Surveillance by Jonathan Raban

Surveillance
by Jonathan Raban

In the not-too-distant future, national identity cards are mandatory, and America has become obsessed with intelligence-gathering. The government?s scrutiny is omnipresent, civilians freely indulge their curiosity on the Internet, journalists pursue their investigations with relentless determination, and children both snoop on their parents and manipulate new technologies.

In Seattle, the unfulfilled actor Tad Zachary now performs mostly in the Department of Homeland Security?s fictional disaster scenarios, while his friend and neighbor Lucy Bengstrom struggles to support her eleven-year-old daughter, Alida, on a freelance journalist?s meager income?with their landlord providing additional threats. Then Lucy is assigned to write a profile of August Vanags, a retired professor turned best-selling author with his memoir of a childhood ravaged by World War II, but the validity of his account grows questionable, even as Lucy and Alida are charmed by both Vanags and his lonesome wife.

Everyone here is under surveillance or conducting it, and at risk of confusing what might be true for what actually is?a distinction not easily honored in a time of personal stress and widespread panic, when terrorist attack and literary fraud lurk around every corner. With precision and compassion, Jonathan Raban captures not only a peculiar period in our ongoing history but also a rich variety of lives caught up in fault lines that reach throughout society.

About the Author

The author, most recently, of Waxwings and Passage to Juneau, Jonathan Raban was born in En-gland and since 1990 has lived in Seattle. His honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature, the PEN/West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association?s Award, and the Governor?s Award of the State of Washington.

Order it now at northwest-books.com.

Napoleon's Pyramids by William Dietrich

Napoleon's Pyramids
by William Dietrich

William Dietrich's books have been hailed for their vivid imagery, evocative atmospheres, impeccable historical accuracy, and ambitious plots. Now, in the breakout novel of his career, he delivers an enthralling story of intrigue, greed, and danger.

Ethan Gage, assistant to Ben Franklin and expatriate American in post-revolutionary France, wins an ancient?and possibly cursed?medallion in a card game one night. It turns out that the medallion, covered in seemingly indecipherable symbols, may be linked to a Masonic mystery. That same night, however, Ethan is framed for a prostitute's murder and barely escapes France with his life.

Faced with either prison or death, Gage is offered a third choice: to accompany the new emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, as France sails to conquer Egypt?with Lord Nelson's fleet following close behind. Once Gage arrives, he encounters incredible surprises: one in the form of a beautiful Macedonian slave and another in the dawning knowledge that the medallion may solve one of the greatest riddles of history?who built the Great Pyramids, and why. What is revealed to Gage is more shocking than anyone could ever have imagined.

Moving from the lascivious salons of post-revolutionary Paris to the Mediterranean's high seas to the treacherous sands of Egypt, Napoleon's Pyramids is a riveting, action-packed thriller that will captivate readers and introduce them to this supremely talented author.

About the Author

William Dietrich is the author of the novels Hadrian's Wall and Scourge of God, and is a Pulitzer Prize?winning journalist, historian, and naturalist. He lives in Washington State.

Buy it now at northwest-books.com.

The White Cascade by Gary Krist

The White Cascade
by Gary Krist

The never-before-told story of one of the worst rail disasters in U.S. history in which two trains full of people, trapped high in the Cascade Mountains, are hit by a devastating avalanche

In February 1910, a monstrous blizzard centered on Washington State hit the Northwest, breaking records. The world stopped?but nowhere was the danger more terrifying than near a tiny town called Wellington, perched high in the Cascade Mountains, where a desperate situation evolved minute by minute: two trainloads of cold, hungry passengers and their crews found themselves marooned without escape, their railcars gradually being buried in the rising drifts. For days, an army of the Great Northern Railroad?s most dedicated men?led by the line?s legendarily courageous superintendent, James O?Neill?worked round-the-clock to rescue the trains. But the storm was unrelenting, and to the passenger?s great anxiety, the railcars?their only shelter?were parked precariously on the edge of a steep ravine. As the days passed, food and coal supplies dwindled. Panic and rage set in as snow accumulated deeper and deeper on the cliffs overhanging the trains. Finally, just when escape seemed possible, the unthinkable occurred: the earth shifted and a colossal avalanche tumbled from the high pinnacles, sweeping the trains and their sleeping passengers over the steep slope and down the mountainside.

Centered on the astonishing spectacle of our nation?s deadliest avalanche, The White Cascade is the masterfully told story of a supremely dramatic and never-before-documented American tragedy. An adventure saga filled with colorful and engaging history, this is epic narrative storytelling at its finest.

About the Author

Gary Krist is the prizewinning author of the novels Bad Chemistry, Chaos Theory, and Extravagance, and two short-story collections, The Garden State and Bone by Bone, His stories, articles, and travel pieces have been featured in noteworthy magazines, including Nation Geographic Traveler, GQ, and Esquire. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.

Buy it at northwest-books.com.

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Feb 25, 2007

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest. Week ending February 25, 2007.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. What Is the What, Dave Eggers
2. Surveillance, Jonathan Raban
3. Ten Days in the Hills, Jane Smiley
4. You Suck, Christopher Moore
5. The Knitting Circle, Ann Hood
6. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
7. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
8. For One More Day, Mitch Albom
9. The Whistling Season, Ivan Doig
10. Innocent in Death, J.D. Robb

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (Ed.)
2. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
3. The White Cascade, Gary Krist
4. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
5. About Alice, Calvin Trillin
6. American Fascists, Chris Hedges
7. Power, Faith, and Fantasy, Michael B. Oren
8. I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron
9. Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter
10. Marley & Me, John Grogan

MASS MARKET

1. Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
2. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, Lilian Jackson Braun
3. The Templar Legacy, Steve Berry
4. S Is for Silence, Sue Grafton
5. End of Story, Peter Abrahams
6. Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
7. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
8. 1984, George Orwell
9. Old Man's War, John Scalzi
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
2. The Higher Power of Lucky, Susan Patron
3. Forever in Blue (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, #4), Ann Brashares
4. Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny, Barbara Park, Denise Brunkus (Illus.)
5. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
6. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.)
7. Skippyjon Jones, Judith Schachner
8. Eragon, Christopher Paolini
9. Flotsam, David Wiesner
10. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Feb 11, 2007

Bestsellers in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest. Week ending February 11, 2007.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. You Suck, Christopher Moore
2. Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra
3. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
4. Surveillance, Jonathan Raban
5. The Castle in the Forest, Norman Mailer
6. Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
7. The Terror, Dan Simmons
8. Step on a Crack, James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge
9. Web of Evil, J.A. Jance
10. Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (Ed.)
2. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
3. About Alice, Calvin Trillin
4. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
5. I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron
6. Palestine, Jimmy Carter
7. Marley & Me, John Grogan
8. Cesar's Way, Cesar Millan, Melissa Jo Peltier
9. The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
10. American Fascists, Chris Hedges

MASS MARKET

1. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, Lilian Jackson Braun
2. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster (Eds.)
3. The Two Minute Rule, Robert Crais
4. The Templar Legacy, Steve Berry
5. S Is for Silence, Sue Grafton
6. New Comprehensive A-Z Crossword Dictionary, Edy Garcia Schaffer (Ed.)
7. Proven Guilty, Jim Butcher
8. Knife of Dreams, Robert Jordan
9. The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury
10. The South Beach Diet, Arthur Agatston, M.D.

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Forever in Blue (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, #4), Ann Brashares
2. Flotsam, David Wiesner
3. Eragon, Christopher Paolini
4. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.)
5. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
6. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
7. Eldest, Christopher Paolini
8. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
9. Snuggle Puppy, Sandra Boynton
10. Hattie Big Sky, Kirby Larson

Northwest Bestsellers, wk ending Feb 4, 2007

Bestsellers in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest. Week ending February 4, 2007.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra
2. You Suck, Christopher Moore
3. The Castle in the Forest, Norman Mailer
4. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
5. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
6. The Terror, Dan Simmons
7. A Deeper Sleep, Dana Stabenow
8. Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
9. What Is the What, Dave Eggers
10. Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
2. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
3. About Alice, Calvin Trillin
4. Palestine, Jimmy Carter
5. Marley & Me, John Grogan
6. American Fascists, Chris Hedges
7. The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
8. You: On a Diet, Michael F. Roizen, M.D., Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.
9. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (Ed.)
10. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, Rafe Esquith

MASS MARKET

1. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, Lilian Jackson Braun
2. Blood Bound, Patricia Briggs
3. The Templar Legacy, Steve Berry
4. The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury
5. The Two Minute Rule, Robert Crais
6. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster (Eds.)
7. S Is for Silence, Sue Grafton
8. The South Beach Diet, Arthur Agatston, M.D.
9. Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
10. Engaging the Enemy, Elizabeth Moon

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Forever in Blue (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, #4), Ann Brashares
2. Eragon, Christopher Paolini
3. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.)
4. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
5. Flotsam, David Wiesner
6. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
7. Hattie Big Sky, Kirby Larson
8. Eldest, Christopher Paolini
9. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
10. Snuggle Puppy, Sandra Boynton