Watching the peculiar, sometimes horrifying, "maverick" soap opera that is this year's election season, with an economic meltdown as a backdrop, I realize just how tough it is right now for writers of political fiction. It's tough to match the kind of stunningly unpredictable quality of our current reality, to...

Man-eating sharks, James Bond-style villains with snow-white lap cats, superheroes in capes and tights saving the world. Mmmm, yes. Summer reading. The potent fantasy of sitting on the beach or by the pool -- or at home with a hand-made paper umbrella...