'AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS' by Albert Podell; Thomas Dunne, 354 pages, $16.99
Albert Podell details his two record-setting accomplishments of taking the longest automobile journey around the world and visiting every country on earth. Podell writes about the dangerous weather, riots, revolutions, unique foods and the deaths of three of his five companions on his travels.
'THE PRISONER OF HELL GATE: A NOVEL' by Dana I. Wolff; Picador, 212 pages, $16
Karalee and four of her fellow public health graduate students visit the Hell Gate in New York, a place where the contagious, disfigured and insane were locked up for centuries. Their casual trespass comes with a price as the hidden evil still lurking in the corridors of the abandoned hospital comes out.
'THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY: A MEMOIR' by Judy Brown; Back Bay, 344 pages, $15.99
Judy Brown reflects on her childhood in an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community and how her family dealt with her brother Nachum's autism. Nachum's retreating into his own world and eruption into wordless rages _ an affliction the community refuses to name or diagnose _ nearly drives the family apart.
'THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU: A NOVEL' by A.J. Rich; Scribner, 280 pages, $15
Morgan comes home to find her fiance Bennett mauled to death. As she attempts to notify Bennett's parents, she discovers that everything he's ever told her about himself is a lie. Bennett had had several fiancees, and as each one gets murdered, Morgan races against time before she becomes the next victim.
'OUR MAN IN CHARLESTON: BRITAIN'S SECRET AGENT IN THE CIVIL WAR SOUTH' by Christopher Dickey; Broadway, 389 pages, $17
Dickey examines the work of Robert Bunch, a British consul agent who arrived in Charleston in 1853. Assigned to send intelligence back to London, Dickey found himself leading a double life as the Civil War began, befriending slave owners while trying to undermine the Confederacy and slave trade.
