Battle shares the inspiring story of a life that has taken him from sharecropping to the role of “The Aerospace Professor” in this brisk, upbeat memoir and compendium of insights and advice. Battle’s positive attitude powers the book, though he’s frank about pressing topics like poverty and racism as he covers a life that started with his birth in a “small post-Slavery style” North Carolina farmhouse in 1962. Battle writes touchingly of being inspired by crop-dusting planes long before he understood the dangers of their pesticides, of his experience of life in a country whose Black male citizens are “ always under watch, and police violence is widespread, all with the support of judges and politicians,” and of fascinating incidents like marching against racial injustice with Golden Frinks in the early 1970s.

That zeal for justice carried with him into his Air Force service, where in 1980 he was told nonsense like “Black pilot candidates are often disqualified from fighter pilot training because of their intellectual inabilities and they were afraid of water.” He proved them so wrong that he broke base records in some pilot categories—and dedicated himself, in his own teaching and business endeavors later, to help people. That sense of justice also shaped his later career, where as a federal Contracting Officer he reports blowing the whistle on corruption—at great personal cost. Considerations of the future of commercial aeronautics, some excerpts from his reading, and some inspirational quotes supplement a narrative that is direct and plain-spoken.

Battle recounts the facts without the niceties of novelistic memoir scene craft, favoring the bluntly declarative. Of his becoming an adjunct professor at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and then branding himself “The Aerospace Professor,” he writes: “With a lack of opportunities in the aviation and aerospace industry, I decided to develop my own opportunities.” This book both documents that motivation and stands as an inviting example of it.

Takeaway: Upbeat memoir of reaching for the skies despite adversity.

Comparable Titles: Diana Jean Schemo’s Skies to Conquer, Ivan Thompson’s The Air Force's Black Pilot Training Experience.

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

Click here for more about The Aerospace Professor: The Man and The Brand

Wood’s gripping second thriller featuring FBI profiler Christopher DiMeglio (after Blood on the Bayou) finds its hero reluctantly investigating a serial killer targeting criminal defense attorneys, one seemingly inspired by the Bard’s oft-quoted Henry VI line: “The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.” Alerted by San Diego-based reporter Carla Lane that someone’s possibly putting that suggestion into practice, and pressed by her into taking action, Chris is soon jolted out of his duties of serving as a poster boy trying to boost the reputation of the beleaguered agency on talk shows and 60 Minutes. Complicating matters: Carla’s going to work the case with his team.

Once the story moves past media appearances and Chris’s initial dismissal of the case, Wood, a longtime attorney, keeps the pace brisk, only faltering in some info dumps about the psychology and modus operandi of serial killers. As Chris begins to know more about the killer through disturbing conversations on the encrypted-messaging app Signal, he suspects that the killer must be a woman Shakespeare enthusiast who is wealthy, intelligent, and tech savvy. But as a colleague points out, Carla fits all those criteria, too, besides being Chris’ love interest and intellectual sparring partner.

Chris remains a compelling protagonist, and Wood deftly handles the uneasy relationship between feds and the media. The story, laced with references to Shakespeare’s plays, takes surprising detours, from the small Kansas town that is the home of 20th century American literature’s most famous murder to an engaging sojourn to Italy. Seasoned procedural fans may pick up on red herrings that could have used more development, but Wood’s brisk dialogue, vivid detail, and deep familiarity with the world of criminal defense keep the pages turning. Stories of profilers and killers may be familiar, but Wood brings welcome authority to the material, while exploring ethical questions about the defense of people who commit unspeakable crimes and sometimes go free on the basis of technicalities.

Takeaway: Arresting thriller pitting a profiler against a Bard-loving killer.

Comparable Titles: Tami Hoag’sAshes to Ashes, Simon Toyne’s Laughton Rees series.

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

Click here for more about The Shakespeare Killer

The smart third volume of Otto’s post-apocalyptic Detonation series picks up about a century after the fall of our civilization, with the former North American continent wracked by war between humans and machines. The land is ruled by small nation states whose leaders and populace regard each other with deep suspicion—as this epic’s protagonists undertake long journeys, they face interrogations as they pass into new territories. Cecile, a woman in Raleigh fighting the Essentialists, an army corrupted by an AI known as Gail, works with the Spokes, a faction that reports to the Sentinel, an intelligence of “manifold and elaborate plans.” In truth, though, Cecile has divided loyalties, perhaps due to the “apparition,” recently awoken inside her, that has the power to usurp her will.

Likely incomprehensible to readers who have skipped earlier entries, the plot involves dangerous treks, inventive robots, a murderous gameshow, and a witty AI riff on mountaintop oracles. At the story’s heart are a pair of unexpected arrivals at compounds in different regions. In Raleigh, a long lost and mentally troubled man named Warrick turns up, and Cecile is charged with an urgent, classic quest: Warrick’s of the bloodline of the family that created the Sentinel, which will shut down unless the family’s blood—that is, Warrick—is brought to a distant facility. Meanwhile, in an Aspen ruled by a gameshow host and a mysterious “network,” Pyke, an official in charge of shaking down visiting outsiders for gifts, encounters a man who warns that Aspen may be infected.

For all its drone massacres, mega robots, and jolting betrayals, Otto’s series remains deeply invested in the human: in how we organize our societies and our lives. It’s also much smarter about artificial intelligence than readers might expect, a dystopian series with roots in both science fiction and character-driven literary fiction. That means the pacing can be slow, especially in this hefty volume, but these well-drawn people and Otto’s shrewdly plotted surprises reward reader investment.

Takeaway: Intelligent and inventive epic of dystopia, AI, and a divided humanity.

Comparable Titles: Charles Stross’s Accelerando, Daniel H. Wilson’s Robocalypse.

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

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Clinician Hardis says she never planned to write a book. Her self-help debut was born out of a stinging incident: being ghosted by her date for a spa celebration on her fifty-first birthday. She had already learned of “relationship betrayal” during the messy and painful end of her marriage, but despite all she knew from her practice and experience she still found herself devastated, confounded, and ready to shut down. That is, until she remembered the truth: “I realized that I knew how to get through this.” Moving on meant she had to allow herself to feel, allow life to unfold, to engage in it while I felt sad, mad, rejected, alone, pathetic, frustrated, happy, ambivalent, and uncertain.”

That process compelled her to write this inviting, clarifying book, a guide that’s frank about how books on these topics often promise more than they deliver: “none of the changes you are hoping for will show up and become commonplace simply by reading about them or reciting a mantra,” she notes. Hardis argues that although many of us know what to do when life gets hard, how to actually do it confounds people—and that “toxic positivity” and inspirational quotes don’t cut it. Just Do Nothing makes the case that healing and lasting change come from learning to tolerate the discomfort of feelings and differentiating between “I can’t” and “I can’t yet.”

Each chapter is titled for a self-help true-ism (“Choose a Positive Thought”; “Let it Go”) that Hardis explores with wit and good sense, offering healthier advice, exercises, and strategies instead. Transitions take time, effort, and repetition, and the original action steps at each chapter’s end steer the reader to build new habits at their own pace. Hardis acknowledges that this takes effort. Building distress tolerance demands practice, and she demonstrates how to treat emotions like waves which build, peak, and then pass, so that we learn to ride the current.

Takeaway: Inspiring, original guide to facing hurt, gaining confidence, and letting yourself feel.

Comparable Titles: Susan David’s Emotional Agility, Marc Brackett’s Permission to Feel.

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

Click here for more about Just Do Nothing

Kelley (author of America’s National Treasures) tells the stories of the leaders who shaped the history of Asia in the 20th century. He focuses on dissidents in China (both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, or Taiwan), the USSR, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as examining the actions and leadership of France and the United States, specifically their involvements in Asian wars. He explores the biographies of these bureaucrats, politicians, and generals and how they impacted millions of lives. Each section begins with a brief description of the context in which these leaders lived—the history and culture which they led—before turning to the official leaders of the country and then examining the role of dissidents within their regime. Kelley covers a vast scope, all with an eye to how dissidents are treated and a crucial what-if: how the world would have shifted if their words had been heeded.

Highlighting the “long term perspective that history affords” is an admirable goal that Kelley attacks with verve, clear and inviting language, and an eye for the telling detail, especially when following the ripple effects that led to political transformations. By focusing so intently on biographies of particular people, Kelley can tell a complex story about international history, with surprising correspondences between different countries and situations, while also emphasizing his subjects’ individual choices and humanity—and a strong sense of the tensions of how power was wielded.

The broad scope of the project, though, and the many countries he covers means that this reads as a sweeping survey rather than the definitive account of any single subject. Photos in the chapter headings of the person being profiled also humanize his subjects, though the nature of many of his sources (Wikipedia, Quizlet) will limit the book’s utility beyond an introduction for interested lay readers. Nevertheless, readers of Asian and 20th century eager to learn more about dissenters and the differences they could have made will feast on this.

Takeaway: Sweeping survey of dissidents in Asian Cold War history.

Comparable Titles: Jian Chen’s Mao's China & the Cold War, Charles R. Kim’sYouth for Nation

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

Click here for more about Let History Be The Judge

A young boy’s belief in the supernatural builds to the ultimate payoff in Rogers’s surprising, discursive, deeply heartfelt novel, an urban fantasy that edges into warm family drama. Tommy is a third grader with a rare blood cancer and a belief that he is, in fact, a vampire with a cursed bloodline. His indulgent mother fosters this belief, until his delusions actually collide with the supernatural world with miraculous results. Mostly set in a present day of fan conventions and people's secret lives being “smeared all over social media,” but also visiting World's Fairs and other unexpected detours, the novel centers on young Tommy and his mother, June, as well as the story of Viscount Claudius Fallon, a young vampire from Wales, and that of the men who are publishing Claudius’s story as a fiction called “Bad Blood.”

Rogers’s humanity and love for detail come at the expense of narrative momentum, as the story detours into some surprising perspectives, like the innermost thoughts of a shop clerk. When Tommy, who is obsessed with the idea of being a vampire, is treated by June to a coffin to sleep in, Falling Stars devotes two pages to its description and modifications. While the story moves slowly, it’s highly original: Tommy’s equally obsessed with the serialized “Bad Blood” story, which describes the life of Claudius as he settles in June’s hometown, a vividly rendered Eureka Springs, Ark. When they move back, June connects with and falls for the real vampire upon whom the story is based, leading Tommy to figure out his secret and demand, upon his deathbed, to be turned.

That’s a new, rich vein to explore, and this often contemplative novel grapples with love and death and our common humanity. The language is often dense, and the narrative circuitous, but for readers with patience, it offers a unique exploration of the convergence of grim reality with the supernatural realm.

Takeaway: Sprawling, family-driven novel of a dying boy who aches to be a vampire.

Comparable Titles: Suzy McKee Charnas’s The Vampire Tapestry, Sara Flannery Murphy’s The Wonder State.

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

Click here for more about Falling Stars

The second installment of Treadgold’s Olympic Peninsula series kicks off with something of a miracle: Liam, the twin brother of The Silent Woodsman’s Ali, was presumed to have died in an explosion, but is found alive and living under a false identity in Israel. When Teresa, Ali's new sister-in-law, tracks Liam down on Ali's behalf and invites him to return home to visit his now pregnant sister, Liam feels the draw of family and leaves behind his mysterious life of undercover solitude. Though Teresa and Liam resist their attraction to each other, they constantly find themselves thrown together. Left alone in Ali's estate in the quaint coastal town of Port Townsend as she prepares for the arrival of her own twins, sparks fly between the two and they can not deny the chemistry brewing between them.

Alternating viewpoints offer readers a well-rounded, fleshed out love story fueled by family dynamics, relationship drama, and heartfelt character interactions between lovers and siblings. Though at times repetitive in character descriptions (Liam is forever the "overprotective" big brother) the plot moves at a rapid pace, and romance readers will find the characters relatable and entertaining. As Teresa finds herself in life-threatening situations and facing surprising attacks, Liam becomes an accidental guardian. The intrigue and mystery that Liam adds to the story creates intriguing tension, propelling the narrative forward and building a searing anticipation for the sparks to ignite.

Teresa has no shortage of suitors—from her maybe fiancé to her handsome yoga instructor—throughout their "courtship," but the banter and mutual draw between her and Liam jumps from the page. The Guardsman is a light read that will make romance readers swoon. As more of Liam's back story is explained and Teresa's brushes with death become too frequent to be considered coincidence, the tension keeps building and their bond deepens, all leading up to climatic and satisfying conclusion.

Takeaway: Light, mystery-shrouded romance that creates a page-turning anticipation.

Comparable Titles: Jill Shalvis’s Lucky Harbor series, Talia Hibbert’s Guarding Temptation.

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

Click here for more about The Guardsman

In her blockbuster debut, Bliton spins a YA tale replete with magic, the fight between good and evil, and even a touch of romance. Orphaned at three after her parents were killed in a military uprising, Wren learns early in life that she has a gift for shadow magic. And she’s going to need it: an evil Necromancer, Rhonin, is determined to conquer all the worlds contained within the mythical land of Caldumn, and he’s got his sights squarely set on Gaelfall—where teenage mage Wren lives with her adoptive family. Joining the other Sentinel warriors to head off the looming attack, Wren trains hard with her adoptive father, Viggo.

After Viggo’s partner was killed by a Necromancer, he developed a deep hatred for them—so when Wren meets Tyran, a Necromancer who seems to be fighting for good rather than evil, Viggo is extremely hostile and distrusting. But it’s soon evident that Wren and Tyran have an electrical connection, able to read each other’s thoughts—and Tyran proves that he is trying to help on the side of good rather than the side of evil. Bliton skillfully leads both Wren and Tyran through an unending rollercoaster of adventure and fighting for the light to prevail.Outstanding supporting characters—especially night watch and wizard in training Oona, spunky caretaker Endora, and Tyran’s lifelong friend Gunnar—add heart and heft to the story.

Bliton’s painstakingly intricate world-building is imbued with surprising emotion, and the detail is engaging, inviting readers to revel in this world’s magic, tensions, relationships, and fearsome beasts without slowing narrative momentum. She also builds to some spectacular plot twists that will keep readers on their toes. A touch of romance is woven throughout, although nothing at all beyond the bedroom door. While written for young adults, this well-written, deftly plotted story will appeal to adults who relish fantasy, too. Readers will eagerly await Bliton’s next entry in this projected series.

Takeaway: First-rate YA fantasy debut with spectacular world-building and lovable characters.

Comparable Titles: Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s The Girl of Ink & Stars, Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns.

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

Click here for more about The Shadows of Wren

Charlton’s apocalyptic, pointedly off-putting debut crash-courses the reader through the mental landscape of Lad, a troubled man from the streets surviving in a bleak near future of relentless surveillance, government lobotomies, and rampant hedonism of the grubbiest sort. “Everything left standing in this torn-apart city is digital,” Lad reports, suggesting his existence is what our own might be trending towards. Things are so bad that, early on, Lad imagines that he might soon turn to street prostitution just for “an online score.” The humiliations of the flesh extend to the mind, too, as Lad awakens in a miserable medical facility and discovers a set of stitches in his head. He’s subjected to experimental treatments, which supercharges the atmosphere of psychological horror and narrative uncertainty. Whether what follows is real or in Lad’s head, Charlton commits to it all being a highly inventive ordeal, a soiling, not-for-the-squeamish spree abounding in gore, filth, viciously off-kilter monologues, and bizarre sexual escapades.

The result may pleasingly jolt readers who favor poetic squalor, as Lad—in prose that varies from tightly controlled to squalling freakouts—faces weird surgeries, ugly encounters, mob violence, and sundry miscellaneous offenses: sleeping in his own excrement; his grandfather’s relationship with an underage girl; his own abusive relationship with Lass. Despite all he endures, Lad would do anything for Lass, and amid their sufferings they still cling to life. He notes that both know how to hang themselves, and the fact that they haven’t, yet, must mean something.

“Do I even exist without the acknowledgment of others?” Lad asks, late in the novel. That’s a fascinating question for any narrator, especially one in a book that does everything it can to inspire readers to stop reading before they get to it. As Charlton lays bare Lad’s mind—and offers un-edifying updates on Lad’s farts and penis size—the novel leaves it to readers to make sense of how the world got to this point, and what to make of a bleakly beautiful climax.

Takeaway: Bleak, filthy dispatch from the gutters of a near-future dystopia.

Comparable Titles: Charles Bukowski, Chuck Palahniuk.

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

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A famous country music singer meets his soulmate when she stumbles upon the cabin where he is recuperating from vocal cord surgery in the first installment of Treadgold’s Olympic Peninsula trilogy. In the 1990s, country music star Joe O’Connell—aka Joe Bob Blade—is hiding out in his agent’s cabin in the Hoh Rain Forest to silently recover from vocal cord surgery when a woman faints at his door and he carries her into the cabin. Ali Ryan was caught in the rain while attempting to commune with her twin brother Liam’s spirit, disbelieving that he died in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Later, Ali is unable to forget the man she knows as JJ. Eventually, Ali hears a song and recognizes the lyrics from the poem JJ wrote down in a note to her—and the tabloids claim Joe is set to marry a fellow singer, Rina.

Treadgold’s background in acting and vocal performance shines through, adding credibility to her richly hewn depictions of music industry life and politics, right down to the incessant pursuit by the paparazzi to get the latest scoop on the most popular entertainers. While the romance between Ali and Joe is the primary focus of Treadgold's plotline, gripping the attention of readers who will want to find out whether they find their happy ever after, Treadgold also excels at creating intriguing supporting characters, such as Joe’s brother Jake, who jealously decided to date Ali after learning that she was the subject of Joe’s song, and Teresa, Joe’s sister, who seems to hold her own as the only girl in a family with four brothers and a domineering mother.

The use of the 1990s as a setting for her narrative offers more than a chance for nostalgia, as it magnifies the interactions between characters who don’t have instant access to news and social media that today skew the perceptions of reality. The relationship compels, the story moves fast, and the ending satisfies, with a door open for intriguing future installments.

Takeaway: Polished story of a remote cabin, a hit song, and a second chance for love.

Comparable Titles: M.J. Fredrick’s Two Step Temptation, Arie Ray’s Forever Country.

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

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Billy Winslow isn’t a bad guy—it’s just that his “vagabond charm” is matched by bad ideas and a “deep disdain for common employment,” a combination that leads him into sticky situations and even criminal enterprises down in Florida. Rita Polli, a college drop-out who should know better, knows he has trouble staying in line, but her love for him outweighs his often desperate antics. Running low on cash, Billy lets himself get tangled up with Van, a dishwasher, with a plan for a score: they’ll kidnap Steve, a rich kid waiting tables at the dive where they work. All they have to do is hold him for a night, get the ransom money from his father—an ex-professional wrestler and local celebrity—and release Steve without anyone finding out who was behind it. Simple, right?

With crisp, wised-up prose and a talent for capturing what it feels like when situations spin out of control, Juliano (author of Triple Overtime, another Billy Winslow misadventure) sets this caper apart through the voice and perspective of Billy, an engagingly shiftless protagonist who clearly needs a healthy creative outlet—here, he chronicles the high-stakes kidnapping through the perspective of a crime-fighting alter ego called Flash. Excerpts from Flash’s manuscript A Kidnapping in Paradise give the novel a playful edge, even as they reveal much about Billy’s sense of self: “Flash wasn’t the beast he’d once thought. He had a softer side.”

Kidnapping Steve recounts the efforts of so-called friends as they scheme, each with their own motive, to get what some simply want and what others deeply need—money. The tension comes from uncertainty: about how far they’ll go, how bad things can get, and whether Rita will be the one left to pick up the pieces of her and Billy’s life, especially once Keller, a true criminal and condescending jerk, takes over the operation, and what seemed like dark fun and games becomes something more.

Takeaway: Betrayals, desperation, lost love, and dark comedy power this kidnapping caper.

Comparable Titles: Gretchen Allen’s Death Rolls In, Steve Higgs’s The Kidnapped Bride.

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

Click here for more about Kidnapping Steve

Fleet storytelling and an outstanding, mind-bending premise power this thriller from Unwin, author of the One Second Per Second series. Stuart “Art” Cornysh leaves Knoxville for Seattle at the invitation of mysterious finance company Locksley, where he’s to be interviewed for a position he knows little about. Meanwhile, a series of unsettling incidents leads Locksley employee Rox to an impossible coincidence: she’s the spitting image of Marie Curie. Rox mentions this at work and is immediately fired, all as other clues point to the possibility that Locksley has been somehow cloning the world’s greatest minds. “They’re people, not creatures,” the COO snaps at the son of Locksley’s reclusive founder. But with a succession drama underway, and the revelation that these clones, the Magni, often degenerate, the Magni themselves could be in danger—and most don’t even know that they’re clones.

At the top of the list of people uncertain whether they’re Magni is Art, who will lose much of what he loves in life during his time at Locksley. Eventually, he and Rox and the others will even see their lives threatened, as company politics turn nasty. Unwin makes Locksley’s machinations tense and surprising without pushing this bold premise too far into the fantastical, and his sharp prose, convincing dialogue, and understanding of business culture all keep the pages turning and the twists as plausible as they can be for a story in which one character might be the clone of Albert Einstein.

That brisk pace and the story’s compact page count at times work against the premise, as revelations that should jolt (such as Rox’s glimpse of a photo of Marie Curie, or Art’s recognition of the source of the company’s name) come so quickly that readers haven’t had a chance to immerse themselves in the mysteries. Questions surrounding Art’s identity and the founder’s son’s vision for the company are more effective, revealing themselves over pages of suspense and occasional action. Throughout, scenes are fast, strong, and memorable.

Takeaway: Brisk novella of corporate cloning and mind-bending twists.

Comparable Titles: Jane Gilmartin’s The Mirror Man, D.T. Wilby’s Ringer.

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

Click here for more about The Magni

These up-to-the-moment workplace comics from Turetsky offer a diverse, charmingly rendered cast engaged in relatable office-world comedy, complete with one goof of a character, Teddy, “a regular fountain of bad ideas” who elicits last-panel eyerolls from his colleagues. But despite Teddy’s insistence that a good compromise between in-person and remote work would be to let him show up at the office in his pajamas, Turetsky is after more than laughs. These “HR Data Doodles” both celebrate and gently provoke serious thinking about the role of data, analytics, and clear planning in businesses, especially when it comes to HR, hiring, and implanting new management systems.

The team at the Played Much Gaming Company continually finds itself cheering about the abundant research it’s conducted or exciting new technologies it might implement—and again and again, Turetsky depicts the most clear-headed leaders stepping back to make sure someone actually utilizes that research or dares to ask “Maybe we think about business questions to solve then figure out what kind of Big Data will be useful for us.” Throughout, the characters, usually in meetings, go from proposing big new ideas (build a proprietary tool for data analysis!) to realizing that crucial questions haven’t been asked and vital work hasn’t been done. Amusingly, one team, eager to hire new developers for a new game, decides that rather than do the hard work of writing up job requirements and salary information, maybe they could develop an app to do so instead.

Many of Turetsky’s strips, mostly presented in four panel grids with appropriately jargon-heavy office dialogue, emphasize the need for clear visions, for taking the effort to get on the same page, and for talking about data and analytics after identifying what problems to target. That message shines through despite some tricky-to-follow placement of word balloons—the order in which to read the dialogue is often unintuitive. As office satire, these “doodles” are warm and incisive.

Takeaway: Warm comics celebration of HR and data analytics teams.

Comparable Titles: Doug Savage’s Savage Chickens, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas’s Humor, Seriously.

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

Click here for more about Welcome to the World of HR Data Doodles

Freeman’s powerhouse debut features a timeless contemporary second chance romance beautifully paired with a timely playlist to tickle the imagination. Aspen is an actress-turned-pop star on top of the world—mostly. At least, she was until a nasty rumor blew up her life, her friendships, and possibly her career. Now homeless, she wings home from Los Angeles to Fertsville, PA, and the arms of her family. Among said family is Roman, her high school sweetheart. Even though it’s only been seven years since Aspen set out for the bright lights of Hollywood, and their romance ended, the pair have remained friends—even though saying goodbye gets more difficult each time she leaves. As they begin to fall back into old patterns, seamlessly working together to present the perfect traditional Christmas program, Aspen’s real life interferes.

With an impressively mature voice and brisk, assured storytelling, Freeman immediately draws readers into a world where the glitz and glamour are slightly tarnished and the stars are simple, down to earth, and approachable. The narrative unfolds in a dual timeline, but that risk pays off with each section proving a critical building block to demonstrate the architecture of the relationships. At times, some characters’ reactions to difficult situations may come across as a bit too idealized—Roman as the perfect high school boyfriend, for example. He’s the young jock, a member of the popular crowd, and Aspen is the bullied, quiet one who suddenly finds herself the focus of Roman’s attentions, seemingly out of nowhere.

The slight lack of subtlety and nuance carries through into some of the characterization, especially of the secondary characters—Rina, Sierra, and Millie, specifically. But even though these creations have the whiff of stereotypes, they work beautifully as foils for different aspects of Aspen’s personality and experiences. Overall, the novel will speak to a new generation of romance lovers while also delighting veterans of the genre with a fresh, vibrant voice.

Takeaway: A fresh new voice celebrates second chance romance in the harsh lights of celebrity.

Comparable Titles: Christina Lauren’s Twice in a Blue Moon, Jacquelyn Middleton’s A Smile in a Whisper.

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

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Set in the least glamorous locales of Los Angeles, this sun-kissed noir, Vaughn’s debut, centers on Ellis Dunaway, disgraced screenwriter, reluctant private investigator, and a man who can't move on from his failures in love, business or sobriety. Ellis inherited the private investigation agency from his father, a fortuitous gift as Ellis's brief and slightly shining career as a screenwriter is in the rear view mirror of his 1987 Porsche, likewise inherited. His work in Hollywood is DOA, so when his coke dealer requests that Ellis find out what happened to a man who was living in his rental property, there are no good reasons to refuse.

After discovering that the missing man was involved with the Black Fist, a powerful cartel, Ellis meets a foreboding cast who bring danger and violence to the investigation. The case turns personal, as Ellis discovers a surprising family connection, but the storytelling always is, as Ellis narrates in crisp, wry, fleet-moving prose—and faces friends and loved ones who are beginning to distance themselves from the spiral Ellis has chosen to ride out. His secretary, Reshma, is especially compelling, a character readers will hope secures a happier ending than her beginning would suggest.

Before an ending that offers welcome promise, Ellis’s own future doesn’t look much brighter than his present, as for most of the book he seems to have made his decision to wallow in the memory of all the big breaks and moments that haven't gone his way, despite the pain this brings to those he cares about. The title suggests Dorothy B. Hughes’s marvelous In a Lonely Place, but Vaughn’s Los Angeles is less dreamy, its sunsets shining on dog waste. Vaughn’s especially good at conjuring made-up cultural product, the junk that Hollywood would rather make than anything Ellis ever pitched, and frequent mentions of real shows and songs, including a disquisition on 1991 hits by Bryan Adams and Swing Out Sister, find Ellis drowning in pop. Here’s hoping this promising series soon finds him in a better place.

Takeaway: Promising series starter of a reluctant detective embroiled in L.A. noir.

Comparable Titles: Phoef Sutton’s Heart Attack and Vine, Timothy Hallinan’s Nighttown.

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

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A group of teenagers takes on an ancient myth in the third of Cameron’s Young Explorers Adventure series (after Phantom Express). C.J., Scotty, Sadie, and Laura—members of the Young Explorers on an adventure to Scotland’s MacGregor Castle in 1919—are ecstatic to be part of a new expedition to renovate a historical castle, despite the rumors that the castle’s haunted. Upon their arrival, they meet the MacGregor family, including Lord MacGregor’s two children, Mollie and Keir, and a strange red-haired girl named Greer, granddaughter to a village woman, Morag, who warns the group that evil’s lurking near the MacGregor home. That warning foreshadows a deadly battle for the kids and their parents, as a long-dead curse is awakened and set loose, bent on destroying the MacGregor family once and for all.

Steeped in myth and adventure like the series’ earlier entries, the Scottish Knight boasts plenty of action and historical lore. The Young Explorers are quickly ensnared in the curses plaguing the MacGregors, as the renovation unearths an eerie suit of armor that turns up missing shortly after it’s discovered. When the armor later goes on the hunt—taking down Lord MacGregor in the process—it seems that ancient curse has some truth to it, especially when Morag foretells that it’s the Scottish Knight, returned to enact death on the MacGregors because “evil runs in [their] veins.” The curse—traced back to one of the early MacGregor lords who murdered a local woman accused of witchcraft—soon poses a threat to the entire group, when the ghostly knight turns on them all.

Cameron evokes the steadfast loyalty of young friends throughout the story’s deadly chases and chilling attacks—and that camaraderie eventually saves the day, of course, in a savvy and unpredictable plan hatched by the Young Explorers. The ending, though suspenseful, becomes cumbersome in its plotting, but middle grade readers will still relish this spirited escapade.

Takeaway: Ancient curses and intense action keep this adventure’s pages turning.

Comparable Titles: Shannon L. Brown’s The Crime-Solving Cousins Mysteries series, Jonathan W. Stokes’s Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas.

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

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