Millions of people own dogs they love and think that the story of their dog's life would make a wonderful book, if only editors and publishers would listen to them.

		"MARLEY & ME: LIFE AND LOVE WITH THE WORLD'S WORST DOG" By John Grogan Morrow ($21.95)

John Grogan wrote a book about the dog that he and his family loved and convinced a mainstream publisher to put the story into print.

What a book. And what a dog!

Marley was a yellow Labrador retriever puppy, who grew up to be a 97-pound destructive force that cost his family thousands of dollars as he demolished dog crates, furniture, window and door screens and even drywall and concrete garage blocks.

But "Marley" is more than a book about a man who loved a dog. Grogan writes movingly of his love for his wife, Jenny, and their three children, Patrick, Connor and Coleen. He also writes about his love of working for newspapers. He's the Pennsylvania columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Books and newspaper stories often feature wonder dogs that save lives, track lost children, lead the blind and help the handicapped. Not Marley, and perhaps that's why the story of his life has touched so many people -- and sold so many books.
-- Linda Wilson Fuoco

Linda Fairstein was chief prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's sex crimes unit for 25 years, so it is no coincidence that Alexandra Cooper, her detective series heroine holds similar credentials.

		"DEATH DANCE" By Linda Fairstein Scribner ($26)

Her eighth installment concerns the murder of a Russian ballerina, who was performing on tour at the Metropolitan Opera House.

The killing of the ballerina brings former ballet student Alex -- and the reader -- into the backstage life of Lincoln Center and the Met. The question of who committed the murder and why is far less interesting or convincing than the virtual travelogue of the theaters this book presents.

Those parts of Fairstein's story (despite occasional inaccuracies) are fascinating, as are some very funny characterizations of an obnoxious Broadway producer/tycoon and his family, a money-grubbing artists' representative and a wealthy entrepreneur who likes to "sponsor" attractive young women.

Fairstein combines her storytelling with strong, unsubtle messages regarding sexual predators, while simultaneously re-creating the experience of the New York theater scene in a vivid, generally accurate and realistic portrait.
--By Robert Croan

Greg Isles is trying to do for Natchez, Miss., what James Lee Burke did for the Bayou country -- make it a mysterious, beautiful and dangerous setting for crime fiction.

		"TURNING ANGEL" By Greg Isles Scribner ($25.95)

Instead, Natchez emerges from his latest effort as fascinating as Levittown and his scandalous revelations -- teens have sex and take drugs -- are as current as the Hula-Hoop craze.

Strike 3 is his blunder of taking hero Penn Cage out of the game during a crucial moment in the overstuffed plot, slowing the already turgid pace to a standstill.

Cage is an odd creation of crusading-prosecutor-turned-novelist, but here he does little law or writing. He's preoccupied by the plight of old school chum Dr. Drew Elliott who is going down for the killing of his 17-year-old girlfriend, super student Kate.

Viciously prosecuting him is an ambitious black DA, one of several odious portraits of minorities in the book.

Most of the book finds Cage running in circles dodging bullets and bodies, but remaining largely in the dark until the solution finally hits him in the head.

This time, give Natchez and "Turning Angel" a wide berth.
--By Bob Hoover