New Books: 20 June 2023
Allen, Jeffery Renard: Fat Time and Other Stories (Graywolf Press 978-1-64445-239-4, $15.99, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 6/20/2023)
Fantasy novel/fable, where Jimi Hendrix, Francis Bacon, the boxer Jack Johnson, Miles Davis, and a space-age Muhammad Ali find themselves in the otherworldly hands of Jeffery Renard Allen, reimagined and transformed to bring us news of America in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Along with them are characters of Allen’s invention: two teenagers in an unnamed big city who stumble through a down-low relationship; an African preacher visits a Christian religious retreat to speak on the evils of fornication in an Italian villa imported to America by Abraham Lincoln; and an albino revolutionary who struggles with leading his people into conflict.
Alongi, C.M.: Citadel (Blackstone Publishing 979-8212277419, $18.99, 350pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Science fiction novel, the first in a series about survivors from a crashed colony ship on an inhospitable planet. Olivia, autistic and nonverbal, leaves the survivors’ stronghold and discovers everything she has been taught about the planet’s “demons” is wrong.
Anonymous: Unrivaled: Four Groundbreaking Hugo & Nebula Winning Stories (Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 978-1-64710-065-0, $29.99, 348pp, formats: hardcover, 6/20/2023)
Anthology of four novellas. Each novella has stood the test of time and completed the extremely difficult task of winning both the Nebula and the Hugo Awards.
Chen, Leopold: Corpse of the Dragon (Black Rose Writing 978-1-68513222-4, $20.95, 246pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 6/22/2023)
Fantasy novel. Swordsman Han Feng must find out who really killed the emperor after the mage guild’s town of Heron’s Nest, a refuge for outcasts and drifters, is accused.
Emanuel, Jake & Willie Block: The Edge of Sleep (St. Martin’s 978-1-250-28493-8, $29.00, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Horror novel. Night watchman Dave Torres gets off shift and discovers anyone in his town who slept that night is dead, and it might have something to do with his chronic nightmares.
Farrell, E.C.: Code Word for Chaos (Wild Rose Press 978-1509248995, $18.99, 318pp, formats: trade paperback, 6/26/2023)
Young-adult near-future dystopian SF novel. Cal (14) and Sephrim (16), are rejects on the run. Tailor-made in The Lab as genetically perfect, their “undesirable” traits leave them without the families they hoped for. Together, they escape a life sentence to the horrid workhouses. Their lab-created survival skills allow them to avoid capture but also attract unwanted attention from rival gangs eager to provide “protection”-for a price. Then one such group captures Cal and implants her with mind-control technology.
Gould, Courtney: Where Echoes Die (St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 978-1-250-82579-7, $20.00, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook audio, 6/20/2023)
Young-adult supernatural thriller/dark fantasy novel. In Where Echoes Die, Courtney Gould draws readers into a haunting desert town to explore grief, the weight of not letting go of the past, first love, and the bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters.
Griffis, Gigi: The Wicked Unseen (Penguin Random House/Underlined , $10.99, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Young-adult horror novel. The new girl in town is having trouble fitting into a community that believes there’s a secret Satanic cult conducting rituals in the woods. When her crush goes missing, she starts to wonder if the town’s obsession with evil isn’t covering up something far worse.
Heaberlin, Julie: Night Will Find You (Penguin Random House UK/Michael Joseph 978-0-241-38555-5, $27.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Mystery novel with fantasy elements about a reluctant psychic/astrophysicist called in a to work on a high-profile cold case of a kidnapped girl.
Kao, Linda: A Crooked Mark (Penguin Random House/Razorbill 978-0-593-52757-3, $19.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Young-adult dark fantasy/horror novel about a teen boy who hunts those marked by the devil, including the girl he has fallen for.
Kerin, Liz: Night’s Edge (Tor/Nightfire 978-1-250-83567-3, $26.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Horror novel. Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge is about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most. Having a mom like Izzy meant Mia had to grow up fast. No extracurriculars, no inviting friends over, and definitely no dating. The most important rule: Tell no one of Izzy’s hunger—the kind only blood can satisfy.
Mihalik, Jessie: Capture the Sun (Harper Voyager US 978-0-06-305110-2, $19.99, 432pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
SF novel, the thrilling conclusion to her Starlight’s Shadow trilogy. An intergalactic thief must join forces with the charming teleporter who stole her last job—and may now be her only hope for saving her former crew.
Ogawa, Yukimi & Francesca Forrest: Like Smoke, Like Light (Mythic Delirium Books 978-1956522006, $17.95, 260pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 6/20/2023)
Collection of 17 stories. Mixes Japanese folklore with the weird and science fiction horror tones.
Pool, Katy Rose: Garden of the Cursed (Macmillan/Holt 978-1-250-84666-2, $19.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Young-adult fantasy mystery novel, first in the Cursebreaker duology. The cursebreaker Marlow works in the world of nobility, but also facing gangsters and vicious magic—and investigating the disappearance of her mother.
Russell, Craig: The Devil’s Playground (Penguin Random House/Doubleday 978-0385549011, $28.00, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 6/20/2023)
Historical gothic/noir thriller/horror novel about a 1920s film rumored to be cursed, and a 1960s journalist who hunts for the rumored last copy.
