Mike Shea on the month’s new releases
Jan Burke
The Messenger
Simon & Schuster
Ghosts, cemetery dogs, and immortals populate The Messenger, a supernatural thriller from mystery writer Jan Burke, a Houston native best known for her award-winning series starring flesh-and-blood reporter Irene Kelly. The Messenger features Tyler Hawthorne, whose 2008 Los Angeles mailing address belies his 1815 service as a British officer at the Battle of Waterloo. Nearly dead on the battlefield from a wound to the head, he is rescued by the shadowy Lord Varre and an all-too-sentient dog named Shade. Varre makes him an offer: He can become immortal so long as he spends eternity visiting the dying. Two centuries later, in the City of Angels, Hawthorne has settled into his role as a deathbed messenger when Varre reappears to renege on the deal. Gruesome battles ensue (dark basements, evil henchmen, you know the drill). Burke’s precipitous genre shift will likely leave Irene Kelly fans nonplussed, and though The Messenger has its moments—the plot points are especially inventive—it is not the kind of page-turner that wins over a reluctant reader. Simon & Schuster, $25
Eric Maddox
Mission: Black List #1
HarperCollins
Before his 2003 deployment to Iraq, Army staff sergeant and San Antonio resident Eric Maddox was a military interrogator with virtually no field experience in his area of expertise. Mission: Black List #1, written with Davin Seay, tells the story of his on-the-job training in Tikrit, where he was assigned to grill detainees about the whereabouts of 55 members of Saddam Hussein’s regime named on the Department of Defense’s so-called Black List. The drama begins when Maddox theorizes that the best sources for information on his number one target, Hussein himself, are not deposed bureaucrats but locals active in the Sunni insurgency. In a feat analogous to a rookie’s pitching a no-hitter in the final game of the World Series, Maddox masterminds marathon interrogation sessions that identify a single man who knows the dictator’s location. It’s a straightforward story, but in the wake of the torture scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, Maddox and his colleagues come across as remarkably civil warriors doing their best under impossibly stressful circumstances. HarperCollins, $25.95
Jeff Guinn
At 735 pages, The Christmas Chronicles might inspire a deeply felt ho-ho-ho-hum from the Santa-averse. But don’t shun these three newly compiled “as told to” Yule novels from the Fort Worth author (The Autobiography of Santa Claus, How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, and The Great Santa Search). With their historical accuracy and chapter titles like “Travels With Attila,” they are not treacly holiday fare.
What inspired you to undertake an autobiography of Santa Claus?
Right around Christmas in 1994, I was writing for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and wanted to do a column with a holiday theme. I realized I had no idea about the origins of Santa-related traditions. It seemed that the right person to explain them was Santa himself, making certain to include the correct history. After the first line—“You’re right to believe in me”—it was easy, and a lot of fun from there.
How did it feel to be messing with Santa’s reputation?
It felt less like messing than it did revealing. The original Nicholas earned a well-deserved reputation for giving gifts to the very poorest people. The more I learned about him, the more I admired him. Of course, some have found it painful to learn that Santa doesn’t have a North Pole workforce. I have gotten a lot of flak from elf lovers.
What details have you added?
I wouldn’t mind if my explanation of how reindeer fly works its way into Christmas mythology. That one was especially tough to figure out.
Would you embrace these Santa books as your professional legacy?
I would be pleased if these books, which emphasize generosity of spirit and accurate history, have meant enough to readers to be remembered and read beyond my own life and career. Tarcher/Penguin, $19.95 (Read the full interview.)
