BOOK REVIEW / Recommended

Professor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross, tr Anselm Hollo, pounds 15.99. A clever subversion of communist life. Review by Doris Lessing, 19 February.

The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, Secker, pounds 8.99. Extraordinary novel about the devastations of the war years by a North Vietnamese. Review by Geoff Dyer, 29 January.

Resurrection Man by Eoin McNamee, Picador, pounds 14.99. Sharp and effective portrait of a loyalist killer; a murder story with an eye for the depths. Review by Robert Winder, 8 March.

How late it was, how late by James Kelman, Secker, pounds 14.99. Scintillating novel detailing a hapless search for dignity. Review by Janette Turner Hospital, 2 March.