What if David “Davy” Crockett somehow had survived The Battle of the Alamo? What would the implications be for such a man after a death that immediately became America lore, the fortress itself a monument still preserved? Pyke, a great descendant of one of the Immortal 32 who answered William Barret Travis’s call for reinforcements, explores these questions in Rescuing Crockett, a tried-and-true Western novel that, as it kicks off Pyke’s Silas Grant series, revels in a little bit of everything looked for by lovers of the genre. In 1838,16-year-old blacksmith-to-be Silas and some Texas Revolution veterans catch wind of the possibility that rumors of Crockett’s death two years before are greatly exaggerated, and the hunt is on to discover the fate of the storied frontiersman, possibly now a prisoner of war.

So, the gunslingers set out on an irresistible mission, a hook that the book itself lives up to. Pyke offers rousing adventure, engaging camaraderie between the characters, a smoldering romance with a young debutante, and enough surprising political intrigue—involving the feds, Mexico, the French who are blockading Mexican ports, and the possibility of Crockett being a bargaining chip between governments—to keep the storytelling fresh, even for seasoned Western readers. The story moves fast, despite Pyke’s feel for immersive scenic detail (“Ahead was day after day of vast grasslands of dense little bluestem, waves of grama grass, thick buffalograss, low-lying tumblegrass, and yellow-flowering snakeweed”) and welcome commitment to historical plausibility.

Besides prairie grass and politics, Pyke knows his way around horses, Hawken rifles, maritime battles, and desert scrub, keeping the excitement up while never losing sight of the cast’s humanity. As the story stretches south, incorporating historical personages like Santa Anna, Pyke takes pains to keep style and prose close to reality, making sure that the actual history on display here (and contextualized in clarifying notes) is as engaging as the what-if? of Crockett’s possible survival.

Takeaway: Gunslingers hunt for Davy Crockett after the Alamo in this polished Western.

Comparable Titles: Stephen Harrigan’s The Gates of the Alamo, Cameron Judd’s ​​Crockett of Tennessee.

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

Click here for more about Rescuing Crockett

This motivational how-to guide offers a wealth of practical advice, strategies, and tools to becoming a confident leader in the executive suite and beyond—or, as Armstrong puts it, “to become the executive of your own life and stand out as a future executive starting on Day One.” With tips on perseverance, networking, time management, and much more, strategic leadership advisor Armstrong shares insights drawing on her years as a consultant and advisor to executives, government officials, and Fortune 500 business owners. Sharing personal anecdotes and success stories of clients and influential business tycoons, The Day One Executive offers hard-won knowledge straight from the source on how to build an executive mindset and career.

Armstrong balances the importance of being career-driven and persistent on the journey toward success with the need for individuals to shift their focus inward, as well, making the case that it takes more than business savvy and mastery of the “golden pyramid” to be prepared for an executive role. That also demands a strong will, a positive mindset, and understanding of how to make your value tangible to others. It takes sound well-being to overcome fear, imposter syndrome, and self-doubt. She urges readers to generate results, generate relationships, and cultivate resilience—the three organizing principles of this guide, and each crucial at the start, middle, or height of a career. “You don’t have to wait for someone else to make you an executive,” Armstrong writes. “You already are, and you can bring this forward on day one.”

The general advice here, such as “Exude presence” or “Don’t derail” (as in don’t thwart your own ambitions through neediness, arrogance, risk aversion, eccentricity, and more), always comes with rundowns of clear, practical specifics, presented with the kind of succinct directness that is itself a model for executive communication. Armstrong’s own anecdotes are supplemented by inspirational (sometimes familiar) tales of executive success that demonstrate her principles. Throughout, she lays bare what it takes to succeed—and to protect one’s position— in volatile times, both from an aspirant’s and an executive’s perspective.

Takeaway: An empowering self-help guide to achieving success as an executive leader.

Comparable Titles: Suzanne Bates’s All the Leader You Can Be, Bella Rushi’s The Innovative Executive.

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

Click here for more about The Day One Executive

In this contemporary urban fantasy, children are the voices of conscience speaking to adults about the devastation of climate change. Pauline “PJ” Profitt is a red-headed Denver 12-and-a-half-year-old who deals with a stutter, her mischievous little brother, Philip, a class bully, and scary men who attempt to chloroform and kidnap her. A black Lexus drives Philip and his bicycle off the road, and her parents, who work for the environmental agency, Awake, narrowly escape deadly violence while attending a rally in Brazil. But such intimidation, including some of the apparently supernatural variety, won’t silence PJ. An eccentric neighbor, Winnow, brings her a message from an Incan shaman she met in Peru: “Only the children of the Earth can help now.”

For all those urgent themes and dangers, much of this hopeful novel portrays middle school antics and angst between PJ and her African immigrant friend Hakima, who are working on their environmental awareness school project. But PJ notices that any time someone speaks out about combating climate change, a coldness somehow manifests, and along the wall a dark, intimidating shadow seems to creep toward them. A letter addressed to PJ that her kindly retired postman neighbor had kept for the last 12 years sets in motion PJ’s destiny as one of a group of children around the world who will not be silenced by the darkness. Instead, she will speak for the children, animals, habitats, and cultures that will soon be extinct if we don’t stop the devastation.

Tween readers will relate to the schoolroom bullying, sibling rivalry, friendship dynamics, and desire to be special and valued, but will wait impatiently for PJ’s destiny to finally be revealed, and for resolution of the cryptic clues that keep their secrets hidden until the last quarter of the book. Nevertheless, the heartfelt message is in the right place that children must play an important role: to safeguard the future of the planet they will inherit.

Takeaway: A spunky tween delivers a message of hope for a world facing climate destruction.

Comparable Titles: Lauren James’s Green Rising, Mark Smith’s If Not Us.

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

Click here for more about A Dispelling of Darkness

Blackburn offers readers a light-hearted self-help guide to the “lifelong journey” of building strong relationships in any setting (“be it at work, in the community, or even at home”) in this inviting debut. Making the case that "building bridges of deep trust,” especially across cultural lines, demands individual and collective intentionality, awareness, understanding, and open hearts, Blackburn encourages in her ten practices for relationship building (“Practice Three: Persist with a Patient Heart”) that readers put their full hearts into the nurturing of diverse, inclusive community: “Heart-driven connection also helps us truly listen and receive what the person is saying or offering,” she argues. Packed with incisive prompts and practical advice, this compact resource draws on expertise from over 50 intentional relationship builders with an eye for “intentional awareness” as it lays out how to promote kindness, recognize personal biases, and eventually construct a network of long-lasting relationships.

Particularly helpful are Blackburn’s hands-on applications that range from guided reflections to exercises designed with interaction in mind. (One roleplay centers on resolving challenging relationship issues, and readers are encouraged to practice forgiveness when collaborating with others.) Drawing on her and her interviewees’ personal experiences for learning opportunities, Blackburn shares how she has cultivated inclusivity while building new relationships with co-workers, neighbors, and others—and she commiserates with the inner fears and struggles many face when initiating new friendships or social encounters.

Blackburn professes "I believe that we have no choice but to figure out how to honor, respect, and know 'the others’ in our midst.” That rousing sentiment runs throughout the book as she provides tips to engage in healthy communication and active listening in an effort to build commonality with others. The material is as inspirational as it is constructive, but it’s also practical. Blackburn examines how to set boundaries and stretch comfort zones. This is a winning resource for anyone seeking meaningful and strong connections with the people around them.

Takeaway: Inspiring, practical resource for cultivating multicultural community.

Comparable Titles: Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, Jennie Allen’s Find Your People.

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

Click here for more about Start with the Heart

Nanotechnology, vicious shadows, and a planet called Nera set the scene for this fast-paced debut, a wild ride of futuristic action and imaginative adventure. The crew of the Misnomer, led by their captain Alexander aka “Mr. Zan” and training to become elite assassins known as Omegas, are faced with a mission against a terrifying new threat: the Shadows, who “moved across the ground like water, only to take humanoid form when they were in killing range, slicing, and tearing with claws and teeth.” The team includes Alexander's brother, Lysander, his best friend, Jude, and Akira Sudo, a deputy marshal, saved by Zan during a dangerous mission. But this mission’s even deadlier than usual, when “every shadow look[s] as though it might spring to life and murder.”

Hale has created an engrossing world powered by inventive technology and social structures, complex modulation simulations and training drama, and compelling dystopian themes—the written word is illegal and only digital communication is allowed, dark hints of a potential human future. With an eclectic group of characters that are powerful, smart, and entertaining, Runners is never dull. Hale prioritizes character amid the action, exploring the tight familial bond of Alexander's diverse crew, which ensures the suspense ramps up as the connections strengthen, the trash-talk flies, and readers become attached. For all the crisp dialogue, the novel at times suggests a science-fiction take on progression fantasy, offering superpowered villains, out-of-this-world tech weapons, and an urgent mission to destroy the final boss.

Fans of intricate world building, action packed fight sequences, and ensemble character arcs will enjoy this, though at times the flatly declarative lines describing actions during dialogue get awkwardly repetitive. Emotions will run high as each character faces their own tragic loss, or be put at risk themselves as they face off against the Shadows, the powers that be, and former friends turned enemy.

Takeaway: Space-assassins in training power this fast-paced SF adventure.

Comparable Titles: Tochi Onyebuchi’s War Girls, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon.

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

Click here for more about RUNNERS

This empathy-driven communications guide from Fox, founder and CEO of Mission Partners and host of the Mission Forward podcast, kicks off with a series of “what if” questions posed to entrepreneurs and leaders of nonprofit organizations, such as this: “What if we could meaningfully disrupt inequities in organizations—including our own—rather than continue to co-exist with those inequities?” According to Fox, those inequalities and injustices, related to race, class, gender, climate change, and more, prevent companies and the world at large from flourishing. As the title suggests, Fox argues that merely paying lip service to these persistent problems is no longer enough. By using “what if” as a starting point, Fox guides readers through her company’s blueprint on how to develop a human-centric communications practice that creates “true social change.”

Broken down into four tenets of socially conscious communications, which include “Dare to Ask,” “Dig In,” “Widen Your Lens,” and “Follow Through,” Fox’s guide is brimming with practical guidance, like how to use an “equity lens” in order to minimize stereotyping and biases, a tutorial on “radical listening” to allow for the inclusion of historically silenced perspectives, a clarifying breakdown of the asset-framing storytelling model, and many other practical strategies that show readers how to use the mechanism of empathy to shift companies’ purpose from productivity to people.

Fox’s guide is direct, inviting, and accessible, but it’s also hearteningly bold, as the empathy method challenges orthodoxies of traditional profit-first business communications practices that ignore what Fox calls “the human factor.” Fox notes that, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements and how they’ve affected consumer consciousness, “empathy is an essential tool for business success, directly correlating to growth, productivity, and earnings per employee,” and this guide offers the tools to show business leaders across various industries how to flip the paradigm and put that empathy into practice.

Takeaway: Human-centric business guide centering communication as a facilitator of social change.

Comparable Titles: Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, David Bornstein’s How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.

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

Click here for more about More Than Words

Cruickshank sets this multi-generational thriller in a small Oregon town where the Westbrooke family has long wielded power over its neighbors. Despite his cold and tyrannical father’s rep as a ruthless businessman, Thomas Westbrooke, single and focused on his career in the family firm, is lucky to call the solidly middle-class John McCloud his best friend. One day, John, a happy father and husband, shows Thomas an old newspaper clipping that features an image of their grandfathers together. Unbeknownst to John, the unearthing of that connection will destroy everything that he holds dear. Thomas isn't the steadfast friend everyone thinks he is. Lies will be exposed, families will be broken, and people will die in the name of protecting the Westbrooke fortune.

After being tragically widowed, Skye, John’s wife, finds comfort in the arms of the attentive Thomas, though as the years pass Thomas becomes secretive, controlling and short-tempered, culminating in a shocking burst of domestic violence. Readers know from the beginning that Thomas is psychologically troubled, and what John’s fate will be, which diminishes suspense and surprise. The twists that do come are welcome: Thomas believes that mysterious "assets” are in danger, as Cruickshank drops hints about a Conquistador's journal and underground vaults, and a number of relationships eventually are revealed to be quite different than what readers expect.

The story is good and fast-moving, with welcome moral weight offsetting some dark material, such as graphic descriptions of sexual assault, torture, and abuse. The swings of sanity and madness in Thomas are scary, and Cruickshank’s portrait of the insulating—and possibly deadening—effects of wealth and power often chill, and not just when Thomas performs dark acts. “Love, integrity, and goodness are relative qualities for people like me,” he declares to a priest, seeming truly to believe it. Cruickshank’s decade-spanning portrait is damning, inviting readers not to wonder whodunnit but just how much worse he’ll still do—and whether a new generation can set things right.

Takeaway: Generation-spanning thriller of murder, power, and a wealthy family’s secrets.

Comparable Titles: Michael Robotham’s The Other Wife, May Cobb’s My Summer Darlings.

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

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Turker’s debut is as sharp as the surgeon’s scalpel and jolting as a defibrillator. After he finds himself out of a job from University Hospital, Dr. Martin “Marty” Fischer gets accepted, of all places, into St. Salacious, a hospital that, in spite of its Jesus iconography and literal hall of nuns, is renowned for its scandals involving the staff’s orgies, wife-swapping, and other instances of passionate debauchery. As an agnostic Jew entering a Catholic institution, he’s trepidatious, but he quickly finds himself befriending a staff that’s charmed by his compassion, wit, and what his best friend calls “that cute Fischer smile, and those big-brown puppy eyes.” One woman in particular catches his eye—Sister Catherine, both nun and CEO. But after a literal blind night of passion and finding himself in the metaphorical crosshairs of both a mercenary medical group and the diocese, Marty is determined to let his morals rather than his faith speak to the masses.

As a healthcare provider himself, Turker’s experience in the American healthcare system shines throughout, both in memorable incidental detail and surprising-but-convincing plot points that center on the shark-like nature of donors or patients whose hateful natures demand healthcare providers work doubly hard on their bedside manners. One scene finds Marty giving care to a neo-Nazi, and discovering that his conception of the Hippocratic oath has limits; meanwhile, a bishop is eager to “rid St. Salacious of Marty’s ‘taco-crowd’ have-nots, [and] Sister Catherine’s meddlesome oversight.” This sometimes dark material is handled a fiery wit that keeps the pages turning.

Turker’s own compassion powers the novel, the satire more outraged than outrageous. As he faces religious fervor, bigotry, and good old-fashioned greed in a succession of compelling scenes with whip-smart dialogue, Marty becomes one of the rare voices of compassion and courage in a system that consistently has cared more about the dollar value than the care provided. As Marty becomes a catalyst for change, readers of thoughtful literary fiction, no matter their faith or lack thereof, will find this polished novel’s observations darkly comforting—eventually even hopeful—in the face of rising intolerance and a national health crisis.

Takeaway: Stellar novel of a Jewish doctor bringing change to a corrupt Catholic hospital.

Comparable Titles: Yan Lianke’s Heart Sutra, Kyle Bradford Jones’s Hospital!.

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

Click here for more about The Wandering Jew of St. Salacious

This harrowing but heartening mythological fantasy from Fisher (The Tales of Zhava series) gives welcome voice to world lit’s most notorious gorgon, alternating from distant past to present day, asMedusa herself shares her tragic story with a woman whose contemporary struggles are all too similar. Medusa, raised by Titan parents, lived a quiet life by the sea, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, and the only one with wings. As she grew, she was drawn to travel beyond her home to learn more about the newly created humans. But an Olympian god who can’t have her, and another, Athena, that’s jealous of her, ruin her life in one night, cursing her to become the Medusa of mythology. Thousands of years later, she helps Chloe, a woman trying to escape her abusive fundamentalist husband, and together they discover unexpected comfort.

As noted in a sensitive author’s note, Medusa broaches painful subjects, such as spousal abuse and rape, demonstrating with some power how urgent and distressingly familiar these issues have remained over millenia, and how easily the perpetrators of such outrages can find excuses for them—and even societal support. In Medusa’s narrative, the abuse comes from what gods feel they’re owed, whereas for Chloe it comes as punishment when her husband sees her true bisexual self as an affront to God, his brutal behavior excused by her pastor and mother.

Transmuting tragedy into something inspiring, Fisher shows that even the bleakest moments don’t have to limit one’s possibility of future happiness, even as one must still bear the pain. Medusa learns to live with her curse rather than let it destroy her, and when she meets Chloe her own history becomes something she can draw on for good: to help a stranger who’s struggling with a similar weight. The lesson of standing up for yourself and unconditionally loving others is a powerful and positive message that’ll leave readers feeling heartened.

Takeaway: Mythology, fantasy, and empathy power this story of Medusa and millenia of abuse.

Comparable Titles: Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne.

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

Click here for more about Medusa: Rise of a Goddess

Blending a lifelong love story with themes of political corruption and disillusionment, McMahon (Seaview Road) centers this tense novel on Teddy Thompson’s undying feelings for Charlotte Pennington, a love that persists even when she falls for his roommate Braden Edwards. Charlotte has always been in Ted’s life, along with her father, the charming and charismatic Senator Conrad Pennington, who has eyes on the White House. Conrad also has a special affection for Ted, a young progressive who the Democratic senator mentors into becoming an important team member. In a parallel narrative that takes place ahead of Ted’s time, detectives Figgy and Norelli investigate a seemingly random murder that later acquires sinister tones. As the presidential elections near, the two narratives inevitably converge, all as the novel teases the link between an ascent and a fall.

McMahon’s language is subtle and shrewd, and he’s adept both at backroom dialogue and polished political speechcraft and TV appearances. The different timelines and the sense—stirred by the title and Teddy’s arresting announcement that “I am writing this for you in case anything happens to me”—that a tragedy is looming will set readers on edge, especially as McMahon suggests that everything’s not exactly as Teddy perceives it to be. The happenings and discoveries of both timelines clash tellingly with each other, adding nicely to the tension. The characters, too, are well-etched and convincing; McMahon favors empathy and complexity over easy villainy, and in spite of their failings this cast succeeds in winning reader affection.

The intriguing, complex nature of Teddy’s love both for Charlotte and Conrad is delineated well. One final twist strains credulity, but McMahon writes with compelling power of the feeling of getting in too deep and possibly losing one’s self. A sharp line like this, about Teddy being handed a bag to vomit into, lingers after the last page is turned: “I deposited some jerk chicken and whatever was left of my soul into it.”

Takeaway: Compelling novel of love, politics, and the loss of one’s soul.

Comparable Titles: Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, Kennedy Ryan’s The Kingmaker.

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

Click here for more about The Fall Will Probably Kill You! (a love story)

Gundrum draws on her experience with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to craft this clear-eyed but inspirational alphabet book for cancer patients. Acknowledging cancer patients’ need for “good thoughts to keep going,” Gundrum presents black and white illustrations and motivating passages centered on A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, who is now in the public domain, each with a special message designed to uplift and entertain. She intersperses helpful tips for navigating the side effects of cancer treatments as well, rounding out the book with blank alphabet journal space for readers to “write [their] thoughts, designs and doodles.”

Pooh fans will find this as charming as the familiar bear himself, and Gundrum works hard to keep the reading simple but powerful. For the letter “H,” Pooh and Piglet embrace—and Gundrum encourages readers to use hugs as a way to heal, while the entry for “D” expresses the importance of a Difficult Day made better by the quiet presence of a friend. In classic Pooh fashion, wisdom is dispensed freely but subtly, as when Pooh declares “sometimes the smallest things take up the most ROOM in your heart,” and Gundrum takes time to bolster Pooh’s advice with her own understanding of just what cancer patients need: “If you do nothing every day, that’s ok! Your job is to get better. Let your medical team do the work. Let your friends and neighbors lend a hand if you need help with anything!”

For readers newly diagnosed with cancer, Gundrum explains the different tests they may face and offers practical tips to help negotiate treatment—including suggestions for keeping the body and brain active and diet recommendations for days when “your appetite is gone and nothing tastes like you remember.” The book’s strength is Gundrum’s tender reminders to never give up, wrapped in the gentle ambience of Winnie the Pooh and his friends. In Christopher Robin’s words, “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”

Takeaway: Whimsical Pooh-isms to inspire and uplift cancer patients.

Comparable Titles: American Cancer Society’s Because… Someone I Love Has Cancer, Nancy Emerson et. al’s Finding the “CAN” in Cancer.

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

Click here for more about Be Brave: ABCs of Inspiration for Cancer Patients from Winnie-the-Pooh & Friends

In this action-packed second installment in the Achim Jeffers series, Jeffers—a New Orleans-based “counter-racist hitman” delivering justice to customers in a world dominated by White Supremacists—must forge an uneasy alliance with the enemy of his enemy, the FBI, to stop the viciously racist international assassin known as Tarpon. Facing the urgent pressures and fears of his tragic past, his current relationship, and the challenges of life as a hitman and private investigator, Jeffers finds himself hanging on by a thread when he is tasked with protecting a prominent leader who’s being targeted after a botched raid that left unforeseen casualties.

God Luv Us is a racially charged thriller that, as it tears into a heart-racing plot, at times plunges readers into the perspectives of the hateful: “White freedom comes with a cost,” one POV character declares, not long after insisting “This isn’t cross burning or storming the U.S. Capitol. This is all out war.” The stakes feel urgent and personal as Jeffers squares off with Tarpon and other monsters, and Starr digs deeply into both characters’ perspectives, creating an explosive tension—and moments of sickening unease—that keep the pages turning. Readers with the stomach for it will be intrigued and engaged from the opening chapter, as Jeffers’s voice and unusual yet exciting occupation grab from the start.

Written with dark, gritty prose and a wicked sense of humor, God Luv Us mines tension from the ways in which these characters perceive and scheme against each other, as neither Jeffers nor readers ever feel confident about who they can trust. The result is a thrill ride, often blood-spattered, that bucks expectations right up to a satisfying, climatic ending that will leave readers wanting to dive into the next installment. Fans of action thrillers that feature real world, social justice themes, and frank talk about race in America will enjoy the inventive setup and lead, as well as the accomplished story.

Takeaway: Dark crime thriller that pits a “counter-racist hitman” against white supremacists.

Comparable Titles: Aaron Philip Clark’s Trevor Finnegan series, Attica Locke.

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

Click here for more about God Luv Us: An Achim Jeffers Novel

Beauty is hiding in the foliage and mundanity of Osier County, and Kiser reveals life in this corner of Kentucky through 14 intimate and moving vignettes showcasing the grief, hope, and pull of a remote place brimming with evocative stories. Kiser follows families and individuals as they navigate loss, change, and heartbreak. Loss is the most prominent thread. In “The Wedding Ring Quilt,” a woman reclaims childhood relics from her cousin’s youth in light of her death by suicide and recounts the subtle warning signs of abuse in a cousin’s marriage.

Every word here has earned its place on the page. Descriptions of Kentucky nature and contrasting city structures effortlessly draw readers into the scene, and both characters and setting pulse with life. Kiser’s people are full of incisive questions about identity, family, and generational trauma, especially in relation to southern culture. In “Daughters,” women in a family ranging over four generations grapple with the meaning of miscarriage, pregnancy, and motherhood in their shared experiences of grief and fear, while “Decoration Day” finds a daughter visiting her father’s gravesite, reminiscing on their complicated relationship, nostalgic for the place that brought both hardship and belonging: “the hills and the long chain of kinfolk who had been left behind.”

Kiser’s especially good at communicating legacy and connection through objects, such as a “Wedding Ring” quilt made by one narrator’s mother “of swatches of brocade dresses that had belonged to her own mother.” Those connections especially resonate because, as the subtitle suggests, many stories center on women who abandon the valleys of their childhood for city landscapes and college campuses. Kiser captures both the promise and loss of this, the complexity, common for first-generation students, of being caught between two worlds shaped heavily by class, generation, and locale. This collection is perfect for readers who have found themselves caught between two different lives and understand the many varied definitions of “home.”

Takeaway: Accomplished stories of being pulled towards and away from a rural home.

Comparable Titles: Beth Gilstrap’s Deadheading, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.

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

Click here for more about The Guitar Player and Other Songs of Exile

Spratley’s lyric debut opens with an invitation into a symbolic desert, a “barren” and “dangerous” place that operates throughout the collection as a plane of spiritual existence in which “constant sorrow” is a companion and hope has all but vanished. That might sound bleak, but none of these poems is without a silver lining, and over the course of Desert Plains, a book whose heart is in the poet’s faith in Jesus Christ, that brightness expands and becomes more clear because the “darkness brought the contrast.” By accepting the invitation to the desert, the narrator embarks on a journey through suffering that is often existential, exploring the “age-old question of who I am” and receiving no clear answer in response.

Yet there is purpose to this yearning, suffering, and questioning, just as Jesus had purpose in the Gospels to seek a desert of solitude, too, and face trials there. “All the pain and sorrow” Spratley writes in “Perspectives,” “served as a tool” to look inward and find a spiritual awakening and a new purpose in life: creativity, generosity, and love. The narrator’s outlook shifts from a state of longing for answers and connection toward a state of curiosity in which there’s “much to discover but even more to create” and a willingness to help others who are walking through the desert, seeking the other side.

Paired with each of these somber yet hopeful verses are often oversaturated landscape photos and contrived works of surrealist digital art from the public domain whose inclusion appears largely extraneous, though at times they offer a striking visual complement to Spratley’s poems. But it’s in the poet’s own words and ruminations—and in the aching spiritual journey the narrator takes through them—that is where Desert Plains shines. Readers seeking accessible but not simple poems that delve deeply into the complexities of Christian spirituality will find Spratley’s debut validating and inspired.

Takeaway: Poems of faith exploring suffering, raw landscapes, and spiritual awakening.

Comparable Titles: Daniel C. Colesworthy, Greta Zwaan

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

Click here for more about Desert Plains

Bell’s fourth novel featuring antiquities specialist Annalisse Drury lands her readers in small-town New Zealand for family drama and lots of sheep-related content. NYC-based Annalisse decides to accept an out-of-the blue invitation to visit Ethan Fawdray, possibly the last person to be seen with the “aunt” whom Annalisse recently discovered is actually her birth mother, at his family’s sheep farm in New Zealand. Annalisse leaves behind her almost-fianceé, jet-setter Alec Zavos, to settle the question of whether a previous girlfriend’s child is his, traveling instead with Alec’s friend, detective Bill Drake. Though Ethan’s family has information on Annalisse’s birth parents, their own family drama and the police investigation of the hit-and-run death of the driver who picks them up at the airport makes for a very awkward visit, even before a second suspicious death occurs.

Bell does an excellent job carrying the main plot at the right pace, introducing characters and incidents frequently enough to keep the energy up while still maintaining the bucolic, slightly lazy vibe of the sheep farm The explanation of the murder motives and execution surprises in its specifics while still feeling logical and supported by what comes before, especially the substantial amount of farming information relevant. Copper Waters will satisfy fans of both sheep and sleuthing stories.

Some heavy exposition up front is understandable, as it brings readers new to the series up to speed, though it slows immersion in the current situation. Personal plot elements, like the romance between Annalisse and Alec, continue without resolution, and the fast pace leaves little time for reflection. The mutual support in Annalisse and Bill’s relationship, meanwhile, is endearing, stirring warm feelings and readers’ connection with the hero. Sleuthing aficionados who love being led to a solution that relies on both technical and social clues, and fans of Bell’s ready for a middle story in Annalise’s arc, will find this story solidly on-point.

Takeaway: Sleuthing aficionados will find this story solidly on-point.

Comparable Titles: Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, Belinda Pollard’s Poison Bay.

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

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This witty satiric portrait of a PhD student “snagged in the weeds of the thesis” centers on Gilmore Crowell, a once-promising anthropology student whose research—a study of the microculture of Tijuana sex workers—has failed. Now it’s not just his dissertation that’s going nowhere: Beck, in his debut, opens with the tragicomic vision of Gil, in 2002, taking a hacksaw to the wheel brace that the authorities have clapped to his 1984 Isuzu Gemini hatchback. Gil can’t afford to drive from Los Angeles to Tijuana to meet with sex workers who don’t want to talk to him anyway, and as he takes on new employment as a substitute teacher at a Los Angeles Correctional Academy, he finds himself ready to cross “the Rubicon separating academic integrity from disgrace”: paying the sex workers to talk to him.

Unsurprisingly, that soon leads to his paying for their more conventional services, too. Despite the cutesy title, the lives of sex workers here are examined with empathy and a lack of sensation or condescension. Some tell Gil lies; some challenge his assumptions; some reveal heartbreaking lives. Elsewhere, Beck pens sharp comic scenes of floundering grad students, a shady dentist who purports to offer psychological evaluations, and Gil’s conflicts with an ex and the authorities at his job. Dialogue is sharp and slicing throughout, the students’ chatter as preening as the sex workers’ is reluctant.

Eventually Gil endeavors to enlist his subjects in a big-idea (but somewhat vague) scheme—getting them to approve his posting of their photos and contact info on a newfangled “website” that he conceives of as vital to completing his research while also helping them drum up business.Gil’s website plan is, like all of Gil’s plans, half-baked. Since the protagonist is forever uncertain, the novel, despite polished prose and strong scenecraft, often lacks narrative momentum, with scant rising or falling action. Gil calls himself a “slug” early on, and he mostly stays just that as his life lurches toward minor, inevitable comic scandal.

Takeaway: Humane academic satire finds an anthropology student investigating sex work.

Comparable Titles: Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members, John Williams’s Stoner.

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

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