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Page-Turners To Fill Lazy Days By The Pool

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By KEVIN WALKER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 20, 2008

We are now officially deep into the summer, when publishers release books that aim to do nothing more than give you a few hours of reading pleasure while you bake poolside or at the beach. God love 'em.

For example, there's "Tan Lines," by J.J. Salem (St. Martin's Press, $24.95). If the title and cover shot didn't tell you enough about where this book is coming from, Jackie Collins has endorsed it on the cover with these immortal words: "A really great beach read. I loved it!" Sorry, didn't mean to make fun, there. I grew up on thrillers, mysteries and comic books, who am I to judge?

"Tan Lines" actually comes with a good story. The author grew up wanting to be the next Collins. She helped him get a book contract. This book is all about "today's fast-lane women," according to the press release, which means this book is about sex. The opening line certainly is, and it is hilarious, but you'll have to check out the book yourself to read it. This is a family newspaper.

For more pulp fiction, check out Victor Gischler's "Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse" (Touchstone, $14). The book begins nine years after civilization is destroyed by a flu epidemic, an earthquake and a nuclear detonation. Tate is finally leaving his hideout in the mountains of Tennessee to check out what's left of civilization. He soon discovers society is now built around a string of strip clubs. He joins forces with a sidekick named Buffalo Bill and two go-go girls in a battle against a gang called The Red Stripes in the Lost City of Atlanta.

Hmm. I'm thinking Quentin Tarantino meets "The Road Warrior," myself.

Summer is also the time for romance and mystery, of course. Actually, truth be told, every season is a good time for romance and mystery novels, two genres that never seem to get old. At any rate, there are two new novels from some famous names.

In "One of These Malibu Nights" (St. Martin's Press, $24.95), author Elizabeth Adler (who has 21 novels, including "Meet Me in Venice" and "Sailing to Capri") offers a tale of murder and movie stars featuring a ruggedly handsome private investigator (naturally) named Mac. Mac is drawn into a case involving billionaires and movie stars. And in "Last Kiss," by Luanne Rice (Bantam, $25), the small community of Hubbard's Point, Conn., deals with the mysterious murder of one of its residents, a college student. Meanwhile, as the boy's girlfriend is searching for the killer (or killers), a man from the boy's mom's past returns. Complications, romantic and otherwise, are sure to ensue.

And if your taste runs to horror, there's a good one there, too. British writer Ramsey Campbell, who the Washington Post Book World called "one of the premiere horror writers of the English-speaking world," is back with "The Grin of the Dark" (Tor, $25.95). The story follows Simon Lester, a film critic who becomes a gas station attendant when his magazine goes out of business. But when he begins researching a book on a crazy silent film star, his life goes from boring to terrifying.

Kevin Walker can be reached at (813) 259-7975 or kwalker@tampatrib.com

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