Challenging genre boundaries and questions of truth, lies, and hatred in contemporary American life, this thought-provoking novel blends fiction, theatrical drama, and pointed moral inquiry to explore a fractured nation through the lens of a poignant play. Acknowledging that fear “is spreading across the country that democracy itself is on the verge of collapse,” this searching, enigmatic narrative follows the point of view of the playwright, the actors, and the characters of a play entitled Dave's Place, set in an Ohio bar, the day after the events of January 6th, "the insurrection—attempted coup.” The play centers around Dave, the bar owner, several patrons, and a surprising confrontation with bullying Bill Hagerty, a customer who feels “the deck is stacked” against himself and other white men.

Luce deftly weaves a layered story of friendship, aspirations, and the ingrained biases that cast a dark shadow over American culture. The play confronts schisms on human rights, equality, and homophobia while highlighting, in tense exchanges, the violence that rises from baseless hatred of other groups’ lifestyles and beliefs. The American Dream and the cost of fame is also explored through the gaze of the play’s actors, particularly Matt Connor, who portrays the bully. Connor is beloved by his cast mates, but his struggles with alcohol may push him out of a job—and cost him everything he holds dear.

The result is innovative, perceptive, and upsetting, as Luce never downplays the terrible things men feel moved to call each other. In both novel and play, all of these men stand at a crossroads, with Luce making their choices—and the potential fallout—not just suspenseful but resonant, rooted in deep national pathologies. Bill especially faces hard questions about his embittered convictions, including “Do you like yourself? I mean deep down, do you like who you are?” Star Late Rising explores, with empathy and electric invention, the dark side of American masculinity.

Takeaway: Boldy unconventional story exploring American hatred, anger, and violence.

Comparable Titles: Peter Heller’s Burn, Tiffany McDaniel's The Summer That Melted Everything.

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

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Columbina, the first-born in a flock of Clark’s Nutcrackers, springs out of her egg with the “mark of the Valiant Ones upon her” in Mann’s immersive debut. Columbina’s parents take pride in her special abilities—she effortlessly remembers the location of food caches buried for winter retrieval—but they’re concerned by her fascination with different birds and other species—and her endless curiosity with the world around her. Columbina’s restless intellect manifests early, when she questions the foundational tales her mother spins to teach her younglings their purpose, and her inquisitiveness doesn’t sit well with her traditionalist father and the stern elders.

Columbina’s clan holds a special place in Mann’s world: they are responsible for burying pine cone seeds to help replant forests. From the beginning of this thoughtful novel, readers will grasp the beautiful symbiosis between Columbina’s family and nature, and, through Columbina’s eyes, Mann relays the vital interconnectedness of their environment, always with a nod towards cooperation and respect. Columbina’s bird’s eye view expertly shifts reader perspective, and Mann skillfully builds characterization from each creature’s instinctual behaviors: first-person musings of an ancient Whitebark pine tree, marveling at Columbina’s boldness and idealism, are sprinkled throughout the novel, while in other scenes the elders prevent young swallows from protecting a hummingbird’s nest with the rebuke, “Not our kin, not our fight!”

Mann’s striking presentation of this naturalist world—heightened by Steve Habersang’s pen-and-ink illustrations—combines instinctual wisdom with inventive adaptability. An integral part of Uplift’s environmentally conscious message revolves around humans—known here as the Tall Ones—who creep into even the most protected habitats, destroying the forests and putting bird species at risk. Columbina plays a crucial part in confronting the Tall Ones, accepting great personal sacrifice in her efforts to unite mankind and nature, and Mann ends the novel with a poignant reflection on the cycle of life in the natural world.

Takeaway: Beautiful portrait of nature’s cycles, from the perspective of a Clark’s Nutcracker.

Comparable Titles: Barbara Gowdy’s The White Bone, Laline Paull’s The Bees.

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

Click here for more about Uplift

In a small English town in the Middle Ages, Robin Goodfellow, protagonist of this lively and immersive debut, is a boy with many names, "Little Imp,” "Witch's Boy," and even “demon child.” The one that matters most is what his mother calls him, Sprite. Born and raised by his mother and godmother Grimwig, Robin has no idea who his father is, though his mother claims he is nothing less than the king of the Fairies. "He came through the keyhole of my door when I was a girl, and he made me dance,” Robin’s “Mam” tells him. After getting caught poaching one of the lordling's fish, Robin runs away rather than face punishment. Lost in the woods, Robin meets a mysterious shepherd with the tantalizing name Oberon, who gives Robin a knife and a task: to cut a branch of willow and return home.

On his surprise return, Robin discovers that his mother’s health is ailing. Soon, bereft, Robin returns to the woods that debut author Cricket describes with era-appropriate awe and mystery—“the old trees keep what they know to themselves.” Robin is heartsick, believing his mother’s spirit now inhabits a bird, and soon encounters three fairies, whom he endeavors to trick into telling him who his father is. Cricket excels at fae play, at riddling logic, and at magic moments like Robin worrying, as he peers into “the wavy moonlit water,” that he sees “ not the eyes of a boy at all, but of some creature a thousand years old”.

The plot turns on Robin helping the villagers against a cruel baron, despite his belief that they don’t care a “fig” for the Witch’s Boy. But what lingers is this world. In clear, brisk prose, The Legend of Robin Goodfellow exults in a world of magic circles, “blurry mist”s, fairy tricks, and the conflict between paganism and the cosmology of the village’s Father Tom, who warns Robin that without prayer Mam may languish in Purgatory.

Takeaway: A healer’s shunned son must save the village in 12th Century England.

Comparable Titles: Pat Walsh’s Crowfield Abbey series; Donna Jo Napoli’s Breath.

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

Click here for more about The Legend of Robin Goodfellow

Weiner’s fiction debut considers the need for great wealth to go hand in hand with great altruism. The story follows four families—the Roths, Doyles, Carbones, and Kleins—and their respective journeys to New York City, where their powerful union proves lucrative, both for the families and, eventually, the United States as a whole, as philanthropy often drives the families’ success. As the Roths, Doyles, and Carbones flee their countries of origin in search of better opportunities in America, Weiner crafts their individual stories against the reflection of a fledgling country still finding its feet, mirroring the families’ struggles for refuge and prosperity in America’s own birth pains.

Beyond its character-driven narration, Weiner’s story unfurls a detailed history of 20th century America, often detouring into interesting snippets—from the Titanic’s sinking to the ideals and political machinations of Tammany Hall—designed to shore up the text with historical background. When Bill Roth, Patrick Doyle, and Anthony Carbone cross paths with Oscar Klein, fortune truly begins to favor them: Klein, a street-smart orphan from Philadelphia, arrives in New York penniless but determined, and his instinctive business acumen leads to a venture between himself and the family representatives, a development that Weiner dedicates much time to fully fleshing out.

Weiner threads the ideals of philanthropy throughout the novel, as, over the generations, the four families channel their wealth into charities, medical work, and more. Just as altruism becomes a character in and of itself here, so, too, does New York City, as it grows and evolves alongside the novel’s cast, swelling and ebbing with the ups and downs that accompany carving out a life from virtually nothing. This is a poignant reminder that the true measure of success lies not in wealth or fame, but in the bonds we forge and the legacies we leave behind.

Takeaway: Inviting generational saga of four intertwined families in 20th century America.

Comparable Titles: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House.

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

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In this resonant memoir, author Rönn shares the heartbreak of making the life-changing decision to terminate a pregnancy due to a chromosomal abnormality found in prenatal test results. “I loved the life that was growing inside my body,” she writes, and as she explores the wrenching choice that she faced, she also explores, with empathy and clarity, her feelings in the aftermath (“feeling sad didn’t mean that I regretted the abortion”), the urgency of love and support, and the politics and beliefs surrounding abortion rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Rönn offers straight talk demystifying this often-taboo topic as an urgently necessary medical procedure, even late in a pregnancy, and the challenges of discussing this in the United States. Ultimately, she felt compelled to share her experience and “talk about abortion and normalize it as a fundamental part of women’s healthcare.”

That sense of calling shines through as Rönn provides frank and intimate details about the abortion process in a way that is informative and deeply personal to her own experience, while providing up-to-date data about abortions in the U.S., her home country of Sweden and other countries. "It’s not only the stigma against abortions that makes it difficult—restrictive laws and financial constraints also play a significant role,” Rönn writes. Blending her own story with the history of birth control clinics and the laws that determine and limit women's rights, Rönn provides insight that will open the door to hard conversations about abortion.

Rönn shares raw feelings of “disenfranchised grief” and the process of "grief work,” while also exploring guilt and feeling judged for her choice in the aftermath. A healing journey, a moving act of disclosure, and an impactful call-to-action powered by a visceral sense of mission, Behind Bulletproof Glass challenges the status quo and urges women to tell their stories. Rönn makes the case that breaking “this vicious circle of stigma, shame, and silence” demands talking about abortion.

Takeaway: Resonant memoir and call-to-action about daring to talk frankly about abortion.

Comparable Titles: Bonnie Brady's And That Was That, Meera Shah's You're The Only One I've Told.

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

Click here for more about Behind Bulletproof Glass

Madsen’s frank, cheerful memoir—written, in her own words, “because the world is a mess, and I know the ripple effect we make by becoming the best versions of ourselves”—recounts her lonely upbringing and adult struggles with self-worth. Born to an alcoholic father and a resourceful mother, Madsen grew up the middle child in Alberta, Canada, amid chaotic family dynamics that often left her feeling isolated and confused, with an “inner layer [that] was sewn together with insecurity, doubt, and loneliness.” Despite the mayhem, Madsen maintains a deep connection to her spiritual side, a sense that she can “see God in everything and everyone.”

Madsen’s prose is unadorned and sensible, detailing a lifetime of dire situations that she meets head on—and seeks resolution for, instead of wallowing in the mire of self-pity. She is always on the move, literally and metaphorically, resulting in phenomenal growth, both in terms of acquiring worldly skills to afford creature comforts as well as personal and spiritual development. Her too-trusting nature often lands her in sticky situations, but she flits from those retellings to moments of triumph, never dwelling longer than necessary on the abuses and failures she experiences. Even her encounters with the occult, transformative learning with treasured mentors, and a terrifying cancer diagnosis receive the same level-headed treatment.

The memoir’s softer moments—Madsen’s joy at being a mother, her determination to ooze “love and compassion” at every turn—impart valuable lessons, namely her ability to pivot from failure to success, to constantly move forward, and to refuse to dwell in the past. Her regrets form the basis for new beginnings by the book’s end, as she lovingly reminds readers “Regardless of where we are, our past does not dictate our future. What we do today paves the future according to our thoughts, feelings, and actions.”

Takeaway: Candid memoir urging readers toward self-forgiveness and actualization.

Comparable Titles: Jessica Bacal’s Mistakes I Made at Work, Vanessa Springora’s Consent.

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

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“Mommy, who’s that man?” a daughter asks. “That’s your new father,” her mother responds. “He’s come to live with us.” With crisp prose and piercing insight, Brooks’s often devastating debut chronicles the whizzing chaos of life with an eight-times-married mother, a string of unsuitable fathers, a host of siblings, and toxic, co-dependent relationships. The story starts with Brooks’s childhood chronicled from experience with each of her mother’s husbands—“Being Dan’s favorite gave me a certain amount of protection. It also became a curse.” While some of these men seem relatively normal, others are abusive in a variety of ways, which Brooks recalls with brisk frankness. Pulsing underneath it all, though, is Brooks’s relationship with her mother and its evolution over the years, from admirer to confidante, hater to caregiver, with the adult Brooks striving to heal and understand the times she was left unprotected.

Readers are taken inside a fraught childhood, full of its little pleasures, familial pressures, fears, and censures. Readers should be mindful that the book contains descriptions of sexual abuse, with Brooks taking pains to capture the helplessness, and anger that such experiences trigger, while also going on to work through them: “What kind of mother lets a man inspect her daughter’s body that way?” she eventually shouts, a welcome burst of catharsis. The adult Brooks lives with a sense of foreboding: will she end up like her mother? She tries her best not to, but at times can’t help but feel she’s exhibiting traits she grew up around.

Fitting to its subject, this is no easy read, and the narrative can feel claustrophobic. But the author does a great job of taking readers into a difficult life, laying bare the people and traumas that made her who she is—and her sometimes frantic efforts to overcome it all. Still, she surveys her family’s “flawed humanity” with an empathetic eye but also a bracing, honest clarity. Healing and hope, here, are hard earned.

Takeaway: Devastating memoir of a mother’s many husbands and growing up unprotected.

Comparable Titles: Mary Manning’s Nobody will Believe You, Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know.

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

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Milks’s debut takes readers on a surprising journey with Sam Tolliver, a man who is cagy about his new job as an importer, and a cohort of five travelers from different walks of life who find themselves, during a flight over the Caribbean, transported to Melenca, a parallel universe that, while familiar, is marked by subtle yet significant differences from Earth. The narrative revolves around these “outbounders”s desperate quest to return home, which quickly becomes entangled in the socio-political-religious complexities of Melenca. To find their way back, the group must track down an elusive spiritualist, all while evading the Flammer regime—an authoritarian leader whose mining operations are pushing Melenca's ecology to the brink of collapse.

At its heart, Transportaling is a sharp satire of contemporary American society. Milks draws biting parallels between Melenca and Earth, weaving in commentary on political polarization, health care, and immigration issues, all through the lens of Melencan politics, which is split between the opposing factions of Unifiers and Compactors. The slogans, such as “Restore Melenca to glory,” resonate with contemporary discussions on nationalism, while the novel also critiques post-truth propaganda techniques, where the distinction between fact and fiction is blurred to justify destructive mining operations. The environmental degradation in Melenca—manifested through cracks, sinkholes, and toxic gasses—serves as a clear allegory for the ongoing climate crisis in our own world. Complicating things are comic frictions between the outbounders themselves, some of whom see Melenca as ripe for business ventures of their own.

Milks excels at creating a richly textured world, with the culture and societal dynamics of Melenca unfolding organically through dialogue rather than dense exposition, keeping readers open to alt-world thought experiments engaged and curious. The fast-paced narrative is fueled by ever-present dangers, including a fanatical group (rightcakes) in pursuit of the protagonists. Sam’s personal journey of self-doubt—particularly his career and romantic struggles—grounds the novel in feeling. Milks has crafted a thought-provoking novel that invites readers to reflect on the state of their own world long after the final page.

Takeaway: Engaging blend of alt-reality adventure and incisive socio-political commentary.

Comparable Titles: Walter Moers; Connie Willis.

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

Click here for more about Transportaling

Blending the magical with the highly practical, this surprising adventure finds Poseidon the plumber taking his "plumbing prowess" on an underwater exploration in the depths of the ocean. "From chatty seahorses to wise old lobsters", Poseidon encounters a multitude of sea creatures—including Oliver the Octopus, who takes such a liking to Poseidon and his work that, after enlisting his help with "a plumbing problem in the heart of the ocean,” Oliver joins as an apprentice. As Poseidon swims through the sea, taking in the bountiful life, he finds that his trade skills are just as needed under water as above it, whether he’s fixing a drain pipe or helping patch a leak in a submarine "tangled in a mass of seaweed.”

Highlighting the importance of helping others and providing educational information about ocean life, Vozzo creates an imaginative story featuring a resourceful plumber and lively characters that young readers will enjoy. Poseidon's friendly nature and his way with a wrench and plunger become legendary, suggesting to young readers that talent and learned, practical skills can take you where you want to go. Readers familiar with the Greek god of the sea will enjoy seeing the aptly named protagonist of this story flourish in his snorkel gear amid Nina Mkhoiani’s vibrant illustrations that showcase sea creatures, coral reefs, and other charming detail.

The art and layout, mostly in two-page panoramic spreads, is imaginative, with shell homes, bioluminescent sea sponges, a host of wide-eyed fish and crustaceans, and a faint, bubbly digital gloss suggesting the strangeness of life underwater. Even the eels look friendly, and Poseidon’s face communicates warmth even through his dive mask. The low stakes of the tale may diminish some readers’ interest, especially as Poseidon’s actual plumbing action is more suggested by the text than compelling dramatization, with the illustrations emphasizing the milieu over any narrative drama. The result is an inviting hang-out story that offers fun under-the-sea vibes and friendship.

Takeaway: Sweet and chill undersea adventure of Poseidon the plumber, unclogging the depths.

Comparable Titles: Meeg Pincus's Ocean Soup, Kelly DiPucchio's Oona.

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

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Tuohy’s second installment in her Paris Backstage Murders series follows The Woman at Le Gare de l’Est, with budding American stage actress Sarah now living in Paris, balancing her production of the play Don’t Look Now with nanny duties for her four-year-old niece, Miranda. Fresh out of a recent kidnapping, Miranda insists on playing detective every chance she gets, and there are plenty of opportunities in this fast-paced mystery; one of Sarah’s theater troupe members was recently killed, and, on opening night of Don’t Look Now, the show comes to a screeching halt when two more murders are revealed.

Readers will want to start with Tuohy’s first book in the series, as the events coming into play here largely hinge on Sarah and Miranda’s earlier experiences. As the murders escalate, Sarah, Miranda, and their group of friends and family must band together, investigating clues while trying to nail down who’s responsible, all while traversing the nooks and crannies of Paris. Readers spend the most time with the free-spirited Sarah, whose obsession with all things Sarah Bernhardt pops up throughout her amateur sleuthing, but Miranda plays a close second. A feisty young girl with great intelligence but an equally demanding attitude, she is harder to connect with, though her eagerness to help solve the murders stalking her aunt is endearing.

What Tuohy does best is give readers a sense of roaming through Paris's museums, theaters, restaurants, and parks, where the book’s characters live, play, and, in some cases, die. As Sarah and Miranda meander through Parisian streets—hunting for Sarah Bernhardt’s grave in the Montparnasse cemetery, sampling ice cream in Le Marais—they subtly draw readers into a world of elegance and charm that only thinly veils the dangers lurking beneath. The clues are plentiful, and readers who enjoy wild rides through a slew of red herrings, as opposed to more methodical mysteries, will be entertained.

Takeaway: Wild mystery ride through Parisian streets, with loads of amateur sleuthing.

Comparable Titles: Emilia Bernhard’s The Books of the Dead, Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen’s Treachery in Bordeaux.

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

Click here for more about Mademoiselle Le Sleuth

Grant, an expert Tarot reader, shines in this indispensable guide for those learning the Tarot, a process that can seem intimidating at first—what are the Major Arcana? And the Minor Arcana? And all those symbols? With inviting clarity, Grant takes questions one by one, starting by explaining the cards’ origin as a card game from mid-15th century Italy. These decks weren’t intended for divination but for recreation, Grant explains. By the 18th century, Tarocchi (Tarot) decks were used by mystics to perceive past events or forecast the future, and Grant powerfully makes a case for Tarot as a means of self-reflection today rather than a source of set-in-stone predictions.

For Tarot readers old and new, this is a smart, demystifying guide worth refering to often. In Latin, “arcana” means secrets, Grant advises. In Tarot terminology, it refers to two categories: Major Arcana (22 cards representing life’s spiritual lessons) and Minor Arcana (56 cards symbolizing everyday life events). Grant dedicates a chapter to each of the 78 cards, explaining in depth the significance. The minor arcana each have a defined area, with cups representing emotions, love, relationships, and creativity; pentacles represent material possessions or career-oriented matters; while swords, which symbolize action or conflict, often relate to mental states or communication issues. Grant also provides actionable steps, advanced steps for some of the cards, and the meanings of upright and reversed cards.

While some readers may scoff and dismiss Tarot as a new-age weird practice, psychologists praise the Tarot cards as tools for metaphorical thinking during therapy sessions. Grant also notes that the American Psychological Association shows tarot readers are more intuitive and empathetic than nonreaders, a tendency exemplified by the author’s warm tour through the decks and their resonance in the lives of practitioners. The perfect guide for beginners learning Tarot, Grant’s empathetic teaching provides a comprehensive view of the craft.

Takeaway: Comprehensive guide for readers seeking to learn the nuances of Tarot today.

Comparable Titles: Liz Dean’s The Tarot Companion, Emmi Fredericks’s The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot.

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

Click here for more about The Mastery Guide of Tarot Reading

Parent (author of What Hides Within) offers ten unnerving, Halloween-themed-but-not-for-kiddos urban horror stories that offer dark commentary on strained relationships between siblings, friends, and spouses. Many of the selections expose the dangers, fears, and insecurities of children. In the startling opener, “Russian Dollhouse,” four teens enter a formerly abandoned house now turned into an elaborate haunted fun house, complete with monsters who challenge them to kill each other. How well do they know their friends? In “Easy Pickings,” an oversized junior high delinquent with his obedient sidekick steal other kids’ Halloween candy, until they meet a strange little boy with his invisible, and far more dangerous, bully. In “Rain,” a little boy, upset that Halloween night was canceled due to torrential rain, learns that his father’s scary stories of overflowing creeks waking up greedy monsters that steal children might not be fiction.

Parent packs plenty of characterization in his brief tales. Each delves into the prickly resentments and bubbling rages that simmer beneath the surface, only to be exacerbated by supernatural fiends. The somber and gut wrenching tale celebrating Dia De Los Muertos follows a tormented veteran reliving the carnage he witnessed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He uses his monstrous powers, borne of grief and guilt, as payback against the evil doers of today. Epitomizing how revenge is sweet, “Black” features a cheating husband with a bad heart planning to repair his marriage, until his wife invites him on a haunted hay ride with ulterior motives.

In the witty “Last Halloween,” 13-year-old Jessica’s best friend thinks they’re too old for trick or treating, but Jessica’s tattered spider costume comes in handy when an interdimensional portal unleashes hellish monsters. Terrifying takes on the traditional haunted house theme, blood suckers, psychopaths, ghouls needing replacement parts, and hellish carnival rides provide readers the scares they expect, honed by Parent’s crisp descriptions and unexpected thrills.

Takeaway: Creepy Halloween tales thrill with haunted houses and monsters in the shadows.

Comparable Titles: Ronald Kelly’s The Halloween Store, J. Tonzelli’s The End of Summer.

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

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This creepy collection will be a scream for young horror aficionados. Author Wischowski and illustrators Takdanai Kungsavarangkul and Kitnithi Katk have crafted a tome packed with scares and surprises that perfectly capture the mood of spooky season, with a fresh story for each day of the month of October. Eerie woodcuts with ghastly figures complement the high-octane frights,creating a richly evocative mood rooted in the long history of Halloween. The collection is divided into two sections: in the first, File Stories, the tales are loosely organized around an investigation of paranormal happenings across disparate locations. In Fantasies, Legends, and Near Truths, Wischowski offers a selection of fiction, folklore, and strange musings.

Wischowski’s atmospheric writing playfully explores huddled-around-the-campfire storytelling, with an emphasis on the possibilities of the oral tradition—the standout “The Tale of Black Hands” opens with a consideration of how the teller always refreshes the tale, no matter how familiar. Such intimate narration—including clever uses of direct address and unreliable storytellers–conjures the feeling that the reader is being let in on a secret. Standout stories include “The Ghost of John,” where a corpse discovers, rather gruesomely, that he’s not all there. “Grandson” details a scam attempt with devastating consequences; “The Gashadokuro” follows a family stalked by giant skeletons from Japanese folklore; and “Circus Fortune” describes a young boy’s chance encounter with a hypnotist at a county fair.

The only thing that detracts somewhat from an otherwise excellent collection is an essay at the end of the book about “ghost science.” The author posits some scientific theories about ghosts, with a marked tonal shift from the rest of the collection. Although designated a middle-grade YA collection, it holds great appeal for seasoned horror fans. With much original flair but also nods to other nostalgic spook-out hits like Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this earns its place on the discerning horror reader’s bookshelf.

Takeaway: This spooky collection is full of scares for all ages.

Comparable Titles: Anastasia Garcia and Teo Skaffa’s Ghostly, Ghastly Tales, Christian McKay Heidicker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes.

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

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Murder attempts, a staged death, a host of suspects, and one massive acquisition. Grandy’s twisty debut offers compelling thriller twists as Tom Oliver, the CEO of the Toronto tech company Pellucid, is on the verge of being acquired by a Silicon Valley giant for serious money. Tom’s a hardworking leader, determined to keep Pellucid thriving while trying to salvage his relationships with his alcoholic brother and his uptight wife and her father, hailing from an Evangelical North Carolina family. After an apparent attack on his life, Tom confides to his best friend, a detective named Liu, that he fears he’s being followed, and Tom’s world shifts into a state of high alert. The only place Tom finds solace is on horseback, riding his beloved Titan. But this peaceful escape leads to another attempt on his life—one that might succeed in ending it.

With Tom out of the picture, Grandy weaves a surprising thriller that lives up to its title, with a complex cast of perspective characters, each thoroughly developed and compelling. The storytelling is brisk but attentive to contemporary cultural divides—Miriam’s father, James, considers Canadians too casual and muses there’s “no room in his world for a namby-pamby liberal like Tom.” While the prose tends toward the flatly declarative, the cleverly plotted mystery will keep fans of corporate and personal skullduggery hooked until the dramatic, action-packed finale. Grandy blends traditional mystery elements—Liu peruses a wall of suspects and considers each’s motives—with 21st century tricks. Grandy also convincingly brings life to Toronto’s tech scene and, more crucially, how the minds of its leaders work, clearly reflecting the author's own experience in the industry.

The story also delves into themes of COVID-19 and American politics, which might resonate deeply with some readers while feeling divisive to others, depending on personal perspectives. Overall, it's a thrilling and well-crafted read that will captivate fans of tech-driven mysteries.

Takeaway: Smart mystery of a tech CEO, tangled schemes, and many suspects.

Comparable Titles: Christopher Reich’s The First Billion, Chandler Baker’s Whisper Network.

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

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Blaine’s searching, swaggeringly ambitious debut, a philosophical thriller imagining a deadly art-world revolution, comes wrapped in prankish security-state trappings certain to confound unwary readers. The text offers “classified” stamp-marks, occasional black-out redactions, excerpts from DOD/FBI intelligence docs, and editor’s notes claiming the manuscript was discovered during “the infamous raid at the Trump residence in Florida”—and that the text “is full of errors.” That text, for the most part, purports to be the journal of Amadeo Effscott, an American poet, spy, and ex-Marine, burnt out after the first Gulf War, searching for meaning and inspiration in Paris. He discovers both in artist Sean Dorian Knight, who praises Amadeo’s verses, espouses radical theories with rare charisma … and whose big opening in Paris will prove literally explosive.

Blaine captures Dorian’s disgust at the economics of the art world in compelling rants. “It’s high time we hold those presently living and responsible for our misery and enslavement to the museum system accountable or let them make their own sacrifice in blood,” Dorian declares. Amid lengthy, sometimes electric discussions of art, money, and divinity, Amadeo falls in love with an Afghani woman in Dorian’s orbit—a woman who warns him she’s under constant surveillance by forces from back home who will kill if she is too close to man—and is tasked by his hilariously profane American handler with gathering DNA from the Paris circle whose friendship gives him life.

There’s much more happening in this thoughtful-but-overstuffed novel, including a “Doomsday painting,” rumors of an antichrist figure, and the rise of a murderous Dorian cult destroying history’s great artworks. Sharp, heady dialogue and themes of creation/destruction, art/finance, and revolution/terrorism all fascinate, but the twisty, time-vaulting structure is frustrating and a challenging to keep up with, and the prose’s density tends to squash momentum and clarity. Still, there’s much promise here.

Takeaway: Hugely ambitious philosophical thriller of art, finance, and revolution.

Comparable Titles: Peter Weiss’s The Aesthetics of the Resistance, Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers.

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

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Warning that the baby boom is turning towards a baby bust, investment analyst Ismail sounds the alarm on diminishing birth rates and their projected impact in the coming decades, with an emphasis on the economic effects, especially shortages of “essential workers” in many nations. Ismail offers data-driven extrapolations of trends that could lead to “incredible challenges, unlike anything we have experienced in modern history,” andquick fictionalized tastes of the life of a woman named Eva at some indeterminate time in our future. Eva’s world “seems quieter and less ambitious” than it used to, especially after her retirement at age 75 and her city’s infrastructure crumbling around her. Her robo-cleaner Annie seems cool, though.

Most of Age of Decay, however, is penned as straight-ahead forecast of how, starting around 2020, the era of continual growth gave way to a new age of “continuous contraction and decline.” With case studies of nations like Japan and Italy, Ismail shows the work behind his dire warnings of declining living standards, a shrinking tax base, continual shortages, and even a decline in institutional memory at businesses. Ismail’ persuasively demonstrates that it is likely that many nations will hit a “tipping point where they have too few essential workers to keep their societies functioning optimally.” Also convincing: his insistence that tech won’t solve all problems: “How do you automate nursing care for the aged,” he asks, “which requires compassion and interpersonal engagement?” Less persuasive is the argument that young workers’ tendency to change jobs suggests a lack of ambition in workers themselves.

Setting Age of Decay apart from some works about declining birth rates is Ismail’s embrace of immigration as a source of both workers and consumers, especially from Africa, whose “growing prominence and influence … on the future world stage cannot be overstated.” He warns that “populist political sentiment against immigration” in the U.S. could cause the nation “to lose its current advantage in worker-aged population.”

Takeaway: Alarming forecast of the impact of declining birth rates on economies and societies.

Comparable Titles: Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson’s Empty Planet, Dustin Whitney’s Demographic Deception.

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

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