Future Fiction #239 – Cover Reveals & Newly Discovered SFF Books

Welcome to Future Fiction, my reimagining of the Waiting on Wednesday meme! There are so many amazing new books coming out, that I can no longer pick just one. My goal with Future Fiction is to share at least three new books each week, a combination of recent cover reveals and books that I’ve recently added to my TBR pile. I’m still going to be linking up with Wishful Endings/Can’t Wait Wednesday, and I also want to give a shout out to Jill at Breaking the Spine for starting the original Waiting on Wednesday meme. I hope you’ll find some new books to add to your TBR piles, and as always, I look forward to hearing what YOU’RE looking forward to:-D

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I really love my picks this week, let me know what you think!

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A woman working in the house of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets, from the author of Good Girls Don’t Die and Horseman.

Single mom Harry Adams has always loved horror movies, so it’s not really a coincidence that she took the job cleaning for horror movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding gray stone mansion is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes, as well as glittering awards from his decades-long career making films that thrilled audiences and dominated the box office—until his wife mysteriously disappeared and he vanished from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry has always tried to clean the house immaculately, keep her head down, and keep her job safe—she needs the money to support her son. But then she starts hearing noises from behind a locked door. Noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help, even though Javier lives alone and never has visitors. Harry knows that not asking questions is a vital part of keeping her job, but she soon finds out that the house—and her enigmatic boss—has secrets she can’t ignore.

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry. Releases in May 2024 from Berkley Books. Ooh, the author just revealed the cover for yet another new book of hers! Horror movies as a subgenre in horror fiction seem to be everywhere these days, and I’m not complaining. This isn’t even on Goodreads yet, so I’m linking up to the Edelweiss page. I can hardly wait!

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A magically gifted con artist must gather her estranged mother’s old crew for a once-in-a-lifetime heist, from the New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Suspicious Minds.

Dani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world most famous art thief, as well as being an expert forger in her own right. The secret to their success? A little thing called magic, kept rigorously secret from the non-magical world. Dani’s mother possesses the power of persuasion, able to bend people to her will, whereas Dani has the ability to make any forgery she undertakes feel like the genuine article.

At seventeen, concerned about the corrupting influence of her mother’s shadowy partner, Archer, Dani impulsively sold her mother out to the FBI—an act she has always regretted. Ten years later, Archer seeks her out, asking her to steal a particular painting for him, as her mother is still in jail and therefore unavailable. In return, he will reconcile her with her mother and reunite her with her mother’s old gang—including her former best friend, Mia, and Elliott, the love of her life.

The problem is, it’s nearly an impossible job—even with the magical talents of the people she once considered family backing her up. The painting is in the never-before-viewed private collection of deceased billionaire William Hackworth—otherwise known as the Fortress of Art. It’s a job that needs a year to plan, and Dani has just over one week. Worse, she’s not exactly gotten a warm welcome from her former colleagues—and in particular Elliott, who has grown from a weedy teen to a smoking hot adult. And then there is the biggest puzzle of Why Archer wants her to steal a portrait of himself, which clearly dates from the 1890s, instead of the much more valuable works by Vermeer or Rothko? Who is her mother’s partner, really, and what does he want?

The more Dani learns, the more she realizes she may be way in over her head, and that there is far more at stake in this job than she ever realized.

The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond. Releases in February 2024 from Del Rey Books. I love that the cover sort of screams “contemporary romance” but there are some cool magical and heist elements as well.  I read a YA by Gwenda Bond years ago and loved it, but I haven’t read anything of hers since then. I think this sounds like fun!

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The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure—from the living and the dead.

The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.

Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They’re the picture of domestic tranquility—until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they’re real—and frightening.

Defying Pete’s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen’s help, Loretta’s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he’s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.

As Loretta’s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy. Releases in March 2024 from Lake Union Publishing. This doesn’t seem like my usual choice, but I’m intrigued by the blurb. A housewife living in the 50s starts to hear ghosts, and then has to deal with her husband? I’m definitely keeping an eye on this one.

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What do you think of this week’s Future Fiction picks? Let me know in the comments!