Sure, you could fill his shampoo bottle with Nair after he dumps you, but why be petty when you can commiserate with poets like Elizabeth Bishop? Guiding their lovelorn sisters through eight stages of recovery, from Rage to Moving On, the editors (Vélez is an occasional PEOPLE contributor) of this witty, wise anthology of 74 poems don't promise bliss, but you'll agree with Dorothy Parker's famous "Resume" that life ain't so bad sans the cad: "Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live." (Warner, $14.95)
Bottom Line: Do-it-yourself heart surgery
By John Katzenbach
A mysterious note left in psychoanalyst Ricky Starks's office promises to "destroy" one of his relatives unless he kills himself—or manages to identify the note's author, who calls himself "Rumplestiltskin," in an ad to be placed in The New York Times. In a show of force and sincerity, Mr. R then merrily proceeds to destroy Ricky's practice and his financial accounts.
At times this all seems relentlessly made-for-TV; at other times it evokes chills. The payoff comes in the second half as Ricky, having faked his death by staging a disappearance in the ocean, plots revenge. If the writing is sometimes uninspired and the plot preposterous, the killer's identity turns out to be a nifty surprise. (Ballantine, $25)
Bottom Line: All in a day's payback
By John Grisham
Twist one: It isn't a legal summons. It's a letter to University of Virginia law professor Ray Atlee from his father, a Mississippi judge who is dying and wants him to come home. When Atlee gets to fictional Clanton, Miss., his father is already dead and his drug- and alcohol-addicted brother is missing. On the plus side, Ray finds more than $3 million in cash hidden in his father's house. Unfortunately, investing the money in a nice mutual fund and retiring in Boca Raton, Fla., is not an option.
This is Grisham's standard plot—innocent guy versus murky evil, personified here by bad dudes chasing the money—and it comes with the standard contrivances. The mystery isn't resolved until literally the last page, but it comes at the cost of seeing a character's personality given a 180-degree wrenching.
Grisham, returning to form after taking a break from gavel-thumpers in his most recent two novels, makes sure fans get what they paid for: cinematic escapism in an evocatively drawn South. Atlee senior, a codger with a Civil War fixation, is a vivid character, as is Clanton, a sleepy but hardly pristine town throbbing with its own intrigues and ambitions. If only the story were as plausible as its setting. (Doubleday, $27.95)
Bottom Line: Grisham is back at the stove and the pot is boiling
By Mike Medavoy with Josh Young
After working on such Oscar-winning productions as Rocky, Amadeus and The Silence of the Lambs, former Orion and TriStar honcho Mike Medavoy has dealt with more stars than your average astronomer, and this frank and fond insider's memoir goes behind the scenes at many beloved movies. Medavoy reveals fun facts about some great films (Michelle Pfeiffer and Gene Hackman were originally proposed for The Silence of the Lambs) and some dogs (the 1989 flop Bloodhounds of Broadway was released nationwide with one reel missing; no one noticed). He passed on Pulp Fiction, but Medavoy did give Schwarzenegger his break, and he green-lighted Desperately Seeking Susan, during the casting of which Madonna visited producer Barbara Boyle, sank to her knees and said, "I'll do anything to get this role." Though Medavoy frequently lapses into business lingo, referring to "ancillary markets" and "distribution partners" more than he should, his book will be found in many a Beverly Hills cabana. (Pocket, $27)
Bottom Line: Inside the actors' studios
By Craig Holden
Page-turner of the week
Prohibition-era Cincinnati buzzes with booze, bucks and unlikely love. Hulking bootlegger George Remus is riding high until his marriage to gorgeous socialite Imogene Ring invites a federal spotlight to illuminate his illegal empire. Things fall apart: The G-men close in, money disappears, and finally Imogene winds up shot to death in a downtown park.
George confesses to the crime, pleading insanity. Prosecutor Charlie Taft, son of former President William Howard Taft, wants to prove George's plea is a ruse. But what looks like an open-and-shut case isn't.
Like Imogene, The Jazz Bird is haunting and beautiful. Holden's emotional prose captures Imogene's loneliness, George's brutal love and the raucous but hollow fun of the Roaring Twenties.
Though the story is based loosely on a real case, Holden, the author of three previous suspense novels, skillfully imagines what might have motivated real people. Holden's structure, too, is a tantalizing treat. The novel opens with Imogene's murder and is peppered with flashbacks to the Gatsby-esque sparkle of her happiest days with her husband, so the reader simultaneously experiences both a pounding courtroom drama and a lilting love story. (Simon & Schuster, $25)
Bottom Line: Sings and soars
Edited by David H. Lowenherz
Some of Mozart's sweetest notes had nothing to do with music. Away from home in 1789, he wrote to his wife, Constanze, about a portrait of her: "When I take it out of its case, I say...'Good-day, little rascal'...and when I put it away again...'Good night, little mouse, sleep well.'"
Love turns everyone to mush in this collection of historic letters. Ronald Reagan wrote about himself and Nancy in the third person: "Nancy Davis, seeing the plight of a lonely man...determined to rescue him," reads one 1981 note. Elvis Presley fan Marjorie Fossa said it with capitals after seeing the King perform in 1972: "I AM NOW ON CLOUD 9,000." Lowenherz's choices—from Henry VIII to George Custer—are passionate and poignant, and there isn't an e-mail among them. (Crown, $20)
Bottom Line: A Valentine's Day gift for your little mouse
- Contributors:
- Jennifer Wulff,
- Edward Karam,
- Ralph Novak,
- Mark O'Donnell,
- Sean Gannon,
- Michelle Tauber.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
