“…we often mistake love for fireworks – for drama and dysfunction. But real love is very quiet, very still. It’s boring, if seen from the perspective of high drama. Love is deep and calm – and constant.” – Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino ★
fiction / science fiction.
At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.
For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?
Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland is a novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life on our Earth and in our universe. It is a remarkable evocation of the feeling of being in exile at home, and it introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times.
“…wry, melancholy, utterly bewitching… Deftly blurring the line between reality and metaphor to create a work of exquisite beauty, joyfully off-kilter humor, and aching sorrow, Beautyland, and Adina’s lonesome journey, will fill and then shatter your heart.” – Dan Sheehan, Literary Hub
“[An] excavation of the strange and wonderful and heart-wrenching realities of what it means to be alive down here on Earth.. . In Beautyland, that which is wonky and uncanny reveals itself in the familiar details of everyday life… This is where the sorcery lives… When Bertino writes of magic, of science fiction, of the surreal, she is writing of reality.” – Madison Ford, The Brooklyn Rail
“…triumphant… Bertino nimbly portrays her protagonist’s alienhood as both metaphor and reality. The results are divine.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“As she did in the expertly imagination-bending Parakeet, and with so much humor and heart, Bertino balances fantasy and hyperrealism, metaphor and fact. For whom is the act of belonging not, to some degree, an exhausting, lifelong quest? It’s like fiction was invented for Adina and her tale, which unspools so assuredly readers might mistake it for their own.” – Annie Bostrom, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter
fiction / historical fiction.
An ambitious, delirious novel that tangles with queerness, spirituality, and generational silence, City of Laughter announces Temim Fruchter as a fresh and assured new literary voice. The tale of a young queer woman stuck in a thicket of generational secrets, the novel follows her back to her family’s origins, where ancestral clues begin to reveal a lineage both haunted and shaped by desire.
Ropshitz, Poland, was once known as the City of Laughter. As this story opens, an 18th century badchan, a holy jester whose job is to make wedding guests laugh, receives a visitation from a mysterious stranger—bringing the laughter the people of Ropshitz desperately need, and triggering a sequence of events that will reverberate across the coming century. In the present day, Shiva Margolin, recovering from the heartbreak of her first big queer love and grieving the death of her beloved father, struggles to connect with her guarded mother, who spends most of her time at the local funeral home. A student of Jewish folklore, Shiva seizes an opportunity to visit Poland, hoping her family’s mysteries will make more sense if she walks in the footsteps of her great-grandmother Mira, about whom no one speaks. What she finds will make her question not only her past and her future, but also her present.
Electric and sharply intimate, City of Laughter zigzags between our universe and a tapestry of real and invented Jewish folklore, asking how far we can travel from the stories that have raised us without leaving them behind.
“Fruchter debuts with a wondrous intergenerational story of queerness and Jewish folklore… Fruchter draws on folk tales both real and imagined to create a tender and unforgettable portrait of Jewish culture, faith, and community. This dazzling and hopeful novel is not to be missed.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“With prose that is erudite and alive, this fantastic debut novel explores queer love, first heartbreak, the loss of parents, and the deeply human desire for ancestral connection.” – Courtney Eathorne, Booklist
“Fruchter is a breath of fresh air. There is a remarkable sense of originality in the pages of this debut that follows generations of Jewish women and a shapeshifter. Nothing about this debut felt forced and there is an easiness to the surprises and binge-worthiness of the story.” – Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful
The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller
fiction / historical fiction.
August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.
But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.
Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
“A brilliantly imagined World War II saga.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“A wonderful novel, full of heart and humor and stunning characters. Derek B. Miller’s prose is deeply compelling, and he layers in quite a bit of detail to make it all the more realistic. For fans of historical fiction, this is a great read. It’s exciting, but never strays too far away from a historical character drama, and is a unique perspective on the back half of World War II… Certainly one of my top reads from this year. Those who pick it up will have a great time with it.” – Jack Goodrich, Colorado Sun
“The Curse of Pietro Houdini boasts a little bit of everything—a truly fascinating setting; rich, quirky characters; tragedy, suspense, warmth and humor. Derek B. Miller has shown the range of his talents in six previous novels, but this may be his masterpiece… An epic novel that manages to convey an extraordinary yet realistic story encapsulating the horrors of war… Many readers, in fact, may be reminded of Anthony Doerr’s beloved World War II novel, All the Light We Cannot See.” – Alice Cary, BookPage, STARRED REVIEW
Eli Harper’s Adventure to the Afterlife by Eric Schlich
fiction / comedy.
When Eli Harpo was four, he underwent emergency open-heart surgery, flatlined on the operating table, and for a brief time, went to heaven and met Jesus. Or at least that’s what his father, a loving but devout Baptist minister, has raised him to believe.
Nine years later, Eli isn’t so sure. His rounds with his father to evangelize at hospices and sell his father’s self-published book, Heaven or Bust!, feel inauthentic and strange, especially now that he’s started having sex dreams about Jesus. Between that and his mother’s terminal breast cancer diagnosis, Eli feels further from heaven than ever. But when the famous televangelist Charlie Gideon shows up at the Harpos’ doorstep with a proposal to create a new attraction based on Eli’s trip to the afterlife at his Bible-themed park, Eli isn’t able to say no.
As the Harpos head off on a rollicking road trip from Kentucky to Bible World in Orlando, Eli is left to grapple with not just his faith and his sexuality, but also his own parents’ messy humanity and what happens when a family held together by mythmaking starts coming apart at the seams.
Hilarious and moving, Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife is a kind-hearted story about self-discovery and the search for truth, wherever it takes you.
“…keen and insightful…” – Rachel Telljohn, Foreword Reviews
“Schlich’s debut novel lampoons the fraught interplay of religion and capitalism while presenting a compassionate portrayal of one family’s relationship with its faith.” – Becky Meloan, Washington Post
“[An] acerbic yet poignant debut… Sharp satire blends with powerful emotion and a considerate if skeptical approach to religious faith. This delectable send-up is full of heart.” – Publishers Weekly
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
fiction / fantasy / romance / historical fiction.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures… and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.
“…utterly enchanting…” – Susan Maguire, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…entrancing… Fawcett handily expands the scope of the series, building on all that worked in the first volume and largely doing away with anything that didn’t. Upping the danger and the darkness while still retaining all the beauty of the prose, this takes Emily’s story to new heights.” – Publishers Weekly
“This fun series installment has fantastical new creatures and realms to discover, and the dynamic between Wendell and Emily is sweet and exciting. Recommended for fans of cozy academia with a dash of magic.” – Lisa Leinhos, Library Reads, TOP PICK
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka ★
nonfiction / technology / culture.
From trendy restaurants to city grids, to TikTok and Netflix feeds the world round, algorithmic recommendations dictate our experiences and choices. The algorithm is present in the familiar neon signs and exposed brick of Internet cafes, be it in Nairobi or Portland, and the skeletal, modern furniture of Airbnbs in cities big and small. Over the last decade, this network of mathematically determined decisions has taken over, almost unnoticed—informing the songs we listen to, the friends with whom we stay in touch—as we’ve grown increasingly accustomed to our insipid new normal.
This ever-tightening web woven by algorithms is called “Filterworld.” Kyle Chayka shows us how online and offline spaces alike have been engineered for seamless consumption, becoming a source of pervasive anxiety in the process. Users of technology have been forced to contend with data-driven equations that try to anticipate their desires—and often get them wrong. What results is a state of docility that allows tech companies to curtail human experiences—human lives—for profit. But to have our tastes, behaviors, and emotions governed by computers, while convenient, does nothing short of call the very notion of free will into question.
In Filterworld, Chayka traces this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrates the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces. With algorithms increasingly influencing not just what culture we consume, but what culture is produced, urgent questions arise: What happens when shareability supersedes messiness, innovation, and creativity—the qualities that make us human? What does it mean to make a choice when the options have been so carefully arranged for us? Is personal freedom possible on the Internet?
To the last question, Filterworld argues yes—but to escape Filterworld, and even transcend it, we must first understand it.
“An important book… Chayka’s timely investigation shows how we can reject the algorithms of the digital era and reclaim our humanity.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Kyle Chayka is a master at capturing truths about our online existence (like why the internet isn’t fun anymore) in a manner as astute as it is entertaining.” – Jessie Gaynor, Literary Hub
“Chayka’s frank discussion of his own digital detox, full of anxiety before arriving at an algorithmic homeostasis, will inspire readers to believe there is a way out, returning to human tastemakers… [an] astute historical analysis and philosophical rumination on the subject, all ‘filtered’ expertly with his own biography as a millennial who grew up amid the explosion of the socially fixated web.” – Jeff Connelly, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Fury by Alex Michaelides ★
fiction / suspense / mystery.
This is a tale of murder.
Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?
Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.
I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press sensation: a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind… and a murder.
We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.
But who am I?
My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.
“From the author of The Silent Patient comes another perfectly-paced thriller that will have you looking at your friends with a hint of suspicion… It unfolds so satisfyingly well, you just might want to block off a weekend to read it all in one.” – Lizz Schumer, Good Housekeeping
“As he did with his previous bestsellers, Michaelides has crafted a slow burn that explodes midway through with plot twists and character revelations you won’t see coming.” – Leandra Beabout, Reader’s Digest
“The tension, unrequited feelings, lies and resentment, friendship and jealousy that permeate this suspenseful page-turner will keep readers guessing until the satisfying ending.” – Marianna Fitzgerald, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Shades of Agatha Christie and Sunset Boulevard color this outstanding psychological thriller… Michaelides keeps readers on deliciously unsteady ground throughout, ratcheting up the tension until he arrives at the final series of reveals. The result is a character-driven, atmospheric delight.” – Publishers Weekly
Ilium by Lea Carpenter ★
fiction / suspense / mystery.
The young English narrator of Lea Carpenter’s dazzling new novel has grown up unhappily in London, dreaming of escape, pretending to be someone else and obsessed with a locked private garden. On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, at a party near that garden, she meets its charismatic and mysterious new owner, Marcus, thirty-three years older, who sweeps her off her feet. Before long they are married at his finca in Mallorca, and at last she has escaped into a new role – but at what price? On their honeymoon in Croatia, Marcus reveals there is something she can do for him—a plan is in place and she can help with “a favor.”
This turns out to be posing as an art advisor to a family on Cap Ferret, where Marcus asks her to simply “listen.” A helicopter deposits her at a remote, highly guarded and lavishly appointed compound on a spit of land in the Atlantic. It’s presided over by an enigmatic, charming patriarch Edouard, along with his wife Dasha, children Nikki and Felix, and populated by a revolving cast of other guests—some suspicious, some intriguing, perhaps none, like her, what they seem.
Brilliantly compelling, this is a spellbinding and unexpectedly poignant story of a long- planned, high-stakes CIA-Mossad operation that only needed the right asset to complete.
“Exquisite… Ilium is like James Bond as told by The New Yorker.” – Zibby Owens, Good Morning America
“Espionage thrillers are notably high octane, but Carpenter takes a refreshingly cerebral, literary, and cunningly cinematic approach in her exploration of personal moral ambiguity playing out in the world of international intrigue.” – Carol Haggas, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Reminiscent of the spare, strobe-lit storytelling of the late Joan Didion, Carpenter shows how wealth and sophistication paper over moral rot and how human attachment is a vulnerability when only posing and posturing keep you alive.” – Taylor Antrim, Vogue
“With its dreamily detached narration and elliptical feel, Carpenter’s third novel—following Eleven Days and Red, White, Blue—is less interested in spy vs. spy or good vs. bad (both sides are equally capable of the worst) than the lack of reliable truths in people’s lives and the ways they allow themselves to be formed by events beyond their control… An edgy confessional novel with the trappings of spy fiction.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History by Manjula Martin ★
nonfiction / memoir / science / nature.
Told in luminous, perceptive prose, The Last Fire Season is a deeply incisive inquiry into what it really means—now—to live in relationship to the elements of the natural world. When Manjula Martin moved from the city to the woods of Northern California, she wanted to be closer to the wilderness that she had loved as a child. She was also seeking refuge from a health crisis that left her with chronic pain, and found a sense of healing through tending her garden beneath the redwoods of Sonoma County. But the landscape that Martin treasured was an ecosystem already in crisis. Wildfires fueled by climate change were growing bigger and more frequent: each autumn, her garden filled with smoke and ash, and the local firehouse siren wailed deep into the night.
In 2020, when a dry lightning storm ignited hundreds of simultaneous wildfires across the West and kicked off the worst fire season on record, Martin, along with thousands of other Californians, evacuated her home in the midst of a pandemic. Both a love letter to the forests of the West and an interrogation of the colonialist practices that led to their current dilemma, The Last Fire Season, follows her from the oaky hills of Sonoma County to the redwood forests of coastal Santa Cruz, to the pines and peaks of the Sierra Nevada, as she seeks shelter, bears witness to the devastation, and tries to better understand fire’s role in the ecology of the West. As Martin seeks a way to navigate the daily experience of living in a damaged body on a damaged planet, she comes to question her own assumptions about nature and the complicated connections between people and the land on which we live.
“Insightful and alarming, hopeful and consistently engaging.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Exquisitely attuned to her Northern California landscape, Martin trains her gaze on wilderness ravaged by wildfire, and on her own body, hobbled by a chronic pain condition, teasing out the intricate connections between human beings and the natural world on which they depend.” – New York Times
“The prose of this Sonoma County-based author crackles from the first electrifying pages. Combining memoir and natural history to masterful effect, Manjula Martin tells the story of the 2020 California wildfire season that stained skies a haunting shade of orange up and down the West Coast.” – Hannah Bae, San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] mesmerizing, beautifully written account of living through and trying to come to terms with the harrowing impacts of the climate crisis… In the spirit of Rebecca Solnit and Terry Tempest Williams, Martin’s knowledge of nature and the land illuminate every page. With The Last Fire Season, she joins the ranks of esteemed, provocative nature writers who use their own experiences to examine our past and our future.” – BookPage, STARRED REVIEW
Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert
fiction / romance / fantasy.
Eurydice Dimitriou has always been the innocent sister, but she’s finally ready to step out of the long shadow cast by her powerful family… and the ex who shattered her heart. Perhaps rough hands on soft skin are exactly what she needs to forget her heartbreak once and for all?
Charon Ariti has been Hades’s right-hand man for years. He’s given everything to the lower city, but now he’s ready to take something for himself. He’s only too happy to give Eurydice a special kind of education… but is her heart really free enough to be claimed?
Orpheus Makos will do whatever it takes to make things right. Once the golden boy of the upper city, he’s now a shadow of his former self. He’ll do anything to get Eurydice back… even if it means she’s not coming into his arms alone. Three hearts. Three futures. Countless ways to get it wrong.
But with enemies slipping through Olympus’s faltering barrier to lay siege on the lower city, a trio of broken hearts will be the least of these would-be lovers’ worries…
“Robert delivers another sizzling mythological retelling… The kinky ménage will get readers’ pulses pounding while the tense political situation in Olympus keeps the stakes high… This series shows no signs of flagging.” – Publishers Weekly
“[A] riveting romance… Fast-paced, explosive and revealing, Midnight Ruin invites readers to return to the magical world of Olympus with a raunchy mix of second-chance and friends-to-lovers romance.” – Mimi Koehler, The Nerd Daily
“Katee Robert delivers another stunning, scorching Dark Olympus installment. Orpheus, Eurydice, and Charon delve into growth and forgiveness alongside plenty of spice as threats of war loom in Olympus. I can’t wait for the next novel.” – Emily Hall Schroen, Indie Next
More: A Memoir of Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter
nonfiction / memoir / relationships.
Molly Roden Winter was a mother of small children with a husband, Stewart, who often worked late. One night when Stewart missed the kids’ bedtime—again—she stormed out of the house to clear her head. At a bar, she met Matt, a flirtatious younger man. When Molly told her husband that Matt had asked her out, she was surprised that Stewart encouraged her to accept.
So began Molly’s unexpected open marriage and, with it, a life-changing journey of self-discovery. Molly signs up for dating sites, enters into passionate flings, and has sex in hotels and public places around New York City. For Molly it’s a mystery why she wants what she wants. In therapy sessions, fueled by the discovery that her parents had an open marriage, too, she grapples with her past and what it means to be a mother and a whole person.
Molly and Stewart, who also begins to see other people, set ground rules: Don’t date an ex. Don’t date someone in the neighborhood. Don’t go to anyone’s home. And above all, don’t fall in love. In the years that follow, they break most of their rules, even the most important one. They grapple with jealousy, insecurity, and doubts, all the while wondering: Can they love others and stay true to their love for each other? Can they make the impossible work?
More is an electric debut that offers both steamy fun and poignant reflections on motherhood, daughterhood, marriage, and self-fulfillment. With warmth, humor, and style, Molly Roden Winter delivers an unputdownable journey of a woman becoming her most authentic self.
“Rather than rejecting monogamy outright, this thoughtful foray into free love asks if polyamory can enrich a couple’s relationship… Roden Winter makes a strong case for open marriage as a crucible in which love of self, partner and others can be deepened.” – Rana Foroohar, Financial Times
“…impossible to put down… Through her easily accessible, quickly devoured narrative, readers become something like confidants to Winter, rather than voyeurs… an excellent read for people interested in self-discovery or ethical non-monogamy.” – Katy Duperry, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Essayist and musician Winter wrestles with provocative questions of desire and self-discovery in her intimate debut account of navigating marital nonmonogamy… an illuminating and balanced account of a nontraditional relationship. For those curious about polyamory, this is a spicy, stimulating treat.” – Publishers Weekly
Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no—something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious.
And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered… and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
From the author of A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things comes a tantalizing thriller about the nature of friendship and belonging, about loyalty, envy, and betrayal—another gripping novel from an author quickly becoming the gold standard in psychological suspense.
“[Willingham’s] deep dive into the thorny nature of female friendship rings true… a gripping ride.” – Publishers Weekly
“Only If You’re Lucky is Stacy Willingham’s best work yet! I was immediately hooked by this tale of the tantalizing lure — and potential very dark side — of close friendships. And as always, Stacy’s Southern setting gives the perfect gothic vibe.” – Emilie Somme, Indie Next
This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
fiction / horror.
This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing.
Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.
But Dylan is still missing—and no trace of her, dead or alive, has been discovered.
Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force?
This dread-inducing debut builds to a bloodcurdling climax, and will leave you shocked by the final twist.
“A sense of dread pervades the book from the very first word, keeping readers uneasy throughout… those who brave This Wretched Valley will be quickly hooked by the mystery of what exactly is happening within it.” – Sean Farrell, AFPL Journal
“Kiefer’s debut heralds the arrival of a major new horror talent… Through vivid descriptions of the creepy setting and thoughtful character portraits, Kiefer maintains a feeling of unease and nail-biting tension throughout. Devotees of daylight horror will be entranced.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[An] evocative and pulse-pounding survival horror novel inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident. This disturbing outing marks her as a writer to watch and will appeal to fans of Scott Smith’s The Ruins and the Showtime series Yellowjackets.” – Kaitlin Conner, Booklist
True North by Andrew J. Graff
fiction.
As the summer of 1993 begins, Sam and Swami Brecht roll into town with a twenty-six-foot Winnebago camper van, their three young kids, and the deed to Woodchuck Rafting Company. Sam and Swami met as young, adventurous river guides but, a decade later, find themselves weighed down by money worries and the demands of adulthood. The town of Thunderwater, in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, could be the fresh start their marriage needs. But Woodchuck, once the property of Sam’s eccentric uncle, has seen better days and will need a serious overhaul if it is going to stand a chance at survival.
Soon Sam and Swami learn they are not the only ones looking for change and profit on the river. A competing rafting outfit, clashing raft guides, stubborn townsfolk, and an exploratory mining company begin to threaten their tenuous livelihood. Then nature intervenes, in the form of historic floods throughout the Midwest. Amid tumultuous currents both on and off the river, Sam and Swami struggle to maintain the new life they’ve built. Before the summer draws to a close, the Brechts must learn to face the floodwaters together in order to create a sustainable future for their family, the town, and the pristine river from which it all flows.
“…True North will appeal to anyone who can relate to giving everything you’ve got to one last plan.” – Stephanie Turza, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[An] exciting and intelligent family drama… Graff expertly balances his character-driven domestic fiction with an exciting adventure story. Readers will enjoy the ride.” – Publishers Weekly
“Andrew Graff shines again in True North. Join the Brecht family as they navigate the rapids of river, marriage, and their future as they try and save a family-owned rafting company and come to terms with what’s truly important in their lives.” – Betsy Von Kerens, Indie Next
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
fiction / science fiction / suspense.
Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.
Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.
As the herd’s new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow’s real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?
“…impassioned and impressive… an uncompromising climate fiction that strikes like a spear to the gut.” – Publishers Weekly
“[A] compelling, thought-provoking sf tale inspired by the brutal reality of the modern-day ivory trade. Fans of biology-inspired sf will enjoy this short book about human greed, the beauty of mammoths, and one human’s consuming fury.” – Leah von Essen, Booklist
“[A] gut punch of an ending. Nayler’s compelling sci-fi thriller contemplates human greed and de-extinction through science. Highly recommended for readers of ecoterrorism thrillers and climate fiction.” – Marlene Harris, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
-
-
-
-
-