ARMCHAIR treasure hunters can now find The Lost Fortune of the Tsars by William Clarke (Orion $72) in paperback. Clarke is looking for the GBP30 billion possessed by the Romanovs before World War I. His search for the gold and jewels has taken him into banks and archives around the world in the past two decades. With Europe gearing up for the 50th anniversary celebrations of VE-Day on May 8, Hugh Trevor-Roper's The Last Days of Hitler (Papermac $170) reappears for the seventh time. First published in 1947, this new edition includes a preface by the author which looks at developments in recent years but otherwise remains essentially the same, examining the personal fate of Hitler as World War II finally drew to a close. Also getting another run are two of Mario Vargas Llosa's novels, The Time of the Hero (Faber $119) and The Green House (Faber $119). Both were award-winners, first appeared in the 1960s and offer incisive portraits of Peruvian society. Still in South America, Brazilian author Nelida Pinon gets her first outing in English with The Republic of Dreams (Picador $136). The 600-plus, small-print epic follows the trials of four generations of a family struggling to transplant itself from its Spanish origins to a new existence in Brazil. On the pop literature scene, Ray Davies' X Ray (Viking $272) offers a novel approach to autobiography. The Kinks' founder member dons the persona of a nameless novice writer sent out to pen the life story of Raymond Douglas who may or may not be Ray Davies. Meanwhile, Holly Johnson's A Bone in My Flute (Arrow $72) provides insight into the Frankie Goes To Hollywood phenomenon with the lead singer musing on his life history, from early times in Liverpool to his current days living with AIDS. It's not a completely full and frank affair. The book declares names have been changed in places. While Joseph Heller is still hot news with the recent release of Closing Time, his sequel to Catch-22, an earlier work reappears. In Something Happened (Vintage $72), initially out in 1966, Heller directs his black-humoured prose on the failings of contemporary America. The first script of Quentin Tarantino, winner of best original screenplay at this year's Oscars, has now been turned into a book. True Romance (Faber $136) provides a short introduction by Tarantino on the birth of the story along with the script itself. Lynda La Plante, the mind behind television's Prime Suspect, has created a sharp-shooting thriller in print with Cold Shoulder (Pan $85), now out in paperback. The heroine is a down-and-out American ex-policewoman who becomes an unwilling participant in the chase for a serial killer. The Witness is another of prolific American author Sandra Brown's romance-cum-thrillers (Little Brown $289). This time lawyer Kendall is the heroine up against the odds. Having discovered the sordid truth about her fanatic, unfaithful husband, Kendall tries to warn the authorities about the strange sect he enjoys hanging out with. That's when things get complicated. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson (Warner $136) brings material from Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under the Bed is Drooling together with 12 pages of new material to produce a range of happy encounters with the youngster and his topsy-turvy tiger.
