“You never really know someone until your relationship with them is over.” – Paul Doiron, Trespasser
Carrion Crow by Heather Parry
fiction / horror / historical fiction.
Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames.
For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs. Beeton’s advice and longing for life outside.
Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good.
Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name – her husband’s name, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won’t do. Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.
Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray.
And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.
Fusing grisly body horror with raw and evocative prose, this unforgettably haunting gothic novel from award-winning author Heather Parry is a story of mothers and daughters, and the dual capacity for both great kindness and unfathomable cruelty.
“[A] brilliant Russian-doll tale of confinement… vital, and wickedly wretched… Carrion Crow, despite its historical setting seething in smog and muck, feels shockingly immediate – in theme, style, and execution.” – James Taylor, Glasgow Review of Books
“Potential methods of attaining freedom twist upon generations of hopeful women in the macabre, wrenching feminist novel Carrion Crow.” – Michelle Anne Schingler, Foreword Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…unsettling… [Carrion Crow] surely, will win awards… Every sentence oozes a crushed purple poetry, overripe with devastation and wretchedness. Marguerite’s plight is clearly one of tragedy, but it is thrillingly told, and you cannot look away… If you finish it feeling you might just skip dinner, then you also feel filled with awe for a writer so gifted at conveying this much ick in such luxuriant, refulgent style.” – Nick Duerden, The Guardian
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay ★
fiction / horror / science fiction / suspense / comedy.
Meet Julia Flang, a twenty-something former semi-professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she doesn’t like. Out of the blue, her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job with a payday Julia can’t refuse. One sham interview later, she’s offered the job: to chaperone a man in a vegetative state—one with proprietary AI implanted in his head—from California to the East Coast.
To sum up in Julia’s own words: “You want me to remote control this dead dude across the country.” In a word, yes. But he’s not dead dead.
Meet a middle-aged man who wakes within a disorienting hellscape filled with monstrous grotesqueries. Worse than the fluid, morphing reality in which he’s trapped, he has no memory of who he is. He certainly doesn’t remember getting the rabbit tattoo on his arm. He only knows that he must find a certain person. Who? He can’t remember.
Using a cell phone modeled after a video game controller, Julia fumblingly navigates the man she calls “Bernie” from the company campus and onto planes and through one of the largest airports in America. All the while, the man endures an ever-changing and worsening nightmare that offers clues as to who he was—and who he must track down. And as their two lives intertwine, Julia and Bernie become unlikely allies and fugitives on a collision course with reality.
“Tremblay expertly delivers twists and turns in a world that seems all too timely.” – William Earl, Variety
“…creepy and unexpectedly humorous… A master storyteller, Tremblay’s b(l)ending of genres here truly is a perfect beach read.” – Gabino Iglesias, NPR
“Tremblay throws down the gauntlet for AI horror… This masterpiece of storytelling is injected with a squirming worm of fear that forces readers to take a critical look at AI’s encroachment. A not-to-miss experience for fans of a wide range of chilling, humorous, existentially terrifying titles…” – Becky Spratford, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Every aspect of the novel, no matter how initially incomprehensible, is a perfect thread woven into Tremblay’s tale—even the title alludes to the central conflict. The dangers of emerging tech have never been so chilling and, simultaneously, so strangely delightful.” – Matthew Galloway, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Housewife by Natalie Barelli
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Jodie always dreamed of being a housewife. And after a whirlwind romance, she marries renowned psychologist Dr. Roy Davies and moves into his perfect Beverly Hills home. But the fairy tale fades fast. Roy is distant, his friends view her as a gold-digger, and the house still reveres his late wife, Deborah, whose presence still looms over everyone and everything.
When Jodie learns Deborah became a recluse before death, she begins to suspect Roy was behind it. And the deeper she digs, the darker Roy’s past appears―obsessive, controlling, unfaithful. Increasingly convinced he had something to do with Deborah’s death, Jodie knows she should go to the police, but that would require revealing her own secret. A secret that could destroy her.
But Jodie won’t be silenced. Because the truth about Roy is worse than she imagined―and now, trapped in a house built on lies, she must find a way out before she becomes the next perfect wife to vanish.
“The suspense builds steadily and the payoff genuinely delivers, keeping readers second-guessing right up to the last page.” – Lupe Herrera, Library Reads
“…complex and twisty… [Barelli’s] main characters are well-crafted, showing complexities and contradictions that make it difficult for readers to determine their innocence or guilt. Murder mystery fans will enjoy solving this one.” – Joanna Burkhardt, Library Journal
The Kings of Vegas by Karen Mack & Jennifer Kaufman
fiction / suspense.
When Josie King left Las Vegas in the 90s, she never looked back. The daughter of gambling mogul Roy King, spirited math whiz Josie grew up on the casino floor but deliberately turned away from the family business. She’s been living a quiet life in LA as an accountant and a single mom when she finds herself summoned back to Sin City. Now, fifteen years later, her father has died unexpectedly, and Josie’s siblings are already gathered for the reading of his will… only to discover that in order to inherit they must spend three years working together at the notorious family casino, The Jackpot.
Josie’s pride won’t let her walk away from the family empire again, so she agrees to take charge of the casino’s finances. She quickly discovers that while Roy King was once the most powerful man in Vegas, times have changed. These days, everyone has a piece of the action: Josie’s brothers, the FBI, the local mobsters, even the sexy rival casino owner who’s more than a friend. Las Vegas is more dangerous than ever, but Josie knows that to save the family business she’ll have to wade in deeper…
Stacked with sex, crime, sibling rivalry, and mountains of cash, The Kings of Vegas is an electrifying thriller with a tough and irresistible heroine at the center of the action.
“[A] propulsive thriller…” – Claire Valentine McCartney, W
“[An] immersive crime saga… Mack and Kaufman’s unfussy prose and well-rounded characters balance out the larger-than-life glitz and grit of Vegas. The result is a suspenseful and entertaining trip to Sin City.” – Publishers Weekly
“This character-driven quick read will appeal to fans of May Cobb.” – Jane Jorgenson, Library Journal
The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music by Colin Asher
nonfiction / history / music.
In American popular music, we often glorify rebellious artists and “outlaws.” But in The Midnight Special, Colin Asher tells a deeper story about the criminal justice system’s impact on our musicians, explored through compelling portraits of five artists whose careers span the twentieth century.
Opening with folk and blues artist Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who was made to perform wearing prison clothes, Asher traces the intertwined histories of music and incarceration, from Southern prison farms of the Jim Crow era, through the heroin-driven mid-century drug wars that villainized a generation of jazz artists, and to our present era of mass incarceration.
Asher shows how the suggestion of criminality has often benefited white artists, while prosecutions often hurt Black musicians. Comparing the divergent trajectories of jazz pianist Elmo Hope with country singer Johnny Cash, Asher examines how violent and discriminatory policing stifled Hope’s career and led to the creation of his album Sounds from Rikers Island (1963), while forgiveness and lenience brought us Cash’s masterpiece At San Quentin (1969).
With keen musical analysis and sociological insight, The Midnight Special examines key themes in culture and criminal justice, from the movement for prison reform that allowed soul musician Ike White to stage thrilling concerts while locked up and record his album Changin’ Times (1977), to the crushing cultural weight of mass incarceration a generation later. Closing with Tupac Shakur’s Me Against the World (1995) and stories of music in prisons today, The Midnight Special recounts how prisons occasionally incubate talent but more often shorten careers and distort the public’s perception of musicians and their value to society.
An urgent book about the ways music can affirm an individual’s sense of humanity in dehumanizing circumstances, The Midnight Special writes the history of prisons into American music―a story as important as it is overlooked.
“This chronicle is full of little epiphanies: for example, Lead Belly ‘dreamt in song… and woke singing what he’d heard in his sleep,’ and Don McLean’s ‘Vincent’ inspired Shakur to write music. A well-written and mesmerizing group portrait of five musical outlaws.” – June Sawyers, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Asher does especially nimble work in portraying his subjects as three-dimensional figures while detailing how the record industry exploited their links to the prison system to profit off their music, often in ways that flattened their life narratives. This is illuminating.” – Publishers Weekly
“Asher’s book is a Midnight Special of its own. It’s a fog-piercing down-bound train of a book, better than it had to be… If these profiles had been straightforward, that might’ve been enough. But Asher is a calm and sophisticated storyteller who picks you up and sets you back down in places you didn’t anticipate… Taken together, the profiles in The Midnight Special amount to a multilayered indictment of America’s prison system, the largest in the world. None of these men were blameless, but the injustice on display will frequently make you sick to your stomach. The book also underlines sheer human resiliency.” – Dwight Garner, New York Times
The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson ★
fiction / romance.
When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting, kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid: His ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame; Augusta, old money, horsey, and snobbish; and Fran, surrounded by brothers and sons, too fed up with boys to ever consider marrying one.
Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead, drinking on houseboats, spending long afternoons sunbathing with their children, and playing games the way they always have. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van’s baby, the delicate balance of the group’s friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next—in a potent mix of fury and heartbreak—exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather.
Dazzlingly funny, sexy, and as juicy as it is astute, The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary.
“Giving off vibes of Thirtysomething and The Big Chill, Jackson’s follow up to the best-selling Pineapple Street is a frothy, funny ode to old friends and new challenges.” – Suzanne Moutis, Canadian Living
“Jenny Jackson moves her characters in and out of situationships with the confidence of a chess master, recalling the work of Elin Hilderbrand.” – Hamilton Cain, Time
“This astutely observed story is funny and gossipy without veering into the mean-spirited.” – Halle Carlson, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“This one is the platonic ideal of a beach read: fun and fast-paced, with a cover that screams, ‘Can I borrow your sunscreen?’ It also features one of my favorite setups, in which an outsider arrives in a clubby enclave and makes waves… In her debut novel, Pineapple Street, Jackson brought us into the storied world of Brooklyn Heights; here, she delivers us to the land of clam rolls with the same anthropological eye.” – Elisabeth Egan, New York Times
Storm Tide by Paul Doiron
fiction / mystery / suspense.
When the magnificent home of entrepreneur Brian Malloy mysteriously goes up in flames, Maine game warden Mike Bowditch tries to pull Malloy’s burning body from the fire but is too late. Malloy was suspected of murdering his young, illegitimate son. Now it looks like someone else has delivered a verdict.
Miles away, on a lonely stretch of icy railroad track, the body of Axl Deming, once accused of a brutal rape, is found literally cut in half. Though the two murders seem unrelated, a cryptic text from an unknown number draws Bowditch to the scene―and hints at a chilling connection. He believes someone is orchestrating the executions of criminals who escaped justice, and for reasons he can’t explain, his own name is on the list, but the state police aren’t convinced. His search for the truth takes him through frozen harbors, trackless forests, and remote islands, far from rescue.
Meanwhile, Bowditch is facing a disciplinary hearing that could end his career. His wife Stacey, just weeks from giving birth, is being stalked by a stranger in a white van. And when he realizes someone has also been watching their home, the case turns increasingly personal.
To protect his family, Bowditch must work alone to uncover who’s behind the killings―and stop them before he becomes their next victim.
“Doiron’s series shows no signs of losing momentum. Maine itself is part of the story, running intolerably hot or fiercely cold, seasonally fraught with beauty and danger.” – Jane Murphy, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Doiron’s fantastic procedural series continues to hit a satisfying stride.” – Tina Panik, Library Journal
“…intense and exciting… With Storm Tide, Paul Doiron delivers another gripping, can’t-put-it-down thriller that shows this series is as strong as ever.” – Justin Soderberg, Capes & Tights
The Summer of the Serpent by Cecilia Eudave; translated by Robin Myers
fiction / horror / historical fiction.
Guadalajara, Mexico, 1977. In a quiet residential neighborhood, children witness things they can never forget: a serpent girl weeping in a carnival glass box, a neighbor who dangles his dog from a tree, and a ghost who returns night after night, desperate to tell its story. Meanwhile, the grown-ups drift through the season half oblivious, their spirits eroding as the relentless summer wears on.
Told in colliding voices—children and adults, ghosts and the haunted, the living and the almost-invisible—The Summer of the Serpent is a prismatic portrait of the past, where memory is shot through with myth. Each narrator offers a fragment of the truth, until the stories twist together into a shape as elusive and mesmerizing as the boa constrictor that winds its way through the neighborhood.
Strange yet deeply human, this brilliantly fragmented novel captures the moment when childhood innocence begins to corrode—and how those memories can coil through a lifetime.
“…intense, tightly layered, and unsettling… Here, traditional logic is unreliable, death is an obsession, and the line between reality and the fantastic is porous. Maricarmen, Ana, and their neighbors navigate cruelty, sadism, and voyeurism in a riveting story that sneakily implicates the reader as accomplice.” – Sara Martínez, Booklist
“The Summer of the Serpent makes for a hypnotic and transporting read and a powerful, impressionistic portrait of a place and time.” – Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads
“As the larger narrative coalesces, the results agitate and discomfit. Eudave unblinkingly contrasts the innocence of children not yet aware that people can and will commit senseless evil with the heinous behaviors in their midst… Eudave’s startling fiction effectively holds a twisted funhouse mirror up to reveal disturbing realities.” – Terry Hong, Shelf Awareness
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