We’ve heard for years that the novel is dead, that recreational reading is passé, that books will soon be no more. But based on the stacks sitting on my desk—all fiction—I have to say that reports of the literary publication’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Take the opportunity to sample one or more of these; you’re bound to find something to suit your tastes. . . .

 

What makes better summer reading than a mystery? Cathy Pickens’s Hush My Mouth [St. Martin’s, 2008] is fourth in her Southern Fried Mystery series. Attorney Avery Andrews has returned to her roots in Dacus, S.C., and quickly gets caught up in a tangle of missing persons, a 20-year-old murder case, some ghost hunters, and a shady real estate deal. Pickens, a lawyer living in Charlotte, who says her influences are Perry Mason and Nancy Drew, knows her way around both small towns and mysteries. This fun read has enough twists and turns to keep it interesting and still be believable.

 

For more intense reading, try the second and third political thrillers written by Andrew Britton, The Assassin [Kensington Books, 2007] and The Invisible [Kensington Books, 2008]. Britton’s first novel, The American, introduced troubled Special Forces vet and CIA agent Ryan Kealey. In The Assassin, Kealey has to deal with Iran’s threat to bomb the UN and in The Invisible the U.S. secretary of state is kidnapped. This trilogy holds more than a few surprises. British-born Britton grew up in Raleigh and served in the U.S. Army before publishing his first novel at 21. Sadly, this very talented writer, called the “next Tom Clancy,” died suddenly this past March in Durham.

 

Another suspenseful, “ripped from the headlines” story, The Moonpool [St. Martin’s, 2008], begins with a radiation poisoning a la Alexander V. Litvinenko. Even if you haven’t read the first three titles featuring ex-cop and now head of Hide & Seek Investigations Cam Richter, you’ll be able to dive right into this book. The author, P. T. Deutermann, who lives in Rockingham County, N.C., has written 12 novels.

 

But maybe you’re less about homeland security and more about home and hearth. Eleven-year-old Ellie Sanders has a difficult life, forced into making adult decisions while watching her mother slip into mental illness and her father slip away in denial and infidelity. In her first novel, Tomato Girl [Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008], author Jayne Pupek writes a story of sorrow and resilience. Pupek’s roots as a poet show in her vivid details, even the ordinary ones: baby chicks smell “like corn and baking soda,” the sheriff’s fat neck “rested on his dark brown collar.”

 

Much less serious is Clyde Edgerton’s The Bible Salesman [Little, Brown, 2008], which might bring to mind Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” only with humor. Or maybe Paper Moon, but Henry the Bible salesman isn’t the one who’s the con artist. A sheltered upbringing with his Bible-reading Aunt Dorie didn’t prepare Henry for car thief Preston Clearwater, who invites Henry to join him in “undercover FBI work.” As Henry figures out what is really going on, he has to figure out what to do. Edgerton, the author of nine books, teaches creative writing at UNC-Wilmington.

 

Ever wonder how Tiger Woods could just be so good for so long? That might just be where Willie Thompson got the idea for Scratch Golfer [Mainland Press, 2008]. This laugh-out-loud novel combines golf and mid-life career frustrations for a story that even non-golfers will relate to. Thompson, who according to his bio “has written several books that you haven’t read, unless you happen to work on elevators or data communication networks,” lives near Hickory, N.C.

 

Don’t want to make a commitment to a novel? Short fiction can be irresistible. I started to read Louise Hawes’s Anteaters Don’t Dream and Other Stories [University Press of Mississippi, 2007] and couldn’t put it down. While Hawes, who now lives in Chapel Hill, has written books for a variety of age groups, this one is for adults, with tales of abusive fathers, a wife neglected, men in life crises, and a woman dealing with a long-ago abortion.

 

Finally, Kris Radish says she writes what women are thinking. She couldn’t be more right. Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA [Bantam, 2008] is the funny, insightful story of Addy and Lucky Lipton. Married long enough that they don’t need to communicate (or even want to some days), Addy and Lucky find themselves facing the biggest crisis of their married life when he injures his back, forcing them to take a look at themselves and each other and ask “what do I really want?” Radish’s writing is deft, humorous, and right on target. This book would be an excellent choice for a book group, bound to spark discussion and laughter.

 

 

[First published in the Greensboro News-Record, August 3, 2008]