A whole lot of books coming our way...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Samantha Harvey's THE WILDERNESS, about a sixty year old man's struggle to uncover the source of guilt he suffers for events that, due to the onset of Alzheimer's, he can no longer fully recall, to Lorna Owen at Nan A. Talese, in a pre-empt, by Anna Webber at United Agents (NA).

Nancy Spiller's ENTERTAINING DISASTERS, in which a Southern California food writer who has long been serving up fictional dinner parties as fact faces her first real dinner party in a decade while all hell breaks loose in her personal life, to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint, in an exclusive submission by the author (World). She is now represented by Betsy Amster at Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Author of The Dogs of Babel and Lost and Found, Carolyn Parkhurst's THE NOBODIES ALBUM, about a former bestselling novelist who has re-written the endings to all of her novels and in doing so, has removed clues about her personal life that had been hidden within -- and when her estranged, rock star son is accused of murder, she endeavors to find out the truth: about the murder, and about the secrets of their shared past, moving to Alison Callahan at Doubleday, for two books, for publication in spring 2010, by Douglas Stewart at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Martin Walker's first two books in his BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE series, in which the sole member of the village police in a tiny French town must protect his proud, ancient town from anything -- whether overbearing national officials or violent intruder -- that threatens the peace, to Jonathan Segal at Knopf, in a pre-empt, by Stephanie Cabot at The Gernert Company, on behalf of Caroline Wood at Felicity Bryan Associates (US).


Promise Not to Tell author Jennifer McMahon's DISMANTLED, in which a terrible crime returns to haunt old college friends who once formed a group of Compassionate Dismantlers, believing that things (and perhaps, people) must be taken literally apart to truly understand them, again to Jeanette Perez at Harper, in a two-book deal, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Sarah Blake's THE POSTMISTRESS, weaving between the Blitz in London and the fates of a small town through radio broadcasts exploring simultaneously the lives both at war and those who stay behind, writing about how those who carry the truth sometimes must bear a terrible weight, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Stephanie Cabot at The Gernert Company (World).

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

NYT bestselling biographer of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Dale Earnhardt, Leigh Montville's biography of Evel Knievel, exploring the cultural icon and the man behind it, examining how a boy from a dusty western town became a legend who embodied Americana in the 1970s and beyond, to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday, by Esther Newberg at ICM (world).

Author of SADDAM Con Coughlin's KHOMEINI'S GHOST, a biography showing how an impoverished student from a remote area of Iran became a religious extremist who led one of the most dramatic revolutions of our time, to Emily Takoudes at Ecco, for publication in winter 2010, by Melanie Jackson at Melanie Jackson Agency, acting with Gill Coleridge at Rogers, Coleridge and White (NA).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Founder of NetApp David Hitz's HOW TO CASTRATE A BULL: Everything is Broken, Your Customers Are Liars, Everyone Wants to Kill You, and Other Fun Problems, which parallels the victory of the author's company -- a leader in data storage, management, and security that is rated one of the best places to work by Fortune magazine -- with his personal narrative and uses insightful humor and colorful illustrations to demonstrate how to increase one's business skills, co-written by Pat Walsh, to Rebecca Browning at Jossey-Bass, in a very nice deal, for publication in early 2009, by Amy Rennert at theAmy Rennert Agency.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Independent, embedded journalist Ed Darack's VICTORY POINT: THE UNTOLD STORY OF OPERATIONS RED WINGS AND WHALERS, which chronicles two Marine Corps missions that represent not just a series of fierce battles, but a small war won by a battalion of Marines -- the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment (2/3), to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, at auction, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.

Maxine Rosaler and Phillip Margulies's THE DEVIL ON TRIAL, five famous trials that put the American system of justice in jeopardy, featuring courtroom dramas of feared defendants, from the Salem witches to 9-11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, to Ann Rider at Houghton Mifflin, by Ginger Knowlton at Curtis Brown (NA).

THE JESUIT AND THE SKULL and RIDDLE OF THE COMPASS author's Amir Aczel's THE CAVE, about the world of the Cro Magnon peoples of Southern Europe, whose beautiful renderings of animals and their mysterious symbols represent Man's first attempt at written language, to Stephen Power at Wiley, by John Taylor "Ike" Williams at Kneerim & Williams (World).

HUMOR:

Founder of Vidlit Liz Dubelman and Yiddish with Dick and Jane co-author Barbara Davilman's WHAT WAS I THINKING?, fifty-six humorous bad boyfriend stories from smart women writing about the moment they knew they had -- once again -- picked the wrong guy, to Elizabeth Beier at St. Martin's, by Patty Brown at Downtown Bookworks.

MEMOIR:

Roger Moore's memoir, MY WORD IS MY BOND, sharing his recollections of playing some of his most famous roles, his fears of serious illness, including his own bout with prostate cancer (which he beat), and how his neighbor Audrey Hepburn got him involved in UNICEF, with anecdotes about such stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Angie Dickinson, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, and Gregory Peck, to Bruce Nichols at Collins, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group, in association with Lesley Pollinger of Pollinger Limited (US).UK/Commonwealth rights to Michael O'Mara, for publication in October 2008.

Tori Murden McClure's THERE BY SEA MONSTERS, her story of being the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic ocean, to Caroline Sutton at Ballantine, by Jillian Manus at Manus & Associates (world).Rights: ctisne@randomhouse.com

UK:

Pop star George Michael's "no-holds barred" account of his personal and professional life, which he intends to write himself, to Belinda Budge at Harper UK and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, with Rakesh Satyal editing in the US, in what they claim is "one of the biggest book deals ever concluded in UK publishing," for publication in fall 2009, by manager Andy Stephens (world).

Wrap...