Featuring: Senaa Ahmad, Jenna Blum, Michele Dominguez Greene, Abel Ferrara, Chris Hauty, Ellen Huet, Pat Kelly, Ben Markovits, Hache Pueyo, Kenneth R. Rosen, Cynthia Weiner

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Senaa Ahmad, THE AGE OF CALAMITIES (Henry Holt)

A genre-defying, mind-bending collection of absurdist, funny, and speculative short stories.

In this bold debut collection, Senaa Ahmad pushes the boundaries of history and its figures, sending the reader on a thrilling ride. In “Let’s Play Dead,” Henry VIII wants Anne Boleyn gone, but there’s a tiny problem―she keeps coming back to life no matter what he does. “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” hurls readers back to 1945, where they assume the role of a technician for the Manhattan Project, confronted with labyrinthine paths and harrowing outcomes. And “Inside the House of the Historian” invites us to a dinner party turned murder mystery full of figures like Nefertiti, Queen Victoria, John Adams, and Marilyn Monroe.

These stories and others entice readers to confront the past, the present, and themselves all at once. Zany and haunting, inviting and brilliant, each poignant tale delves into the surreal and tragicomic nature of the present through the lens of yesterday.

That’s a pretty intriguing group of stories… Before receiving this for review, I wasn’t familiar with the author’s work at all, so I am very much looking forward to reading this. The Age of Calamities is due to be published by Henry Holt in North America and in the UK, on January 13th, 2026.

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

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Jenna Blum, MURDER YOUR DARLINGS (Harper)

For every woman who’s ever fallen for a bad man… A contemporary, suspenseful novel about love, loss, and revenge in the world of books.

Simone “Sam” Vetiver is a mid-career novelist finishing a lukewarm publicity tour while facing a deadline for a new book on which she’s totally blocked. Recently divorced, Sam is worrying where her life is going when she receives glowing fan mail from stratospherically successful author William Corwyn, renowned for his female-centric novels. When William and Sam meet and his literary sympathy is as intense as their chemistry, both writers think they’ve found The One.

But as in their own novels, things between Sam and William are not what they seem. William has multiple stalkers, including a scarily persistent one named The Rabbit. He lives on a remote Maine island, where his writer life resembles The Shining. And when writers turn up dead, including from The Darlings support group William runs, Sam has to ask: Is it The Rabbit — William’s #1 Stalker? Another woman scorned? Can William be everything he seems?

Narrated by Sam, William, and The Rabbit, Murder Your Darlings is a wickedly witty look at today’s literary landscape and down-the-rabbit-hole tale of how far people will go for love.

An interesting premise, and a new-to-me author. Looking forward to it. Murder Your Darlings is due to be published by Harper in North America on January 13th, 2026.

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

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Michele Domínguez Greene, HOLLYWOOD HIT MEN (Thomas & Mercer)

In this gritty police procedural set in sunny Los Angeles, one detective retires just as his daughter joins the force ― but when a serial killer case goes awry, they both have work to do.

When Cassidy Clarke joins the LAPD, she doesn’t plan on following in her father’s footsteps. Veteran detective Bill Clarke has big shoes to fill, but Cassidy has her own path to forge through the department’s tarnished reputation.

She’s just getting started when a string of murders plagues the city: Young women are being strangled in their homes. The media incites an uncontainable frenzy. And no matter how many newspapers they’re splashed across, the Hollywood Hit Men are no closer to being found.

While Cassidy takes to the streets, Bill is knee-deep in cold cases ― and conversation with another killer. He’s sure that Tyler Derby committed more murders than they’ve pinned on him, and Derby’s convinced that, without his badge, Bill is no different from him.

As their investigations escalate, Cassidy and Bill find themselves embroiled in a dangerous game without a playbook. And if they can’t figure out the rules, their reputations aren’t all they could lose…

The first in a new crime series, set in LA — long-time readers of CR will know how much I often enjoy crime novels set in Los Angeles, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this caught my attention. Hollywood Hit Men is due to be published by Thomas & Mercer in North America and in the UK, on November 11th.

Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Abel Ferrara, SCENE (Simon & Schuster)

A kaleidoscopic memoir by acclaimed filmmaker Abel Ferrara, director of the cult classic films Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, and Dangerous Game, offering an unflinching look at his life, career, and the gritty world of independent cinema.

Throughout his five-decade career, film director Abel Ferrara — now in his seventies — has been one of cinema’s most provocative and critically revered figures. Since beginning as an independent filmmaker in Manhattan in the early 1970s—before “indie films” were a genre — and refining his craft as a director for the TV show Miami Vice, he has directed more than thirty feature films, most notably the cult classics Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, and Dangerous Game.

His work, often controversial for its depictions of sex, violence, and drugs, has been praised for its sincerity and depth, with critics noting that his films take spirituality and morality more seriously than most films do. In Scene, Ferrara opens up about the inspiration for his creativity detailing his dramatic life journey, from his rough upbringing in the 1950s Bronx to reaching the pinnacle of his career while struggling with addiction. This memoir is not just a recounting of his life but a manifesto on what it means to be a true artist — one who refuses to compromise and continues to create boundary-pushing work.

Scene is a profound, beautiful, and inspiring account of an artist’s relentless pursuit of creativity, making it a must-read for film fans and anyone interested in the gritty realities of the entertainment industry.

I’m not as familiar with Ferrara’s work as I thought I was, but I am nevertheless looking forward to reading this memoir. Hopefully quite soon. Scene is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in North America and in the UK, on October 21st.

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

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Chris Hauty, DEAD RINGER (Atria/Emily Bestler)

A riveting stand-alone novel that explores what might have really happened at the JFK assassination.

Set in present-day, a disgraced former Secret Service office and a Jesuit professor join forces to delve into the mysteries surrounding the events of November 22, 1963. Fixated on deciphering the conspiracies behind the history-changing assassination, they are oblivious to the fact that the cabal is still active — and may face an end as bloody as the carnage in Dealey Plaza. Will they be able to uncover the truth in time? Or will they become two more footnotes in history?

I’ve only read one of Hauty’s previous novels — his debut, Deep State, the first novel in his Hayley Chill series — which unfortunately didn’t really click for me (despite seeming to be the type of novel I should have enjoyed). This sixth novel is a stand-alone with a pretty interesting premise, so when I was offered this for review I thought I’d give him another try. Dead Ringer is due to be published by Atria/Emily Bestler in North America on December 2nd.

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

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Ellen Huet, EMPIRE OF ORGASM (MCD)

A cautionary tale of sex and salvation for the wellness generation: how orgasmic meditation turned into a cult.

OneTaste hoped orgasm would change the world. Emerging in the midst of the late-aughts for-profit wellness boom, the company was unwavering in its faith in orgasmic meditation, or OM, a fifteen-minute practice featuring a woman being clitorally stimulated by a clothed, usually male partner. Nicole Daedone, the group’s magnetic and cunning founder, envisioned a world where OM was as widespread as yoga. But Daedone’s vision came with a price: behind the militant loyalty she inspired and her millions of dollars of sales was what former members describe as a cult of manipulation, abuse, and coercion driven by a relentless quest for control. And by the time the FBI showed up at her door in 2023 with an indictment alleging she conspired to commit forced labor, even Daedone herself was no longer safe.

Building on the viral Bloomberg article that exposed the dark side of OneTaste and Daedone, Ellen Huet’s Empire of Orgasm is a deeply reported and cinematic chronicle of how a boundary-pushing wellness program became a cult that, according to dozens of witnesses, ruthlessly exploited its members. Huet, the undeniable authority on the group, reveals how, in demanding absolute fealty to Daedone as a path to enlightenment and healing, OneTaste pushed its followers past their limits — sexually, emotionally, financially — and left many of their lives in shambles. The story culminates in Daedone’s conviction in June 2025 after a five-week criminal trial.

A riveting saga and a nuanced exploration of the mechanics of manipulation, Empire of Orgasm is an extraordinary account of wellness gone wrong.

That’s certainly an eye-catching title… Which, yes, caught my attention. The synopsis, however, was also intriguing. I haven’t read many true crime books, but this looks interesting. Looking forward to reading this soon. Empire of Orgasm is due to be published by MCD in North America

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

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Pat Kelly, RIFLE SEASONS (Atria/Emily Bestler)

A game hunter is in a race against time to save his family from the most dangerous predator on earth — other people…

Mason “Mace” Winters, with his acclaimed reputation as one of the best big game hunters in Colorado, lives for the thrill of the hunt. His lucrative career guiding the wealthy on intense hunts through the Colorado mountains is suddenly brought to a stop when an accident hangs an involuntary manslaughter conviction around his neck. Now he’s relegated to a life of trash pickup in the very wilderness where his prowess as a tracker and killer was the stuff of legends.

At rock bottom, Mace descends into a haze of Tito’s and sativa when two strangers seek him out. They wave enough cash under his nose to convince him to help them up into the mountains he knows so well on the opening day of Colorado’s rifle season. An innocent enough request, and the perfect cover for the trip’s true purpose: to assassinate an infamous warlord. All at once, Mace goes from unwitting to unwilling accomplice and it will take all his now dusty skills to outfox his patrons in their deadly game.

This novel is pitched as being a thriller “in the vein of Jack Carr and Peter Heller“, which I thought was an interesting pairing. I have been a fan of Heller’s work ever since I read an ARC of The Dog Stars. I wouldn’t have put his novels near Carr’s in terms of genre, but I nevertheless think a blend of those two author’s could be an engaging read. Kelly’s first Mace Winters novel, therefore, sounds like it will certainly appeal to my tastes. Hope to get to it very soon, but I may hold off posting my review until a bit closer to its release date. Rifle Season is due to be published by Atria/Emily Bestler in North America on January 27th, 2026.

Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Ben Markovits, THE REST OF OUR LIVES (S&S/Summit Books)

A triumphantly life-affirming road trip novel about a man at a crossroads in his life.

When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair twelve years ago, he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest child left the nest. Now, while driving his college-bound daughter to Pittsburgh, he remembers his promise to himself. He is also on the run from his own health issues and a forced leave from work.

So, rather than returning to his wife in Westchester, Tom keeps driving west, with the vague plan of visiting people from his past — an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son — en route, maybe, to California. He’s moving towards a future he hasn’t even envisioned yet while he considers his past and the choices he’s made that have brought him to this particular present.

I have somehow managed to acquire quite a few of Ben Markovits’s novels, but keep forgetting I have them! (Damned Kindle, with its invisible “shelves”…!) The Rest of Our Lives is due to be published by S&S/Summit Books in North America, on January 13th, 2026; it’s out already in the UK, published by Faber & Faber.

Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Hache Pueyo, CABARET IN FLAMES (TorDotCom)

Guls can be brutal. Few know this better than Ariadne, who lost half her body to their appetites, but their brutality is a predictable constant amid Brazil’s political chaos. Now, she treats them in the specialized clinic she inherited from Erik Yurkov — the mentor who rescued her as a child, trained her in medicine, built her prostheses, and disappeared without a trace.

Ariadne’s routine is disturbed when Quaint knocks on her door: a charming, tattooed gul claiming to be Erik’s oldest friend. Quaint suspects foul play in Erik’s disappearance, and they soon discover Erik sought asylum at Cabaré, an infamous club in Rio de Janeiro frequented by the gul elite.

Together, Ariadne and Quaint will unravel the conspiracy behind their friend’s disappearance, navigate the labyrinthine world of Ariadne’s memories, and discover what Erik means to them — and what they are starting to mean to each other.

This novella is pitched as “Interview with the Vampire meets Certain Dark Things“, set in “an alternate-Brazil where brutal flesh-hungering Guls stalk the night streets and manipulate the government from their glittering cabaret”. Which sounds rather interesting, in my opinion. I started reading this very soon after I received the DRC, and very much enjoyed it — it’s a really interesting twist on the vampire/ghoul mythology, with engaging and complex characters. Cabaret in Flames is due to be published by TorDotCom in North America and Titan Books in the UK, on March 10th, 2026.

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

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Kenneth R. Rosen, POLAR WAR (Simon & Schuster)

A gripping blend of travelogue and frontline reporting that reveals how climate change, military ambition, and economic opportunity are transforming the Arctic into the epicenter of a new cold war, where a struggle for dominance between the planet’s great powers heralds the next global conflict.

Russian spies. Nuclear submarines. Sabotaged pipelines. Undersea communications severed in the dark of night. The fastest-warming place on earth — where apartment buildings, hospitals, and homes crumble daily as permafrost melts and villages get washed away by rising seas — the Arctic stands at the crossroads of geopolitical ambition and environmental catastrophe. As climate change thaws the northern latitudes, opening once ice-bound shipping lanes and access to natural resources, the world’s military powers are rushing to stake their claims in this increasingly strategic region. We’ve entered a new cold war — and every day it grows hotter.

In Polar War, Kenneth R. Rosen takes readers on an extraordinary journey across the changing face of the far north. Through intimate portraits of scientists, soldiers, and Indigenous community leaders representing the interests of twenty-one countries across four continents, he witnesses firsthand how rising temperatures and growing tensions are reshaping life above and below the Arctic Circle. He finds himself on the trail of Navy SEALs training for arctic warfare, embarks on Coast Guard patrols monitoring Russian incursions, participates in close-quarter-combat training aboard foreign icebreakers in the Arctic sea ice, and visits remote research stations where international cooperation is giving way to espionage and the search for long-frozen biological weapons.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and three years of reporting from the frontlines of climate change and great power competition, Rosen blends incisive analysis with the vivid immediacy of a travelogue. His deeply researched and personal accounts capture the diverse landscapes, people, and conflicted interests that define this complex northern region. The result is both an elegy for a vanishing landscape and an urgent warning about how the race for Arctic dominance could spark the next global conflict.

An interesting and important topic, so when I was offered a review copy of this I jumped at the chance to read it. Polar War is due to be published by Simon & Schuster in North America, on January 6th, 2026.

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

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Dan Wang, BREAKNECK (W.W. Norton)

A riveting, firsthand investigation of China’s seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America.

For close to a decade, technology analyst Dan Wang — “a gifted observer of contemporary China” (Ross Douthat) — has been living through the country’s astonishing, messy progress. China’s towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout the society. This reality — political repression and astonishing growth—is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China’s engineering mindset.

In Breakneck, Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a provocative new framework for understanding China — one that helps us see America more clearly, too. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the United States has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad.

Blending razor-sharp analysis with immersive storytelling, Wang offers a gripping portrait of a nation in flux. Breakneck traverses metropolises like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, where the engineering state has created not only dazzling infrastructure but also a sense of optimism. The book also exposes the downsides of social engineering, including the surveillance of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the traumas of the one-child policy and zero-Covid.

In an era of animosity and mistrust, Wang unmasks the shocking similarities between the United States and China. Breakneck reveals how each country points toward a better path for the other: Chinese citizens would be better off if their government could learn to value individual liberties, while Americans would be better off if their government could learn to embrace engineering — and to produce better outcomes for the many, not just the few.

Last month, I read an article that Dan Wang co-authored with Arthur Kroeber, in Foreign Affairs: “The Real China Model”. It was an interesting piece, albeit a little thin and booster-ish (possible evidence of the authors wanting to ensure that any criticism or critique of China wasn’t so harsh or pointed that it might harm future access), but it contained some good and useful observations. When I saw that Wang had a new book coming out, I popped it on my must-read list and picked it up as soon as I could, thinking that maybe with a bit more space the author would dig a bit deeper. I’ll probably be starting it this evening. Breakneck is out now, published by W. W. Norton in North America, and Allen Lane and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

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Cynthia Weiner, A GORGEOUS EXCITEMENT (Crown)

One young woman’s summer of infinite possibility takes a turn she never saw coming

There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother’s depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she starts college in the fall. Both are seemingly impossible — when her mother isn’t lying in bed for days, she’s lashing out at Nina over any perceived slight. And after a blowjob gone spectacularly wrong, Nina is the talk of Flanagan’s, the Upper East Side bar where young Manhattan society congregates. It doesn’t help that she’s Jewish, an outsider among the blue-eyed blondes who populate this rarified world. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents’ medicine cabinet.

Flanagan’s is where she pines for the handsome, preppy, and charismatic Gardner Reed. Every girl wants to sleep with him and every guy wants to be him. After she’s introduced to cocaine, Nina plunges headlong into her pursuit of Gardner, oblivious to the warning signs. When a new medication seemingly frees her mother from darkness, and Nina and Gardner grow closer, it seems like Nina might finally get what she wants. But at what cost?

Freud called cocaine “a gorgeous excitement,” but a gorgeous excitement for the wrong guy can be lethal.

I missed this book when it was first published, and I can’t remember what brought it to my attention in the past couple of weeks. I think I must have seen a positive review, which made me check it out. Looks good, so onto the TBR mountain it went. A Gorgeous Excitement is out now, published by Crown in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram