLER:
Nick Stone's MR. CLARINET, set predominantly in the voodoo landscape of Haiti, an ex-cop turned P.I. travels to investigate the strange disappearance of a wealthy family's missing son, to Claire Wachtel at Morrow, in a pre-empt, in a good deal, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group on behalf of Lesley Thorne and Gillon Aitken (US).Michael Joseph at Penguin will publish in the UK.jv@algmedia.com

CHILDRENS: YOUNG ADULT:
Coert Voorhees's debut YA novel FRANKIE TOWERS, about a Latino teenager who begins to question his assumptions about his family, his friends, and the machinations of his small New Mexican town when he discovers that his older brother may be involved in a gang, to Arianne Lewin at Hyperion, in a nice deal, in a pre-empt, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (NA).

FOREIGN:
Turkish rights to Robert Ferrigno's PRAYERS FOR THE ASSASSIN, set in the America of 2042, a moderate Islamic republic, in which an ex-special agent and provocative historian fight for their lives after uncovering the truth behind the so-called "Zionist Betrayal," to Koridor Yayincilik, by Mary Evans at Mary Evans.info@maryevansinc.com

Serbian rights to D. Anne Love's OF NUMBERS AND STARS: THE STORY OF HYPATIA, to Globosino Aleksandrija, by Jennifer Weltz at the Jean Naggar Agency, with Vuk Perisic at PLIMA.

Indonesian rights to Chun Sue's BEIJING DOLL, to Banana Publishing, in a nice deal, by Barbara Zitwer Agency.bjzitwerag@aol.com

Serbian rights to Martin Gülich's THE EMBRACE, to Dereta by Kathrin Scheel at Schöffling.kathrin.scheel@schoeffling.de

Italian rights to Mike Davis's PLANET OF SLUMS, to Raf Scelsi at Feltrinelli, by Malcolm Imrie at Imrie & Dervis, on behalf of Verso, who will publish it in the US and UK early in 2006.

UK:
Peter James's EXACTLY DEAD and NOT DEAD ENOUGH, the next two in the Inspector Roy Grace series, to Stefanie Bierwerth at Macmillan, to be published in 2007 and 2008 respectively, for six-figures, by Carole Blake of Blake Friedmann Literary Agency (UK/Com).
Pieter Waterdrinker's GERMAN WEDDING, a novel of 1950s post-war tension set at a wedding on the north sea coast between a young Dutch scoundrel and the rich daughter of German sausage manufacturers, to Toby Mundy at Atlantic Books, in a nice deal, by Michele Hutchison on behalf of De Arbeiderspers in Holland (world English). German rights to Aufbau.m.hutchison@arbeiderspers.nl

FILM:
Robert Anton Wilson's THE EARTH WILL SHAKE, the first in the cult HISTORICAL ILLUMINATUS series, optioned to Lance Bauscher of Deepleaf Productions, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House.

Gail Tsukiyama's THE SAMURAI'S GARDEN, optioned to producer Jennifer Fukasawa, with screenwriter Philip W. Chung set to adapt, by Mary Alice Kierand Anna Cottle at Cine/Lit Representation, on behalf of the Linda Allen Literary Agency.cinelit@msn.com

BIOGRAPHY:
Author of THE MIRACLE OF ST. ANTHONY and journalist Adrian Wojnarowski's biography of legendary North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of bone cancer, but not before setting up the V Foundation for Cancer Research and delivering his memorable "Don't Give Up Speech" on national television, to Brendan Cahill at Gotham, for publication in March 2008, by Greg Dinkin from Venture Literary.greg@ventureliterary.com

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of the forthcoming FLAPPER: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity and the Woman who Made America Modern Joshua Zeitz's THE SEVENTIES, to Rachel Klayman at Crown, by Susan Ginsburg at Writers House. SGinsburg@writershouse.com

New Yorker, Playboy, and Radar contributor, and blogger Daniel Radosh's RAPTURE READY!: Adventures in the Strange Pop Culture of the Religious Right, an investigative account of the burgeoning multi-billion dollar Christian media industry, to Nan Graham and Brant Rumble at Scribner, at auction, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projects (NA).billy@kuhnprojects.com

Christopher Krebs's THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK IN THE WORLD, the story of how Tacitus's GERMANIA influenced 500 years of European culture, ultimately leading to the Nazi Aryan ideology, to Amy Cherry at Norton, by Steve Wasserman of Kneerim & Williams (world).
Rights sales so far: German rights to DVA, Dutch rights to Het Spectrum, and Korean rights to GoldenCompass, by Elisabeth Kerr at Norton. ekerr@wwnorton.com

MEMOIRS:
Former WWE champion and lead singer of "Fozzy" Chris Jericho's A LION'S TALE, about his formative years in the wrestling business, and how he went from the only blonde Canadian in Mexico to a wrestling star, to Jason Pinter at Warner, by Marc Gerald at The Agency Group (world).

Son of architect Morris Lapidus, designer of Miami's Fountainbleau Hotel Alan Lapidus with Robert Pack's EVERYTHING BY DESIGN, the life of a working architect, as seen by "Donald Trump's architect" (WSJ), who has also designed buildings for Disney, the mayors of New York City and Moscow, and many others, to Phil Revzin at St. Martin's, in a very nice deal, by Daniel Bial at the Daniel Bial Agency (world).dbialagency@msn.com

NARRATIVE:
Daughter of Chinese immigrants and NYT reporter Jennifer 8. Lee's THE LONG MARCH OF GENERAL TSO: How Chinese Food Became All-American, a look at the history of the Chinese experience in America through the lens of the food that they made to survive here, from Chop Suey cooked by illegal immigrants to General Tso's chicken, sold by 64-year-old grandmother who built an empire from a single New York City takeout in 1976, to Jonathan Karp at Warner Twelve, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2008, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).Jennifer.romanello@twbg.com

SCIENCE:
Provost of the Museum of Natural History, paleontologist and organizer of its current Darwin exhibition Michael Novacek's TERRA, an in-depth exploration of 400 million years of animal life on earth, to Elisabeth Sifton at Farrar, Straus, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (world English).

GENERAL/OTHER:
Wilderness survival author Tom Brown Jr.'s next two books in the FIELD GUIDE SERIES, to Tom Colgan at Berkley, in a very nice deal, by Mary Tahan of Mary M. Tahan Literary Agency (NA).marytahan@earthlink.net

FOREIGN:
German rights Aaron J. Klein's STRIKING BACK: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response, to DVA, by Mohrbooks, on behalf of Nicole Bond at Random House, joining previous sales to Nieuw Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Scribe Publications in Australia and Ediouro in Brazil.

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