Fiction To Memoirs...New Books On The Way...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION
DEBUT...

Chrisopher Buehlman's THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER, set in 1935 about a World War I veteran facing the battle of his life when he moves south with his lover to a dying cotton town and is targeted in a gruesome murder spree by a band of depraved werewolves squatting on a dilapidated plantation that belonged to his notorious Civil War General great grandfather, to Tom Colgan at Berkley, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in Summer 2011, by Stephanie Lehmann at the Elaine Koster Agency (World English).

Rosie Dastgir's A SMALL FORTUNE, which explores the loves, struggles, and tensions in the lives of a Pakistani family, from rural Pakistan to urban England, with a fond but wry eye, pitched as reminiscent of Monica Ali or -- in the book's humor and lightness of touch -- Marina Lewycka, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, in a pre-empt, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).

THRILLER...

Julia Heaberlin's PLAYING DEAD, about a woman who receives a letter indicating that she may have been kidnapped as a baby and her whole life is a lie, and LIE STILL, about a rape victim whose past catches up to her as she becomes involved in a mystery in an exclusive Texas town, to Kate Miciak at Random House, in a very nice deal, by Pam Ahearn at Ahearn Agency (world).

GENERAL/OTHER...

Liz Moore's HEFT, a dual narrative about a deeply lonely 500-plus recluse and a seventeen year-old orphaned baseball phenom and the phone call that brought their two worlds together, pitched as in the vein of Elizabeth McCracken's The Giant's House and Peter Hedges's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a very nice deal, by Seth Fishman at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel's next two neuro-thrillers about the collision of cutting-edge brain research and high-technology, to Carl Lennertz at Harper, by Laurie Liss at Sterling Lord Literistic (World).

CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE...

Adam Rex's heavily illustrated trilogy, COLD CEREAL, in which the unlikeliest heroes - a boy who may be part changeling, twins involved in a bizarre secret experiment, and a clurichaun (NOT leprechaun) in a red tracksuit - try to save the world from an evil cereal company, whose ultimate goal is world domination, to Donna Bray at Balzer and Bray, by Steven Malk at Writers House.

NONFICTION:
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Boston Globe deputy managing features editor Doug Most's THE RACE UNDERGROUND, about the competition between Boston and New York City to build the first subway in America, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, at auction, by Lane Zachary for Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (NA).

Author of NYT bestseller The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Toobin's THE OATH: THE SECRET STRUGGLE FOR THE SUPREME COURT, looking at the Court's "new personalities and new tensions" and the "battle between a conservative Court and a liberal President," to Phyllis Grann at Doubleday, for publication in 2012, by Esther Newberg at ICM.

MEMOIR...

Victor Villasenor's BEYOND RAIN OF GOLD, the follow-up to the NYT bestseller RAIN OF GOLD, a true-life One Hundred Years of Solitude for the 21st Century, focusing on the author's family history over many generations, including the author's experiences in writing the original bestseller, as a microcosm for the struggles of indigenous people throughout the world and how their plight and collective wisdom are reflected in the events predicted for 2012 and the world thereafter, to Reid Tracy at Hay House, for English and Spanish in the US, by William Gladstone at Waterside Productions.

New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan's BRAIN ON FIRE, a terrifying, though ultimately triumphant first-person narrative of her inexplicable physical and mental breakdown and a medical mystery unraveled by a brilliant neurologist and specialist in the exploding field of autoimmune disease, to Hilary Redmon at Free Press, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2012, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).

Film and TV actor Barbara Eden's JEANNIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE, a memoir of her colorful life and a remarkable Hollywood career spanning more than 50 years, including her own personal tragedies: the birth of a still-born son; her relationship with her verbally abusive, cocaine-addicted second husband; and the accidental heroin-induced death of her 35-year-old son just months before his wedding, written with Wendy Leigh, to Tina Constable at Crown Archetype, with Sydny Miner editing, for publication in spring 2011, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group (NA).

Soleil Moon Frye (aka Punky Brewster)'s first book HAPPY CHAOS, a combination memoir/manual, with stories from from own unconventional childhood growing up in the limelight as a child star, and thematically linked anecdotes from her experiences as a parent of two young daughters, to Carrie Thornton at Dutton, for publication in summer 2011, by Andy McNicol at William Morris Endeavor.

NARRATIVE...

Rowan Jacobsen's A SHADOW ON THE GULF: The Endangered Soul of Our Last Great Estuary, with the Deepwater Horizon disaster as its focal point, a narrative of the rich natural history of the Gulf of Mexico and the unique human culture of its coasts, as both collide with the unmanageable mega-engineering of today's oil economy, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, for publication in April 2011, by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency (world).

Wrap...