The nitty-gritty: Carnival horror meets gross-out humor in this wickedly funny, touching tale about memory, friendship and port-a-potties. “And you’re saying he’s coming in through the port-a-potties?” “Portal-potties. Sorta like Doctor Who, except the Tardis is a shitter.” “Tardis?” “Goddamn, Gaynes, like a time machine.” What if a port-a-potty was a portal-potty? That’s the idea […]
The nitty-gritty: Craig DiLouie uses music as a framework in this dangerous, outrageous good vs. evil headbanger of a story. “Whatever he turned out to be, you have to admit he had star power. Even if his playing drove people mad. Even though people died. The man could goddamn perform.” – Ramona Perez, drummer, the […]
The nitty-gritty: A thrilling and immersive adventure story, The Afterlife Project combines complex, thoughtful themes with relatable characters and bittersweet emotion. “And so, dear human reader of the future, I now commence the written record of an obscure, late-in-the-game, seaborne journey that has little chance of success. Although your own existence may be unlikely, I […]
The nitty-gritty: An emotionally charged story with plenty of surprises, When the Wolf Comes Home is Nat Cassidy’s best book yet. “Love is a shape-shifting monster, she thinks, dizzy and horrified and exhausted and devastated. A werewolf with a bottomless stomach.” The cover of When the Wolf Comes Home is a bit misleading. This isn’t […]
The nitty-gritty: Epic in scope but somehow intimate as well, Future’s Edge is an end-of-the-world tale with heart and hope. “The fall of Earth was both sudden and protracted. Ships filled with Cutters shimmered into existence above the planet. They looked like flowers fashioned from glass and filigree, with components whose geometries seemed to overlap […]
The nitty-gritty: A delightfully unique fantasy tale, Greenteeth combines richly developed folkloric world-building with lovable, flawed characters. A delight from start to finish. “‘There is some hope then?’ I asked. ‘You remember what I said the first time we met, Jenny? There is always hope.’” I came very close to not requesting Greenteeth, and I’m […]
The nitty-gritty: A young girl navigates a terrifying world in this dangerous and bloody story, full of thrilling adventure and unforgettable characters. “HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE LAST MOMENTS BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS: You won’t.” Spoiler ahead for dog lovers. I’ve been lucky enough to read a handful of exceptional books this year, and I’m happy […]
The nitty-gritty: A haunted house story with literary flair and unexpected emotion, Ghost Mother is the must-read ghost story of summer. “People said to me, “I am sorry for your loss,” and they were kind to say that, they were right, it was a “loss,” but somehow I always heard it in my head as […]
The nitty-gritty: 80s nostalgia and slashers come together in this top notch coming-of-age story full of humor, horror and heart. Slashers are in Stephen Graham Jones’ blood, as evidenced by his Indian Lake trilogy and now his latest, I Was a Teenage Slasher. This time we follow the story through the eyes of the killer, […]
The nitty-gritty: Rob Hart delivers a thrilling assassin story with heart, humor and unforgettable characters. Who knew that a story about a deadly assassin who is trying to quit killing people would turn out to be one of my favorite books of the year? Assassins Anonymous surprised me in every possible way, and I can’t […]