Excerpt: YOKE OF STARS by R. B. Lemberg (Tachyon)

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LembergRB-B3-YokeOfStarsA couple of weeks ago, Tachyon Publications published Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg, the third book in the author’s Birdverse series. To mark the occasion, the publisher has provided us with an excerpt to share with CR readers. Here’s the synopsis:

In this newest novella from the queer, mystical Birdverse, an apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist share their tales in order to make a fateful decision…

In the School of Assassins, Stone Orphan waits for a first assignment. After their first kill, they will graduate and attain the coveted cloth of bone. But instead of a commission, Stone Orphan gets an inquisitive linguist, Ulín. Ulín has heard the Orphan Star’s song of despair, mirroring her own, and drawing her to the School of Assassins. But Ulín is far more interested in learning Stone Orphan’s language than deciding whom she wishes to kill.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Stone Orphan offers to exchange stories with Ulín to help her decide the fate of three men. By turns, Stone Orphan and Ulín narrate tales of love, suffering, exile, and self-determination, and two hurt souls find hope in each other through the radical act of listening.

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Excerpt: STORM WARNING by David Bell (Berkley)

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BellD-StormWarningUSHCNext week, Berkley is due to publish the latest novel from thriller author David Bell: Storm Warning. To mark the occasion, we have an excerpt to share. Here’s the synopsis:

A man living on a Florida barrier island must protect his family from both an approaching hurricane and a relentless killer.

Jake Powell is racing to get off the island as a powerful hurricane approaches. When he finds his best friend Dallas, the building manager, dead from a blow to the skull, Jake realizes there’s more than the storm to fear. There’s a murderer on the island, maybe even still inside the nearly abandoned building.

Dallas had repeatedly run afoul of the wealthy owners of the building by complaining about code violations and the precarious state of the condos. But he’d also once told Jake that every resident had a secret they’d come to Florida to escape. Had one of them killed to conceal their sins? As a dozen people shelter together in hopes of surviving the deadly hurricane, a second murder makes it all too clear: one of them is a dangerous killer.

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Quick Review: I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL by Natalie Sue (Borough Press)

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SueN-IHopeThisFindsYouWellUKHCWould you want to know what your colleagues say behind your back?

Jolene certainly doesn’t.

She’s riddled with anxiety, depressed, and hates her coworkers. The less she knows about them, the better.

So when a catastrophic IT f*ck up grants her access to all of their emails and private messages, she’s initially horrified. The last thing she wants is to be privy to their sad discussions about dying desk plants and marital troubles.

That’s until, with job cuts looming, she realises the power this new-found knowledge gives her.

But as she digs deeper and deeper into the private lives of her colleagues, Jolene uncovers a lot more than she bargained for… And the walls she’d so carefully built start crumbling down.

Natalie Sue’s debut novel, I Hope This Finds You Well enjoyed a lot of pre-publication buzz. It took me a little while to get around to reading it, but I’m happy to report that I really enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE EDGE by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

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BaldacciD-TD2-EdgeUSHCTravis Devine returns, in a strange mystery in small-town Maine

The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets — can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?

When CIA operative Jenny Silkwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.

Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.

Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Putnam, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust… and who wants him dead.

The second novel in Baldacci’s 6:20 Man/Travis Devine series takes the action from New York to a small town in Maine; a town of secrets that stretch back a decade. This novel is a marked improvement on The 6:20 Man, and I think this character could stick around for a while. Continue reading →

Excerpt: WE SPEAK THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN by Premee Mohamed (ECW Press)

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MohamedP-2-WeSpeakThroughTheMountainThis week, ECW Press publishes the latest novel from Premee Mohamed! We Speak Through the Mountain returns to the post-apocalyptic society of the acclaimed The Annual Migration of Clouds. Check out the synopsis:

Traveling alone through the climate-crisis-ravaged wilds of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, 19-year-old Reid Graham battles the elements and her lifelong chronic illness to reach the utopia of Howse University. But life in one of the storied “domes” — the last remnants of pre-collapse society — isn’t what she expected. Reid tries to excel in her classes and make connections with other students, but still grapples with guilt over what happened just before she left her community. And as she learns more about life at Howse, she begins to realize she can’t stand idly by as the people of the dome purposely withhold needed resources from the rest of humanity. When the worst of news comes from back home, Reid must make a choice between herself, her family, and the broken new world.

In this powerful follow-up to her award-winning novella The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed is at the top of her game as she explores the conflicts and complexities of this post-apocalyptic society and asks whether humanity is doomed to forever recreate its worst mistakes.

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Excerpt: PIECE OF MY HEART by Penelope Tree (Moonflower)

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TreeP-PieceOfMyHeartUKHCPiece of My Heart, the debut novel by Penelope Tree was recently published by Moonflower Books. A former model, Tree drew on her own experiences in the 1960s fashion industry to compose this novel. The publisher has provided CR with this short excerpt, to give our readers a taste of the book. First, here’s the synopsis:

Fame. Money. Beauty. Sex. Love. Ari wants them all. But at what cost?

Trapped between the suffocation of English boarding school and a chaotic home-life dominated by her eccentric, aristocratic mother, Ari longs for a different kind of life – one lived in the glamour of Swinging ‘60s London, with its pop stars and fashion icons. When she is discovered at sixteen by star photographer Bill Ramsey, she gets her chance.

Suddenly, Ari’s life is transformed into a dizzying whirlwind of drugs, photoshoots, and parties, all with Ramsey by her side. The couple are the darlings of the media. But in the fickle world of fashion nothing lasts forever, and Ari’s addiction, her eating disorder, and her increasingly dysfunctional relationship with Ramsey send her life spinning out of control.

A Vogue cover shoot in Nepal offers Ari a make-or-break chance – not just to revive her ailing career, but to win back Ramsey’s love. And yet, in the captivating surroundings Ari finds herself wondering how much more of herself she must lose to keep the things she always thought she wanted.

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Excerpt: CONAN: CITY OF THE DEAD by John C. Hocking (Titan)

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HockingJC-Conan1-CityOfTheDeadHCThe Cimmerian returns! In a couple of weeks, Titan Books are due to publish new Conan the Barbarian fiction! City of the Dead by John C. Hocking is an omnibus, collecting Conan and the Emerald Lotus (first published in 1995) and its highly-anticipated sequel, Conan and the Living Plague. The cover is by the always-excellent Jeffrey Alan Love.

To celebrate the release, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers! First, check out the book’s synopsis:

The long-awaited follow-up to Conan and the Emerald Lotus brings John C. Hocking back to the sagas of the Cimmerian.

In Conan and the Emerald Lotus, the seeds of a deadly, addictive plant grant sorcerers immense power, but turn its users into inhuman killers.

In the exclusive, long-awaited sequel Conan and the Living Plague, a Shemite wizard seeks to create a serum to use as a lethal weapon. Instead he unleashes a hideous monster on the city of Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of its treasures, Conan and his fellows in the mercenary troop find themselves trapped in the depths of the city’s keep. To escape, they must defeat the creature, its plague-wracked undead followers, then face Lovecraftian horrors beyond mortal comprehension.

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Upcoming: WHY SO SERIOUS? by Mike Singer (Harper)

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SingerM-WhySoSeriousUSHCNikola Jokic is one of the most fascinating NBA superstars, and certainly one of the best players (maybe ever). He was an unexpected phenomenon (much has been made of the fact that the now three-time League MVP was drafted during a Taco Bell commercial, as the 41st pick), and watching him play is quite awe-inspiring. After last year’s overall win, many — myself included, albeit more hopefully than based on special knowledge or information — confidently proclaimed that they were going to repeat this year. (The Minnesota Timberwolves had different ideas.) Later this year, Harper is due to publish Why So Serious? by Mike Singer, and this is very much one of my most-anticipated books of the year. Here’s the synopsis:

A revealing, intimate biography of basketball savant and enigmatic NBA superstar Nikola Jokic, filled with news-breaking interviews and deep reporting from Mike Singer, the Nuggets’ former beat writer for the Denver Post.

Why So Serious? takes readers on Nikola Jokic’s long, strange, and incredibly unlikely journey to becoming the heartbeat of the champion Denver Nuggets and the best basketball player on the planet. As he traces Jokic’s transformation from his humble beginnings in Sombor, Serbia, sports journalist Mike Singer captures the witty irreverence, unparalleled competitiveness, and slight mischievousness of the MVP fondly known as “The Joker.”

Behind his veiled public persona, who really is Nikola Jokic? Filled with exclusive, sure-to-be-headline-making interviews, including unique insights from Jokic himself, Why So Serious? delves deep into the soul of the mysterious center and reveals how the big man developed his relentless work ethic, exceptional court vision, and magical playing style that has redefined dominance in the NBA.

Mike Singer’s Why So Serious? is due to be published by Harper in North America and in the UK, on December 3rd.

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Upcoming: DREAM by Mirin Fader (Hachette)

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FaderM-DreamUSHCMirin Fader‘s Giannis was probably the best-timed book of 2021, published as it was just a couple of months after the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship since 1971 (that team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Lew Alcindor). I was lucky enough to get a review of that book before the championship run, and it is a superb biography. Later this year, Hachette is due to published Fader’s next book, Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwan. This is great news for two reasons: First, because I’ve been looking forward to Fader’s next book ever since finishing Giannis; and second, because I don’t know very much about Olajuwon and that era of the NBA. Here’s the synopsis:

The life and legacy of pioneering international basketball superstar Hakeem Olajuwon, a two‑time NBA champion whose Hall of Fame career forever changed the game, both in the United States and around the globe…

It’s now the norm for NBA and collegiate teams to have international players dotting their rosters. The Olympics are no longer a gimme for Team USA. Both via fans streaming from all over the globe and leagues starting in countries throughout the world, the international presence of the game of basketball is a force to be reckoned with.

That all started with Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon. He was the first international player to win the MVP, which is hard to believe now considering the last time an American‑born player won it was four years ago. Award-winning hoops journalist Mirin Fader explores this phenomenal shift through the lens of what Olajuwon accomplished throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. Dream ignites nostalgia for Phi Slama Jama and “the Dream Shake,” while also exploring the profound influence of Olajuwon’s Muslim faith on his approach to life and basketball, and how his devotion to his faith inspired generations of Muslim people around the world.

Olajuwon’s ongoing work with NBA Africa, his status as an international ambassador for the game, and his consultations with today’s brightest stars, from LeBron James to Giannis Antetokounmpo, brings the story right up to the present moment, and beyond. Synthesizing hundreds of interviews and in-depth research, Fader provides the definitive biography of Olajuwon as well as a crucial understanding of his pivotal impact on the ever-shifting game.

I’m really looking forward to this.

Mirin Fader’s Dream is due to be published by Hachette Books in North America and in the UK, on October 14th.

Also on CR: Review of Giannis

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