Book of Lies, which involves the mysterious
murder of the father of Jerry Siegel, co-creator
of Superman. Meltzer found that the house
where the teenage Siegel came up with the
concept of the Man of Steel had fallen into
complete disrepair.
Appalled, Meltzer promised the house’s
occupant he would rectify this oversight and
be back. “As I left, I realized I had no idea how
I would go about that,” he now says. He
approached comic-book artists he knows and
other writer friends (among them Stephen
Heroes for My Son is available at most
Costco locations and at Costco.com.
Colbert and David Letterman), who donated
items for a fundraising effort that eventually
garnered $100,000 that has been used to preserve the house.
That success encouraged him to continue
developing a nonprofit organization called
Ordinary People Change the World (www.
ordinarypeoplechangetheworld.com); it is currently focused on helping the City Year program, which enlists 17- to 24-year-olds to
spend a year serving the most challenged
schools throughout the United States.
Helping others is nothing new to Meltzer.
The habit traces to his first days out of
Columbia Law School, when he served as an
intern to Eli Segal, who helped establish
AmeriCorps (he’s in the book). Segal asked
Meltzer to help write AmeriCorps’ pledge.
The result rings with the idealism, passion
and respect for heroic values that are constants for Meltzer.
GE T T Y IMAGES
“Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common
ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere,” it reads in part.
Helping others? Feats he didn’t know he
could achieve? A big dose of humility? Could
By going against conventional wisdom
and challenging the status quo, Albert
Einstein forever altered our understanding of the universe.
it be that this mild-mannered, bespectacled
writer from Brooklyn is more than he seems?
Could he be a hero waiting to be revealed?
Sound a bit like Clark Kent? Says Meltzer,
“I believe we can all be heroes if we persist in
doing what we know is right.” C
Hardcover on sale June 8
NEW, FROM THE QUEEN
OF SUSPENSE
Emma Cross thought she’d left
trouble behind when she quit the
CIA, but as it turns out, her new gig
investigating yacht thefts didn’t
do the trick or alleviate the danger
in her life. Now she has only seven
days to uncover the truth behind a
missing yacht with some seriously
lethal cargo or a major American
city will be lost in Death Echo
(William Morrow).
Hardcover on sale June 8
FROM THE AUTHOR OF
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
Anthony Bourdain, the inimitable,
outspoken, Emmy-nominated host
of Without Reservations on TV’s
Travel Channel, calls his latest
book “a bloody Valentine to the
world of food and the people
who cook.” He takes aim at some
of the biggest names in the
food world, and no one is safe,
in Medium Raw (Ecco).
Hardcover on sale June 1
A STEELY VILLAIN PLANS
HIS SWAN SONG
Paul Madriani is just recovering
from averting a nuclear explosion
at a naval base in Coronado when
he is faced with taking down the
last survivor of the attack, who has
a bizarre and horrifying vendetta.
What’s worse, the man could
have joined forces with an old foe
who is prepared to go out big in
The Rule of Nine (William Morrow),
the latest thriller from Steve Martini.
Hardcover on sale May 25
THE LATEST FROM A
BESTSELLING LEGEND
Grace Brookstein’s life as the wife of the
king of Wall Street was a dream, full of
yachts, polo tournaments and a doting
husband. But that dream turns into a
nightmare overnight. Grace is framed
and will do whatever it takes to clear her
name, even if it means taking the law
into her own hands, in Sidney Sheldon’s
After the Darkness (William Morrow),
a thrill ride that readers have come to
expect from the master himself.
Books may not be available in all locations or on Costco.com. Covers subject to change.
