“I don’t know how [books] accumulate like that. They’re part rabbit, I think.” – Beatriz Williams, Overseas
Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond
fiction / horror / historical fiction / fantasy.
What if nobody ever freed the slaves… because they freed themselves – 150 years before the Civil War?
In the Province of Carolina, 1710, freedom seems unattainable for Willie, for his beloved Gertie, and for their unborn child. They live, suffer, and toil under their brutal master, James “Big Jim” Barrow, whose grand plantation was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of the enslaved. To flee this hell on earth is to be hunted and killed. Until one strange night Willie is offered a dark hope by Rafazi, an enigmatic slave with an irresistible and blood-chilling path to liberation.
Hailing from the Kingdom of Ghana, Rafazi is the lone survivor of the Ramanga, an African vampire tribe rendered nearly extinct by plague. Rafazi has roamed the world for centuries with an undying desire to replenish the power that once defined his heritage. In Willie, Rafazi has found his first biddable subject to be turned and to help in a hungry revolt. And Willie desires nothing more than to free his people from malicious bondage. Whatever it takes.
One by one, as an army of blood slaves thirsting for revenge is gathered, the headstrong Gertie fears that no good can come from the vampiric legacy that courses through Rafazi’s veins. Willie knows that only evil can fight evil. And when the woman he loves stands between the reemergence of the Ramanga and the justified slaughter of the oppressors, Willie must make an irreversible decision. Only one thing is certain: on the Barrow plantation, and beyond, blood will spill.
Part historical drama, part supernatural horror, and part alternate history, Blood Slaves is an ingenious and defiant new creation myth of the vampire, one rooted in both justice and the sometimes-violent means necessary to achieve it.
“[A] truly epic reimagining of the 19th century… one of the most satisfying of the year, and perhaps of the decade.” – Molly Odintz, CrimeReads
“…brutal and unflinching… Redmond’s seething prose elevates what might otherwise feel like tired horror tropes and his heroes are both monumental and complicated. The result is searing, tense, and unforgettable.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“The novel’s strong worldbuilding comes at readers from every angle and through multiple points of view, keeping the pace compelling and intriguing… A debut novel with an original and thought-provoking take on the vampire subgenre.” – Becky Spratford, Library Journal
The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey by Kathleen Kaufman
fiction / fantasy / historical fiction.
Leaving behind a quiet life of simple comforts, Nairna Liath traverses the Scottish countryside with her charlatan father, Tavish. From remote cottages to rural fairs, the duo scrapes by on paltry coins as Tavish orchestrates “encounters” with the departed, while Nairna interprets tarot cards for those willing to pay for what they wish to hear.
But beyond her father’s trickery, Nairna possesses a genuine gift for communicating with the spirit world, one that could get an impoverished country girl branded a witch. A talent inherited from her grandmother, Lottie Liath, widow of a Welsh coalminer, whose story of imprisonment and exploitation in a notorious asylum is calling out to Nairna from four decades past—a warning to break free from the manipulations, greed, and betrayals of others.
What do the cards hold for Nairna’s future?
Rescued from homelessness by a well-connected stranger, Nairna is whisked into a new life among Edinburgh’s elite Spiritualist circle, including visiting American star Dorothy Kellings. Researchers, doctors, psychics, and thrill-seekers clamor for the rising young medium. But after a séance with blood-chilling results, a shocking scandal ensues, and Nairna flees to a secluded community near Boston, where she assumes a new identity: Nora Grey.
But Nora can’t stay hidden when Dorothy Kellings offers her the chance to face all comers and silence skeptics at a spectacular séance at Boston’s Old South Meeting Hall, where Nora will come face to face at last with her spiritual guide: the courageous Lottie Liath, whose heart-wrenching story and profound messages are indelibly tied to Nora’s destiny.
“Kaufman weaves a darkly mesmerizing tale perfect for fans of Sarah Penner and Alice Hoffman.” – Julia Young, The Indie Next List
“A fast-paced tale of magical realism exploring the hardships endured by women seeking autonomy at the turn of the 20th century.” – Portia Kapraun, Library Journal
“Gothic aesthetics and a wry depiction of the Spiritualist craze of the early 20th century underpin this moving historical novel… The story’s pointed message about female solidarity shines in the relationships… The result is both a thrilling supernatural tale and a stirring ode to women’s power.” – Publishers Weekly
Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
fiction / young adult / mystery / suspense / romance / fantasy.
Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts—and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals.
The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest installment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga.
“Jennifer Lynn Barnes is back with another game that will certainly keep us at the edge of our seat…” – Tamara Fuentes, Cosmopolitan
Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Meet Frost, Morgan, and Belle—a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia, shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?
Spanning the course of one eventful school year in New York, Mean Moms is part satire of upper-crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy, and getting at the question:
What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pickup was actually a sociopath?
“Scandalous and juicy, this is Pretty Little Liars all grown up. Take it on your next beach trip.” – Cari Dubiel, Booklist
“[Rosenblum] is carving out a niche as the author of fun, outrageous books about one-percenters behaving badly, and her latest is a perfect beach read for 2025.” – Marianne Fitzgerlad, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
An Oral History of Atlantis: Stories by Ed Park ★
fiction / short stories.
Gilt-edged stories that slice clean through the mundanity of modern life, from the author of Same Bed Different Dreams, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
In “Machine City” a college student’s chance role in a friend’s movie blurs the line between his character and his true self. (Is he a robot?) In “Slide to Unlock” a man comes to terms with his life via the passwords he struggles to remember in extremis. (What’s his mom’s name backward?) And in “Weird Menace” a director and faded movie star gab about science fiction, bad costume choices, and lost loves on a commentary track for a B-film from the ’80s that neither remembers all that well.
In Ed Park’s utterly original collection, An Oral History of Atlantis, characters bemoan their fleeting youth, focus on their breathing, meet cute, break up, write book reviews, translate ancient glyphs, bid on stuff online, whale watch, and once in a while find solace in the sublime. Throughout, Park deploys his trademark wit to create a world both strikingly recognizable and delightfully other. Spanning a quarter century, these sixteen stories tell the absurd truth about our lives. They capture the moment when the present becomes the past—and are proof positive that Ed Park is one of the most imaginative and insightful writers working today.
“…deeply original, funny, and absurd.” – Town & Country
“A collection that revels in its quirks, smart and sensitive in equal measure.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Park’s delightful tales, which are driven by provocative ideas, strange occurrences, and gripping plots, pay tribute to the legacy of Kurt Vonnegut in the best ways. This pitch-perfect collection will linger in readers’ minds for a long time.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Park infuses his debut story collection with the same extraordinary inventiveness that made his novel Same Bed Different Dreams a Pulitzer Prize finalist… Throughout his 16 stories, Park deftly upends quotidian expectations, encourages discomfort, and presents surreality with biting humor.” – Terry Hong, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple.
Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden – working from home that day – has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall.
Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out.
How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all?
With every minute that passes – and as questions swirl around their community – Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbors and relatives no longer quite so reliable…
“Lapena’s talents shine in this irresistible novel about revenge, betrayal, and secrets.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] masterfully written domestic thriller… a smart, unputdownable mystery with well-drawn characters and a truly compelling premise, She Didn’t See It Coming is a must-read.” – Deirdre Pippins, BookTrib.
“A twisting, gripping, gruesome read with dark undertones, unrelenting psychological suspense, and a shocking conclusion that will stay with readers long after they’ve finished the book.” – Emily Melton, Booklist
Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams
fiction / historical fiction / mystery / romance.
Audrey Fisher has struggled all her life to emerge from the shadow of her famous mother by forging a career as a world-class chef. Meredith Fisher’s glamorous screen persona disguises the trauma of the tragic accident that haunts her dreams. Neither woman wants to return to the New England island they left behind and its complicated emotional ties, but Meredith has one last chance to sober up and salvage her big comeback, and where else but discreet, moneyed Winthrop Island can a famous actress spend the summer without the intrusion of other people? Until Audrey discovers an old wooden chest among the belongings of her estranged bartender father, Mike Kennedy, and the astonishing contents draw the women deep into Winthrop’s past and its many secrets… attracting the interest of their handsome neighbor, Sedge Peabody. How did a trove of paintings from one of America’s greatest artists wind up in the cellar of the Mohegan Inn? And who is the mysterious woman portrayed on every canvas?
On a stormy November night in 1846, Providence Dare flees Boston and boards the luxury steamship Atlantic one step ahead of the law… or so she believes. But when a catastrophic accident leaves the ship at the mercy of a mighty gale, Providence finds herself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the one man who knows her real identity—the detective investigating the suspicious death of her employer, the painter Henry Irving. As the Atlantic fights for her life and the rocky shore of Winthrop Island edges closer, a desperate Providence searches for her chance to escape… before the sea swallows her without a trace.
You Belong Here by Megan Miranda ★
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Beckett Bowery never thought she’d return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett’s parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else—until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again…
For the last two decades, Beckett has done her best to keep her distance. Then her daughter, Delilah, secretly applies to Wyatt College and earns a full scholarship, and Beckett can only hope that her lingering fears are unfounded. But deep down she knows that Wyatt Valley has a long memory, and that the past isn’t the only dangerous thing in town…
“Miranda is a master of atmospheric thrills, and an elite university in the mountains of Virginia gives her a rich setting to work with.” – Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads
“…Megan Miranda once again proves her mastery of suspense… atmospheric and emotionally charged… a haunting character study disguised as a mystery, one that lingers long after the final page.” – Jordan Snowden, Seattle Times
“Ghosts and memories of the past eerily surface in this suspenseful, tension-filled novel!” – Caroline Buchta, The Indie Next List
“In You Belong Here, Miranda once again shows her talent for creating individuals whose flaws are nearly magnetic in their power to draw you in. Beckett is likable and frustrating and you want to know more.” – Carol Iaciofano Aucoin, WBUR
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