A Spring Selection of Upcoming Books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Pushcart Prize and Missouri Review Editor's Prize winner Valerie Laken's DREAM HOUSE, a tale of race, class and the power of home, telling the story of a fixer-upper house -- once the site of a domestic homicide -- that unites a recently paroled murderer, a young couple with a crumbling relationship, and a man still grappling with events of a night long ago, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, in a pre-empt, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Agency.

MYSTERY/CRIME:

Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award winner Karen Olson's two books in a brand new mystery series featuring a tattoo shop owner in Las Vegas, to Kristen Weber at NAL, by Jack Scovil at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (world).

THRILLER:

Johnny Depp's brother, Daniel Depp's LOSER'S TOWN, about a private investigator who's called in when an A-list Hollywood actor starts receiving death threats, to Kate Lyall-Grant of Simon & Schuster UK, at auction, and Sarah Hochman at Simon & Schuster, in a pre-empt, by Donald Maass, on behalf of Meg Davis of MBA Literary Agents.Foreign rights to Penguin Canada, by Sarah Heller, on behalf of Meg Davis of MBA Literary Agents, to Presses de la Cite, at auction, by Lora Fountain, on behalf of Meg Davis of MBA Literary Agents.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Anchee Min's next novel, PEARL OF CHINA, about the life of Pearl Buck told through the eyes of her fictional friend Willow, a Chinese girl, for publication in Spring 2010, and a memoir, THE COOKED SEED, a sequel to Red Azalea, following Min's life as she emigrates from her native China and begins a life in America, following Anton Mueller to Bloomsbury (joining Bloomsbury UK, which has published her for a while), by Sandra Dijkstra at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

David Dalton's BOB'S BRAIN, an intimate look at Bob Dylan, an oral narrative, featuring the voices of a broad range of Dylan's contemporaries and confidantes, to Will Balliett at Hyperion, for publication in November 2009, by Eileen Cope of Trident Media Group (world).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Senior editor at Fortune magazine David Kirkpatrick's THE FACEBOOK EFFECT, chroniclING the rapid rise of this company as well as the impact it is having on social life, politics, business and even international relations, with the cooperation of the company and ceo Mark Zuckerberg, to Bob Bender at Simon & Schuster, in fall 2009, by Wayne Kabak at the William Morris Agency (NA).

ING Direct founder Arkadi Kuhlmann and GWP Brand Engineering partner Bruce Philp's THE ORANGE CODE: HOW ING DIRECT SUCCEEDED BY BEING A REBEL WITH A CAUSE, about the startup of the most successful online banking venture in history, to Debra Englander at Wiley, by Sam Hiyate at The Rights Factory (world).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Professor of statistics and political science at Columbia and C.U.N.Y Andrew Gelman's THE RED STATE-BLUE STATE PARADOX, written in collaboration with four of his former graduate students, an analysis of the complex and fascinating voting patterns in rich states and poor states, to Vickie Kearn at Princeton University Press, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House
MEMOIR:

Host of CBS's Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson's AMERICAN ON PURPOSE, about living the American dream as he journeys from a small town in Scotland to the entertainment capital of the world, stumbling long the way through several attempts to make his mark, written "in the hope that it will inspire other alcoholic punk rock drummers from Scotland to find their true place in US late night television," to Michael Morrison at Harper, with David Hirshey editing, for publication in fall 2009, by Richard Abate at Endeavor (world English).

Kevin Pappas's RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL, the author's memoir of growing up the illegitimate son of the "Don Corleone" of the secretive Greek mafia, andthe dangerous path it led him down, including becoming a high-flying '80scocaine kingpin, getting imprisoned on a double life sentence, dueling with Janet Reno for his freedom and finally reuniting with his father and finding a hard-won redemption, to Mark Tavani at Ballantine, by Scott Waxman at Waxman Literary Agency and Mickey Freiberg at ACME Talent and Literary Agency.

Jeremiah Workman's SHADOW OF THE SWORD: A Story of Courage, with John Bruning, detailing the Marine sergeant's and Navy Cross recipient's firefight with insurgents during a routine house sweep in Fallujah in December 2004, and candidly telling the story of his inspiring and successful battle with severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), to Ryan Doherty at Presidio, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2009, by Jim Hornfischer at Hornfischer Literary Management (NA).

Wrap...