David Maine’s interests seem a bit…odd. A couple of years ago, I reviewed his book, Fallen, an excellent novel about Adam and Eve told in reverse chronological order. Now, he’ s released a new novel in which he tells a story from the point of view of…Godzilla. Or maybe King Kong. Sort of. It’s about a freakish monster that lives on a remote island who is found by adventurers and brought back to the United States as a freak show. And it turns out he was created through radiation experiments. This is the sort of book that once again mixes the low brow with the high (Maine apparently will be making quite a few points about 1950s America), a sub-genre I find irresistible.

If Westerns are more your flavor, check out the new Thomas Cobb novel, Shavetail, a 17-year-old boy from Connecticut who lies about his age to escape his past and join the U.S. Army. Also news this week is Hispanic, in which author Geraldo Rivera — yes that Geraldo Rivera — argues that Americans fear Hispanics in the United States.