Nikita’s brutal yet rousing debut opens in the bloody darkness of prehistory, the prose as raw and slicing as the mouths of the beasts gnashing at an early human family in its cave. Soon, two young brothers find themselves alone in a harsh world, with the eldest—that’s how he’s identified for much of the novel, as nobody in it has yet enjoyed the luxury of coming up with concepts like names—tending to his newborn brother and fighting for survival in the Drylands. An elemental poetry powers through Nikita’s storytelling: “All hope is buried deep in the waterless soil where the crawlers fill their bellies with rot from the bodies of the slow and the careless.” Scenes of the brothers facing snakes, lions, starvation, and at last other humans both harrow and thrill.

The wrenching, at times difficult-to-parse opening passages will challenge readers, but Nikita’s storytelling is smart and assured—and Logos, like life itself, gets easier as its characters become increasingly human. Nikita has crafted the story as a series of firsts, like the eldest’s first kill; his first experience naming things; his first impulses toward communication through artistic creation; his discovery of the Promethean element he and the youngest call “fos”: “This merciless, glorious thing or creature or state, hissing and roaring as it destroys everything it touches.” Keeping a fire going, like survival, brings rules and ritual and the language to explain them.

Eventually, the brothers are the heart of a community, with Nikita exploring the key trait bringing humanity to that point: not just the will to survive, but the conviction (“I want more!” one brother realizes in a truly epochal moment) that life can be about more than endurance. As the humans share and develop language, the novel itself becomes more conventional in its prose, though thoughtful readers interested in the dawn of consciousness will find the denser passages reward the effort they demand. Pushing through is how we became human.

Takeaway: Brutal, richly imagined vision of prehistoric humanity emerging from the darkness.

Comparable Titles: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Shaman, Peter Dickinson’s The Kin.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Logos

Harlan’s smart coming-of-age story, set in a vividly evoked 1980s Manhattan, showcases how benign neglect makes for fertile ground for self-discovery. Sixteen-year-old Upper East Sider Carly Klein’s habit of clandestinely reading her psychiatrist mother’s patient notes leads her into an obsession with one of her patients, an attractive blind Columbia music major named Daniel. Encouraged by her best friend Lauren, Carly secretly trails Daniel after his appointments, and when she sees him post an ad for a reading assistant on a local bulletin board, Carly creates an alternate persona as a Barnard student to use the job as a way to begin a romantic pursuit.

With sparkling prose and witty dialogue, Harlan captures the electric energy and tension of a teen awkwardly keeping secrets, both the juicy ones like her secret expeditions to the club where Daniel plays saxophone, and the unhappy ones like her discovery of her father’s gay affair. Carly’s uncertainty and at-times questionable decisions make her a believable teen protagonist, even in her precociousness, especially as she auditions new selves (in a wig!) and lunges after what it is she thinks she wants. Though structurally secondary to the story, scenes that take place in the terrible summer camp to which Carly is sent against her will particularly highlight teen social dynamics, and in contrast, show how different Carly’s energy is as she attempts to embody the role of an undergrad.

The depiction of an awkward first relationship that is neither disastrous nor idealized feels refreshingly authentic, forming only one branch of Carly’s exploratory story rather than pivoting the book into teen romance. Though many of the core themes carry through for teens of any generation, Harlan illuminates hallmarks of the Gen X era of latchkey parenting and feeling free to explore a city undisturbed by adults, with the storytelling spiced by smart 1980s specifics like yuppies, Reaganism, campaigns to save the whales and ban nukes, and Carly’s crush on Michael Landon.

Takeaway: Clever story of growing up unsupervised in 1980s New York.

Comparable Titles: Paula Danziger’s Remember Me to Harold Square, Susan Azim Boyer’s Jasmine Zumideh Needs A Win.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B

Click here for more about Becoming Carly Klein

The heart of this memoir-in-short-narratives from Boon (author of Room 303C) is the title story, which invites readers to travel along through the life of a freight train engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad in Oregon. Boon recounts starting his career as a track inspector and later being encouraged to become an engineer, and his vivid storytelling will transport readers to the locomotive cab, feeling the reverberation of train tracks and beholding Multnomah Falls, the Columbia River Gorge, and moments of danger and excitement involving snow drifts, fallen trees, and storms “that instantaneously turn a tranquil Columbia River into a raging torrent.”

The book also explores the emotional turmoil of having to balance a job that can make or break the nation’s infrastructure, challenges dealing with the powers that be, and his sometimes circuitous path through life. “The Fixer-Upper,” a story whose title refers to Boon’s passion for remodeling homes(but also to a whole lot more), boasts this line, emblematic of Boon’s crisp candor: “My next ex-wife soon moved into that place and gave me two children in less than three years.” “The Bridge” shares a glimpse of a father-son relationship, where Boon faces complicated questions about when his eight-year old son asks about his divorce. “Zachary,” on the other hand, is the story of a beloved family dog whose life is spent chasing squirrels, unaware of the deadly disease slowly eating him away, while “A Bowl of Ice Cream” ends the book on a sweet note about making everyday count and letting life take its turns.

On the professional front, Boon played a major role in influencing the policies of railroading to encompass better safety standards, not without pushback and controversy. His well-drawn experiences as a railroad engineer, complete with convincing dialogue and enticing descriptions, will be fascinating to those interested in the history of railways.

Takeaway: A railroad engineer’s evocative memoirs of life on and off the rails.

Comparable Titles: Carlos A. Schwantes’s Railroad Signatures Across the Pacific Northwest, John Cockrell’s 45 Years of True Railroad Stories.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B+

Click here for more about Railroading

Despite its Hollywood setting, the upbeat and relatable third entry in Merrill’s performer-centered Forces of Nature series keeps the social drama mostly good-natured and its gay romance down to Earth. After a scandal leaves him a persona non grata in London, struggling actor Ethan Bradley lands on the doorsteps of Los Angeles-based friends and producers Reese Matheson and Toby Griffiths. Busy with mounting Reese’s grandfather’s musical about young gay love, Reese and Toby pass Ethan on to their prim manager, Arthur Frye, for a career reboot. Though Arthur is initially annoyed, he finds himself quickly both impressed by Ethan’s sincerity and talent, and attracted enough to him to reconsider his policy of never dating actors.

Merrill creates a delightfully intergenerational whirlwind of personalities, from Arthur’s dramatic parents still holding parties with the celebrities of Hollywood’s heyday, to the boys working through their on-stage awkwardness about touching. However, she is careful to have her characters explicitly aware and careful of ethical landmines; rather than leaning in to the power, wealth, and age gap, Arthur hands Ethan’s account to his junior colleague to avoid impropriety, and is outraged that Ethan has been asked for sexual favors by managers in the past, while Ethan suggests a professional intimacy coach as part of the way he coaches the boys on expressing desire through their performances.

The energy is overall positive, with everyone around them enthusiastic about Arthur and Ethan’s connection—even the drama coming from Ethan and Toby’s past resolved in good faith. The pivot from unsure flirting to deep commitment is a little abrupt, and it’s not always clear how the characters find the space for lazy exploratory days in the flow of intense career building action, tight performance deadlines, and parent wrangling. Still, readers will quickly find themselves emotionally invested in both Ethan’s career and relationship. Merrill’s commitment to her characters not having to choose between love and performance, but having each aspect enhance the other, keeps the novel firmly on the side of queer joy rather than angst.

Takeaway: Optimistic Hollywood-set m/m romance with lovers with good hearts.

Comparable Titles: Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material, Alison Cochrun’s The Charm Offensive.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Earthquake Ethan

Droughts both public and personal hang over the third entry in Reine’s Pioneer Ranch Saga series of contemporary family dramas (after 2023’s First Sons and Last Daughters) as veterinarian and mother Bryce Adler Loving must procure high-tech water conservation beads to save her centuries-old New Mexico ranch’s organic agricultural produce and livestock. Bryce and her husband, William Loving, fly to Dubai, hoping to charm the proprietor of the company manufacturing the beads, Sheikh El Saj, into selling. But the Sheikh’s influential son, Zayd El Saj, woos Bryce, threatening her already tenuous relationship with William. As she faces temptation and tricky negotiations, the future of the land itself is at stake, as well as the fate of generations.

Lovers of thoughtful, lyric, relationship-driven fiction will treasure Reine’s poetic, philosophical style. Frequent aphorisms, like, “It’s an art knowing how to wear a smile fueled by tears” convey a timeless sense of the human condition, offering welcome insight. Although this entry stands alone, readers of earlier novels in the series will have an easier time keeping up with a somewhat dense web of characters and references to the past. Still, Reine creates vivid family dynamics in which each personality displays a clear voice, and the prose sings, especially in descriptive passages: “She faced a horizon hazing lilac and traced a skein of geese crossing the sky.”

While the threat of climate change drives Bryce’s quest, it’s her volatile love with William that proves riveting. After some violations of trust, the couple’s conversations about blame and fidelity become central themes. Bryce shines, vulnerable yet assertive, doctoring a horse one day, then wowing Emirati royals in haute couture evening wear the next. Formerly a competitive horsewoman, she surprises a cowboy by rounding up his cattle before they come to harm in one especially gratifying scene. This marital love story, set against a backdrop of the changing Southwest climate, offers family drama and one woman’s dream of safeguarding her legacy.

Takeaway: Exquisite prose and a marital love story power this drama of a rancher and her legacy.

Comparable Titles: Susan Rebecca White’s A Place at the Table, Claire Lombardo’s The Most Fun We Ever Had.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Three Layers of a Moment, Book 3 of The Pioneer Ranch Saga

Dating app TerriTie founder Aljazeeri’s analysis of platonic and romantic relationships offers a well-researched, comprehensive overhaul of human connection that incorporates the physical, emotional, philosophical, and scientific components of humanity’s bonding systems. Backed by extensive, persuasive research, Aljazeeri’s debut presents the author’s “PICCK A SPICE” framework—also foundational to the app—which defines eleven human relationship styles, each given clarifying names like Intellectual Connection, Kind Contributions, and Caring Companionship. Aljazeeri also includes some perhaps unexpected ones, like Playful Teasing, Creative Expression, Culinary Sharing, and Spiritual Bonding, in the effort to offer a breakdown of human relationships fitting to contemporary lifestyles.

Other insights include clear-eyed guidance for “breaking the chains of habit” in relationships, the important role of playfulness and teasing in creating strong bonds and understanding, and thoughtful consideration of topics like “ghosting,” online deception, and much fresh advice for “relationship revivals”—or keeping things fresh and lively. Following the author’s relationship classification method is a novel philosophy in regard to dating apps: “Pick a place, then a face,” the basis for TerriTie, which has users select a date activity or location before matching with another user. Though the relationship style framework is illuminating, the transition to heralding TerriTie is abrupt and may give some readers pause. Still, Aljazeeri offers useful, up-to-date, nuanced, and even cathartic examination of the challenges of dating and friendship apps, with many compelling real-life examples.

A particularly refreshing and vital promise of Aljazeeri’s system is its recognition of diversity in relationships and a commitment to “aligning with contemporary society’s varied experiences and values,” which readers can observe in practice if they take the “PICCK A SPICE” relationship test at the end of the book or online. With celebration of human diversity at its center, TerriTie, which is set to launch in summer of 2024, and Aljazeeri’s overall methodology, constitute a keen, state-of-the-art revitalization of romance and friendship in the smartphone age.

Takeaway: Fresh, insightful breakdown of styles focused on diverse contemporary lives.

Comparable Titles: Amir Levine and Rachel S. F. Heller’s Attached, Anita Knight Kuhnley’s The Four Relationship Styles.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Unveiling 11 Relationship Styles: Secrets Nobody Told You

With their delightfully epic middle grade adventure, Barnes, Parker, and Farley offer young readers a compelling portal into imagination and learning that will leave them hungry for more. Life in Texas for sixth graders Maya, Bridgette, and Ben isn’t all sunshine and roses, and the three run in different circles: Maya is a recent transplant from Israel and quite popular, intellectual Bridgette is somewhat quiet, and Ben is a theater kid at heart, despite his father’s push to hard science. Yet they share a common bond—the library. When a rogue supernatural attack by the Pierides destroys their library, the trio—along with Davey, a classmate and bully—are transported to the Helicon Academy, the secretive school that’s part of the hidden Library of Alexandria and “a working library of the Muses themselves,” where “student apprentices…learn how to care for and protect these precious books and the powers within.”

Readers will relish the revelations and excitement that follows. Apprentices are made up of direct descendants of the original Librarians—until Maya, Ben and Bridgette break the mold. Once students pass a trial, they are cast into one of four roles: Guardians, Scribes, Storytellers or Curators, each assigned a certain duty in the Library’s defense. While their lives together at the school are filled with magic—from literary themed meals to the poet Homer as a dorm-mate—they still must contend with the growing pains faced by young adults everywhere: bullying, imposter syndrome, self-esteem issues, homesickness and fear, all handled with sensitivity.

Filled with heart-pounding action and page-turning suspense as a mysterious package points to a traitor within the Library’s ranks, the novel’s unique three-part voice allows readers to fully immerse themselves and identify with the characters. All three protagonists blend harmoniously with each other, bonded first in friendship, then with a common cause. Plentiful life-lesson reminders, such as overcoming fear, perseverance and resilience, are presented in an age-appropriate, organic manner.

Takeaway: Epic, heart-filled library fantasy-adventure that will inspire and delight.

Comparable Titles: Raymond Arroyo’s Will Wilder series, M.A. Larson’s Pennyroyal Academy series.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Thief of Time

Jamilkowski’s debut, an act of love and history, blends fact and fiction to tell the story of a complex and troubled Italian mother-daughter relationship amid the worldwide upheavals of the early and mid-twentieth century. Born to Italian parents, Maria-Luisa Moresco is temperamental and talented. Anticipating an independent life centered around a career in music, young piano virtuoso Maria-Luisa is frustrated by adult responsibility, including a surprise pregnancy and the subsequent birth of her child, Chiara, in 1937. Chiara grows into feisty independence herself, becoming headstrong and impulsive, leading to conflict with a mother who had “resolved to focus on musical perfection to an exclusive degree." Maria-Luisa's career found her collaborating with and inspiring Maria Callas, her dear friend.

This surprising story, drawn from Jamilkowski’s research into family history, both jolts and rouses as it sweeps across decades, heartaches, and moments of powerful self-invention. Chiara eventually is twice forced to part with her own children. Upon immigrating to America, life proves challenging as Chiara (now Clara) leaves a tempestuous marriage, fights illness, and finds an anchor in a new relationship. Jamilkowski underscores throughout the strength and resilience of both mother and daughter, dramatizing scenes of hardship and hard choices but also touching intimacy, with psychological insight. Maria-Luisa is subjected to rape by Russian soldiers at the end of World War II, while Chiara endures rape in her own home, in the presence of her husband, whom she subsequently leaves. Later, she is diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is forced to give up her child for adoption.

Both of these courageous women refuse to be defined or defeated by their experiences. Jamilkowski’s storytelling edges toward the informative and biographical rather than the page-turning, with ample historical context and a feeling of narrative reportage explaining their thoughts and emotions. But towards the end, the narrative achieves rich in-the-moment intimacy.

Takeaway: Historical study of a fraught, fascinating mother-daughter bond, over decades.

Comparable Titles: Kristin Harmel’s The Paris Daughter, Devorah Shafrir Keret’s My Grandmother’s Shadow.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Road to Moresco

Vampiric murders, grand house intrigue, and the interest of mercurial gods all upend an uneasy peace in this brisk, spicy, and surprising sixth book in Hill’s Shadows of Otherside urban fantasy series, which picks up after the climatic jolts of Eternal Huntress. That entry found sylph and one-time private investigator Arden Finch in the position of High Queen of House Solari and Arbiter for the Carolinas demesne, an elevation not universally celebrated among the fantastical denizens of the Otherside. Now, Arden’s eager to reform the most brutal practices of the Elven Houses, but she has been laying low for a year ever since her ascension and the Durham-devastating events of the previous book. She’s currently dreading her own birthday party and undergoing rigorous training to become an agent of the Darkwatch, but she’s still very much a detective at heart—which will come in handy once blood-drained bodies, likely the victims of vampires, are discovered around the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle, including in the governor’s mansion.

With the mundane world agitated in ways that cleverly echoes real-world North Carolina tensions, Arden must navigate tricky politics, both mundane—now that the world knows about werewolves, elves, sylvans, and the rest, conservative politicians are on the warpath—and magical, including protecting the secret of her romance with Troy, an elven king who gives her love bites with his “shark-like secondary teeth.” Arden remains a nimble, engaging hero, outfoxing those who underestimate her, and always having to “drag everyone kicking and screaming into the future.” She narrates her adventures in intimate, witty, sensual prose that pulls readers pleasurably along.

Quick-witted and spiced with romance and unpredictable magic and action, Tempered Illusions exemplifies its genre, as Arden faces a twisty investigation, host of varied and complex diplomatic situations, amusing friends, and enemies capable of anything. It’s a legitimate thrill when Arden pulls deeply on her elemental powers or allows herself to relish the “jolt of the magic of blood and sex.”

Takeaway: Stellar urban fantasy spiced with romance, conspiracies, and Carolina politics.

Comparable Titles: Faith Hunter, Kim Harrison.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Tempered Illusions (Shadows of Otherside Book 6)

Lured by the sound of 1980s and ‘90s music blaring from a lonely yeti’s treehouse in a “magical redwood forest,” a brave princess with impressive taste in music dares to climb the treehouse ladder to discover a vintage record player and a new best friend in Grey’s warm, thoughtful picture book debut. Though princess and yeti initially are wary of each other, each calling the other “weird,” they both soon erupt into joyous laughter, understanding that they “shared opinions on music, books, art, and the politics of the forest,” opinions that many of the princess’s family and courtiers find weird. Once the princess starts spending most of her free time with the yeti, the monarchs grow increasingly concerned about a risk to her connection to the human world.

In tandem with Liz Emirzian’s brilliant illustrations, all muted treescapes and heartwarming woodland friendships, Grey creates characters who are fantastical but also undeniably cool. They pursue and share their authentic passions, regardless of whether those interests align with the status quo. Even the yeti’s forest animal friends are imbued with DIY individualism, as expressed through Emirzian’s fashion choices for the characters: while at a soiree at the yeti’s house, a bunny wears a teal sweatband, and one squirrel sports a T-shirt inspired by Joy Division. In the yeti’s treehouse, Emirzian creates a sanctuary, complete with an old-school espresso maker, overflowing bookshelves, and freedom for any guest to come exactly as they are.

Grey does weave a lesson into her tale, but what’s particularly refreshing about A Woodland Dance Party is that the moral isn’t for the edification of the protagonist; instead, it’s for her parents and the people who refuse to accept her as she is: a smart, courageous, passionate girl who is in love with the world. The princess and the yeti are not the ones who have to change, but rather the society they live in where conformity is prioritized over diversity. Come for the cozy illustrations of whiskery friendship, but stay for “the most EPIC DANCE PARTY of all time.”

Takeaway: Kind, delightful, story of a princess, a yeti, and their love of ‘80s and ‘90s vinyl.

Comparable Titles: Susan Verde’s I Am Me, Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about A Woodland Dance Party

In Orichuia’s lighthearted picture book for young children, a little girl named Nina relies on the generosity of her neighbors to help bake her mother’s birthday cake. As Nina and her father are preparing to whip up the celebratory dessert, they realize their cupboards are bare. “Don’t worry, Papa,” Nina says. “We can ask Zia Maria for the ingredients.” She happily sets off down the road with her lovable pet turtle, bopping from house to house to acquire what she needs. On the way home, Nina trips and spills her supplies—but her kindly neighbors are ready with a birthday surprise for Nina’s mom.

This endearing tale elevates the benefits of growing up in a safe, supportive village. Borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor to prepare a treat is an antiquated notion in the age of Amazon and no-contact delivery, but here the simple concept of knocking on someone’s door and asking them for help occurs naturally to Nina. This will give kids and adults the chance to discuss the sometimes tricky question of how to ask for assistance when they need it, as well as how to identify adults they can trust. Nina’s solo adventure around the neighborhood also promotes independence in childhood, which is something many kids today experience less than previous generations.

Appearing in muted hues of mustard yellow, rusty red, and light blue, Carla Dipasquale’s illustrations feel inviting and charmingly vintage. Wearing galoshes with her straw-colored hair in braids, Nina is shown splashing through puddles with her turtle perched on her head, waving to shop owners as she passes. Nina’s neighbors, too, seem plucked from another era, with the characters wearing dresses or trousers and preferring playing cards or reading the paper to staring idly at televisions or smartphones. This sweetly old-school story calls up the best kind of nostalgia and celebrates the power of kindness.

Takeaway: A little girl relies on the generosity of neighbors to help bake her mother’s birthday cake.

Comparable Titles: Nyasha M. Chikowore’s Giraffe Asks for Help, Temi Díaz ‘s It’s Okay to Ask.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Don't Worry

Spofford (A Letter for Hoot) springs a killer hook in this luscious yet sinister thriller: in the epochal year of 2001, Paige Buckley and her best friend, Serafina Manzetti, arrive in New York City, or at least Hoboken, securing an apartment with a Twin Towers view and feeling eager to jump-start their careers. Fate rolls the dice when Paige, working as an auditor at Tower Two, lands on the wrong floor and accidentally slops her burrito onto shipping broker Max Dovic, pulling her instantly in his magnetic yet menacing gravity. They begin to see each other, but Paige has doubts about this intense, controlling man whose yacht boasts a wine cellar and a series of strange deliveries. Readers will have doubts, too, being privy to some of thoughts and business dealings, plus an alarming opening chapter set in which tugboat captain Lindsey Johnson and her crew find something heavy in a black plastic tarp in New York Harbor.

The story and romance build with a teasing, slow-burn pace, with Paige keeping Fina in the loop—"I wouldn't say cute, but he's really handsome”—and each chapter boasting a cliffhanger that only flipping onto the next can satisfy. Paige knows that something doesn't add up with Max’s temperamental moods, ostentatious lifestyle, and her friends’ warnings have power: "Just because he’s rich as hell doesn’t mean he can treat people the way he does," one points out. (Readers will nod along … and turn the pages.)

As the relationship gets steamy, the tension ramps up, with Paige and Fina compelled to snooping about Max’s shipping business, and readers given plenty of clues to worry over. Less a will-they-or-won’t-they than an is-he-or-isn’t-he-evil?, Snap Decision offers a satisfying level of unpredictability and two compelling relationships, especially the chatty, powerful sisterhood between Paige and Fina. Spofford captures the importance of genuine and dependable friendships while offering friendly advice of her own: check out red flags.

Takeaway: Tense New York thriller of romance with a controlling businessman.

Comparable Titles: Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door, Megan Abbott’s Beware the Woman.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Snap Decision

Samuels (author of French Lessons) leads readers on a thrilling and eye-opening journey with her latest tale, the first of her Vanished! mystery series. Florida-based couple Sam and Barbara summer in the charming town of Caussade, in the Normandy area of France. They’re having a relaxed dinner at La Table d’Alice, a local eatery, when a man tries to kidnap the young son of the restaurant owners, Alice and Édouard Blancpain. Meanwhile, in Senegal, Abdoulaye Diop is preparing to make a journey north to Europe in hopes of a better life, after years of encroachment by other countries has made making a living as a fisherman untenable.

Samuels keeps readers engaged as idealistic Abdoulaye travels north to help change the fortunes of his countrymen—and readers will root for the well-meaning Sam and Barbara, who get embroiled in a complex tangle of colonial controversy. The kidnapping drama is tied to an African historical figurine on display at La Table d’Alice restaurant, an artifact holding a valuable secret that some would kill for. During his journey north, Abdoulaye navigates dangerous Al Qaeda-related extremists and nearly loses his own life—but finally safely reaches his cousin’s home in northern Africa. There, Abdoulaye is entrusted with a key part of the secret which may transform the future of his countrymen, charged with delivering it to his half-sister and her husband, who hold the final piece of the puzzle.

Samuels shines a bright light on contemporary and historic African politics, raising awareness on the dynamics that send immigrants in search of a new life. Samuels does a fine job with plotting, creating intriguing characters and captivating situations, though at times, including some quick-moving scenes and when the narrative leaps over months, some additional context would allow readers to engage more fully with the significance of events. Still, readers who enjoy lively mysteries with a humane, international bent will devour Samuels’s tale.

Takeaway: This humane thriller will appeal to readers who love mysteries with a global scope.

Comparable Titles: Walter Dean Myers’s Monster, Megan Abbott’s The Fever.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Vanished!

In this smart, genre-bending thriller, Tree (author of if Only, among other titles) crafts a gripping speculative mystery that intertwines journalism, government secrecy, and a highly literate narrator’s personal revelation. In a male-dominated newsroom in London, a sexist science correspondent finds himself confronted with the unexpected presence of Adalyn, an intern whose intellect and determination challenge his preconceived notions, all as mysterious deaths plague retired government researchers. The plot thickens when the narrator must work with feminist reporter Catherine Edge—“Ms. Edge, to you”—who is determined to uncover the truth behind these seemingly natural occurrences. What unfolds is a surprising but riveting tale of intrigue and discovery, where hidden agendas clash, long-held beliefs are shattered, and a narrator who thinks of women as objects for seducing is forced to confront both himself and a truth he once deemed unthinkable.

Thought-provoking but also straight-up provocative, We’ll Never Know entertains with well-crafted characters and a brisk, twisty plot, while also challenging societal norms and perceptions as it develops a resonant message about the importance of questioning authority and seeking the truth, no matter the obstacles. Readers on its wavelength—and who are comfortable with its sexual frankness and tragicomic depiction of misogyny—will find themselves engrossed from beginning to end, eager to uncover the secrets beneath the surface.

As the title suggests, a feeling of uncertainty roils the narrative. Despite the feeling of paranoia, dialogue and pacing are sharp as the tale touches on secret agents, politicians, amateur ufologists (“come to think of it, all ufologists are amateurs,” one character notes), “neo-Nazi nutjobs,” and elementary particles and the nature of gravity itself. For all the invention and comic energy, neither the unwavering intensity of the mystery nor the heady revelations ever let up until a conclusion that upends expectations—and then, for good measure, transcends them, too.

Takeaway: Twisty, literate speculative mystery finds a sexist reporter confronting everything.

Comparable Titles: Nick Harkaway, Cory Doctorow.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about We'll Never Know

Assistant District Attorney Rachel Matthews has a lot to juggle— the heavy workload and high expectations of her boss, the promise of a promotion, single motherhood to 17-year-old daughter, Charley, and striving to be a star in all aspects of her life. Rachel has faced a lot of dangerous people as a prosecutor, so when she begins to receive threatening phone calls from a number and voice she doesn't recognize, she's unsettled but not surprised. But the harassment escalates to stalking and a demand: $50,000 in cash in a day, or the stalker will hurt Rachel’s daughter. Rachel shows up, but a shot rings out and ends the life of the shadowy figure she was dreading meeting, and now she knows it's only a matter of time until the police presume that she's a murderer. The clock is ticking to find out who is striving to ruin her life and why.

The result is a tense, twisty mystery that reads quickly and offers an engaging, often secretive cast. Smith (Truth and Other Lies ) keeps readers guessing from the start, with a shifting line up of potential suspects: the jealous coworker, jilted lovers, people Rachel has convicted, the aggressive and inappropriate husband of a new acquaintance. Now, Rachel must rely on help from the police, a high school friend who is now a private eye, and her own wits to come out of this alive.

The character of Rachel is touchingly—sometimes frustratingly—human, at times, a tough prosecutor and professional woman who ignores some giant red flags of imminent danger. Her psychology is convincing, though: Rachel has hidden a troubled romantic past from her daughter, and her fear of revealed secrets keeps her from acting on clear threats sooner. “Why was I always so damn stubborn?” Rachel asks, upbraiding herself even as bullets fly and she reaches for her pepper spray. Smith’s understanding of Rachel’s foibles resonates, the guessing game is fun and fair, and the conclusion will satisfy mystery devotees.

Takeaway: Twisty, character-driven mystery of a DA set up by someone from her past.

Comparable Titles: Lisa Scottoline, Robyn Harding’s The Haters.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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This surprising retro-speculative romance from Ramirez (author of Tell Me When I’m Dead) finds the son of renowned scientists adrift—and caught up in science-fiction and horror scenarios—after his parents’ untimely death. The amusingly named Adam West’s plan to follow in the footsteps of his parents is derailed in 1960 when their Bland Corporation explodes, killing them instantly. Pivoting from his desire to work as a scientist, recently graduated Adam accepts an offer from the Bland CEO to work in their marketing department, where Adam becomes convinced he can make his mark by creating a marketing campaign focusing on time travel, a concept that Bland scientists are still exploring. But Adam’s grudge-holding new boss assigns Del Dillard, an unreliable alcoholic employee, to partner with Adam. Though Bruce hopes Adam will crash and burn, he fails to anticipate that Adam will start a relationship with Bruce’s 19-year-old daughter, Jenny.

Ramirez expertly evokes the cutthroat era of Mad Men, especially when tragedy strikes during Del and Adam’s slogan presentation of The Future Is Bland, resulting in Adam being admitted to Bellevue Hospital and fracturing his relationship with Jenny. Fortunately for Adam, his family solicitor manages to get him released into the custody of his great-uncle, Nathan West, a scientist whom Adam has never met and lives in the Hudson Valley.

The story moves briskly, as Adam becomes involved in a scientific experiment conducted by his uncle’s research assistant, Halsey Dean, who has somehow managed to bring to life the detached head of a recently-executed serial killer. Though this is a jolting twist, Ramirez’s quirky dialogue and convincing milieu makes it believable, quickly immersing readers into a twisty plotline focusing on the serial killer’s ability to control others. What began as a sort of coming-of-age narrative about a college grad in the 1960s quickly evolves into a spirited, genre-crossing story that will keep readers riveted until the exciting conclusion.

Takeaway: Surprising romance of science, marketing, and the possibility of time travel in the 1960s .

Comparable Titles: Jonathan Strahan’s Someone in Time, Robert Silverberg’s Recalled to Life.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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