Another great selection of new books; and more fiction this time. I tend to get more in the run-up to the end of the year, so there may well be another one in 2025 (perhaps after Christmas).
Featuring: David Baldacci, Kate Christensen, Meg Elison, Thomas Elrod, Tod Goldberg, Guy Haley, Candice Millard, Lenore Nash, K. J. Parker, John Sandford, Olivier Sylvain, Chris Wraight
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David Baldacci, HOPE RISES (Grand Central)
Walter Nash began a journey down a dark path of seemingly no return, and now he finds himself questioning everything that got him there…
Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him. He has nothing left to lose and with long, rigorous training under his belt the gentle and sensitive Nash has transformed into something he never thought he’d be: a physically imposing man with lethal skills. And now he has only goal left in life: taking down Victoria Steers.
In order to succeed, he’s going to need to cross enemy lines and work the job from the inside. But Steers is shrewd and only brings those with her complete trust into her inner circle. Nash must rely on every ounce of his hard-earned skills in order to prove himself an ally to Steers if he’s ever going to get close enough to decimate her criminal empire.
Yet, despite hating the woman for destroying his life, Nash finds himself oddly drawn to Steers in ways that he never could’ve imagined. And what he ultimately discovers will turn all he believed upside down, forcing Nash to do something truly unfathomable.
So, will the truth set Nash free?
Or end him?
The second novel in Baldacci’s Walter Nash duology, following the somewhat disappointing Nash Falls. As I noted in my review of the previous book, despite thinking it was not Baldacci’s best work (by quite some distance), I nevertheless want to see how the story ends. So, I’ll be reading this quite soon. Hope Rises is due to be published by Grand Central Publishing in North America (April 14th, 2026) and Macmillan in the UK (April 9th).
Also on CR: Reviews of Nash Falls, The 6:20 Man, The Edge, To Die For, Stone Cold, The Whole Truth, Divine Justice, First Family, True Blue, Deliver Us From Evil, Hell’s Corner, The Innocent, The Hit, Bullseye, The Target, The Guilty, End Game, Memory Man
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley
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Kate Christensen, GOOD COMPANY (Harper)
Ever since her father broke her heart when she was nine, Julia Heimdahl has tried to be good company for bad men: a jovial drinking companion, an easygoing, witty non-complainer, one of the boys. Now a literary novelist in late middle age and late mid-career, she is at a moment of crisis, although she doesn’t know it yet.
The novel takes place over the course of a weekend-long book festival at Baldwin College, which happens to be Julia’s alma mater, where she has come to promote her recently published memoir. She’s been placed on a panel with a fellow memoirist named Ellis Blackwell, a man so outrageously flirtatious and fawningly flattering, Julia is almost too disarmed to recognize how dangerous he is.
Interweaving excerpts from Julia’s memoir with her encounters with important people from her past — the woman she was in love with in college, her old New York mentor, her male editor, her literary nemesis, a former graduate student — Good Company examines what it really means to be “good company” as Julia faces her demons and comes to terms with what she really wants from sex, life, and work.
The new novel from the author of Welcome Home, Stranger (which I have, but have not yet got around to reading). Christensen’s new novel sounds particularly interesting, so I’m hoping to get to it soon (certainly long before publication). Good Company is due to be published by Harper in North America and in the UK, on June 16th, 2026.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss
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Meg Elison, FOUNDING FATHERS (Tachyon)
When a radical think tank clones America’s founding fathers, The Boys from Brazil meets the bicentennial in this ingeniously satirical mashup of U.S. history, cloning, and technocracy gone terribly wrong.
The trouble starts when a curious teenager, Benjamin, finds an iPhone in his privy. The problem is, it’s supposed to be 1750.
Ben takes his discovery to his brothers ― Thomas, John, and George. The boys have been raised in isolation on an island plantation by a firm but kind woman, Mary Libertas. All four of them chafe at Mary’s restrictions upon them ― especially Thomas, who has impregnated yet another servant.
Meanwhile, their de facto father figure, Jeff Hancock, complains to the shadowy Antediluvian Society that it is past the time to explain to the boys where they come from and what they must do: Run America the way it used to be run.
In this more-than-slightly-absurdist novella, Philip K. Dick Award–winning author Meg Elison (Find Layla) skewers those looking to an idyllic past to solve the problems they continue to create.
I haven’t read as much of Elison’s work as I think I would like. However, I do remember reading an excellent short story, “The Revolution Will Not Be Served with Fries“, which put the author on my to-look-out-for list. This novellas sounds fun and maybe a little absurd, so I’m very much looking forward to reading it soon. (Probably over the holiday period.) Founding Fathers is due to be published by Tachyon Publications in North America, on June 23rd, 2026.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley
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Thomas Elrod, THE FRANCHISE (Tor Books)
A land filled with magic and dragons and wizards and warriors.
Thousands of people live and work within its borders — fearful of their enemies and loyal to their king.
The classic fantasy world of The Malicarn has been brought to life on the big screen in a series of epic movies, almost entirely populated by characters in total belief that their sham fantasy lives are real.
A fan-favorite actor finds himself doubting the studio’s work, but the world of The Malicarn has an almost unstoppable momentum, and bringing freedom to a population who already believe themselves to be free won’t be as easy as he thinks.
All the world’s a stage.
Meet the players.
This SF novel is pitched as “The Truman Show meets Game of Thrones in this epic tale of a studio-owned Fantasy world”, which has a lot of potential and could be a lot of fun. Looking forward to giving it a try — might be a great read for the holiday season. The Franchise is due to be published by Tor Books in North America and in the UK, on May 12th, 2026.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley
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Tod Goldberg, ONLY WAY OUT (Thomas Mercer)
A luckless thief’s wrong turn becomes a crooked cop’s fortune…
Failed lawyer Robert Green has such a good plan: Crack three hundred safe-deposit boxes and sail off to South America with his brilliant, morally flexible sister, Penny. If it weren’t for the damned freezing rain.
In the dying resort town of Granite Shores, cop Jack Biddle is self-appointed king — mostly of bad decisions. Between his family’s crumbling legacy, a wife who just joined the city council, and life-threatening gambling debts, Jack’s looking for a way out. Then he spots a van spinning off a mountain road into the valley below. In the wreckage, Jack finds a very dead Robert, millions in heisted loot… and opportunity.
All Jack has to do is clean up the mess, disappear Robert’s body, make off with the fortune, and not get caught. One hitch is Penny. Another is Mitch Diamond, a wild card ex-con who knows more about the missing fortune than he lets on. Jack, Penny, and Mitch each have an endgame. But there’s only one way out, and they’re crashing headlong toward it.
Goldberg has written a number of highly-praised and well-received novels. Oddly, I haven’t read many of them, despite usually buying them (and then promptly forgetting because books on a Kindle are functionally invisible…) The synopsis caught my attention, and I’m looking forward to reading this. Only Way Out is out now, published by Thomas & Mercer in North America and in the UK.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
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Guy Haley, ARCHMAGOS (Black Library)
For years, Belisarius Cawl has nurtured an audacious plan to stabilise the Attilan Gap sufficiently that the Imperium might open a stable route into Imperium Nihilus. With the primarch Roboute Guilliman having crossed the Great Rift, and now isolated on the far side, time is running out.
Before Cawl can perfect his latest great work, he requires one last element: control codes preserved on an ancient necron world trapped on the event horizon of a black hole. Realising that even he cannot do this alone, Cawl recruits help from across the Adeptus Mechanicus. Yet as victory nears, malign intelligences have taken note of the archmagos, and Cawl is about to discover it is unwise indeed to provoke the interest of Vashtorr the Arkifane…
This is Guy Haley’s second novel prominently featuring Belisarius Cawl and his ambitious (somewhat arrogant) plans for the Imperium. Haley’s novels have been among the best Black Library publishes, and I so this was always going to be a must-read for me. I started it on release day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it — it features all of the things one expects from a novel featuring Cawl (crazy tech, towering arrogance, plenty of bombastic action, and also some levity). Archmagos is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.
Also on CR: Interview with Guy Haley (2015); Reviews of Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work, Pharos, Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia, Wolfsbane, Corax: Lord of Shadows, Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter, The Lost and the Damned, Dante, The Devastation of Baal, Darkness in the Blood, and The Avenging Son
Follow the Author: Goodreads
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Candice Millard, DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC (Vintage)
James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation’s corrupt political establishment.
But four months after Garfield’s inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but became the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power — over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care.
Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.
I’ve been aware of Millard’s book for a very long time, but never quite got around to reading it. With the recent release of Netflix’s Death by Lightning — adapted from this book — I thought it was time I rectified my oversight. It’ll be only the second book I’ve read about Garfield, one of the lesser-known presidents from a period of American history that featured a number of less-well-known (if at all) president, who all kind of looked the same. (The first was Ira Rutkow’s contribution to the excellent American Presidents Series.) Destiny of the Republic is out now, published by Vintage in North America.
Also on CR: Review of Destiny of the Republic
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
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Lenore Nash, SHE FELL AWAY (Atria/Emily Bestler)
A State Department diplomat must confront the ghosts of her past as she searches for a missing American woman in New Zealand…
Lake Harlowe may not appear to be your typical State Department diplomat. With the number of skeletons in her closet exceeding the tattoos on her skin, she moves to a new country every few years to keep one step ahead of her personal demons. After two grueling years working in Cambodia, Lake’s desperate for a break and a new posting to sleepy Wellington, New Zealand, seems like a dream come true.
That is, until eighteen-year-old singer-songwriter Bowie Bishop mysteriously vanishes shortly after American NFL player Bruce Walter is found dead in his hotel room. An exchange student from Las Vegas, Bowie was a world away from her possessive, washed-up stage mom who won’t stop calling until Lake finds her superstar daughter.
All at once, Lake finds herself ensnared in a network of deception involving Bowie’s high-profile host family, a shadowy music producer, a casino magnate, and the US ambassador — her boss. Obsessed with finding the truth, Lake soon realizes that to find the missing girl, she must confront her own dark past in this unputdownable thriller that will keep you guessing until the final page.
After the publisher offered this for review, the synopsis caught my attention: a little different from typical mysteries with an American protagonist. I haven’t read much fiction set in New Zealand (somewhere I would very much like to visit), so that was another draw. I’ll read this very soon, I think. She Fell Away is due to be published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books in North America on March 10th, 2026.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss
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K. J. Parker, SISTER SVANGERD AND THE NOT QUITE DEAD (Orbit)
Not even the Church of the Invincible Sun is invincible – and somebody has to do its dirty work. Enter Sister Svangerd and her accompanying priest, both first-rate practitioners. Their mission is simple: to make a meddlesome princess disappear (permanently).
To get to her, they must attend the legendary Ecumenical Council, the once-in-a-century convening of the greatest spiritual minds the world has to offer. But when they arrive, they find instead a den of villainy that would make the most hardened criminal blush.
To complicate matters further, it appears that some people who were definitely grim reapered might not be after all. What began as a little assassination is about to escalate into a theological debate of terrifying complexity.
This is the first novel in the new Loyal Opposition duology from Parker, one of my favourite authors (especially his shorter fiction, which I can’t recommend highly enough). I’ll be reading this “devilishly clever tale of murder, intrigue, and existential crisis” very soon. Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead is due to be published by Orbit Books in North America and in the UK, on January 27th, 2026.
Also on CR: Reviews of The Devil You Know, The Last Witness, Downfall of the Gods, My Beautiful Life, Prosper’s Demons, Academic Exercises, The Big Score, The Long Game, Pulling the Wings off Angels, and Making History
Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via NetGalley
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John Sandford, REVENGE PREY (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Lucas Davenport must track down a ruthless Russian hit team…
Leonard Summers — not his real name — is on the run. A former high-ranking Russian intelligence officer who defected to the U.S. after providing critical information about Russian spies in U.S. government service, Leonard, his wife Martha, and son Bernard have spent the past year holed up in a CIA facility near Washington. After the CIA makes a deal with the U.S. Marshal Service’s Witness Protection Program (WPP), Leonard’s family is transported to Minneapolis. The plan is to hide them in a wooded Minneapolis suburb that resembles their former home and dacha near Moscow.
The Summers are received at their destination by Lucas Davenport and fellow marshal Shelly White. Unbeknownst to them, the WPP group has been tracked by a Russian hit team. And while nobody in the WPP has ever been attacked…Leonard might be the first victim. As shots are fired and enemies dodged, Lucas must move quickly to uncover where the leak is coming from, before the hit team can strike again.
Long-time readers of CR will know that John Sandford is one of my favourite authors — I’ve been reading his novels since 2004, and every new novel has been a must-read. (I believe I’ve read all of his crime/thriller novels.) I read this very soon after receiving it, but I’ll hold off for a little bit before posting my review. Revenge Prey is due to be published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in North America, on April 7th, 2026. (No UK publisher at the time of writing, but other Prey novels have been published by Simon & Schuster in the UK.)
Also on CR: Reviews of Phantom Prey, Wicked Prey, Storm Prey, Buried Prey, Stolen Prey, Silken Prey, Field of Prey, Golden Prey, Neon Prey, Masked Prey, Righteous Prey, Judgement Prey, Toxic Prey, Lethal Prey, Dark of the Moon, The Investigator, and Dark Angel
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
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Olivier Sylvain, RECLAIMING THE INTERNET (Columbia Global Reports)
How the Internet lost its way — and how to fix it
Reclaiming the Internet is an indictment of how Big Tech cloaks ruthless commercial exploitation in the language of free speech. Olivier Sylvain, a leading legal scholar and former senior advisor at the Federal Trade Commission, exposes the incentives behind social media design, revealing how they trap users in cycles of addiction, misinformation, and harm — from fatal TikTok challenges to AI chatbot codependency.
With clarity and urgency, Sylvain dismantles the libertarian mythology that shaped internet law and calls for a new legal regime that protects users over platforms. Reclaiming the Internet is a powerful, original intervention into the most urgent policy debate of our time — what it will take to reclaim the digital public sphere.
I’ve been reading the Columbia Global Reports for a little while now, and usually find them very interesting. In case you’re unfamiliar with them: the publisher is a non-profit that publishes “novella-length books” on a pretty broad range of topics that are “designed to offer fresh perspectives on the defining issues of our time”. I don’t always agree with the authors, but so far each one I’ve read has been interesting and thought-provoking. Worth a look, if you’re interested in reading some short non-fiction (a sector that is, in my opinion, underserved). Reclaiming the Internet is due to be published by Columbia Global Reports in North America and in the UK, on March 17th, 2026.
Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss
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Chris Wraight, ASHES OF THE IMPERIUM (Black Library)
Horus is dead. Terra lies in ruins. The Emperor is silent. Amid the rubble of the Palace, shell-shocked survivors emerge into the light of an uncertain dawn. New powers are present now, ones that have travelled the length of the galaxy to bring salvation to the Imperium, though they are as readily cast as usurpers as redeemers. The survivors of the Traitors’ Grand Armada, now scattered and desperate to escape vengeance, are riven with doubt and dissension, and their gods too are silent. Amid all the grief and confusion, some hopeful souls believe the war to be over and an era of renewal just ahead. But wiser heads know that this war can never end, and that the only question remaining is who shall rise to power within the perilous new age, and who shall fall.
This is the first novel in the post-Horus Heresy series, which covers a period of WH40k “history” that has thus-far not been explored. Definitely looking forward to reading it, and I have high hopes that Wraight has done a good job (he is, with Guy Haley and John French, among the best, long-term writers still working on BL titles). Ashes of the Imperium is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.
Also on CR: Interview with Chris Wraight (2011); Reviews of Brotherhood of the Storm, The Path of Heaven, Valdor, Warhawk, and The Emperor’s Legion
Civilian Reader 