A Crime Story, [by] Jay Robert Nash. New York: Delacorte Press, [1981.] 294p.

When the son of Illinois' governor-elect is brutally murdered in his bed, crime historian and syndicated columnist Jack Journey is asked to serve as press representative for the bereaved family. Journey accepts the assignment, and thus begins a thrilling cat and mouse game with a psychotic killer who reads Journey's columns and recreates the crimes described in them. Set in Chicago and the wealthy north shore suburbs, the novel begins with a murder that is vaguely reminiscent of the 1966 Valerie Percy murder in Kenilworth; however, later developments and the author's solution depart drastically from the facts in that case. Of special interest to local historians is a brief description of existing ruins of pre-Civil War Chicago, buried far below the present Loop when the streets of the city were raised in the 1840s and 1850s.

Best Sellers, 3/1981, p. 431. Kirkus, 12/1/1980, p. 1543. Library Journal, 2/1/1981, p. 371. Publishers Weekly, 12/19/1980, p. 39. Washington Post Book World, 2/15/1981, p. 6.

The Mafia Diaries, [by] Jay Robert Nash. New York: Delacorte Press, [1984.] 253p.

John Howard Journey, Chicago journalist and former foreign agent, indulges his penchant for criminology and amateur detective work when a library of rare books that he has ordered from a Chicago book dealer turns up missing. The death of the book dealer complicates matters, and attempts on his own life whet Journey's appetite for adventure, leading him to New York, Paris, and Innsbruck, where murder and intrigue heighten suspense until the mystery is solved.

Booklist, 10/15/1984, p. 283.Kirkus, 9/15/1984, p. 881p. Library Journal, 11/1/1984, p. 2083.N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/3/1985, p. 35.Publishers Weekly, 9/7/1984, p. 74.

Coal Mine No. 7, by Robert Louis Nathan. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1980.] 279p.

Seth, a mentally retarded Jewish teenager, is made painfully aware of his limitations by his inability to learn enough Hebrew for his bar mitzvah. Feeling rejected by his family and depressed by the recent death of his grandfather, Seth befriends a black man, moves into the man's home, and ultimately marries his daughter. After a confrontation with his family, Seth and his new wife move to Vergennes, where he works as a coal miner until his conversion to Christianity and a mystical experience in the mine drastically alter the course of his life. Mining scenes are vivid and realistic, but character and theme development are slightly off target, and the Vergennes setting is not nearly as well drawn as the description of 1940s Chicago in the early pages of the novel.

Kirkus, 1/15/1981, p. 99. Publishers Weekly, 2/13/1981, p. 78.

Rituals, [by] Robert Nordan. New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, [1989.] 278p.

A recently divorced English teacher from Chicago finds herself and her six-year-old daughter confronted with a disquieting mixture of piety and evil in the woods surrounding the village of Leesville, where she has gone to teach.

Publishers Weekly, 2/17/1989, p. 73.

The Grand Life; A Novel by Jan Novak. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney [and] Tokyo: Poseidon Press, [1987.] 250p.

George Clifton is a self-described middle management non-entity--a twenty-four year veteran of a Chicago utility company who thrives on habit and no-risk activities. Then his life changes. Through a quirk of fate George asserts his power, discovers his own inner person, and likes what he sees. The ins and outs of corporate America are revealed through George and his friends until a sexual indiscretion and a bit of embezzlement threaten life and career as he has come to know them. Set in modern day Chicago, The Grand Life is a tantalizing and unique view of the modern office and small executive which most office workers can appreciate.

Booklist, 10/15/1987, p. 362. Chicago Tribune Books, 10/18/1987, p. 6. Kirkus, 8/1/1987, p. 1104. Library Journal, 10/15/1987, p. 93. Publishers Weekly, 9/11/1987, p. 80.

Hand Over Fist, by Henry H. Noyes. Boston, Mass[achusetts:] South End Press, [1980.] 322p.

Kathryn Bianchi, a Sicilian/American, has become a slumlord on Chicago's north side, and aggressively pursues her acquisitive activities despite family, neighbors, and tenants. Kathryn's attempts to turn her own neighborhood into high density, low income tenements draws resistance from friends and neighbors and resentment from her husband, while her questionable rental practices involve her in a direct confrontation with Anna Mae Green, one of her black tenants. Set in the 1950s when Chicago's black population was beginning to demand equal rights to housing, and block busting was a common practice among unscrupulous landlords who took advantage of both whites and blacks in their schemes, Hand Over Fist is an insightful novel of intense feelings and explosive times.

Frye Street & Environs; The Collected Works of Marita Bonner. Edited and Introduced by Joyce Flynn and Joyce Occomy Stricklin. Boston: Beacon Press, [1987.] 286p.

Twenty-five essays, plays, and short stories written by a black teacher in Chicago between 1925 and 1941 present views of the black working-class during the second quarter of the twentieth century.

CONTENTS: On Being Young--a Woman--and Colored.--The Young Blood Hungers.--The Pot Maker: A Play to Be Read.--The Purple Flower.--Exit, an Illusion: A One-Act Play.--The Hands: A Story.--The Prison-Bound.--Nothing New.--One Boy's Story.--Drab Rambles.--A Possible Triad on Black Notes.--Tin Can.--A Sealed Pod.--Black Fronts.--Hate is Nothing.--The Makin's.--The Whipping.--Hongry Fire.--Patch Quilt.--One True Love.--On the Altar.--High-Stepper.--Stones for Bread.--Reap It As You Sow It.--Light in Dark Places.

New Directions for Women, 7/1988, p. 19. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/13/1988, p. 14. Publishers Weekly, 12/4/1988, p. 62. Women's Review of Books, 7/1988, p. 27.

On the 8th Day, [by] Lawrence E. Okun, M.D. Millbrae, California: Celestial Arts, [1980.] 217p.

Bill Conover, a professional freelance writer, is at Lake Tahoe doing research for a new book on gamblers when he encounters a woman who appears to have telekinetic powers that she uses to her advantage at the blackjack table. Intrigued by the woman and her gift, Conover is distracted from his original purpose and becomes involved in the aftermath of a genetic manipulation research project conducted by a Chicago doctor in the 1950s.

Booklist, 5/15/1980, p. 1347. Kirkus, 3/1/1980, p. 316. Library Journal, 4/15/1980, p. 1004. N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/8/1980, p. 31. Publishers Weekly, 4/18/1980, p. 77.

The Country of Herself; Short Fiction by Chicago Women. Karen Lee Osborne, editor. Chicago: Third Side Press, [1993.] 236p.

Fourteen short stories by representative women authors give a flavor of life in Chicago from a female perspective. Chicago's best contemporary female writers are represented.

CONTENTS: The Island of the Rooster, by Angela R. Jackson.--The Foreigner in the Blood, by Mary Gray Hughes.--Angels, by Patricia Lear.--The Stockholm Syndrome, by Maxine Chernoff.--I Miss Saturday Night, by Eleanore Devine.--Vibrations Which Rumble Like Thunder, by Anne Brashler.--A Slight Movement of Hands, by Joyce Goldenstern.--Mimosa, by Carol Anshaw.--In Kerry's Cab, by Diane Williams.--Service, by June Rachuy Brindel.--The Man Who Loved Life, by Sara Paretsky.--My Mother's War, by S. I. Wisenberg.--To Those Who Come Behind Me, by Sandra Jackson-Opoku.--The Country of Herself, by Sharon Solwitz.

Publishers Weekly, 9/20/1993, p. 69.

Hawkwings, [by] Karen Lee Osborne. Chicago: Third Side Press,[1991.] 217p.

Two women struggle to define their relationship and discover common ground in an environment that discourages their love and commitment. The setting is modern Chicago.

Lambda Book Report, 9/1991, p. 25.

The Affair of the Frigid Blonde; A New Mystery Novel by Robert O. Saber, [pseud.] Author of The Black Dark Murders. Kingston, New York: Quinn Publishing Company, Inc.; A Handi-Book Mystery, [1950.] 127p.

Two men change identities, then one changes his mind and hires Chicago private eye Bob Stille to find the other. Stille finds him, and a lot more, including murder.

A Dame Called Murder, [by] Robert O. Saber, [pseud. Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey:] A Graphic Mystery, [1955.] 190p.

Chicago private investigator Max Keene is doing a routine surveillance of Handy Andy Cafeteria cashiers when a series of unusual occurrences piques his interest. Pursuing his suspicions, he witnesses a murder and becomes more involved in a related shoplifting scam than he might have wished. In an entertaining 1950s detective story, the author details ways in which organized crime manipulates the poor and unsuspecting to achieve its ends.

The Dummy Murder Case, [by] Milton K. Ozaki. [Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey:] A Graphic Publication, [1951.] 190p.

A mock murder staged by a psychology professor to demonstrate the concept of "perceptual responses" to his class produces a dead body that Lieutenant Phelan of the Chicago Police Department treats as murder.

City Wars, [by] Dennis Palumbo. Toronto, New York, [and] London: Bantam Books, [1979.] 152p.

A future, in which the North American Continent has been ravaged by nuclear war and national government has been displaced by city states, provides the setting for this novel of total destruction. Chicago, vastly altered by the opposing forces of war and progress, is bombarded and partially destroyed by automatic weapons launched from New York City. As retaliation is debated by Chicago City Government, panic, power struggles, murder, and betrayal take their toll on the city, forcing Jake Bowman and Cassandra Ingram to give up their attempts at saving the doomed metropolis and concentrate on saving themselves.

Publishers Weekly, 10/22/1979, p. 73.

Bitter Medicine, [by] Sara Paretsky. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., [1987.] 321p.

V. I. Warshawski, Chicago's most famous private detective, usually recognizes her limitations and leaves murder investigations to the police, but the death of a young friend in the emergency room of a suburban hospital prompts her to launch a malpractice investigation which turns into murder when the girl's doctor is beaten to death in his apartment two days later. Vic continues her investigation despite her better judgment, and eventually uncovers malpractice, fraud, bribery, and solicitation to commit murder. Of equal importance to the plot are the discoveries that Vic makes about herself, for she is exposed as having limitations, sometimes possessing less than perfect judgment, and being vulnerable to feelings of self-doubt, fear, and a need for love. These qualities endear her to her readers in a way that few fictional detectives can claim.

Booklist, 3/15/1987, p. 1075. Chicago Tribune Books, 6/7/1987, p. 6. Kirkus, 4/15/1987, p. 599. Library Journal, 5/1/1987, p. 86. New Statesman, 9/4/1987, p. 28. Newsweek, 7/13/1987, p. 64. N. Y. Herald Tribune Book Week, 7/19/1987, p. 13. N. Y. Times Book Review, 8/2/1987, p. 29. Publishers Weekly, 4/3/1987, p. 66.

Blood Shot, [by] Sara Paretsky. [New York:] Delacorte Press, [1988.] 238p.

Chicago detective V. I. Warshawski takes a nostalgic trip backward when she returns to her old neighborhood to track down the father of a high school friend. In the process she unearths some long-buried secrets and sets herself up for danger.

Booklist, 7/1988, p. 1755. Kirkus, 7/1/1988, p. 935. Library Journal, 9/1/1988, p, 186. Newsweek, 9/26/1988, p. 73. N. Y. Times Book Review, 10/9/1988, p. 22. Publishers Weekly, 7/22/1988, p. 44. Washington Post Book World, 9/18/1988, p. 6.

Deadlock; A V. I. Warshawski Mystery, by Sara Paretsky. Garden City, New York: The Dial Press; Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984. 252p.

In Paretsky's second V. I. Warshawski mystery, Vic (to her friends) assumes the responsibility for solving the murder of her cousin, Boom-Boom Warshawski, a former professional hockey player turned grain company executive. As she probes into the last days of Boom-Boom's life, she discovers what appears to be discrepancies in the company's shipping orders, and by investigating that lead endangers her own life. Paretsky's research into the Great Lakes shipping industry was extensive, and her descriptions of Chicago's waterfront and the ships that dock there provide a wonderful backdrop for a rousing mystery novel.

Booklist, 3/1/1984, p. 945. Christian Science Monitor, 4/13/1984, p. 20. Kirkus, 12/15/1983, p. 1276. L. A. Times Book Review, 4/1/1984, p. 4. Library Journal, 2/1/1984, p.. 193. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/18/1984, p. 27. Publishers Weekly, 12/23/1983, p. 54. Wilson Library Bulletin, 4/1984, p. 582.

Guardian Angel, [by] Sara Paretsky. [New York:] Delacorte Press, [1992.] 370p.

Vic gets very involved in corporate shenanigans, retirement fraud, questionable banking practices, and murder when she attempts to help an elderly neighbor and a derelict acquaintance.

Booklist, 12/1/1991, p. 660. Kirkus, 11/15/1991, p. 1438. L. A. Times Book Review, 2/16/1992, p. 8. N. Y. Times Book Review, 5/31/1992, p. 45. Publishers Weekly, 12/6/1991, p. 59. Washington Post Book World, 7/26/1992, p. 1.

Indemnity Only, A Novel by Sara Paretsky. New York: The Dial Press, [1982.] 244p.

V. I. Warshawski, a female private detective who has concentrated on corporate embezzlement cases in the past, accepts a missing persons case involving the daughter of a Chicago-based labor union official. As she goes methodically about her search for Anita McGraw, V. I. gets temporarily sidetracked when she uncovers a murder, but returns to the original search when it appears that Anita's life is also threatened. Embezzlement, murder, organized crime, and labor are all interwoven into this thrilling detective story focusing on a competent and believable lady investigator who maintains her femininity while performing the most dangerous of male-oriented jobs.

Library Journal, 2/1/1982, p. 274. Listener, 7/29/1982, p. 27. N. Y. Times Book Review, 4/25/1982, p. 21. New Republic, 3/3/1982, p. 38. Observer, 7/18/1982, p. 30. Publishers Weekly, 12/4/1981, p. 43. Washington Post Book World, 2/21/1982, p. 10. Wilson Library Bulletin, 5/1882, p. 693.

Killing Orders, [by] Sara Paretsky. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., [1985.] 288p.

Chicago private detective, V. I Warshawski, accepts what appears to be a simple embezzlement case involving forged securities. However, as she probes into the circumstances surrounding the embezzlement, she discovers a multimillion dollar corporate takeover, an international money laundering scheme, and a cast of desperate villains including a Mafia hit man, an archbishop of the Church, and a Lake Forest dowager, all bent on stopping her investigation. Suspense runs high as V. I . is personally threatened, but refuses police help because of pride and a need to prove her competency in her male-dominated profession.

Booklist, 5/15/1985, p. 1296. Kirkus, 4/15/1985, p. 353. New Yorker, 9/2/1985, p. 87. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/15/1985, p. 33. Publishers Weekly, 3/22/1985, p. 55. Washington Post Book World, 6/16/1985, p. 9.

Tunnel Vision, [by] Sara Paretsky. [New York:] Delacorte Press, [1994.] 432p.

While attempting to help a homeless family and an abused teenager V. I. Warshawski marches headlong into a much larger case involving the illegal sale of goods to Iraq, money laundering, and murder.

Booklist, 4/1/1994, p. 1404. Books, 7/1994, p. 26. Chicago Tribune Books, 6/5/1994, p. 8. Economist, 7/9/1994, p. 87. Entertainment Weekly, 3/27/1994, p. 79. L. A. Times Book Review, 7/12/1994, p. 8. Ms, 7/1994, p. 78. Newsweek, 7/4/1994, p. 67. N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/12/1994, p. 42. Publishers Weekly, 4/11/1994, p. 57. Washington Post Book World, 7/19/1994, p. 6.

Windy City Blues; V. I. Warshawski Stories, [by] Sara Paretsky. [New York:] Delacorte Press, [1985.] 258p.

Nine short stories feature private detective V. I. Warshawski doing what she does best; sometimes helped, but often hindered by relatives and friends.

CONTENTS: Grace Notes.--The Pietro Andromache.--Strung Out.--At the Old Swimming Hole.--The Maltese Cat.--Settled Score.--Skin Deep.--Three-Dot Po.--The Takamoku Joseki.

Nommo; A Literary Legacy of Black Chicago (1967-1987). An Anthology of the OBAC Writers' Workshop. Edited by Carole A. Parks. [Chicago:] OBAhouse, [1987.] 344p.

A selection of essays, poetry, and fiction representative of Black Chicago authors over a period of twenty years has been collected and edited for this unique volume. Seventeen short stories are included.

CONTENTS: The Doe, by Cecil M. Brown.--Blues for Little Prez, by Sam Greenlee.--A Plundered World, by Hoyt W. Fuller.--The Face, by Pat Washington.--The Saga of Sadfly, by Nora Brooks Blakely.--Why the Wind Moans, by Nora Brooks Blakely.--A Lil Dribble Drabble, by Collette Armstead.--A Love Story Written in the Light, by Judy B. Massey.--Shop Talk, by Judy B. Massey.--Masque Etude, by Smalley M (Mike) Cook, Jr.--Shango Diaspora, by Angela Jackson.--The Gift of the Spirit, by Debra Anderson.--Suite for Queen, by Oscar Joseph.--Mr. Gooden's House, by Sandra Jackson-Opoku.--Mama Just Didn't Like Thunder, by George Leon Lowe.--The Phone, by Barbara Cochran.--The Color Black, by Jim Cunningham.--The Butcher's Wife, by Eileen C. Cherry.--Open Grave, by Daniel T. Clardy.

Naming the Daytime Moon; Stories & Poems by Chicago Women, Edited by Julie Parson, Jorjet Harper, Paula Berg, Lillian Anguiano, & Beatriz Badikian. Chicago: Published by Another Chicago Press, [1987.] 134p.

Short stories are interspersed with poetry written by members of the Chicago chapter of the Feminist Writers Guild.

CONTENTS: It is Just Before My Abortion, by Diana Scott.--Partners, by Lenore Daniels.--Miss December, by Carrol Levenson.--Let's Have a Big Smile, Now, by Sara Paretsky.--M is for. . ., by Carol Anshaw.--A Mexican Death, by Carmen Abrego.--You Still Remember How? by Claudia Allen.--Straightrazor, by Yolanda Yvette Joe.--All This Facility of Travel, by Karen Lee Osborne.--Grapevine Night, by Juanita Siegelman.--Things That Might Have Been, by Ruth Hull.

Meteorite Track 291, [by] Gary Paulsen. [New York:] A Dell Book; Published in Association with G/M Publishing, [1979.] 221p.

Richard Foreman, an engineer at a satellite tracking station in southern California, accidentally picks up the track of a meteorite, that he determines is set in a crash course with Earth, and will fall in or near Chicago in approximately 110 hours. When authorities refuse to act on the information, Foreman assumes responsibility for warning Chicagoans of the coming disaster. His escape from security guards, his trip to Chicago by way of Hawaii, his thwarted attempts to warn the city's inhabitants, his own flight from death, and the destruction of the city make compelling reading for science fiction enthusiasts.

Publishers Weekly, 4/2/1979, p. 71.

Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death, [by] Richard Peck. New York: Delacorte Press, [1986.] 185p.

In the fourth volume of the Blossom Culp series, Blossom and Alexander Armsworth are freshmen in high school. They help a new teacher keep her job when her political convictions are questioned, and have a second-sight Egyptian adventure in the bargain. The Blossom Culp novels are set in a midwestern town that Peck calls Bluff City, which reflects his view of his own hometown, Decatur, Illinois, in 1914.

Book Report, 9/1986, p. 35. Booklist, 4/15/1986, p. 1226. Kirkus, 2/1/1986, p. 212. Publishers Weekly, 3/21/1986, p. 87. School Library Journal, 5/1986, p. 108. Wilson Library Bulletin, 3/1986, p. 51.

New York Time, [by] Richard Peck. New York: Delacorte Press, [1981.] 212p.

After sixteen years of married life, mostly spent in a well-insulated Chicago North Shore setting, Barbara and Tom Renfrew are cast headlong into the stark reality of life in New York when Tom is transferred to his company's home office. Told from Barbara's point of view, the story relates in detail the trauma of moving, the disintegration of the marriage, and the beginnings of a new life for her at age thirty-eight. Although the story deals with a serious topic, the author has created such a charming central character, and has treated her problems with such great good humor that a reader will be captivated from beginning to end. The setting is suburban Chicago and Manhattan.

Booklist, 7/1/1981, p. 1388. Kirkus, 1/1/1981, p. 35. Library Journal, 2/1/1981, p. 370. Publishers Weekly, 1/23/1981, p. 120. School Library Journal, 3/1981, p. 161.

Remembering the Good Times, [by] Richard Peck. New York: Delacorte Press, [1985.] 181p.

Buck Mendenhall, Kate Lucas, and Trav Kirby form a close friendship during their freshman year in high school despite their unlikely backgrounds and divergent interests. A friendship based on mutual need and support, the young people share secrets, triumphs, disappointments, and losses during the next three years, and grow closer as they helplessly watch urban development erode their favorite childhood haunts, as they experience the needless death of a friend, as they struggle to adapt to family situations over which they have no control. An incident at a local shopping center and Trav's death shortly after break up the threesome, but not without benefits to the growth of the two remaining friends. Set in an unnamed area of the Midwest, Remembering the Good Times has been identified as having an Illinois setting similar to that of the author's childhood.

Best Sellers, 8/1985, p. 199. Booklist, 3/1/1985, p. 945. Booklist, 10/1/1985, p. 213. Horn Book, 7/1985, p. 457. Publishers Weekly, 5/17/1985, p. 118. School Library Journal, 4/1985, p. 49. School Library Journal, 4/1985, p. 99.

Family Resemblances, [by] Lowry Pei. New York: Random House, [1986.] 264p.

Karen Moss is fifteen years old and suffering through her first teenage romance. Weary of the trauma and hoping to help her cope with that and other family problems, her parents send her to southern Illinois to spend the summer with her eccentric Aunt Augusta. New Franklin, Illinois, expands her experience as she learns to drive a car, begins to develop a taste for wine, learns to appreciate baseball, and broadens her perspective on boys and love, all under the expert tutelage of Augusta. Coming of age is never easy, but Pei makes a reader wish for a new Franklin and an Aunt Augusta to give the process meaning.

Booklist, 6/15/1986, p. 1533. Kirkus, 2/1/1986, p. 162. Library Journal, 4/15/1986, p. 96. N. Y. Times Book Review, 4/20/1986, p. 9. Publishers Weekly, 2/21/1986, p. 154. School Library Journal, 9/1986, p. 153. Voice of Youth Advocates, 8/1986, p. 148. West Coast Review of Books, 9/1986, p. 33.

Collected Stories, [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. [Chicago:] Lake View Press, [1986.] 359p.

These thirty-four stories represent the collected short fiction of one of Chicago's best love contemporary authors. Some are reprints; others appear for the first time; all reflect Petrakis' Greek heritage and mirror life in Chicago's Greek neighborhood during the last half-century.

CONTENTS: Dark Eye.--The Wooing of Ariadne.--The Miracle.--The Journal of a Wife Beater.--The Castle.--The Day's Journey.--Courtship of the Blue Widow.--The Bastards of Thanos.--The Song of Rhodanthe.--The Passing of the Ice.--Pericles on 31st St.--Homecoming.--The Legacy of Leontis.--The Prison.--The Siege of Minerva.--Between Sleep and Death.--Pa and the Sad Turkeys.--Christoula.--Matsoukas.--End of Winter.--The Waves of Night.--The Eyes of Love.--The Return of Katerina.--The Last Escapade.--Rosemary.--The Ballad of Daphne and Apollo.--The Judgment.--The Shearing of Samson.--Zena Dawn.--The Victim.--A Hand for Tomorrow.--The Witness.--The Sweet Life.--Song of Songs.

Booklist, 1/15/1987, p. 751. Chicago Tribune Books, 1/4/1987, p. 3. Choice, 5/1987, p. 1399. Publishers Weekly, 1/9/1987, p. 77.

Days of Vengeance, [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1983. 279p.

When Aleko Manousakis is killed by his arch rival, Stellios Trombakis, Cretan tradition demands that the death be avenged. Manolis, Aleko's younger brother, assumes the responsibility, and follows Stellios to the United States, where he lives in Chicago until rumor of Stellios' whereabouts draws him to Denver and finally to Utah. Set in the period from 1909 to 1912, Days of Vengeance paints a vivid picture of village life in Crete, life in Chicago's Greek community, and in the coal fields of the western United States. Although the plot relies a bit too heavily on circumstance, the historical background, emphasizing efforts at unionization of the immigrant miners in the west, is well developed and interesting.

Atlantic, 6/1983, p. 125. Booklist, 6/15/1983, p. 1302. Chicago Sun-Times Book Week, 8/21/1983, p. 27. Kirkus, 6/1/1983, p. 634. Library Journal, 8/1983, p. 1504. Publishers Weekly, 6/17/1983, p. 61-62.

Ghost of the Sun; A Novel [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1990.] 262p.

A sequel to Petrakis' A Dream of Kings, Ghost of the Sun picks up the life of Leonidas Matsoukas eight years later. His young son has died, his daughters have grown up, and his wife has divorced him and married someone else. Matsoukas' return to his old life in Chicago's Greek neighborhood is not well received, but friendships with a young single mother and his former wife's new husband pave the way for his acceptance.

Booklist, 5/15/1990, p. 1779. Kirkus, 4/15/1990, p. 529. Library Journal, 5/15/1990, p. 95. Publishers Weekly, 5/4/1990, p. 50.

Nick the Greek, [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1979. 302p.

Nick the Greek is based on the early life of Nicholas Dandolos, a Greek immigrant who comes to the United States in 1919 and stays on to becomes one of America's most colorful gambling figures. Immediately upon his arrival in Chicago, where he is to live with a rather disreputable cousin until he can establish an import business and bring his family from Greece, Nick is introduced to the gambling casinos which proliferate South Halsted Street. From the moment he sees the action he is fascinated by the games, and gambling becomes the ruling force in his life. Through his passion he wins and loses fortunes, including the money given him to start the family business. He loses the woman he loves; he becomes involved with the syndicate; he is used as a decoy in the massacre of the O'Donnell Gang; and he is forced to leave Chicago for his own safety. Nick the Greek supports the adage that truth is stranger than fiction, for Nick's prowess at the gambling table appears exaggerated, despite the story's factual base. Although it lacks the cultural detail and the spark of genius displayed in many of Petrakis' early works, this is an adequate depiction of the Chicago gambling world during the 1920s.

Booklist, 12/1/1979, p. 542. Kirkus, 9/1/1979, p. 1023. Library Journal, 12/15/1979, p. 2665. Publishers Weekly, 8/27/1979, p. 374.

A Petrakis Reader, [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1978. 384p.

Twenty-eight short stories represent Petrakis' writing career from 1957 through the early 1970s. Most of the stories have appeared elsewhere, but introductory statements written by the author add to the usefulness and enjoyment of the book.

CONTENTS: Rosemary.--The Journal of a Wife Beater.--The Bastards of Thanos.--The Song of Rhodanthe.--The Passing of the Ice.--The Prison.--Pericles on 31st Street.--Christoula.--The Legacy of Leontis.--The Wooing of Ariadne.--The Miracle.--Dark Eye.--Pa and the Sad Turkeys.--Homecoming.--Matsoukas.--End of Winter.--The Victim.--The Eyes of Love.--The Return of Katerina.--Courtship of the Blue Widow.--Zena Dawn.--The Ballad of Daphne and Apollo.--The Judgment.--The Shearing of Samson.--The Sweet Life.--A Hand for Tomorrow.--The Witness.--The Waves of Night.

Booklist, 5/15/1978, p. 1478. Kirkus, 3/15/1978, p. 336. Library Journal, 6/1/1978, p. 1197. Sewanee Review, 7/1978, p. 461. West Coast Review of Books, 5/1978, p. 33.

Somebody Else's Life, a novel by Morris Philipson. New York, Cambridge, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, London, Mexico City, San Paulo, Singapore [and] Sydney: Harper & Row, Publishers, [1987.] 298p.

Stephen Cooper, middle-aged unmarried philosophy professor at the University of Chicago, has become disillusioned with his life. During a visit to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, he gets the idea for a novel concerning a lost piece of art and the negotiations for its sale through the fine arts underground. Discussing the idea with his current lover, an employee of the Art Institute of Chicago, the two refine the idea and decide to implement it rather than write about it. The plot spawns many interesting turns of events as the two plan and carry through their million dollar art fraud. That the fraud is discovered, but the deal is completed anyway; that the personal relationship between the two central characters does not bear up under the stress of close association; and that Stephen's family becomes involved reveal the unpredictable state of the art world and the precarious state of human relations in the 1980s.

Chicago Tribune Books, 2/8/1987, p. 7. Kirkus, 12/1/1986, p. 1754. Library Journal, 2/1/1987, p. 93. L. A. Times Book Review, 4/5/1987, p. 6. N. Y. Times Book Review, 2/15/1987, p. 31. Publishers Weekly, 12/19/1986, p. 47.

Out at Home, [by] Gary Pomeranz. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985. 231p.

Chicago in the 1950s is the setting for this novel of baseball, the Mafia, and the coming of age of an unconventional Jewish boy. Kicked out of the University of Illinois for bookmaking, Arnie Barzun returns to his home in Chicago where he can ply his trade unencumbered by classes and schedules. A winning season for the Chicago Cubs provides him with plenty of action, but his zealousness gets him involved in a scheme to throw the pennant. A little Mafia action as he tries to help his sister out of a bind, and a Chinese love connection with a local call girl add interest and push our hero toward maturity.

American Libraries, 4/1985, p. 208. Booklist, 4/15/1985, p. 1163. Kirkus, 4/1/1985, p. 300. L. A. Times Book Review, 7/28/1985, p. 6. Library Journal, 5/1/1985, p. 80. Publishers Weekly, 4/19/1985, p. 73.

The Junk-Drawer Corner-Store Front-Porch Blues, [by] John R. Powers. [New York:] Dutton, [1992.] 210p.

A Hollywood writer returns to his family home on Chicago's Southside, where memories of his childhood help him to reconcile the man he has become with the child he remembers.

Booklist, 1/1/1992, p. 812. Chicago Tribune Books, 12/29/1991, p. 6. Kirkus, 12/1/1991, p. 1493. L. A. Times Book Review, 2/9/1992, p. 8. Library Journal, 1/1992, p. 178. Library Journal, 4/15/1992, p. 152. Publishers Weekly, 11/15/1991, p. 64.

The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice-Cream God, [by] John R. Powers. Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., [1977.] 330p.

Powers employs the same cynicism tempered with humor that made successes of his two previous novels. In fact, even the central character is the same, masquerading under an assumed name. Tim Conroy, an Irish Catholic of Chicago extraction, graduates from high school in the 1960s, when the United States is involved in an unofficial war in Vietnam, and American youth is in turmoil. Because he has nothing better to do, he goes to college. The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice-Cream God is the story of his search for his own direction as those around him drop out of school, marry, enlist, or go to Canada to avoid the draft. Throughout his college years, Conroy has a special councilor--a neighborhood mechanic--who advises and philosophizes, who claims wisdom and authority, who signs his name "GOD." The reader is never told whether Conroy finds the direction that he is seeking, for the author concentrates on the search and lets the reader draw his own conclusions. In so doing, Powers draws a vivid and poignant portrait of a painful period in America's recent past.

Best Sellers, 12/1977, p. 266. Booklist, 10/15/1977, p. 357. Critic, Spring/1987, p. 83. Kirkus, 8/15/1977, p. 877. Library Journal, 10/15/1977, p. 2183. Publishers Weekly, 8/29/1977, p. 353. Publishers Weekly, 8/28/1978, p. 393. Wilson Library Bulletin, 1/1978, p. 415.

Prisoner's Dilemma, [by] Richard Powers. New York: William Morrow; Beech Tree Books, [1988.] 348p.

A dying man's recorded reminiscences about World War II and his part in a Walt Disney project intended to change the course of the war reveal the inner man to his children. The novel is set in DeKalb.

Book Review Digest, 1988, p. 1395.

Lethal Silence, by John Preston. Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc. [1987.] 118p.

The sixth Alex Kane adventure finds Alex and his partner Danny Fortelli in Chicago fighting for the rights of AIDS sufferers who have been denied health care at one of Chicago's major hospitals.

The Letters of Mildred's Mother to Mildred; Satirical Sketches of Stage Life, by E. D. Price, ("The Man Behind the Scenes.") These ingenious communications, of a strictly private nature, and intended to be privileged, are addressed to an artless girl who is leading the strenuous life in a Broadway chorus and are calculated to inspire some curious conjecture as to "What Sort of Woman was Mildred's Mother?" New York: J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company; 57 Rose Street, [1901.] 153p.

Nine letters to Mildred written by her Mother while visiting Chicago, Duluth, Minneapolis, and other Midwestern towns are filled with gossip, advice, complaints, and quips about life in general and her own life in particular. Traveling with her friend Blanche, Mother finds that she has her hands full competing for the attentions of various men about town, performing in a traveling theater troupe, and fretting about Mildred's casual manner concerning Mother's weekly allowance. Five of the nine letters are from Chicago and are filled with choice tidbits about transient life in that city, often compared to a similar life style in New York, circa 1901.

The Hospital Plot, by Charles Pugh. Port Washington, N[ew] Y[ork:] Ashley Books, Inc., [1978.] 269p.

A novel inspired by a desire to present a positive view of the black experience and a need to publicize incidents of forced sterilization of blacks in the south, The Hospital Plot expands two themes into a plot which seems at times to be at cross purposes. As Aaron Chatman reflects on his past life, considers his artistic style, and paints in preparation for a neighborhood art fair, he is distracted by strange activities in the hospital where his wife is a nurse. Aaron attempts to ignore these warning signs, but is forced into action when unexplained accidents occur to both Rita and a long-time psychiatric patient with whom he has become acquainted. In the course of the novel, Pugh draws an authentic picture of the moderately successful black Chicagoan.

Publishers Weekly, 7/2/1979, p. 95.

Ashes to Ashes, [by] Mary Monica Pulver, [pseud.] New York: St. Martin's Press, [1988.] 282p.

When Crazy Dave's TV and Appliance Store burns, Detective Peter Brichter of the Charter Police Force is assigned to investigate for suspected arson. Recalling a time when Charter, Illinois, was known for its involvement in the drug trade, Brichter suspects that the fire might be drug related, but isn't able to garner much support for that theory until a related murder is discovered.

Booklist, 11/1/1988, p. 451. Kirkus, 10/15/1988, p. 1495. Publishers Weekly, 10/21/1988, p. 50.

The Unforgiving Minutes, [by] Mary Monica Pulver, [pseud.] New York: St. Martin's Press, [1988.] 306p.

Charter, Illinois' reputation for involvement in drug trafficking is well known throughout the state, and tales of government corruption, Mafia connections, and murder are frequently discussed publicly and privately. When the Charter Police Department's Organized Crime Unit plans a major crackdown on drug pushers, Detective Sergeant Peter Brichter is eventually led to Tretower Ranch, which seems to be closely tied to the drug trade. Action is complicated, however, by a beautiful recluse whom Brichter feels compelled to protect.

In the Hollow of His Hand, [by] James Purdy. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, [1986.] 256p.

When Decatur, an Ojibwa Indian, claims Chad Coultas as his son, a crisis is created within the Coultas family, within the community of Yellow Brook, and within Chad, for all have to decide how to deal with the situation. Eva Coultas must justify her obvious infidelity; Louis Coultas must accept what he feels to be the ridicule of the town; Chad must cope with the opposing feeling of interest in and repulsion of his newly found father; and the town must deal with charges of kidnapping when Decatur takes Chad on an overnight junket in his touring car. Meanwhile, Lewis spirits Chad away to Chicago, starting a bizarre adventure that propels young Chad into the throes of adolescence and approaching maturity. A beautiful and mystical coming-of-age novel, In the Hollow of His Hand is set in the Midwest, and contrasts life in a small town with life in Chicago during the 1920s.

Booklist, 9/15/1986, p. 103. Kirkus, 7/1/1986, p. 967. L. A. Times Book Review, 10/5/1986, p. 8. Publishers Weekly, 7/25/1986, p. 172. Village Voice Literary Supplement, 9/1986, p. 18.