Interesting Books Coming....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION...

INSPIRATIONAL:

Platinum-selling country recording artist Sara Evans' debut novel, the first in a series, written with author Rachel Hauck, an "emotional, Southern-flavored, multi-generational tale, featuring a compelling love story," to Thomas Nelson, in a four-book deal.

THRILLER:

Dagger Award-winning author (Sharp Objects, Dark Places) Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL, about a Chicago man who arrives home on his anniversary to find his wife missing and indications of a struggle and he swiftly becomes the prime suspect, as the subsequent investigation reveals more than anyone could have imagined about this seemingly-perfect young couple, plus another literary thriller, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world and audio;).

Edgar-nominated thriller writer, Meg Gardiner's two new novels featuring forensic psychiatrist (she psychoanalyzes dead people) Jo Beckett, again to Ben Sevier at Dutton, by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider (US).

Three of Gardiner's books, to Patrick Janson-Smith at Blue Door, by Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown UK.

Paul Grossman's THE SLEEPWALKERS, set in pre-Nazi Berlin, in the final weeks of the Weimar republic, which pits the rising Nazi tide against a Jewish detective on the Berlin police trying to solve a case of human medical experimentation, to Michael Homler at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Jon Sternfeld at the Irene Goodman Agency (World).

GENERAL/OTHER:

NYPL Young Lions finalist Zachary Mason's THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY, originally published by Starcherone books, imagining an ancient encrypted book, recently decoded, that contains a series of surprising alternatives to the narrative of Odyssey as it has come down to us, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in fall of 2009, by Bill Clegg at the William Morris Agency (NA).

Sheila Kohler's BECOMING JANE EYRE, about how Jane Eyre came to be written, which at the same time gives us a marvelous sense of Charlotte Bronte's life with her father, two younger sisters and only brother in the isolated parsonage on the Yorkshire moors, to Kathryn Court at Penguin, by Robin Straus at Robin Straus Agency.

Michelle Moran's MASKS OF THE REVOLUTION, about the life of Madame Tussaud, in which young Marie Tussaud joins the gilded but troubled court of Marie Antoinette, and survived the French Revolution by creating "Death Masks" of the beheaded aristocracy, to Heather Proulx at Crown, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Jessica Francis Kane's THE REPORT, set in London during WWII, the story of a man charged with the responsibility of investigating a shocking air raid shelter accident and how he decides to handle the question of blame, to Fiona McCrae at Graywolf, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2010, by Liz Darhansoff at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (world).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Former Wall Street "Quant", physicist, and director of the Columbia University financial engineering program Emmanuel Derman's TIME DECAY: A Meditation on Options Theory, Life, and the Passage of Time, exploring our relationship to risk and the dangers of relying on models for any kind of endeavor, financial or otherwise, to Hilary Redmon at Free Press, for publication in May 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

The final volume in historian Rick Perlstein's "Backlash" trilogy, covering the 1970s and the rise of Ronald Reagan (following Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, and Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus), to Jonathan Karp at Twelve, for delivery in approximately five years, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).

The Last Spy author and journalist Andrew Meier's THE HOUSE OF MORGENTHAU, the epic story of one of the great American families, men and women who set down roots in the New World and lost everything only to grow rich again, who played pivotal roles in the Wilson and FDR administrations, helped elect JFK, decried mass murder during the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, waged war, and created a dynasty; based upon full access by the Morgenthau family to family papers, correspondence, diaries, photographs, and home movies -- and lengthy interviews with surviving members, including outgoing New York DA Robert Morgenthau, to Susan Kamil and Tim Bartlett at Random House, at auction, by Lynn Nesbit at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).

Humor
Simon Tofield SIMON'S CAT, based on the popular animated series, to Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central, in a pre-empt, in two-book deal, by Andrea Joyce of Canongate UK (US).

Eric Idle, ed.'s MONTY PYTHON LIVE!, with contributions by John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin of memories of their wild touring years in a four-color oversized paperback also including some of their most famous routines and memorabilia as well never-before-published scripts, to Hyperion, for publication in fall 2009, by Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (world English).

Lilit Marcus's SAVE THE ASSISTANTS: A Book for the Beleaguered, based on the blog of the same name devoted to the darkly humorous ups and downs of assistant life, expanding on the horror stories, celebrity assistant gossip, and a boss glossary, and adding prescriptive advice on how to gracefully navigate the world of office politics, to Hyperion, for publication in April 2010, by Rebecca Gradinger at Finchley Road Literary.

Kasper Hauser's OBAMA'S BLACKBERRY, an imagined glimpse into Obama's beloved PDA, merging the already funny new language of text and email ("hey bb watcha doin L8r? ; ) with specific satire of America's most-watched people: the first family, Biden, Palin, DiFi, Rush, Hannity, Bush, Oprah, and the first puppy, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, for publication in June 2009, by Danielle Svetcov at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (World).
john.parsley@hbgusa.com

Memoir
USAir Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's memoir, to William Morrow, reportedly for between $2.5 million and $3.2 million by various reports, at auction, in a two-book deal (the second said by the Daily Beast to be a collection of inspirational poetry), by Jan Miller at Dupree Miller & Associates.

Pop Culture
Founder of www.petswhowanttokillthemselves.com Duncan Birmingham's PETS WHO WANT TO KILL THEMSELVES, embracing our universal tendancy to infantilize our pets, containing photos of pets dressed up in clothing and looking miserable, with commentary from the author, to Heather Proulx at Three Rivers Press, in a pre-empt, by Kate Lee at ICM.

GQ correspondent and This American Life contributor Brett Martin's DIFFICULT MEN, a look at the rise of cable television dramas since the late 1990's, examining the cultural, technological and artistic forces that turned the 13-episode format into the ideal vehicle to tell the 21st Century American story, with The Sopranos' David Chase, The Wire's David Simon, and Mad Men's Matthew Weiner, among others, as main characters, to Eamon Dolan at Penguin Press, by Daniel Greenberg at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (World).

Sports
Author of HUNTING EICHMANN Neal Bascomb's THE NEW COOL: A Season Inside the Super Bowl of Smarts and How the FIRST Robotics Competition May Be the Future of Education, which follows three high school teams during the design, buildout and head to head combat of their robots in stadiums around the country, a highly pressured world where teams succeed due to both innovation and cooperation, founded by the genius and visionary Dean Kamen and now a worldwide phenomenon, to Rick Horgan at Crown, at auction, by Scott Waxman at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).

General/Other
740 Park author Michael Gross's PLATINUM TRIANGLE, a social history that will uncover the lives and lifestyles of the owners of the most extravagant trophy homes in Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills -- the Los Angeles estate district, again to Peter Gethers for Broadway, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group.

Wrap....