Book Reviews 

Perry Mason fans will best appreciate Corleone's undistinguished debut, the winner of the 2009 Minotaur Books/MWA First Crime Novel Award. Manhattan defense lawyer Kevin Corvelli blames himself for failing a client who was killed in prison after being wrongfully convicted. In an effort to make a new start, the attorney relocates to Hawaii, where, despite his resolve to stay out of the media spotlight, he soon lands another high-profile client. Joseph Ginaforte, a law student, stands accused of bludgeoning to death his ex-girlfriend, Shannon Douglas, on Waikiki Beach. Though the evidence against Ginaforte is overwhelming, Corvelli determinedly digs for a basis to establish reasonable doubt with the jury. In his spare time, Corvelli falls for a hot bartender. A convenient chance discovery revealing Douglas's killer won't leave readers impressed by the ingenuity of either the investigator or his creator. (Apr.)

A tail-wagging three hanky boo-hooer, this delightful fiction debut by newspaper columnist Cameron (8 Simple Rules for Marrying My Daughter) proposes that a dog's purpose might entail being reborn several times. Told in a touching, doggy first-person, this unabashedly sentimental tale introduces Toby, who's rescued by a woman without a license for her rescue operation, so, sadly, Toby ends up euthanized. He's reborn in a puppy mill and after almost dying while left in a hot car, he's saved again by a woman, and he becomes Bailey, a beloved golden retriever, who finds happiness and many adventures. His next intense incarnation is as Ellie, a female German shepherd, a heroic search and rescue dog. But the true purpose of this dog's life doesn't become totally clear until his reincarnation as Buddy, a black Lab. A book for all age groups who admire canine courage, Cameron also successfully captures the essence of a dog's amazing capacity to love and protect. And happily, unlike Marley, this dog stays around for the long haul. (July)

In this emotionally gripping first novel, Harper Adams, a Monitor capable of reading people's emotions, identifies enemies of the Confederation of the Willing, a nasty dystopian state reminiscent of 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale . Like everyone else, she has a “slate” implanted in her neck, primed to execute her if she utters one of the many words that have been outlawed or “Red-Listed” by the government. Pushed to revolt when her daughter's name, Veracity, is Red-Listed, Harper is recruited by the resistance and becomes their secret weapon. Bynum makes her protagonist's emotional turmoil painfully believable and creates a number of other interesting and thorny characters, but her plot is occasionally incoherent. Though the cartoonishly powerful Confederacy is never entirely convincing as a workable totalitarian state, its opponents also seem too quixotic and undermanned to fight it as successfully as they do. (Jan.)