The nitty-gritty: Full of effortless humor, imaginative world-building, and complex characters, Stringers is a smart, bold sci-fi adventure—with pickles. “The Chime sounded, like, well, a chime. A really big chime. But still. If there truly was a sound evil enough to destroy the galaxy, wouldn’t it be something like pre-Black Album Metallica, or Justin Bieber? […]
The nitty-gritty: Intricately plotted with nuanced characters, Comeuppance Served Cold is a fun heist story with plenty of surprises. What a nice surprise this was! Comeuppance Served Cold is a wonderful mix of magic and Jazz Age elements, a heist story that takes place in 1929 Seattle. Marion Deeds has captured the essence of the […]
The nitty-gritty: A wacky science lesson with swearing, The Kaiju Preservation Society is full of humor, heart and just enough tension to keep the pages turning. “We did our job,” Kahurangi said. “We preserved a kaiju.” I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I need a book that’s fun, fast, and […]
The nitty -gritty: A short, bloody tale that explores the thin line between life and death. I don’t often read self-published fiction, but once in a while I do like to see what’s out there, and I’m glad I had a chance to read David Barclay’s The Maker’s Box. This is a weird, gruesome little […]
Bluebird was a blast, and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it. According to the publisher’s description, you can expect “Lesbian gunslingers in space!” And yes, you get all of that, but Bluebird is so much more. Ciel Pierlot has written a thrilling adventure complete with spies, thieves, betrayal, secrets, gunfights, and […]
The nitty-gritty: Catriona Ward raises the bar on her latest psychological thriller, a dark and frenetic tale full of family secrets, blood and pain. I feel her, the old Rob, when I come to Sundial, hiding in the dawn and at the edges of things; the ghost of who I once was. Could I find […]
The nitty-gritty: An excellent sequel, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars delves deeper into the complicated lives of a group of nuns in space. I’m so glad Lina Rather decided to continue her series, and after finishing Sisters of the Forsaken Stars, I hope there are more books on the way. The author takes the idea […]
The nitty-gritty: Titanic meets The Sixth Sense in this terror-filled mystery set in space. I had a blast with Dead Silence, undoubtedly one of my most highly anticipated early 2022 releases, and while it didn’t necessarily go where I expected it to, I found it to be surprising and addictive. Dead Silence features an unreliable narrator […]
The nitty-gritty: An eerie, feminist coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a series of grisly murders, Such A Pretty Smile is both horrific and empowering. Her eyes looked different. The pupil larger than the surrounding brown, and she blinked at her refection. It didn’t blink back, and she smiled. There were too many teeth […]
The nitty-gritty: With familiar characters and a new setting, the seventh book in McGuire’s portal fantasy series shows us a different side of what happens to some children when they return. Since the Moors, her dreams were still full of water and waves, but the sea she swam in while she slept was no longer […]