Selection of satisfying books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION:
Bea Gonzalez's THE BITTER TASTE OF TIME, to Ellis Trevor at Thomas Dunne Books, by Catherine MacGregor at Harper Canada.ellis.trevor@stmartins.com

DEBUT:

R.N. Morris's THE GENTLE AXE: A St Petersburg Mystery, a literary crime novel set in 1867, featuring a detective in his first murder case since Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, to Scott Moyers at the Penguin Press, by Camilla Smallwood at Faber and Faber (US).scott.moyers@us.penguingroup.com

Camille DeAngelis' MARY MODERN, weaving modern science and an old-fashioned love story, in which a woman desperate to have a child, is able to clone her grandmother, only to have her emerge as a fully functioning 22-year-old trapped in the strangest sort of deja-vu -- surrounded by reminders of a life she has already lived but doesn't remember, to Sally Kim at Shaye Areheart Books, at auction, by Kate Garrick at DeFiore and Company (World). Sarah Self at The Gersh Agency is handling film rights.kschulze@randomhouse.com

MYSTERY/CRIME:

Edgar Award nominee for IMMORAL Brian Freeman's UNSOLVED and VIOLATED, to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin's, by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider, on behalf of Ali Gunn of Gunn Media Enterprises.

St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writer's of America Best First Private Eye Novel award-winning author Michael Siverling's THE SORCERER'S CIRCLE, the first in the Midnight Investigations series, featuring a mother-son investigative team, again to Ruth Cavin at Thomas Dunne Books, by Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation. sorche@fairbankliterary.com

THRILLER:
NYT and USA Today bestselling author (of 24 books) Erica Spindler's three books, moving to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin's (from Mira), by Evan Marshall of the Evan Marshall Agency.

CHILDRENS/YOUNG ADULT:

Rachel Reilich's THE TREND SET, a debut series about a mismatched gaggle of girls who start their own fashion label, with sketches and original designs from real up-and-coming fashion label Compai, to Cindy Eagan and Phoebe Spanier at Little, Brown Children's, in a four-book deal, by Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group (NA).elizabeth.eulberg@twbg.com

FILM:

James Sallis's DRIVE, the story of a Hollywood stunt driver who drives getaway cars by night and one of Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Fiction Books of the Year, to Universal Studios for Hugh Jackman to star in and for Mark Platt, producer of EMPIRE FALLS and LEGALLY BLONDE, to produce, by Steven Fisher of APA, on behalf of Vicky Bijur of the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

FOREIGN:

Brad Smith's BIG MAN COMING DOWN THE ROAD, a comic noir in which a trio of privileged adults each inherit one of their millionaire father's businesses after his death -- on the condition that they run the company profitably for a year, to Helen Reeves at Penguin Canada, in a nice deal, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (Canada).harmony.ho@ca.penguingroup.com

Complex Chinese rights to Mitch Cullin's A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND, to China Times Publishing in Taiwan, in a nice deal, by Gray Tan at Jia-Xi Books, on behalf of Bess Reed at Regal Literary.Rights already sold in Holland, Italy, Korea, and Spain.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Nonie Darwish, the daughter of a Shahid's NOW THEY CALL ME INFIDEL: Why I Rejected Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror, the story of why the author left the culture of Islamic Jihad to support liberty and tolerance, to Bernadette Malone at Sentinel by Lynne Rabinoff (world).Lynne@lynnerabinoff.com

Economic commentator and theorist James K. Galbraith's THE UNBEARABLE COST OF EMPIRE, a collection of essays revealing the consequences of overreaching American foreign policy, to Amanda Hamilton at Palgrave, to be published in the UK in September and US in October 2006, by Wendy Strothman at The Strothman Agency.madelyn@strothmanagency.com

NARRATIVE:

Michael Mason's DAMAGED: The Injured Brain, an insider's look at the psychological, physical, and spiritual shock endured by people living with Traumatic Brain Injury, a condition sustained by over 1.5 million Americans a year and one that can rewrite a personality and strip away even the most mundane pleasures, by one of the country's few brain injury case managers, to Paul Elie at Farrar, Straus, by Anne Garrett at James Fitzgerald Agency (world).asst@jfitzagency.com

Daniel Sekulich's OCEAN TITANS: Journeys in Search of the Soul of a Ship, exploring the world of modern-day shipping -- man versus nature, big business, international greed, human drama, and high seas piracy, to Tom McCarthy at The Lyons Press, in a nice deal, by Don Sedgwick and Samantha Haywood at Transatlantic Literary Agency.Rights: sam@tla1.com

RELIGION:

NYT bestselling author of MISQUOTING JESUS Bart Ehrman's INVENTING CHRISTIANITY: Debunking the History and Development of Core Christian Doctrines, devoting one chapter to each core Christian belief and teaching -- such as Salvation, Resurrection, Second Coming of Jesus, Heaven, Hell, and more -- and revealing the unknown history of how these core doctrines were invented by the Christian church after Jesus, to Roger Freet at Harper San Francisco, in a two-book deal.

UK:

New Scientist features editor Michael Brooks' 13 THINGS THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE: A Journey Through the Strangest Anomalies of Science, a tour of the strangest scientific results, arguing that the things we don't understand -- that 96 per cent of the universe is missing; that the effects of homeopathy don't go away under rigorous scientific conditions; that speed of light isn't what it used to be; or that 30 years on, no one has an explanation for a seemingly intelligent signal received from outer space -- are the key to what we are about to discover, to Andrew Franklin at Profile, in a very nice deal, by Peter Tallack at Conville & Walsh (UK/Commonwealth, excl. Canada).

Rights to Longanesi in Italy, and to Record in Brazil, both in pre-empts.peter@convilleandwalsh.com

FOREIGN:

Jeff Fuchs' THE ANCIENT HORSE TEA ROAD, his journey as the first westerner to complete the trek along an ancient trade route through perilous terrain from China to India, also looking at the history of the road itself, and following traditional merchants as they continue with this almost extinct way of life, to Helen Reeves at Penguin Canada, in a nice deal, by Arnold Gosewich (world).harmony.ho@ca.penguingroup.com

Rights to Stephen Clarke's DIAL "M" FOR MERDE, the fourth book in the series following about an Englishman abroad, this time in America, to Helen Reeves at Penguin Canada, in a nice deal, by Susanna Lea Associates (Canada).harmony.ho@ca.penguingroup.com

Wrap...