Received an ARC for my honest opinion

‘The Unheld’ Blends Fear and Displacement in Weird West

The cover of The Unheld by Luke Larkin, featuring what appears to be a painting of a normal moose in rustic brown hues. The painting has been done in landscape but has been rotated 90 degrees to a portrait orientation.

In an atmosphere of one group of people pressing into the unknown and another group of people being forced from everything they’ve known, the shadows of the mountains and the expanse of the prairies can hold any number of bone-chilling things.

‘Hollow’ Full of Twists and Wise Restraint

Sullivan threads several tricky needles well in Brimstone Hollow, and that restraint helps her plot and characters shine.

‘Under the Falls’ Sticks to the Shallows

The cover to Richard Russo's Under the Falls has the author and title superimposed on an overhead photograph of a teenage boy in blue swim trunks diving backwards into water from a rocky bluff while other teens, also in swimming gear, crouch nearby.

Under the Falls sets up complex relationships, old hurts, clashing motivations, and a town full of secrets but doesn’t give them time to live up to the potential that’s well within Richard Russo’s wheelhouse.

‘Plant Lady’ Has Fun With Revenge

The cover of Plant Lady, featuring an illustration of a young woman with dark hair and wearing a green gardening apron over her white shirt and gray pants. She stands beside a shelf of plants and the title. She is holding a pair of scissors that are dripping blood onto her yellow boots.

There’s a lot to love about Plant Lady, not least of which is the tempered delight the book takes with its kills, but the straightforward fun means missed opportunity for deeper exploration of complex subject matter.