* Files, Gemma : A Tree of Bones
(ChiZine Publications 978-1-926851-57-0, $15.95, 400pp, trade paperback, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 12 Jun 2012
• Hexslinger #3

Fantasy/horror novel set in 19th century American West, third in a series following A Book of Tongues (2010) and A Rope of Thorns (2011). In this book Pinkerton agents battle Mayan and Aztec gods in a New Mexico town.
• The publisher’s site has this page about the book, with links to a sample and to several ‘supplemental goodies’ by the author.
• Publishers Weekly hasn’t reviewed this volume, but they said about A Rope of Thorns “Potent mythology, complex characters, and dollops of creeping horror and baroque gore establish Files’s Hexslinger series as a top-notch horror-fantasy saga.”

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* Jemisin, N. K. : The Shadowed Sun
(Orbit 978-0-316-18729-9, $14.99, 528pp, trade paperback, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 12 Jun 2012
• The Dreamblood #2

Fantasy novel, second of a series following The Killing Moon (May 2012), set in a desert city where peace is the law and priest Gatherers harvest dreams of the citizens.
• The author’s site has this description with links to a chapter excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review has reservations, but concludes, “the political intrigue and unusual setting are compelling and satisfying.”

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* Lackey, Mercedes, & Rosemary Edghill : Dead Reckoning
(Bloomsbury 978-1-59990-684-3, $16.99, 336pp, hardcover, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 5 Jun 2012

Young adult zombie novel set in the old West, about a girl disguised as a boy to search for her lost brother.
• Bloomsbury’s site has this description.
• Tor.com posted this excerpt.

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* McCammon, Robert : The Providence Rider
(Subterranean Press 978-1596064669, $25.95, 415pp, hardcover, May 2012, cover by Vincent Chong)
• Nominal Publication Date: Thu 31 May 2012

Historical non-supernatural thriller, fourth in a series about 18th-century investigator Matthew Corbett following Speaks the Nightbird (2002), The Queen of Bedlam (2007), and Mister Slaughter (2010).
• Subterranean’s site has this description and order page with links to an excerpt and quotes from reviews.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function also provides a sample.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “Once again, McCammon provides a colorful and well-researched depiction of colonial America, enlivened by a rogues’ gallery of well-drawn characters.”

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+ Nix, Garth, & Sean Williams : The Monster
(Scholastic Press 9780545258982, $16.99, 304pp, hardcover, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 1 Jun 2012
• Troubletwisters #2

Young adult fantasy novel, second in a series following Troubletwisters (2011), about two 12-year-olds who discover they have magical powers.
• The Australian edition came out in January 2012.
• Scholastic’s site has a brief description.
• The Australian series site has descriptions, chapter excerpts, a game, and various other content.

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* Pettersson, Vicki : The Taken
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-206464-6, $13.99, 432pp, trade paperback, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 12 Jun 2012
• Celestial Blues #1

Paranormal romance novel, first of a series, about a former private investigator, now an angel, who joins forces with a journalist whose soul he was ordered to collect.
• The publisher’s site has several posts about the book, with links to excerpts and the author’s signing tour schedule.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Pettersson hits every note in the familiar duet of a ‘reticent, complicated, darkly sexy man’ and a luscious, plucky ‘girl reporter’ out to save the world, and laces it with dollops of unconventional angelology.”

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+ Priest, Christopher : The Islanders
(Gollancz 978-0575070042, $24.95, 342pp, hardcover, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 1 Jun 2012

First US edition (UK: Gollancz, September 2011)

SF novel set in the Dream Archipelago (setting of several earlier Priest works), a “chinese puzzle of a novel” arranged as a “Gazetteer of Islands” of some three dozen short and long chapters.
• Gollancz’ site has this description with quotes from reviews. This is the same book as the 2011 first edition (same ISBN), now distributed in the US.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The result is wonderfully fascinating, if occasionally frustrating, and entirely unforgettable.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it in the October 2011 issue of Locus Magazine: “[A]ttentive use of mystery-reading skills might not be a bad way to approach The Islanders, since often a minor detail in one chapter, such as a smudge on a hand, is later revealed as highly significant, as in a Gene Wolfe novel. But like Wolfe, Priest is not satisfied with a catalogue of ingenious narrative tricks; his prose is supple, elegant, and seductive, his insights about memory and perception tantalizing, his skill at visualizing the radically different land and seascapes of the islands endlessly compelling.”
• The book won the British SF Association Award and is currently a finalist for this year’s John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

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+ Smith, Gavin : Veteran
(Gollancz 978-0-575-09411-6, $14.95, 442pp, trade paperback, June 2012)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 1 Jun 2012

SF thriller, the author’s first novel, about an ex-special forces soldier battling invading aliens on Earth 300 years in the future.
• This is Gollancz’ May 2011 trade paperback reprint, now distributed in the US, of its June 2010 hardcover first edition. Gollancz’ site has this description, with a sample quote.
• The book was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 2011.
• Publishers Weekly is not impressed: “Despite interesting characters and moments of hilarious creativity … the cyborg hackers, hideous mutants, starving masses, and endless war never develop beyond dystopian cliché. This is a beach read for the Warhammer 40,000 crowd.”
• The author’s site has a section of short stories set in the same universe.

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