In Lynn Lurie’s "Museum of Stones", a woman experiences parenting as a cross between profound love and constant, only sometimes low-grade terror. Swinging between the past and the present, the novel moves from the mother’s rough... Read More

In every way, this eye-opening post-apocalyptic tale is a true page-turner. Andy Giesler’s "The Nothing Within" is a fresh and ingenious take on the post-apocalyptic novel. In North America in the twenty-second century, an apocalyptic... Read More

Plastic is an unputdownable dark comedy, full of strong commentary on the times and sparkling LA scenes. Frank Strausser’s novel, "Plastic", is a delicious, caustic comedy of manners with a dose of suspense that keeps its pages... Read More

With its focus on vengeance and other dark human tendencies, "Off The Well-Lit Path" is captivating. In M.S. Holm’s bleak thriller "Off The Well-Lit Path", a desperate father attempts to rescue his daughter. Bob Rugg and his daughter... Read More

Hunter’s unforgettable historical novel focuses on the circumstances that warp some personalities and strengthen others. Spirited and sorrowful, Laura Hunter’s "Beloved Mother" depicts the cruelties that shape generations in an... Read More

Part awakening, part trial by fire, "The Alchemy of Noise" is a timely social novel that unfolds with tenderness and cruelty. A story on fresh beginnings marred by police brutality, "The Alchemy of Noise" tests the limits of love.... Read More

In this coming-of-age crime novel, suspense and tension run high, and chapters often end on cliffhangers. In B.K. Mayo’s "The Water Tower Club", true-to-life characters face the dark side of their small town with fear and conviction.... Read More

The Land that Shivers is an absorbing novel about lives derailed by government corruption. In The Land that Shivers, Ebele Ufondu’s riveting novel of contemporary Africa, the dangers and disasters of living in a failed state are etched... Read More