Featuring: Mary Adkins, Jussi Adler-Olsen, David Annandale, Jessica Barry, Flynn Berry, Miles Cameron, M.R. Carey, Victor Montgomery Cornwall, Craig Davidson, Sebastien de Castell, N.S. Dolkart, Esi Edugyan, Ben Fountain, William W. Freehling, John French, Christopher Golden, David Gordon, Charlaine Harris, D.B. Jackson, Gregory B. Jaczko, Steven James, Eyal Kless, Sam Lipsyte, Jonathan Maberry, Mindy Mejia, Sara Paretsky, Matthew Quirk, Kim Stanley Robinson, Axl Rosenberg, Tom Rosenstiel, Michael Rutger, David Small, Anna Smith Spark, Arthur St. John Trevelyan, Martha Wells, Cherise Wolas, Chris Wraight, Jane Yolen

*

Mary Adkins, WHEN YOU READ THIS (Harper)

Iris Massey is gone.

But she’s left something behind.

For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish.

Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.

Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy — funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet — that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.

Thought this sounded interesting (and I have a strange weakness for epistolary novels…). When You Read This is due to be published in North America by Harper (February 5th), and in the UK by Hodder (February 7th).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Jussi Adler-Olsen, THE WASHINGTON DECREE (Dutton)

“The president has gone way too far… These are practically dictatorial methods we’re talking about.”

Sixteen years before Democratic Senator Bruce Jansen was elected president of the United States, a PR stunt brought together five very different people: fourteen-year-old Dorothy “Doggie” Rogers, small-town sheriff T. Perkins, single mother Rosalie Lee, well-known journalist John Bugatti, and the teenage son of one of Jansen’s employees, Wesley Barefoot. In spite of their differences, the five remain bonded by their shared experience and devotion to their candidate.

For Doggie, who worked the campaign trail with Wesley, Jansen’s election is a personal victory: a job in the White House, proof to her Republican father that she was right to support Jansen, and the rise of an intelligent, clear-headed leader with her same ideals. But the triumph is short-lived: Jansen’s pregnant wife is assassinated on election night, and the alleged mastermind behind the shooting is none other than Doggie’s own father.

When Jansen ascends to the White House, he is a changed man, determined to end gun violence by any means necessary. Rights are taken away as quickly as weapons. International travel becomes impossible. Checkpoints and roadblocks destroy infrastructure. The media is censored. Militias declare civil war on the government. The country is in chaos, and Jansen’s former friends each find themselves fighting a very different battle, for themselves, their rights, their country… and, in Doggie’s case, the life of her father, who just may be innocent.

I haven’t read any of Adler-Olsen’s novels, yet — although, they seem to all be pretty widely acclaimed. When I saw this one, though, I knew I’d have to get it. I’ll try to read it pretty soon. The Washington Decree is published in North America by Dutton, and available in the UK on import.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

*

David Annandale, NEFERATA: MORTARCH OF BLOOD (Black Library)

When a threat to her realm of Nulahmia rises, the Mortarch Neferata must commit herself to a centuries-long battle if she is to save her kingdom and retain her position.

The Realm of Death convulses with the ravages of war, but Neferata continues to rule the city of Nulahmia with an iron will. Through guile and terror, she has destroyed all who would take her crown. But when a threat rises whose repercussions will stretch across the ages, Neferata must commit herself to a centuries-long battle and retain what is hers, no matter the cost.

Back in December, Black Library released David Annandale’s excellent first Neferata story, The Dance of Skulls — a short story of intrigue and betrayal in the court of the undead queen. Ever since, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the author’s first full-length novel of the character. And it’s finally here! Released unexpectedly (it was previously available as a limited edition, and there wasn’t information about when the ‘regular’ edition would drop), I snapped it up immediately. One thing, though, is that I’m not sure how (or even if) it connects with Josh Reynolds’s recent Soul Wars novel. Neferata: Mortarch of Blood is out now, published by Black Library.

Also on CR: Interview with David Annandale (2012); Guest Post on “My Favourite Novel”; Reviews of The Damnation of Pythos, Ruinstorm

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Jessica Barry, FREEFALL (Harper)

When your life is a lie, the truth can kill you

When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, Allison Carpenter miraculously survives. But the fight for her life is just beginning. Allison has been living with a terrible secret, a shocking truth that powerful men will kill to keep buried. If they know she’s alive, they will come for her. She must make it home.

In the small community of Owl Creek, Maine, Maggie Carpenter learns that her only child is presumed dead. But authorities have not recovered her body — giving Maggie a shred of hope. She, too, harbors a shameful secret: she hasn’t communicated with her daughter in two years, since a family tragedy drove Allison away. Maggie doesn’t know anything about her daughter’s life now — not even that she was engaged to wealthy pharmaceutical CEO Ben Gardner, or why she was on a private plane.

As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers. Immersing herself in Allison’s life, she discovers a sleek socialite hiding dark secrets. What was Allison running from — and can Maggie uncover the truth in time to save her?

Told from the perspectives of a mother and daughter separated by distance but united by an unbreakable bond, Freefall is a riveting debut novel about two tenacious women overcoming unimaginable obstacles to protect themselves and those they love.

This has been compared to Noah Hawley’s Before the Fall, a novel I very much enjoyed. It also sounds like an interesting premise. Looking forward to reading it. Freefall is due to be published in North America by Harper (January 8th), and in the UK by Harvill Secker (January 31st).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Flynn Berry, A DOUBLE LIFE (Viking)

Claire is a hardworking doctor leading a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it.

Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family’s townhouse. The next morning, her father’s car was found abandoned near the English Channel, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she’d seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since.

When the police tell Claire they’ve found him, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture. She doesn’t know if she’s the daughter of a murderer or a wronged man, but Claire will soon learn how far she’ll go to finally find the truth.

Loosely inspired by one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century – the Lord Lucan case – A Double Life is at once a riveting page-turner and a moving reflection on women and violence, trauma and memory, and class and privilege.

This novel caught my attention a little while ago. I haven’t read Berry’s previous novel (Under the Harrow), but I’ve heard good things. A Double Life is published in North America by Viking, and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Miles Cameron, COLD IRON (Orbit)

A young mage-in-training is unwittingly pulled into a violent political upheaval…

Aranthur is a promising young mage. His talents compel him to attend University to develop his abilities further. But the world is not safe for a mage, and after a confrontation leaves him no choice but to display his skill with a blade, Aranthur is instructed to train under a renowned Master of Swords.

During his intensive training he begins to question the bloody life he’s chosen. And while studying under the Master, Aranthur is conscripted to the City Militia. Soon after, he finds himself thrown into the middle of a political revolt that will impact everyone he’s come to know.

To protect his friends, Arnathur will be forced to decide if he can truly follow the Master of Swords into a life of violence and cold-hearted commitment to the blade.

This is the first in a new fantasy series by the author of the critically-acclaimed Traitor Son Cycle. Sounds interesting, and I’m looking forward to giving it a try. Cold Iron is published in North America by Orbit (October 23rd), and in the UK by Gollancz (August 30th).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

M.R. Carey, SOMEONE LIKE ME (Orbit)

A heart-stopping thriller with twists you won’t see coming and a heroine you can’t trust.

Liz Kendall wouldn’t hurt a fly. Even when times get tough, she’s devoted to bringing up her two kids in a loving home.

But there’s another side to Liz — one that’s dark and malicious. She will do anything to get her way, no matter how extreme.

And when this other side of her takes control, the consequences are devastating.

Love her or hate her: there are two sides to every story…

Carey is one of my favourite authors. Of course this is very high on my must-read list. Really looking forward to starting it! Someone Like Me is due to be published by Orbit in North America and in the UK, on November 6th, 2018.

Also on CR: Guest Post on “Writing Strong Women”; Review of The Girl With All the Gifts

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Victor Montgomery Cornwall & Arthur St. John Trevelyan, SCOUNDRELS (Farrago)

Spanning much of the 20th Century, and revolving around the infamous gentlemen’s club of London, SCOUNDRELS is the jaw-dropping memoirs of the disreputable spies, Major Cornwall and Major Trevelyan.

The Majors recount scandalous tales of murder on Everest, panda hunting with the last Chinese Emperor, and the theft of a uniquely sordid item from the Nazi fortress Klunghammer. But why have they been under house arrest for over thirty years?

*

Victor Montgomery Cornwall & Arthur St. John Trevelyan, SCOUNDRELS: THE HUNT FOR HANSCLAPP (Farrago)

Revolving around the infamous gentlemen’s club of London, Scoundrels: The Hunt for Hansclapp continues the combative joint memoirs of adventurer-spies, Major Cornwall and Major Trevelyan.

In this second volume, the Majors recount tales of kidnapping in the Congo, manslaughter on the Orient Express and romance at the Stasi’s Christmas Party. The Majors are reeling from a series of devastating attacks by their Moriarty-like nemesis, Gruber Hansclapp, who is exacting an unspeakably horrific revenge, even by the Majors’ standards. They must also adapt to their new roles as fathers to peculiar and exceptional offspring.

Historically accurate, morally questionable and absolutely true, SCOUNDRELS is one part Flashman to two parts Mordecai Trilogy stirred vigorously and dashed in the face of Ian Fleming. It will leave you with a nasty taste in your mouth, and horribly hungover.

Not sure what to expect from these two books. I started seeing them pop up frequently around the biblio-social media, and was intrigued. On a whim, I requested the books to try them out. I’ll hopefully get to them pretty soon. Scoundrels (out now) and The Hunt for Hansclapp (September 6th) are published by Farrago Books in the UK.

Review copies received via NetGalley

*

Craig Davidson, THE SATURDAY NIGHT GHOST CLUB (Knopf Canada)

When neurosurgeon Jake Baker operates, he knows he’s handling more than a patient’s delicate brain tissue — he’s altering their seat of consciousness, their golden vault of memory. And memory, Jake knows well, can be a tricky thing.

When growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls, a.k.a. Cataract City — a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place — one of Jake’s closest confidantes was his uncle Calvin, a sweet but eccentric misfit enamored of occult artefacts and outlandish conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turned twelve, Calvin invited him to join the “Saturday Night Ghost Club” — a seemingly light-hearted project to investigate some of Cataract City’s more macabre urban myths. Over the course of that life-altering summer, Jake not only fell in love and began to imagine his future, he slowly, painfully came to realize that his uncle’s preoccupation with chilling legends sprang from something buried so deep in his past that Calvin himself was unaware of it.

By turns heartwarming and devastating, written with the skill and cinematic immediacy that has made Craig Davidson a star, The Saturday Night Ghost Club is a bravura performance from one of our most remarkable literary talents: a note-perfect novel that poignantly examines the fragility and resilience of mind, body and human spirit, as well as the haunting mutability of memory and story.

Spotted this slim novel a while ago, and thought it sounded interesting. The Saturday Night Ghost Club is out now, published by Knopf Canada.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

*

Sebastien de Castell, CHARMCASTER (Orbit)

A failed mage learns that just because he’s not the chosen one it doesn’t mean he can’t be a hero…

Kellen’s life as an outlaw spellslinger is about to get a lot worse.

In Gitabria, a miraculous discovery draws spies from all over the continent willing to kill to get their hands on it. Swept up in the race for power, Kellen is forced to join the pursuit. But the invention holds a dark secret-one that could spark a war.

This is the third novel in de Castell’s Spellslinger fantasy series. I now have the firs three books, but keep forgetting to start them! I really enjoy de Castell’s work — his Greatcoats series is fantastic and a must-read for fantasy readers. I’ll try to get to these novels ASAP. Charmcaster is due to be published on September 18th by Orbit in North America; and is out now in the UK, published by Hot Key Books.

Also on CR: Interviews with Sebastien de Castell — 2014 and 2017; Guest Post on “Where Writers Get Their Groove”; Reviews of Traitor’s Blade and Knight’s Shadow

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

N.S. Dolkart, A BREACH IN THE HEAVENS (Angry Robot Books)

The End Times have arrived. For over a decade, the sorceress Phaedra has had a single, vital task: to keep the world of the elves separated from humanity’s. But when her world experiences its first skyquake, it’s clear that something is very wrong. Has all Phaedra’s work been for nothing? She’ll need a new plan – and her friends’ help – to keep the worlds from smashing into each other and shredding all of creation.

Unfortunately, not everyone likes the new plan. To the God of the Underworld, destroying creation doesn’t seem like such a bad idea…

This is the conclusion to Dolkart’s Godserfs fantasy series, which started with Silent Hall. One that looks really interesting, but for some reason I ended up missing — I have all of the novels, though, so I now really have no excuse to not give it a try. Hopefully soon. A Breach in the Heavens is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in the UK and North America, on October 2nd.

Also on CR: Excerpt from Silent Hill

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Esi Edugyan, WASHINGTON BLACK (Harper Collins)

When two English brothers arrive at a Barbados sugar plantation, they bring with them a darkness beyond what the slaves have already known. Washington Black – an eleven year-old field slave – is horrified to find himself chosen to live in the quarters of one of these men. But the man is not as Washington expects him to be. His new master is the eccentric Christopher Wilde – naturalist, explorer, inventor and abolitionist – whose obsession to perfect a winged flying machine disturbs all who know him. Washington is initiated into a world of wonder: a world where the night sea is set alight with fields of jellyfish, where a simple cloth canopy can propel a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning – and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human.

But when a man is killed one fateful night, Washington is left to the mercy of his new masters. Christopher Wilde must choose between family ties and young Washington’s life. What follows is a flight along the eastern coast of America, as the men attempt to elude the bounty that has been placed on Washington’s head. Their journey opens them up to the extraordinary: to a dark encounter with a necropsicist, a scholar of the flesh; to a voyage aboard a vessel captained by a hunter of a different kind; to a glimpse through an unexpected portal into the Underground Railroad. This is a novel of fraught bonds and betrayal. What brings Wilde and Washington together ultimately tears them apart, leaving Washington to seek his true self in a world that denies his very existence.

From the blistering cane fields of Barbados to the icy plains of the Canadian Arctic, from the mud-drowned streets of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black teems with all the strangeness of life. This inventive, electrifying novel asks, What is Freedom? And can a life salvaged from the ashes ever be made whole?

I only learned of this novel when it was announced that it was on the long-list for the Man Booker Prize, despite not yet being out. While I am on the fence about that long-listing, I took a look at the synopsis and my interest was very much piqued. I’m really looking forward to reading this novel. Washington Black is published by Patrick Crean Editions in Canada, Knopf in the US, and Serpent’s Tail in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

Review copy received from publisher

*

Ben Fountain, BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY BURN AGAIN (Ecco)

In a sweeping work of reportage set over the course of 2016, bestselling author Ben Fountain recounts a surreal year of politics and an exploration of the third American existential crisis

Twice before in its history, the United States has been faced with a crisis so severe it was forced to reinvent itself in order to survive: first, the struggle over slavery, culminating in the Civil War, and the second, the Great Depression, which led to President Roosevelt’s New Deal and the establishment of America as a social-democratic state. In a sequence of essays that excavate the past while laying bare the political upheaval of 2016, Ben Fountain argues that the United States may be facing a third existential crisis, one that will require a “burning” of the old order as America attempts to remake itself.

Beautiful Country Burn Again narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa Caucus to the crystalizing moments of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and culminating in the aftershocks of the weeks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present, from the hollowed-out notion of the American Dream, to Richard Nixon’s southern strategy, to our weaponized new conception of American exceptionalism, to the cult of celebrity that gave rise to Donald Trump.

In an urgent and deeply incisive voice, Ben Fountain has fused history and the present day to paint a startling portrait of the state of our nation.  Beautiful Country Burn Again is a searing indictment of how we came to this point, and where we may be headed.

A new non-fiction book from the author of the best-selling Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. It’s been getting a fair amount of press already, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Beautiful Country Burn Again is due to be published in North America by Ecco Books (September 25th), and Canongate in the UK (November 1st).

Follow the Author: Goodreads

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

William W. Freehling, BECOMING LINCOLN (University of Virginia Press)

Previous biographies of Abraham Lincoln — universally acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents — have typically focused on his experiences in the White House. In Becoming Lincoln, renowned historian William Freehling instead emphasizes the prewar years, revealing how Lincoln came to be the extraordinary leader who would guide the nation through its most bitter chapter.

Freehling’s engaging narrative focuses anew on Lincoln’s journey. The epic highlights Lincoln’s difficult family life, first with his father and later with his wife. We learn about the staggering number of setbacks and recoveries Lincoln experienced. We witness Lincoln’s famous embodiment of the self-made man (although he sought and received critical help from others).

The book traces Lincoln from his tough childhood through incarnations as a bankrupt with few prospects, a superb lawyer, a canny two-party politician, a great orator, a failed state legislator, and a losing senatorial candidate, to a winning presidential contender and a besieged six weeks as a pre-war president.

As Lincoln’s individual life unfolds, so does the American nineteenth century. Few great Americans have endured such pain but been rewarded with such success. Few lives have seen so much color and drama. Few mirror so uncannily the great themes of their own society. No one so well illustrates the emergence of our national economy and the causes of the Civil War.

The book concludes with a substantial epilogue in which Freehling turns to Lincoln’s wartime presidency to assess how the preceding fifty-one years of experience shaped the Great Emancipator’s final four years. Extensively illustrated, nuanced but swiftly paced, and full of examples that vividly bring Lincoln to life for the modern reader, this new biography shows how an ordinary young man from the Midwest prepared to become, against almost absurd odds, our most tested and successful president.

Like many people who study the US presidency, I find Lincoln to be a fascinating subject. Not only did he do so much good for the country, but he is in himself an interesting and quirky character. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals is unlikely to be toppled as the best book on his presidency,* but I am always looking for more books about the 16th president. Freehling, a scholar of the Civil War (and fierce opponent to revisionist attempts at history — yes, it really was about slavery), looks at Lincoln’s pre-Civil War presidency, and how this time shaped him as a leader and man. Becoming Lincoln is due to be published by University of Virginia Press on September 25th, 2018.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

I would also recommend Goodwin’s latest book, Leadership (UK), in which she compares the approaches of four presidents to the question of “How do you become and be a good leader?” I finished it recently, and found it to be very informative, readable, and excellently written.

*

John French, INCARNATION (Black Library)

Darkness approaches Dominicus Prime, a literal Season of Night that brings with it portents, madness and strange happenings. Standing alone as a beacon against the darkness is the Monastery of the Last Candle, a temple to the holy light of the Emperor. As the bishops and the cardinals vie for power and influence, a crisis looms among the Pilgrim Drift who are starving in their droves. Discord is rife and there are whispers of a rising cult, one committed to blood and horror. Into this political powder keg comes Inquisitor Covenant and his followers. Drawn to the shrineworld by the prescience of the Emperor’s Tarot, they come seeking the agents of the Triumverate, a sect of Horusians bent on power themselves. It is the belief of Covenant that these radicals seek an incarnation, nothing less than a divine vessel, a living saint. To what end, he can only surmise, but Covenant knows it cannot bode well. He must deny the Horusians at any cost. The fate of the very sector may be determined by it.

This is the second novel in French’s Horusian Wars series, following Resurrection. I haven’t had the chance to read the first novel, but after reading Slaves of Darkness recently, I decided to pick this up so I can get caught up quickly. Incarnation is published by Black Library, and is out now.

*

John French, TALLARN (Black Library)

As the Warmaster’s campaign of galactic domination continues, his generals seek out fresh battlefields to conquer. After leaving the Crone World of Iydris behind, Perturabo strikes for Tallarn. A bitter, vengeful primarch, the lord of the Iron Warriors unleashes a deadly bombardment against the world, killing millions but entrenching the survivors. A brutal, all-consuming armoured conflict ensues, the greatest of the war, and one that grinds down all combatants over more than a year of relentless battles. But Perturabo’s reasons for the attack are about more than unleashing punitive destruction against the Imperium – he has an entirely darker purpose in mind.

After reading (and very much enjoying) French’s Slaves to Darkness, the latest Horus Heresy, I realized that I hadn’t read Tallarn (Perturabo features prominently in both). So, I decided to pick it up and get better caught up (I have read one of the novellas that is included in this book).

Also on CR: Reviews of Praetorian of Dorn, Ahriman series — Exile, Exodus, Sorcerer and Unchanged

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

David Gordon, THE BOUNCER (Mysterious Press)

Nothing and no one is as expected — from a vial of yellow fragrance to a gangster who moonlights in women’s clothes…

Joe Brody is just your average Dostoevsky-reading, Harvard-expelled strip club bouncer who has a highly classified military history and whose best friend from Catholic school happens to be head mafioso Gio Caprisi. FBI agent Donna Zamora, the best shot in her class at Quantico, is a single mother stuck at a desk manning the hotline. Their storylines intersect over a tip from a cokehead that leads to a crackdown on Gio’s strip joint in Queens and Joe’s arrest — just one piece of a city-wide sweep aimed at flushing out anyone who might have a lead on the various terrorists whose photos are hanging on the wall under Most Wanted. Outside the jailhouse, the Fed and the bouncer lock eyes, as Gordon launches them both headlong into a nonstop plot that goes from back-road gun show intervention to high-stakes perfume heist and manages to touch everyone from the CIA to the Flushing Triads. Beneath it all lurks a sinister criminal mastermind whose manipulations could cause chaos on a massively violent scale.

I don’t remember exactly when I first learned about this title — I think it was probably via Edelweiss. I’m a fan of many of Grove/Atlantic’s authors, and after reading the synopsis for The Bouncer, I knew I wanted to give it a try. Hopefully I’ll read it very soon. The Bouncer is published by the Mysterious Press in North America, and Head of Zeus in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden, CEMETERY GIRL: HAUNTED (Dynamite)

They call her the Ghost of Dunhill Cemetery, but most people think “the Cemetery Girl” is just a story. In some ways, that’s true. Her chosen name is Calexa Rose Dunhill, but she doesn’t know her real name. When she first arrived here, all she knew was that someone had tried to murder her, dumped her body, and left her for dead. Calexa has been hiding out, afraid to seek out her true identity in fear that her would-be murderer would find her and finish the job. And someone is searching for her… a man named Salazar, who holds the key that will unlock the secrets of Calexa’s past.

Calexa has new secrets as well-including the fact that she was murdered… she did die, if only for a moment. And in that moment, something changed inside her. Now, if someone dies near her, their spirit is drawn to Calexa, drawn into her. It has happened twice before, but now-as her worst fears come true and there are killers on her trail-the third ghost to take up residence in Calexa’s soul will change everything and bring the Cemetery Girl trilogy to its shocking conclusion!

This is the third and final book in Harris & Golden’s Cemetery Girl graphic novel series. I’ve read (and enjoyed) the first book, but the second seemed to pass me by. I’ll try to get caught up as soon as I can. Haunted is published in North America by Dynamite Comics, and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books (November 8th).

Follow the Author (Harris): Website, Goodreads, Twitter
Follow the Author (Golden): Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from publisher

*

D.B. Jackson, TIME’S CHILDREN (Angry Robot Books)

A time traveller trapped in a violent past must protect the orphaned child of a murdered sovereign, and find a way back to his own time…

Fifteen year-old Tobias Doljan, a Walker trained to travel through time, is called to serve at the court of Daerjen. The sovereign, Mearlan IV, wants him to Walk back fourteen years, to prevent a devastating war which will destroy all of Islevale. Even though the journey will double Tobias’ age, he agrees. But he arrives to discover Mearlan has already been assassinated, and his court destroyed. The only survivor is the infant princess, Sofya. Still a boy inside his newly adult body, Tobias must find a way to protect the princess from assassins, and build himself a future… in the past.

A new fantasy series from the author of the Thieftaker novels. I first heard of Jackson’s novels when I was in the US briefly, and picked up the first in his Thieftaker series. At the time, his books weren’t widely available in the UK and so they kind of dropped off my radar for a bit. After moving to Canada, though, I decided to give them a try again. He’s a good writer, and I’m really looking forward to trying this new series. Time’s Children is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in the UK and North America, on

Also on CR: Interview with D.B. Jackson (2012)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Gregory B. Jaczko, CONFESSIONS OF A ROGUE NUCLEAR REGULATOR (Simon & Schuster)

A shocking exposé from the most powerful insider in nuclear regulation about how the nuclear energy industry endangers our lives — and why Congress does nothing to stop it.

Greg Jaczko never planned things to turn out this way. A Birkenstocks-wearing physics PhD, he had never heard of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) when he came to Washington and — thanks to the determination of a powerful senator — found himself at the agency’s head. He felt like Dorothy invited behind the curtain at Oz.

The problem was that Jaczko wasn’t the kind of leader the NRC had seen before: he had no ties to the nuclear industry, few connections in Washington, and no agenda other than to ensure that nuclear technology was deployed safely. And so he witnessed what outsiders like him were never meant to see, including an agency overpowered by the industry it was meant to regulate and a political system determined to keep it that way. After the shocking nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan, and the American nuclear industry’s refusal to make the changes necessary to prevent a catastrophe like that from happening here, Jaczko started saying something aloud that no one else had dared: nuclear power has fatal flaws.

Written in a tone that’s equal parts self-deprecating, puzzled, and passionate, Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator tells the story of a man who got pushed from his high perch for fighting to keep Americans safe. Never before has the chairman of the world’s foremost nuclear regulatory agency challenged the nuclear industry to expose how these companies put us at risk. Because if we (and they) don’t act now, there will be another Fukushima. Only this time, it could happen here.

Always on the look-out for new perspectives on US politics and policy, and this caught my eye as especially interesting. Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator is published in North America by Simon & Schuster, in January 2019.

Follow the Author: Goodreads

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Steven James, EVERY WICKED MAN (Berkley)

A criminal mastermind’s chilling terrorist plot forces FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers to the brink…

When a senator’s son takes his own life and posts the video live online, Agent Bowers is drawn into a complex web of lies that begins to threaten the people he loves the most. As he races to unravel the mystery behind the suicide and a centuries-old code that might help shed light on the case, he finds a dark pathway laced with twists and deadly secrets that touch a little too close to home.

A fast-paced, intelligent thriller, Every Wicked Man will have readers racing through the pages to its thundering conclusion.

This is the eleventh book in James’s Bowers Files thriller series. I hadn’t heard of it before recently (I have a guest post by the author on the way), but I have since picked up the first couple of books. It sounds interesting, and I’m always on the look-out for more crime, thriller and mystery series. Every Wicked Man is due to be published by Berkley on September 4th, 2018 (it will also be available in the UK).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Eyal Kless, THE LOST PUZZLER (Voyager)

A post-dystopian novel about a society hoping to salvage the technology of a lost generation, a mysterious missing boy who can open doors no one else can, and a scribe who must piece together the past to determine humanity’s future.

More than a hundred years have passed since the Great Catastrophe brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Those who survived are changed. The Wildeners have reverted to the old ways, praying to new Gods, while others place their faith in the technology that once powered their lost civilization.

In the mysterious City of Towers, the center of the destroyed Tarakan empire, a lowly scribe of the Guild of Historians is charged with a dangerous assignment. He must venture into the wilds beyond the glass and steel towers to discover the fate of a child who mysteriously disappeared more than a decade before. Born of a rare breed of marked people, Rafik — known as “The Key” — was one of a special few with the power to restore this lost civilization to glory once again.

In a world riven by fear and violence, where tattooed mutants, manic truckers, warring guilds and greedy mercenaries battle for survival, this one boy may have singlehandedly destroyed humanity’s only chance for salvation — unless the scribe can figure out what happened to him.

This sounds really interesting. Also interesting is the fact that the author is a professional violinist. (Not relevant, really, but I found it interesting.) The first novel in the Tarakan Chronicles, The Lost Puzzler is due to be published by Voyager in North America and in the UK, in January 2018.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Sam Lipsyte, HARK (Simon & Schuster)

A brilliant send-up of our contemporary culture, centered around an unwitting mindfulness guru and the phenomenon he initiates.

In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental collapse, and spiritual confusion, many folks are searching for peace, salvation, and — perhaps most immediately — just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, an unwitting guru whose technique of “Mental Archery” — a combination of mindfulness, mythology, fake history, yoga, and, well, archery — is set to captivate the masses and raise him to near-messiah status. It’s a role he never asked for, and one he is woefully underprepared to take on. But his inner-circle of modern pilgrims have other plans, as do some suddenly powerful fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a crossbow-hunting veteran of jungle drug wars, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish.

In this social satire of the highest order, Sam Lipsyte, the New York Times bestseller and master of the form, reaches new peaks of daring in a novel that revels in contemporary absurdity and the wild poetry of everyday language while exploring the emotional truths of his characters. Hark is a smart, incisive look at men, women, and children seeking meaning and dignity in a chaotic, ridiculous, and often dangerous world.

I requested this a bit on a whim. I thought it sounded like it could be amusing. As always, when it comes to humorous novels, though, I always approach them with caution. Anyway, Hark is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2019.

Follow the Author: Goodreads

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Jonathan Maberry, DEEP SILENCE (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Terrorists-for-hire have created a weapon that can induce earthquakes and cause dormant volcanoes to erupt. One terrifying side-effect of the weapon is that prior to the devastation, the vibrations drive ordinary people to suicide and violence. A wave of madness begins sweeping the country beginning with a mass shooting in Congress. Joe Ledger and his team go on a wild hunt to stop the terrorists and uncover the global super-power secretly funding them. At every step the stakes increase as it becomes clear that the end-game of this campaign of terror is igniting the Yellowstone caldera, the super-volcano that could destroy America.

DEEP SILENCE pits Joe Ledger against terrorists with bleeding-edge science weapons, an international conspiracy, ancient technologies from Atlantis and Lemuria, and an escalating threat that could crack open the entire Earth.

This is the twelfth and final book in Maberry’s Joe Ledger series. Unfortunately, I’ve not read any of the preceding eleven novels, so I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be able to get around to reading this one. The series sounds quite interesting, though, so I’ll try to hunt down the first book to give it a try. Deep Silence is published by St. Martin’s Griffin in North America on October 30th, 2018 (it will be available in the UK, too).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from publisher

*

Mindy Mejia, LEAVE NO TRACE (Quercus)

A hostile wilderness is watching you.

Ten years after a boy and his father went missing in the wilderness of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, the boy — who is no longer a boy — walks back out of the forest. He is violent and uncommunicative. The authorities take him to Congdon Mental Institution in Duluth, on the edge of mighty Lake Superior.

There, language therapist Maya Stark is given the task of making a connection with this boy/man who came back from the dead. But their celebrity patient tries to escape and refuses to answer any questions about his father or the last ten years of his life. In many ways he is old far beyond his years; in others, still a child.

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world — but at what cost to herself?

Mejia’s previous novel, The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman (Everything You Want Me to Be in the US) was incredibly successful and popular. Given that I’m terrible at keeping on top of my TBR Mountain, I have yet to read it… I’ll try to remedy this ASAP, and also get around to this new novel shortly thereafter. Leave No Trace is published by Quercus Books in the UK, and Atria/Emily Bestler in North America.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Sara Paretsky, SHELL GAME (Hodder)

The new V.I. Warshawski novel from the New York Times bestselling author pits acclaimed detective V.I. Warshawski against some of today’s most powerful figures.

Legendary sleuth V.I. Warshawski returns to the Windy City to save an old friend’s nephew from a murder arrest. The case involves a stolen artifact that could implicate a shadowy network of international criminals. As V.I. investigates, the detective soon finds herself tangling with the Russian mob, ISIS backers, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen art that stretches from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East.

In Shell Game, nothing and no one are what they seem, except for the detective herself, who loses sleep, money, and blood, but remains indomitable in her quest for justice.

This is the 19th novel in Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski series. I haven’t read any of the novels, yet, but it’s been on my radar for quite some time. Hopefully I’ll give it a try in the near future. (So many books, so little time…) Shell Game is published by Hodder in the UK and William Morrow in North America, on October 16th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from publisher

*

Matthew Quirk, THE NIGHT AGENT (William Morrow)

To find a Russian mole in the White House, an FBI agent must question everything… and trust no one.

No one was more surprised than FBI Agent Peter Sutherland when he’s tapped to work in the White House Situation Room. From his earliest days as a surveillance specialist, Peter has scrupulously done everything by the book, hoping his record will help him escape the taint of his past. When Peter was a boy, his father, a section chief in FBI counterintelligence, was suspected of selling secrets to the Russians — a catastrophic breach that had cost him his career, his reputation, and eventually his life.

Peter knows intimately how one broken rule can cost lives. Nowhere is he more vigilant than in this room, the sanctum of America’s secrets. Staffing the night action desk, his job is monitoring an emergency line for a call that has not — and might never — come.

Until tonight.

At 1:05 a.m. the phone rings. A terrified young woman named Rose tells Peter that her aunt and uncle have just been murdered and that the killer is still in the house with her. Before their deaths, they gave her this phone number with urgent instructions: “Tell them OSPREY was right. It’s happening…”

The call thrusts Peter into the heart of a conspiracy years in the making, involving a Russian mole at the highest levels of the government. Anyone in the White House could be the traitor. Anyone could be corrupted. To save the nation, Peter must take the rules into his own hands and do the right thing, no matter the cost. He plunges into a desperate hunt for the traitor — a treacherous odyssey that pits him and Rose against some of Russia’s most skilled and ruthless operatives and the full force of the FBI itself.

Peter knows that the wider a secret is broadcast, the more dangerous it gets for the people at the center. With the fate of the country on the line, he and Rose must evade seasoned assassins and maneuver past jolting betrayals to find the shocking truth — and stop the threat from inside before it’s too late.

I blitzed through Quirk’s debut novel, The 500, in a single night. I didn’t click with his second novel quite as much, but it was still enjoyable. This new novel looks like it will be dialled in to the current US political climate quite nicely. The Night Agent is published by William Morrow on January 15th, 2019. I’ll read this soon, but I’ll hold off on posting a review until closer to its release date. (Some of his previous novels have been published by Mulholland Books in the UK, but I’m not sure about this new one — maybe too early to have details.)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Kim Stanley Robinson, RED MOON (Orbit)

It is thirty years from now, and we have colonized the moon.

American Fred Fredericks is making his first trip, his purpose to install a communications system for China’s Lunar Science Foundation. But hours after his arrival he witnesses a murder and is forced into hiding.

It is also the first visit for celebrity travel reporter Ta Shu. He has contacts and influence, but he too will find that the moon can be a perilous place for any traveler.

Finally, there is Chan Qi. She is the daughter of the Minister of Finance, and without doubt a person of interest to those in power. She is on the moon for reasons of her own, but when she attempts to return to China, in secret, the events that unfold will change everything – on the moon, and on Earth.

New sci-fi novel from Robinson is always something to pique one’s interest. This one sounds really interesting, too. Red Moon is due to be published by Orbit Books in North America and in the UK, in late October 2018.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

Review copy received via NetGalley

*

Axl Rosenberg & Christopher Krovatin, HELLRAISERS (Race Point Publishing)

A pair of metalheads well versed in everything from Anthrax to Zeppelin take you through the metal halls of history in Hellraisers. Time to crank the volume and throw the horns!

Take a journey through the history of metal music from its earliest roots with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to its popular modern incarnations like experimental black metal, stoner doom, and djent. Get incredible looks at modern prog metal musicians tearing up the fret board, or remember some of your favorite, old 38s from years gone by. Everything from AC/DC and Anthrax to Meshuggah and Mastodon is on display in this superfan’s-eye-view exploration of metal’s most innovative and hardcore sounds that can be heard around the world.

Co-authored by Axl Rosenberg and Chris Krovatin of the hugely popular blog metalsucks.com, this is a visually dynamic history, complete with exclusive band interviews, over 200 full color photos, genre-by-genre playlists, and plenty more to keep you throwing horns all night long.

Thought this could be interesting. Hellraisers is out now, published by Race Point Publishing in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Tom Rosenstiel, THE GOOD LIE (Ecco)

Political fixer Peter Rena is hired by the president to investigate the bombing of an American military base overseas

When a shadowy American diplomatic complex is attacked in North Africa, the White House is besieged by accusations of incompetence and wild conspiracy theories. Eager to learn the truth, the president and his staff turn to Peter Rena and his partner, Randi Brooks. The investigators dive headfirst into the furtive world of foreign intelligence and national security, hoping to do it quietly. That becomes impossible, though, when it blows up into an all-out public scandal: Congress opens hearings and a tireless national security reporter publishes a bombshell exposé.

Now, Rena and Brooks are caught in the middle. The White House wants to prevent debilitating fallout for the president, the military appears to be in shutdown mode, the press is hungry for another big story, and rival politicians are plotting their next move. Rena learns the hard way that secrets in Washington come with a very high price. 

With intelligence, style, and a breakneck pace, The Good Lieexplores the contours of secrets, lies, and the dangers of a never-ending war.

Loved Rosenstiel’s debut novel, The Shining City, and have been looking forward to this novel ever since finishing that book. I’ll be reading this very soon, I’m sure, but I’ll hold off on posting a review until closer to the release date. The Good Lie is due to be published by Ecco Books in North America, on February 12th, 2019 (it will also be available in the UK).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received via Edelweiss

*

Michael Rutger, THE ANOMALY (Grand Central)

Not all secrets are meant to be found.

If Indiana Jones lived in the X-Files era, he might bear at least a passing resemblance to Nolan Moore — a rogue archaeologist hosting a documentary series derisively dismissed by the “real” experts, but beloved of conspiracy theorists.

Nolan sets out to retrace the steps of an explorer from 1909 who claimed to have discovered a mysterious cavern high up in the ancient rock of the Grand Canyon. And, for once, he may have actually found what he seeks. Then the trip takes a nasty turn, and the cave begins turning against them in mysterious ways.

Nolan’s story becomes one of survival against seemingly impossible odds. The only way out is to answer a series of intriguing questions: What is this strange cave? How has it remained hidden for so long? And what secret does it conceal that made its last visitors attempt to seal it forever?

This has been getting some pretty good attention, before and since publication. Looking forward to giving it a try. The Anomaly is out now, published by Grand Central in North America, and Zaffre in the UK. (“Michael Rutger” is a pseudonym for best-selling author Michael Marshall Smith.)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

David Small, HOME AFTER DARK (McClellan & Stewart)

A stunning story of one boy’s heartbreaking coming of age in 1950s America.

After his mother abandons the family, thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt moves with his Korean War veteran father to a small town in southern California. Eager to fit in and figure out the mystifying rules of being a man, he succumbs to the sway of boys more feral than himself–leading to an act of betrayal that will have devastating consequences. Told through cinematic artwork that will transfix readers with its visceral potency and grace, Home After Dark is a mesmerizing evocation of a boy’s struggle to survive the everyday brutalities of adolescence, and forge his own path to manhood.

Haven’t read anything by Small before, but I’ve heard good things from others. This sounds interesting, too, so I was intrigued. Home After Dark is published in Canada by McClellan & Stewart, and in North America and in the UK by Liveright.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

Review copy received from publisher

*

Anna Smith Spark, THE TOWER OF LIVING AND DYING (Orbit)

KING OF RUIN. KING OF DUST AND SHADOWS. KING OF DEATH. HE WILL RULE ALL. THE KING IS COMING.

Marith Altrersyr – father-killer, dragonlord, leader of the blood-soaked Amrath Army – is keeping his promises. He is determined to become King of all Irlast and take back the seat of his ancestors.

Only Thalia, once high priestess of the Lord of Living and Dying, the holiest woman in the Empire, might stop Marith and his army’s deadly march. But she is torn between two destinies – and if she was to return home, what would she fi nd there? A city on the brink of ruin: diseased, despairing, dying?

Crawling through a tunnel deep under the ruins of her city, Landra Relast vows vengeance. Her family has been burned, her home destroyed, and now Marith – once her betrothed – must die.

But as Landra cuts through the wasteland left in the wake of Marith’s army, she finds that she is not the only one who wishes him ill…

This is the sequel to Spark’s critically-acclaimed debut, The Court of Broken Knives. I haven’t yet had the chance to finish the first novel, but when I do I’m sure I’ll roll right into this new one. The Tower of Living and Dying is out now, published by Orbit in North America and Voyager in the UK.

Also on CR: Interview with Anna Smith Spark (2017)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from author

*

Martha Wells, EXIT STRATEGY (Tor.com)

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah — its former owner (protector? friend?) — submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?

This is the highly-anticipated fourth novella in Wells’s excellent Murderbot Diaries. I loved the first three, and had been eagerly awaiting my chance to read this next book ever since. I read and finished it on the same day I received it — and, I’m happy to report that it’s another great novella. Exit Strategy is due to be published by Tor.com in North America and in the UK, on October 2nd, 2018.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from publisher

*

Cherise Wolas, THE FAMILY TABOR (Flatiron Books)

Harry Tabor is about to be named Man of the Decade, a distinction that feels like the culmination of a life well lived. Gathering together in Palm Springs for the celebration are his wife, Roma, a distinguished child psychologist, and their children: Phoebe, a high-powered attorney; Camille, a brilliant social anthropologist; and Simon, a big-firm lawyer, who brings his glamorous wife and two young daughters.

But immediately, cracks begin to appear in this smooth facade: Simon hasn’t been sleeping through the night, Camille can’t decide what to do with her life, and Phoebe is a little too cagey about her new boyfriend. Roma knows her children are hiding things. What she doesn’t know, what none of them know, is that Harry is suddenly haunted by the long-buried secret that drove him, decades ago, to relocate his young family to the California desert. As the ceremony nears, the family members are forced to confront the falsehoods upon which their lives are built.

Set over the course of a single weekend, and deftly alternating between the five Tabors, this provocative, gorgeously rendered novel, reckons with the nature of the stories we tell ourselves and our family and the price we pay for second chances.

Despite the synopsis being quite different, when I first read about this novel I thought about The Nest (which I loved). No idea why that thought planted itself in my mind and stubbornly stuck. Regardless, ever since stumbling across the synopsis, I’ve wanted to read the novel. I will do so very soon. The Family Tabor is published by Flatiron Books in North America, and The Borough Press in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Chris Wraight, THE LORDS OF SILENCE (Black Library)

The Cadian Gate is broken, and the Imperium is riven in two. The might of the Traitor Legions, kept shackled for millennia behind walls of iron and sorcery, has been unleashed on a darkening galaxy.

Among those seeking vengeance on the Corpse Emperor’s faltering realm are the Death Guard, once proud crusaders of the Legiones Astartes, now debased creatures of terror and contagion. Mighty warbands carve bloody paths through the void, answering their lord primarch’s call to war. And yet for all their dread might in arms, there is no escape from the vicious legacies of the past, ones that will pursue them from the ruined daemon-worlds of the Eye of Terror and out into the smouldering wastes of the Imperium Nihilus.

A new series from Chris Wraight, one of the best authors writing for Black Library. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since it was announced. The Lords of Silence is out now, published by Black Library.

Also on CR: Interview with Chris Wraight (2011); Review of The Path of Heaven

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

*

Jane Yolen, FINDING BABA YAGA (Tor.com)

A young woman discovers the power to speak up and take control of her fate — a theme that has never been more timely than it is now…

You think you know this story.

You do not.

A harsh, controlling father. A quiescent mother. A house that feels like anything but a home. Natasha gathers the strength to leave, and comes upon a little house in the wood: A house that walks about on chicken feet and is inhabited by a fairy tale witch. In finding Baba Yaga, Natasha finds her voice, her power, herself….

I have no idea what to expect from this book, so I’m looking forward to giving it a try. Finding Baba Yaga is due to be published on October 30th by Tor.com, in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review copy received from publisher