Another new books post, arriving pretty soon after the previous one — usually it takes a little while to acquire 12 new books, but I guess a few publishers are having an end-of-year push to get 2025 titles out to reviewers (not complaining!).

Featuring: Samantha M. Bailey, Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna, Jon Cowan, Kate Elliott, Lee Goldberg, Jess Kidd, Felipe Torres Medina, Tochi Onyebuchi, Joe Pan, Robert Rotenberg, Debbie Urbanski, A.J. West

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Samantha M. Bailey, HELLO, JULIET (Thomas & Mercer)

A TV reunion brings costars back for the drama and betrayals their viewers once craved — and this time, the stakes are deadly.

Ivy Westcott fled LA as her acting career imploded. In a flash, she lost her first love and chosen family — her Hello, Juliet castmates. But she never discovered who turned her closest friends against her. Now the whole world knows her as #PoisonIvy.

A decade later, Ivy is horrified when a celebrity exposé thrusts the Hello, Juliet cast back into the limelight, dredging up the old scandals she hoped to escape. Desperate for a fresh start and some financial stability for her mother and manager, Ivy agrees to participate in a top-secret reunion episode.

Ivy’s poised for a comeback, but past betrayals become a present danger when she and the man who once broke her heart find their costar dead.

Determined to find justice and clear her name, Ivy must tear down the facades of cast and crew to uncover chilling secrets that have plagued the Hollywood set from day one. Or she could be the next to die.

Thought this sounded interesting (and I’m sure frequent CR readers know that I had a soft-spot for Hollywood-set thrillers/mysteries). I haven’t read any of Bailey’s other novels, so hoping this is a good introduction to the author’s work. Hello, Juliet is due to be published by Thomas & Mercer in North America and in the UK, on April 29th, 2025.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna, THE AI CON (Harper)

A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold under this banner, and why it’s crucial to recognize the many ways in which AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the world.

Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Have big tech scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to put authors, artists, and others out of business? Are we about to enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything?

The answer to these questions, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna make clear, is “no,” “they wish,” “LOL,” and “definitely not.” This kind of thinking is a symptom of a phenomenon known as “AI hype.” Hype looks and smells fishy: It twists words and helps the rich get richer by justifying data theft, motivating surveillance capitalism, and devaluing human creativity in order to replace meaningful work with jobs that treat people like machines. In The AI Con, Bender and Hanna offer a sharp, witty, and wide-ranging take-down of AI hype across its many forms.

Bender and Hanna show you how to spot AI hype, how to deconstruct it, and how to expose the power grabs it aims to hide. Armed with these tools, you will be prepared to push back against AI hype at work, as a consumer in the marketplace, as a skeptical newsreader, and as a citizen holding policymakers to account. Together, Bender and Hanna expose AI hype for what it is: a mask for Big Tech’s drive for profit, with little concern for who it affects

As someone who works in higher education, it’s becoming very difficult to escape the scourge and negative impact of AI on students’ ability to… well, do anything. This past semester, even the better students were confused when I told them they were not allowed to use genAI for their essays. Thought this new book sounded interesting. The AI Con is due to be published by Harper in North America (May 13th) and Bodley Head in the UK (May 22nd).

Follow the Author (Bender): Website, Goodreads, BlueSky
Follow the Author (Hanna): Website, Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Jon Cowan, PROOF (Gallery)

A riveting and gritty legal thriller about murder, cover-ups, redemption, and Los Angeles…

As a disgraced lawyer with a drinking problem that he doesn’t view as a problem, Jake West is coasting on what’s left of his charm and money. He used to be the kind of lawyer who could convince anyone of anything — until he decided to take on his father’s biggest client and prove his dad was corrupt. Now Jake finds himself almost at rock bottom, and that’s before his ex-best friend is murdered and Jake is accused of the crime.

In a desperate bid to save himself, Jake must sober up and search for the real killer, whom he suspects might be hidden in one of the case files of his father’s illustrious law firm. As he delves into a labyrinth of lies and corruption, Jake teams up with an eclectic group of equally broken people as they all must skirt the law in order to find the proof he needs… no matter the personal or professional cost.

Jon Cowan has been a writer and/or executive producer on a number of successful TV shows, including some that I’ve enjoyed (for example, Bones and Suits). So, when I saw the opportunity to read and review his novel, I jumped at the chance. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Proof is due to be published by Gallery Books in North America on June 24th, 2025.

Follow the Author: IMDb, Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Kate Elliott, (Tor Books)

Status is hereditary, class is bestowed, trust must be earned.

When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen — once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall — is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination.

When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn’t heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn’t the same man who entered.

The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?

The first novel in a new fantasy series from Kate Elliott — one of the most consistently good fantasy authors writing today. This one sounds rather interesting, too, so I’m looking forward to reading it as soon as I can. The Witch Roads is due to be published by Tor Books in North America and in the UK, on June 10th, 2025.

Also on CR: Interview with Kate Elliott (2011); Review of Cold Magic

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Lee Goldberg, HIDDEN IN SMOKE (Thomas & Mercer)

When the crimes of a serial arsonist lead to murder, Sharpe and Walker need detective Eve Ronin to join the hunt…

After dozens of Hollywood apartment buildings erupt in flames during a single night of terror, arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are assigned to catch the serial torcher and end his spree. But then a catastrophic fire destroys a major freeway, crippling the city and forcing Sharpe and Walker to take on another massive case.

Desperate for help, they know exactly who to call: homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone. Together the four detectives must quickly figure out whether the freeway disaster was a tragic accident…or the work of a mastermind with a horrific plan.

As the investigations collide, an old foe with a revenge scheme enters the fray, igniting a race against time to stop a conspiracy of deception, corruption, and murder.

This is the third novel in Goldberg’s Sharpe & Walker series. I’ve enjoyed Goldberg’s novels in the past, but he write so quickly and consistently that I’ve fallen a bit behind. (I still have his very good Eve Ronin series to catch up on, too, so I’ll have to do that before reading about this case that brings the two series together.) Hidden in Smoke is due to be published by Thomas & Mercer in North America and in the UK, on April 22nd, 2025.

Also on CR: Review of Lost Hills

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Jess Kidd, MURDER AT GULLS NEST (Atria Books)

The first in a cozy mystery series about a former nun who searches for answers in a small seaside town after her pen pal mysteriously disappears.

I believe every one of us at Gulls Nest is concealing some kind of secret.

1954: When her former novice’s dependable letters stop, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows. Haunted by a line in Frieda’s letter, Nora arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent.

A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.

The march of “cosy crime” continues apace, with another high-profile author jumping into the genre. This is the first in a new series. It will also be the first of Kidd’s novels that I read. Murder at Gulls Nest is due to be published by Atria Books in North America (April 8th, 2025) and Faber & Faber in the UK (March 13th).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Felipe Torres Medina, AMERICA, LET ME IN (Abrams)

A hilarious and satirically accurate introduction to the United States immigration system from comedian and writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Felipe Torres Medina

Born in Colombia, Felipe Torres Medina moved to the US at the age of 21 and has spent over ten years of his life both navigating the chaos and confusion of the immigration system and explaining that craziness to the clueless Americans around him. There are few subjects that Americans have stronger opinions on. And there are few subjects that they know less about.

So, like many immigrants before him, Torres Medina sets out to do the job American-born citizens won’t: make the US immigration process accessible, relatable, and, hey, a little bit funny. With an outsider’s eye, an insider’s affection, and a biting, humorous flair, Torres Medina invites readers from all passport lines to explore the multiple paths and potholes of moving to America, and experience just how many choices it takes to choose a new home.

In this laugh-out-loud book, you will be taken down a multitude of possible immigration stories that range from the kafkaesquely silly to an uproarious good time. Some of them are real things that happened to Felipe — like discovering in an immigration interview that he shares a name with several criminals — and some of them are totally invented and will make you question your sanity.

By the end of this handy guide, you’ll learn all you need to know about visas like the H-1B work visa, the infamous 90-day fiancé visa, the so-called Einstein visa, and many more. Remember, the fate of each character’s journey is all in your hands. So choose at your own risk.

As someone who once looked into emigrating to the United States (Canada was a much better option), and a fan of Colbert’s Late Show, this naturally caught my attention. Could be interesting. America, Let Me In is due to be published by Abrams Image in North America and in the UK, on March 11th, 2025.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Tochi Onyebuchi, HARMATTAN SEASON (Tor Books)

Fortune always left whatever room I walked into, which is why I don’t leave my place much these days…

Veteran and private eye Boubacar doesn’t need much–least of all trouble — but trouble always seems to find him. Work has dried up, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in dust, but Bouba is a down on his luck deux fois, suspended between two cultures and two worlds.

When a bleeding woman stumbles onto his doorway, only to vanish just as quickly, Bouba reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the secrets of a city boiling on the brink of violence. The French occupiers are keen to keep the peace at any cost, and the indigenous dugulen have long been shattered into restless factions vying for a chance to reclaim their lost heritage and abilities. As each hardwon clue reveals horrifying new truths, Bouba may have to carve out parts of himself he’s long kept hidden, and decide what he’s willing to offer next.

From the visionary author of Riot Baby and Goliath, Harmattan Season is a gripping fantasy noir in the tradition of Chandler, Hammond, and Christie that will have you by the throat–both dryly funny and unforgettably evocative.

I’ve read a few of Onyebuchi’s books, all of which I’ve enjoyed, but the synopsis for his latest really caught my attention, as did the pitch: “hard-boiled fantasy noir: Raymond Chandler meets P. Djèlí Clark in a postcolonial West Africa”. I’ll be getting to this very soon. Harmattan Season is due to be published by Tor Books in North America and in the UK, on May 27th, 2025.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Joe Pan, FLORIDA PALMS (Simon & Schuster)

It’s 2009, the height of the Great Recession. Best friends Eddy, Cueball, and Jesse are fresh out of high school and wild at heart, but the economy is in the dumps. With jobs scarce along Florida’s Space Coast, they join a furniture-moving company run by Cueball’s father, a gruff ex-con biker who’s supposedly retired from the fast life. But when a mysterious old boss arrives in town, the payload is switched out, and the young men are coerced into shipping a new designer drug up the East Coast.

What is advertised as a bastion of brotherhood and respect quickly spirals into back-alley deals, bloodshed, and an all-out turf war that will test the bounds of love and friendship. Enticed by larger paychecks, and fueled by burgeoning drug habits, the young friends find themselves trapped between rank opportunists, warring gangsters, meth zombies, crazed bikers, and a blowgun-wielding hitman, all vying for a shot at the big time.

Soaring, ambitious, and deeply humane, Florida Palms is a gritty coming-of-age story with enormous heart and an unflinching vision of the violence and inequities facing forgotten communities. In a relentless race against desperate circumstances, the young friends must fully embrace the crime life or abandon their loyalties and risk ending up face down in the muck of the unforgiving swamps.

This is Pan’s debut novel, and it has an intriguing premise — “The Outsiders meet Sons of Anarchy… a group of young men dragged into a drug-running operation” — which was enough to add it to my to-read list. Looking forward to reading it. Florida Palms is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in North America and in the UK, on July 22nd, 2025.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Robert Rotenberg, ONE MINUTE MORE (Simon & Schuster)

An unstoppable thriller set in 1988 when — a mere 100 hours before world leaders gather for the G7 summit — police get a hot tip that an assassin is on the way.

It’s a long-shot mission. No one thinks much of the information the Toronto chief of police receives from a mysterious source: a would-be assassin is about to cross the border into Canada to kill the heads of the seven most powerful countries in the world. Undeterred, he sends young police officer Ari Greene to a sleepy Quebec — Vermont border town to investigate.

During a festive and colourful July 4th parade, Greene spots his unlikely target and gives chase across borders and boundaries. But as the hours and the minutes until the summit tick down, bodies start to pile up…

And no one, not even international heads of state, are safe.

This prequel to Robert Rotenberg’s bestselling series, including What We Buried and Downfall, is an excellent introduction to one of Toronto’s favourite detectives, Ari Greene, on his first-ever case.

I’ve lived in Canada for a decade, and yet I have read surprisingly little crime fiction set here… I have no idea why. Whatever the reason for that, I am very much looking forward to reading this prequel to Rotenberg’s best-selling series. One Minute More is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in North America and in the UK, on February 25th, 2025.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Debbie Urbanski, PORTALMANIA (Simon & Schuster)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? And what happens to the people you leave behind?

In Portalmania, Debbie Urbanski wields sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and realism to build a dark mirror that she holds up to the ordinary world. Within the sharply imagined landscape of this collection, portals appear in linen closets, planetary gateways materialize in boarding schools, monsters wait in bathroom vents, and transformations of women’s bodies are an everyday occurrence. Political division causes physical rifts that break apart the Earth’s crust. A son on another planet sends dispatches home to the mother who failed him, and a wife turns to the supernatural to escape her abusive marriage. Portals are not only doorways found in children’s classics, but separations, escapes, dead ends, desertions, and choices that will change these characters’ lives forever.

Against a fantastical backdrop, these stories dive bravely into the shadowy depths of betrayal, parenthood, revenge, murder, coercive sex, open marriages, asexuality, neurodiversity, and second chances. What if we’re not the ideal parents for our children? What if we’re not the ideal person to live our own life? Portalmania questions why we love as we do and asks if we have enough courage to reimagine desire.

I started reading this pretty soon after I received it. I haven’t finished it, yet, as I think I wasn’t in the correct mood for it. Urbanski’s prose is very good, and the stories are intriguingly weird. Didn’t quite land for me, though, but I’ll give it another look in a few weeks. Portalmania is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in North America and in the UK, on May 13th, 2025.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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A.J. West, THE BETRAYAL OF THOMAS TRUE (Orenda Books)

Set in the buried streets of Georgian London and the outrageous underworld of the molly houses, a carpenter hiding a double life searches for a traitor who is betraying the secrets of the mollies.

The only sin is betrayal…

It is the year 1715, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret. One night, lost amongst the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses.

Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a young man is found murdered, he realises there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices.

Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before they hang? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own forbidden love?

Despite being British (or maybe because I am?) I’ve not read much historical fiction set in the UK. I was always somewhat indifferent to the UK, and reading books set elsewhere always felt like more of an escape. Since leaving the UK a decade ago, though, I have found myself more interested in reading fiction (and history) about Blighty. This novel has been receiving some good buzz, so when the publisher reached out I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. Hopefully get to it soon-ish. The Betrayal of Thomas True is out now, published by Orenda Books in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received from publisher