Jones (Forever Yours) delivers a clever and electrifying adventure on an alternate Earth alive with shapeshifters and volatile politics. A civil war has trapped bear shifter Dr. Teresa Pérez-Soto and her clinic filled with human, bear, and elephant shifter orphans. Fayola, an ultra dangerous impundulu—a large bird shifting telepath who drinks blood—is on a mission from her government, The United Wake of Benekal, to extract the doctor from the war zone but not the children. Successfully completing this last mission will free Fayola from her mandatory military service and allow her to return to her beloved father. Always stalwart, this time she shows empathy when human child Jwahir calls her “Dela Eden,” her savior, and Fayola risks everything to transport the children to safety.

Adhering to her mantra, “The better a soldier I become, the easier the missions will be, and the quicker I’ll be able to return home,” Fayola is an imposing figure in her human form and nearly indestructible in her bird form, with huge wings, a beak that can penetrate elephant hide, and the ability to generate golden lightning. At the start Jones focuses on developing the strong female characters and the intricate world building, though the plot accelerates when The Wake’s leaders, intrigued by Fayola’s empathy and negotiating skills, choose not to court martial her. Instead, she’s assigned to the new Criminal Exploitation Unit to save children in trouble. These include Jwahir, who sends word that her adoptive bear shifter father is abusing her.

Jones masterfully constructs an original world of extraordinary shapeshifters, a militaristic society, a rich political environment, and a mission to combat human trafficking. With a nod to the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jones sets a diverse cast in an immersive, compelling world in a story that evokes loyalty and the desire to do good. Readers will find this a winner.

Takeaway: Science fiction fans will embrace the strong female lead and unique shapeshifters in this adventure with a heart.

Great for fans of: Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child, Robert McCammon’s The Wolf’s Hour.

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

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The fiction debut from Cawthon (author of Origins & Faith) lives up to its title with its beautiful juxtaposition of loss, empathy, and courage, all set in a neighborhood neatly sewn together by Cawthon’s warm storytelling. Present day Savannah is home to a low-income family teetering on the brink of ruin with matriarch Jolene terminally ill and son Billy Ray adapting to manhood as a teenager whose father has deserted them. Immediate concerns for his younger brother and dodging family conflicts weigh down Billy Ray from the start. Cawthon invites readers to walk alongside Billy Ray on his many trials, observing tough decision-making, reveling in the young man’s strength, and witnessing his maturation and the development of his moral character.

Bullying surfaces in many interactions between characters, a theme that does not discriminate on age, relation, or circumstance. Confrontations at school with peers occur frequently, while at home he faces all-too-common altercations instigated by his uncle. But vital moments of tender honesty between Billy Ray and his steadfast supporter Aunt Becky give depth to their family’s complex relationships. With direct prose and clear love for his characters, Cawthon blends sometimes painful realism with an abiding belief in resilience and the selflessness of the best of humanity.

Cawthon throws many obstacles at his protagonist, some devastating and violent. But through it all the theme of “how to keep faith in the face of fear” powers the story. The author’s also attentive to problems that can seem minor by comparison, such as Billy Ray’s embarrassment for being “some sort of freak” for having an old flip phone—later, it’s with the greatest elation that he receives a laptop as a Christmas gift. Such sweet moments bring solace. Readers who relish stories of good people finding their path, with prayer and lots of heart, will want to walk this street.

Takeaway: The ultimately heartening story of an impoverished Savannah coming of age.

Great for fans of: Rose Betit’s Sparrows, V. L. Brunskill’s Waving Backwards.

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

Click here for more about The Prettiest Street in Savannah

Voorhees puts a poetic form typically associated with comic doggerel to dedicated spiritual purpose in this urgent, charming collection of limericks, arranged to suggest the stages of a life and a path toward enlightenment. Opening with stanzas about living in a sleep-like state—in which people are “Avoiding the ache/ Of being awake”—The Garden Path then journeys on, chapter by chapter, charting a seeker-to-be’s development, from first recognizing a need for something more nourishing from this life (“The bird in the ribcage must fly/ But fearful of making a try”) to tentative first steps (“Shun greedy confusion!/ Drop that illusion!”) and beyond. At long last, in the ninth chapter, the seeker stands confidently before “the image of eternity” knowing that “A sensitive mind/ will find if inclined/ A ship to sail this endless sea.”

There’s an inspired tension between the limerick form, so rigid and predictable, and the searching, consciousness-expanding material. Voorhees acknowledges this with an imprecation, in introductory material, to “learn the difference between container and content.” Since the time of Edward Lear, limericks have encouraged readers to enter a spirit of anticipatory play, their minds reaching ahead to what the final rhyme might be. By contrast Voorhees tends to place less emphasis on the last word—the container—and more on the ideas—content—throughout, inviting readers to search for deeper meaning rather than a punchline.

Tasteful sketches accompany verses about what “bozos” we can be and the effort it takes to “attain the goal/ Becoming human, free and whole.” To fit the rhyme and meter Voorhees isn’t afraid to bend language and grammar, though it seems churlish to complain when the limericks encourage a state of contemplative reverie—and when it’s the content that counts. A concluding essay, “Seeking Truth in Dangerous Times,” is illuminating, especially when Voorhees, a mathematician, contemplates the mathematics of infinity, through the lens of Omar Khayyam.

Takeaway: Inspiring limericks that follow and encourage a spiritual awakening.

Great for fans of: The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse, Omar Khayyam.

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

Click here for more about The Garden Path

This collection of uplifting poetic “reflections” from Wilburn takes its title literally. The first poems here center on the act of contemplating one’s self in a mirror, each building to a celebration of deeper qualities than might be apparent on the surface: character and class rather than passing beauty, which Wilburn casts as “vain,” and the assurance, as a Christian, of having a “purpose and plan/ One that is not chosen by man.” The declarative narrative poems that follow describe, in loose and personal lines that alternate between couplets and free verse, relatable scenarios, like making the transition to being a stay-at-home wife and mother after decades of teaching (“I wash, I iron, and I put things away./ The pleasure of it all is doing things my way.”) or facing “The Math Problems of Everyday Life.” That entry’s powered by the fun conceit of applying mathematical logic to the kind of problems Wilburn addresses throughout the book: “Take away pain and sorrow and multiply your faith.”

That faith is the strong throughline of the pieces collected here, expressed with both exultant pleasure (“Living the Christian Songs of Life” playfully builds a declaration of belief from song titles) and a sense of hard-won advice: “Call on Jesus so you don’t go wrong,” she writes in “Communications,” a poem that opens as a consideration of how humanity sends messages to each other but then twists to emphasize that greater concern.

Readers of faith looking for warm, inviting poems connected to everyday life (one entry cautions not to “get upset” when lost and confused in a crowded city) and an emphasis on abiding Christian convictions will find Wilburn’s light verse appealing and often touching. The meter and rhyme schemes tend toward the fluid, but this is conversational self-expression, best read out loud, capturing the spirit of what moves and concerns a pure heart.

Takeaway: Touching light verse contemplating a Christian woman’s faith, days, and self.

Great for fans of: Morgan Harper Nichols, Julie C. Gilbert’s Made to Praise.

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

Click here for more about Reflections of Me- Living Life Experiences

This page-turning historical thriller from Lubitz (Breaking Free) offers crime, court drama, and restitution in satisfying measure. One night in 1948, Billy Dalton saves Lacey Evers and her baby from a fiery car on a North Carolina roadside. The mother-daughter pair disappears, and Billy passes out. Once he’s conscious, the authorities inform him he imagined the scene. It’s clearly a cover-up, but he’s no match for the sadistic Sheriff Huck Harkins and his lecherous judge brother who lord over Kane County like mobsters. More than a decade later, Lacey finds Billy and recounts the scandalous incidents of that night. They unite against the Harkins in court, risking their lives and the safety of their loved ones.

With pulse-thumping action and strong characterization, Lubitz dramatizes racism and corruption in the South leading up to and during the Civil Rights era. Billy’s and Lacey’s points of view alternate every few chapters, revealing dysfunctional family histories before their life paths join. Although Lacey’s tale is sensational, Billy shines as an unhappily married alcoholic consumed by repressed anger who gropes for happiness. Disfigured by the burning car, Billy can’t help but engage in self-sabotage when faced with others’ kindness, until the crucible of the Korean War reframes his existence so that he finally welcomes a fulfilling life. His quiet awakening and Lacey’s decision to fight for justice are satisfying in themselves, as is the accompanying suspense. How will they avenge themselves against the unyielding political machine?

Billy and Lacey’s shift from victims to survivors and then agents of restitution entertains yet highlights American atrocities like lynching. The story is a study in how exposing crime dismantles a community until oppressed are empowered. Told in straightforward language and boasting a cast of well-drawn side characters, this crime-court drama will please fans of American historical fiction and law-and-order aficionados.

Takeaway: A page-turning thriller about crime, corruption, and justice in the midcentury South.

Great for fans of: John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, Susan Carol McCarthy’s Lay that Trumpet in Our Hands

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

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A sumptuous epic of dark romance set in the wild American West and centered on a young woman, a notorious outlaw, and a courtly man of wealth, Maraziotis’s sprawling debut is the kind of book whose ideal reader will happily spend a season in it. Running more than 750 pages, with much to be resolved in future books, Haunt both challenges and rewards in its uncompromising ambition, its lyric prose and surging emotions, its slowly teased secrets, wrenching violence, and—to borrow Maraziotis’s phrase—"lustful tenderness.” It’s at times familiar, with a simmering love triangle and scenes of frontier rescues, yet it’s too original to settle into any genre, as Maraziotis spices the tale with adventure, romance, tragedy, and even horror.

Mac, the strapping man who saves protagonist Charlotte from a bear attack, is considered a “degenerate, a cold-blooded killer.” After time in his “shadowy aura,” Charlotte—herself falsely accused of manslaughter—will face imprisonment, assault, and other dire predicaments. Maraziotis doesn’t shy away from the grisly or taboo: to free herself from captivity, Charlotte seduces a machete-wielding guard while their naked bodies are “covered in the murderous blood and evil stains of human debris.”

That’s perhaps the least sexy clinch in a novel that generates legitimate heat, especially after a second male lead, ranch owner William Griffiths, pleads Charlotte’s innocence. Will’s got secrets of his own but is gentleman enough, in a scene of sparkling turned-on comedy, to refuse a whiskey-drunk Charlotte’s affections despite what he calls “the tormenting stiffness that nearly bursts my virile member asunder.” Maraziotis digs into the men’s pasts in flashbacks, ensuring each is as developed and compelling as Charlotte. Fast-paced scenes and inventive perils keep the pages turning despite the novel’s length. Campfires, shootouts, and equine companionship are given fresh excitement, and the epic scope, darkness, and refusal to stick to familiar beats will please readers who relish immersive, provocative romance-tinged storytelling.

Takeaway: This epic, lyric adventure blends dark romance, horror, and a Wild West love triangle.

Great for fans of: Diana Gabaldon, Téa Obreht’s Inland.

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

Click here for more about Haunt

Holden’s high-tech, near-future geopolitical thriller starts a series and, as it hits the highs that have long set Holden’s books apart, stands as an inviting jumping-on point for new readers. Here’s all the inventive full-throttle action, multifaceted perspectives of suspenseful global conflicts, and convincingly detailed weapons technology—always described on-the-fly, dazzling without slowing down the story. Aggressor’s a treat for readers who, like Holden’s charismatic pilot Karen “Bunny” O’Hare, want to get into the air already but also want to believe in the hardware. Set in 2036, Aggressor takes off quick. Aggressor Inc., a private military contractor (motto “We Bring It”), has been providing fighter jets and training to Taiwan, but now an Aggressor team is trapped there behind a Chinese blockade.

True to its name, though, the company is pushing matters: having secured an extension on its contract, Aggressor plans to sneak more planes to the island—chief among them a next-gen stealth fighter, the Black Widow. That setup means daring infiltration as tensions mount in Washington, Beijing, and the U.N., and Holden blends the excitement of the mission—and the inevitable complications—with passages from the perspective of all interested parties, including the Chinese. Holden, as always, avoids stereotypes, and his Bunny proves an arresting hero. She “burns” to fly fast and proves capable of quick, decisive action on air, land, and sea.

The pace is quick, but Holden studs the tale with resonant grace notes that make its future conflict feel real. As the British get embroiled, and China threatens war, readers get fascinating asides about hypersonic weapons systems, the divergent development of AI in the East and West, what a campaign to air-drop supplies into Taiwan would look like, and a Pentagon official’s consternation at the impact of global conflict on his 401(k). But it’s crisp, thrilling action and an appealing new cast that makes this one soar.

Takeaway: This superior near-future tech-thriller finds fighter pilots infiltrating a blockaded Taiwan.

Great for fans of: Paco Chierici’s Lions of the Sky, J.D. Narramore’s The Nameless Height.

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

Click here for more about Aggressor

This inviting but provocative exploration of consciousness, reality, and how the former shapes the latter finds Eisenberg (Inner Spaces: Parapsychological Explorations of the Mind) again drawing on ancient wisdom, contemporary science, and cross-cultural spiritual teachings, this time to make the case that “the only thing we can possibly know to be true is that we are experiencing awareness of being aware as our present reality.” Eisenberg plunges deeply into evidence that our existence and the world we perceive have their source in “an underlying universal field of consciousness of a universal consciousness” and also into the practical questions this raises: how should we live, both as individuals and as members of a society whose “predatory-exploitative mindset …has endangered the entire web of life and is leading us to the point of human extinction”?

Eisenberg, of course, has spent half a century pursuing questions of higher consciousness and what it means for us all, and Dream It to Do It lays out a compelling argument in quick, conversational chapters that will communicate clearly to both seasoned seekers and novices alike. For Eisenberg, reality not being what we think it is represents the potential for breakthroughs: if consciousness—that is, the imagination—is responsible for our “consensual” shared existence, then it must also be “the source of everything that we’ve developed,” including scientific discoveries. Imagination, he argues, can quite literally shape reality.

Eisenberg ‘s guidance on how readers can feel a connection to this universal consciousness and perhaps shape some reality themselves, meanwhile, is comfortingly familiar: meditation (“the ultimate brain hack”), manifesting (rooted in “the Shamanistic practice of “dreaming the world into being”), and more. That familiarity, and the commonalities he draws between global religions, is for Eisenberg more evidence, proof that we can transcend “the egoic self–level of individual consciousness.”

Takeaway: Seekers will find this exploration of reality and collective consciousness illuminating and hopeful.

Great for fans of: Stanislav Grof’s The Way of the Psychonaut, Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind.

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

Click here for more about Dream it to Do it: The Science & the Magic

Debut novelist McAnam offers a unique romance, flashing between a woman’s battle with dementia, her father’s battle with the same illness, and her successful career running a five-star hotel and her discovering romance while in her sixties. Charlotte O’Malley relishes her satisfying career at the Tiffany Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota, and though she occasionally wishes she had found her soul-mate, she enjoys her friendship with best friend and assistant Christopher. As her father’s dementia worsens, Charlotte faces the reality of her father not recognizing her. When she meets Lutheran pastor Brandon Peterson while staying at a resort on Lake Superior, Charlotte is surprised by her almost instant attraction to him, feeling as though she has found the perfect man. There’s a catch, though—he’s married, leaving Charlotte feeling guilt and pain.

McAnam’s senior romance capably highlights the allure and physical attraction between Charlotte and Brandon and the ensuing complications, focusing on her timeless beauty and the empowerment she feels as a result of her life experiences. During the on-again, off-again relationship, Charlotte meets Stefan, a trail guide at the lake resort, as they enjoy hikes together and cement their relationship. As Charlotte encounters further tragedies, Brandon returns, and through it all McAnam touchingly depicts her sensuality and femininity, a refreshing departure from the typical portrayal of over-sixty women as merely senior citizens.

McAnam also highlights Charlotte’s struggle with the sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her father. This material is thoughtful and humane as Charlotte reconciles her concern for her father with the reality that, due to the disease, he is no longer the same person who abused her, even as she still bears the physical and emotional scars. McAnam’s richly drawn novel, complete with enigmatic characters who face real-life struggles, is sure to resonate with romance fans of all ages.

Takeaway: Flashbacks reveal a woman with dementia’s rewarding career and romances in her sixties.

Great for fans of: Pamela Kelley’s The Nantucket Inn, Julia Clemens’s Sunset on Whisling Island.

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

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Renwick debuts with a fun and lively look at the taxes of American presidents, covering their tax mistakes (as in the case of Nixon), their occasional bursts of public-spirited largesse (Lincoln oversaw the creation of the income tax and paid his in full, even though this “wasn’t a clear requirement for the president”), and their strategies, especially among recent chief executives, for avoiding having to make maximum payments. Written with an eye for what readers can learn about their own tax burdens, All the Presidents' Taxes offers a brisk history of the income tax in America, amusing, persuasive assessments of whether recent presidents and some other politicians are tax cheats (Nixon yes; Carter no; Trump unclear), and clear-eyed explications of issues like the distinction between tax avoidance—legal!—and tax evasion—not!

“Even though taxes are necessary for the success of the country, there’s no ethical obligation to pay more than what is owed,” Renwick, a CPA, notes in his entertaining survey of the fractious history of American taxation, which considers with clear eyes issues of fairness and politics. The book’s second half, meanwhile, is dedicated to the specifics of the taxes of the 45th and 46th presidents, which Renwick probes closely, asking tough questions and explaining the complex intricacies. Biden’s S-Corp strategy of tax minimization, Renwick notes, is a loophole that the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president, endeavored to close. (Renwick makes the case that its administrative costs might not be efficient for less well-heeled taxpayers.)

The taxes of Trump, meanwhile, have been a source of media mystery and excitement for years now, and Renwick devotes a near third of the book to parsing techniques like Trump’s lavish deduction strategies, which can inspire reader deductions, and his paying salaries to family members. Renwick covers how you, too, can turn an allowance into paid labor—and reap the tax benefits without getting in trouble.

Takeaway: This entertaining survey of American presidents’ taxes offers solid strategies for reducing your own burden.

Great for fans of: Joel Slemrod & Michael Keen’s Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue, Eva Rosenberg’s Deduct Everything!

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

Click here for more about All the Presidents' Taxes

Balstrup’s ambitious, accomplished debut brings rare imaginative power and rigor to religion, ritual, and holy war in fantasy, introducing a fascinating world of faith and fire while continually challenging—and rewarding—genre expectations. The story builds early to conflagration and revolution, with the holy order of Intercessors attacking a ruling family after its ruling head, who holds the position of Skalen, commits pointed heresy by urging rejection of the Intercessors’ authority. In one of Balstrup’s many bursts of rousing and inventive language, Reyan Terech thunders that the visions of the First Diviner said nothing about Intercessors, white-robed psychics who “purify” spirits through fire.

Taking on the fervent and psychically gifted, though, comes with a cost, and soon holy fire rains down. In the aftermath, it’s daughter Sybilla who is Skalen. Readers might expect that her efforts to avenge her family and end the rule of the Intercessors will drive the book, but Balstrup’s interest isn’t the usual heroic violence of epic fantasy—instead, it’s in rich questions of power and belief, the weight of leadership, and what comes after a hard-won victory that tears a civilization apart. The narrative vaults ahead in time as Sybilla faces hard choices, rebellion, and a faith that will not die.

The seriousness with which Balstrup presents that faith sets this singular series-starter apart just as surely as its polished prose, mature themes, and unconventional structure. Balstrup has conjured up gorgeous, creepy holy texts, chants, rituals, and prayers, the depiction attentive to how faiths adapt over time, how they draw from and distort older belief systems, and—crucially—what they mean in the lives of adherents. The Way of Unity boasts weird magic, original creatures, flights of horror and beauty, and a thirty-year sweep that builds to an enticing promise of more. The book’s long and sometimes demanding, but readers who favor fantasy of literary ambition with fully imagined lives and beliefs will find this a feast.

Takeaway: This standout dark fantasy debut takes on rich questions of faith, fire, rebellion, and power.

Great for fans of: Tamsyn Muir, Christopher Buehlman’s Between Two Fires.

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

Click here for more about The Way of Unity

White’s fifteen-year-old hero returns for another action-packed fantasy romp, after Jestin Kase and the Masters of the Dragon Metal. As owner of a Dragon Medal, Jestin is protected by a golden power that scales his body and allows him to wield a blade from his own hand. With that type of superhuman ability, he should be able to conquer the world, but his panic attacks and insecurities threaten his confidence. This time, as he finds himself at the center of a dizzying foray of magic and treachery, Jestin must wrangle his self-doubt because evil is brewing. Humanity has been cut off from the heavens, a villain is turning elves into vampire-like monsters, and a mystical ancient book with endless power is about to be stolen. It’s up to Jestin and his friends to unravel the chaos and protect the innocent.

White quickly establishes Jestin’s wit, humor, and bravery through amusing banter and electrifying action sequences, and amid all that the hero’s relatable awkwardness navigating an endearing adolescence crush for his best friend Colt adds to his charm. On the surface, he may seem like a confident young man, but buried under his brazen jests are deep-rooted insecurities from childhood trauma. White masterfully navigates Jestin’s internal struggles and gently guides him towards confronting his past. As a result, timeless lessons about pain, suffering, and perseverance are learned.

Those jumping headfirst into this series without previously reading the first book will quickly feel at home in the mystic splendor of the Dragon Metal and medals. There’s action and adventure galore, and while some readers may feel overwhelmed by the abundant characters and concurrent storylines, White provides a character list and glossary for clarity. Fantasy fans with a passion for magic will sink into this meticulously crafted world of elves, monsters, and heroes.

Takeaway: A fantasy whose likable teen hero faces monsters, both outside and within.

Great for fans of: Paul Cude’s The White Dragon Saga, Sean Fletcher’s Heir of Dragons Series.

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

Click here for more about Jestin Kase and the Terrors of Shadow Metal: Dragon Metal Book 2

Riaz follows up The Vaccine with another smart, unsettling thriller with a provocative premise. As the title suggests, Islamic States of America imagines a near-future of Caliphate rule across most of the U.S., where women are covered, music and drinking is outlawed, and one-time CIA hero Jamal Stone, born back when America was free, now serves as an interrogation operative in the West State for the Ministry of Caliphate Intelligence, interrogating bombing suspects and recommending them for death. Stone’s uneasy life is upended when he receives a video of his lost son, now 10 years old: Khalil’s with the insurrectionists in what once was called Washington, D.C.

To protect his boy, Stone must cross the Islamic States, enter the war-torn East State, and then somehow shield Khalil from the Caliphate, whose executioners won’t balk at ending the life of a child revolutionary. That’s a gripping plot, though Riaz is up to more than just spinning a tale of what-if? suspense. The novel tours readers through the underbelly of the ISA, showcasing its crime, law enforcement, faith, corruption, and everyday life—passages illuminating the status of women are especially troubling, as is an early scene in which Stone and his MCI partner have nothing to talk about except their wives, as sports and culture are outlawed.

Riaz’s deep interest in how the Caliphate would actually work means that the novel, while crisply told and hard to put down, isn’t always a brisk page-turner. Instead, it’s a richly imagined travelogue, a scarifying plunge into the practicalities and drift of mind of a dark possible future, with fascinating detours, like when Stone joins a raid on an underground drinking den in An-Nas, once Chicago. The tension is strong but also existential: Stone, an American born to a Muslim father, considers himself a man of the Caliphate but doesn’t pray and at times quietly tries to aid victims of its cruelties. The question of what America he’ll fight for haunts this extraordinary novel.

Takeaway: An extraordinary thriller of America under a caliphate, alive with jolting detail.

Great for fans of: Omar El Akkad’s American War, Boualem Sansal’s 2084.

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

Click here for more about Islamic States of America

In the swamps of Louisiana, a body is discovered floating in the murky waters of the Wetlands Observatory. Not an unusual day for Detective Lance Knight from the nearby St. Bernard’s Sheriff’s Department. The manner of death, though, and the case that follows prove anything but. When more victims are discovered around the waters of Chalmette, Louisiana, Lance and the coroner, the indomitable Gina Goodwin, discover a most unusual common thread: each has venom in the bloodstream, from what Gina describes as “snakes with a venom I’ve never encountered before.” (And she’d know—she adores herpetology.) From there, the case slithers into surprising territory, including the underbelly of a drug ring operated by a reputed witch practicing black magic.

Lethal Connections pulses with spry dialogue ,surprising bursts of tension and danger, and a plot as slippery as a swamp copperhead. For all the fast-moving procedural fun, though, Knight possesses an insightful perception that imbues the storytelling with emotional weight and resonance. Insights into the life of the widow of a victim who cheated on her, for example, bring welcome humanity to the case, as does the winning repartee between the detective and a smirking coroner, quick to deploy the “stink-eye” when appropriate, who has it in her to star in her own mystery series.

The three co-authors’ voices and interests blend into unison but also likely enrich the varied personalities and areas of expertise of this strong cast of characters. Gina’s introduced, in one scene, “elbow deep in internal organs,” while Lance struggles, a bit, with questions like whether he should pull out a chair for her at an Italian restaurant. His minor uncertainty is the kind of winning detail that keeps readers invested, not just in the bodies discovered among the reeds but in the sleuths on the case. The mystery is crisply told, the killer a surprise, and local color and folklore are engaging.

Takeaway: A detective facing Louisiana poisonings may find the killer too close for comfort.

Great for fans of: Tess Gerritsen, D.J. Donaldson.

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

Click here for more about Lethal Connections: The Poison ID Unit

Despite its title, this collection from Adams (Against the Current) doesn’t center on rent or healing flesh, though one of its several hell-raising young people does, in the years just before the Korean war, burn his initials into his arm with chemistry class acid. Instead, Scar Songs sings of hearts bruised and toughened by experience, over the course of a lifetime, starting with a young man’s shock at the thoughtless cruelty of the adult world in the treatment of a shoplifter in the opening story, “The Catcher,” or another—possibly the same—young man’s encountering of Mexican authorities in the border-crossing centerpiece “The Last Tequila Run.” The latter’s a richly complex story that builds to the narrator’s understanding of the most evergreen betrayal of the young by the old: the young getting sent off to fight and die in the old’s wars.

Adams balances coming-of-age tales (including the knockout “Too Late Nathan,” which deftly blends past and present) with stories of adults bearing up under the weight of accumulated scar tissue. “The Music Messiah,” perhaps the collection’s most atypical story, finds the narrator, a well-regarded music jazz journalist, eager to interview a returning titan of the tenor sax, back on the scene but still laying somewhat low after years away. The saxman’s tale—blending elements of several jazz greats’ biographies—is a moving account of healing from loss, addiction, and more, while striving to show others a path forward, too.

The power of art also fuels the painfully comic “Winter Break,” a story that concerns the primal pain of teaching material one cares for deeply—in this case, a story from Joyce’s Dubliners—to students. Its form and technique echoes Joyce but also jazz, building to an epiphany whose language suggests a dazzling solo … and also the pain of loving art and culture so deeply in a society that doesn’t. Adams’s stories are crisp, incisive, briskly told dispatches about living on in spite of it all.

Takeaway: Incisive short stories about persevering as life scars us.

Comparable Titles: T.C. Boyle’s “Greasy Lake,” Richard Yates’s “A Really Good Jazz Piano.”

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

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A call for change in education and a pragmatic demonstration of how it can be achieved, this forward-thinking peer-reviewed collection from Walden University, a fully online institution “built on the foundation of positive social change,” offers a host of practical-minded papers from academics at Walden and other online schools, all dedicated to perhaps the most consequential question in education in the post-pandemic world: how to offer a more equitable learning experience for all students in an online space. In clear-eyed, practical-minded papers, the authors present the theoretical foundations of creating inclusive online spaces and teaching and learning models, nuts-and-bolts examinations of what the designs of such spaces look like in practice, and core principles for evaluating the inclusivity of the online classroom curriculum.

Those principles are crafted to ensure designs are not systematically biased, that each student feels valued and affirmed, and that students are offered multiple means of expression to demonstrate knowledge. All that’s just from this wide-ranging and inspiring volume’s first few chapters. Subsequent sections continue the student-minded, data-driven road-maps to all that online education could be, as the authors offer illuminating strategies, rubrics, and analysis tools at the classroom and the institutional level. Any teacher of an online course will find value in the discussions of “compassionate grading” (offering empathetic correctives while avoiding grade inflation) or the development of a “person-centered” approach that fully “activates student strengths” and forges “relevant, meaningful connections to their lives.”

Walden has committed to a mission of positive social change, and chapters aimed at the institutional level call for a change to traditional strategic planning in favor of “operational plans designed to sustain a culture of community commitment and ensure an inclusive teaching and learning environment.” Another examines an innovative “self-assessment toolkit” to help colleges and universities “assess their own readiness to serve historically underserved students.” Anyone teaching, administering, or thinking seriously about online education will find much here that’s urgent and revelatory.

Takeaway: Practical yet inspiring academic papers on how to achieve the best for students in online learning.

Great for fans of: Michael Simonson, Susan, Zvacek, and Sharon Smaldino’s Teaching and Learning at a Distance, Routledge’s Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning series.

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Cover: B
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Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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