The Rescue of Belle & Sundance.

THE RESCUE OF BELLE AND SUNDANCE
Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan, Ebury, A$19.95
Belle and Sundance were two packhorses abandoned in the Canadian Rockies. Come the winter, they were trapped in snow. When discovered, the pair were starving and surrounded by six-foot frozen walls. Townspeople nearby could have shot them, but instead brought food and then dug, by hand, a kilometre-long trench to safety. A story bigger than a book - assorted folk uniting for a good deed. For animal lovers.

TRUTH LIKE THE SUN
Jim Lynch, Bloomsbury, A$29.99
Lynch's third book is a novel driven by two characters and a city. In 1962, Seattle hosted the World's Fair. Forty years on - the dotcom boom gone - a ghost from the past runs for mayor. Lynch's Roger Morgan was a key player in the fair. His 2001 play for power is fodder for Helen Gulanos, a journalist aiming for a Pulitzer. The book alternates between eras with ease as its protagonists square off. The result crackles with energy.

THE WHISPERING MUSE
Sjon, trans. Victoria Cribb, Telegram, A$19.99
The Whispering Muse.Iceland does things differently. Sjon wrote lyrics for Bjork and is also a unique novelist. His work is nourished by Icelandic settings and sagas. In this short novel, an eccentric old man takes a cruise. He has one interest: Nordic superiority via eating fish. To his annoyance, he is not the centre of attention - that belongs to the ship's mate. Did he survive Jason's Argo? In this tall tale, myth blends lyrically with realism.