A satisfying whodunit goes beyond the genre’s cliches by creating believable characters. There doesn’t seem much to be done with the crime narrative anymore. From the sarcastic gumshoes to the psycho killers and mafia brotherhoods of... Read More

Although packed with a plethora of hardcore sex scenes, James Lear’s "The Hardest Thing" contains, at its core, a fine private detective mystery novel in this seventh in a growing list of similar works by the author. Any reader... Read More

Noir novel of an actor navigating Paris rekindles the humor and intellect of the genre. This curiously dry, reasonably entertaining novel is clearly an attempt to replicate or comment on noir-ish hardboiled fiction. It is narrated by an... Read More

The personal reflections of Turkish novelist Nazim Hikmet reach poetic heights in this memoir of a political agitator and his exile. If history has any great benefit to human activity, it’s the ability to revive interest in things of... Read More

Historical China odyssey may be a bit dramatic, but the author puts you in an exciting, believable time and place. In Virginia Pye’s "River of Dust", a tale of odyssey and human relationships in post-Boxer Rebellion China, the author... Read More

To read this surreal series of madness, first check your sense of reality at the door. “A man, whose name I’ve thankfully forgotten, came up to me and said something that I’ve thankfully forgotten.” So begins “An Almost... Read More

Supernatural young adult thriller creates a real sense of tension, anticipation, and dread. Parker Chipp hasn’t slept in four years. Every night, he’s an involuntary witness to the dreams of the last person whose eyes he looked into... Read More

Masterfully researched book offers enlightening insight into the often misunderstood religion and culture of the Amish. If people have any knowledge at all about the Amish, it is pretty much limited to a few basic images: a horse and... Read More