FOSSILS, FABLES AND OLD FLAMES

tHERE’S A CERTAIN irony to the release of Dragon Teeth, Michael Crichton’s new novel about a reallife rivalry between competing 19th-century fossil hunters – the “lost” manuscript of the book itself was plucked like a perfectly preserved dino bone from a trove of the late Jurassic Park scribe’s unpublished works. It, however, isn’t the only highly anticipated prehistoric tale hitting bookshelves, as The Last Neanderthal, by Canuck author Claire Cameron, spans generations and millennia in a tale of motherhood and survival. And if you think avoiding extinction is tough, try returning from war only to be murdered by your wife and her lover. Of course, the wife, in this case Clytemnestra, queen of ancient Greek legend, had her reasons for slaying King Agamemnon, all of which come to light in award-winning author Colm Tóibín’s House

of Names. For those in need of levity, celebrated humorist Terry Fallis navigates family secrets and a search for identity in One Brother Shy while another famed funnyman, David Sedaris, shares some of his most personal writing yet in Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002). And Aussie writer Graeme Simsion weaves a mid-life tale of classic rock tunes and a bored husband pining for an old flame in The Best

of Adam Sharp. For Adam’s sake, let’s hope his wife is more inclined to forgiveness than Clytemnestra. —MC