Would talk about at a party – Page 2

‘Orchard’ a Twisty Mystery in Small-Town Appalachia

The cover of The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan, with the title and author in white sans-serif text in the fore of a dark photo of indistinct apples and twigs.

Annie is a delight of a modern-day PI, with all the crustiness and baggage of any private dick in the genre, though Sullivan manages to make her feel more human than trope.

‘Ghost Fish’ a Slim Novel with a Punch

The cover of Ghost Fish, featuring the title above and the author below an image of an orange-ish fish diving into teal-and-orange waters.

Opening up this slim novel gives the feeling of unknowingly sinking into cool, deep water; closing brings you back to the surface, gasping for air.

Moreno-Garcia’s Latest a ‘Bewitching’ Tale

The cover of The Bewitching, featuring black filigree in the fore of a dark green background. A pale hand tinted green reaches up for a gold bird surrounded by sewing pins. The cover is between hand and bird, also in gold.

The Bewitching expertly weaves the supernatural and the pedestrian together across generations into something rich and haunting in all the best ways.

‘Bat Eater’ Brings New Fears to Pandemic Lockdown

A realistic-looking bat with flowers on its back and its wings outstretched flies diagonally across a black backdrop. The title, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, is in large white font in front of the image. Smaller and at the bottom in green text is the author, Kylie Lee Baker.

Bat Eater is a marvelous friendship bracelet of plot threads that sometimes take turns and sometimes work in tandem but are always engrossing, and all feel like facets of a terrifying and claustrophobic world.

‘Perspective(s)’ Gives Gossip Without the Guilt

A shadowy detail from a Renaissance-looking painting of a young woman's unsmiling face.

The epistolary nature of Perspective(s), along with the framing of the letters as centuries-old discoveries, blunt the unfolding of the unhappier plot elements, letting us sit back and relish the political intrigue.

‘Antidote’ Offers Dreamlike Path to Cure for Hard Times

A rainbow gradient cascades over a black-and-white photograph of an old farmhouse with a weather vane and farming equipment. The image is fuzzy, as though in the middle of a dust storm. The title and author (The Antidote, Karen Russell) are superimposed upon it.

As The Antidote reminds us, there’s no understanding a place, or its people, if there is no reconciliation with the most difficult parts of that person or place.

‘Serpents’ a Solid Sequel in a Compelling World

Kate Pearsall’s debut, Bittersweet in the Hollow, was a solid and satisfying novel. With Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, Pearsall delivers a strong second installment in what I hope will be at least a quartet of enchanting stories.

‘Headshot’ Fast-Moving but Hard-Hitting

Most of the boxers’ stakes in Headshot are drawn from the most ordinary of things, which gives the world inside the book more authenticity and the world outside it a reminder of its import.

‘Unmothers’ Sings Thanks to Subtlety

Most characters within The Unmothers grapple with some kind of emotional fracturing; what’s more interesting is seeing how each responds. The nice thing is that the creeping thing in the fog finds all flavors of grief delicious.

‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ a Compendium of Lore

Lore has a distinct style, and that same writing is present on every page of Cabinet of Curiosities, so much so that, without reading the audiobook, I still had Mahnke’s voice and delivery in my head, along with a light soundtrack from an imaginary Chad Lawson.