Sunday, February 9, 2025

Seven iconic fictional (anti)heroes who work alone

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the Shamus, Derringer, and International Thriller Writers-award-nominated author of the Andy Hayes Private Eye series, featuring a former Ohio State and Cleveland Browns quarterback turned investigator, and editor of Columbus Noir. His stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Magazine, the 2022 anthology Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, and other magazines and anthologies.

[ My Book, The Movie: An Empty Grave; Q&A with Andrew Welsh-Huggins; The Page 69 Test: An Empty Grave; Writers Read: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (April 2023); My Book, The Movie: The End of the Road; The Page 69 Test: The End of the Road; Writers Read: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (November 2024); My Book, The Movie: Sick to Death; The Page 69 Test: Sick to Death]

Welsh-Huggins's newest thriller is The Mailman.

At CrimeReads the author tagged "seven lone-wolf protagonists whose adventures helped inspire The Mailman." One entry on the list:
Reed Farrel Coleman’s Nick Ryan

Ryan may be a sworn New York City police officer but he’s beholden to no one but himself and a few trusted associates. The beauty, and fun, of this series—2023’s Sleepless City and 2024’s Blind to Midnight— is the long leash Ryan is given to investigate sensitive crimes. That, and Ryan’s ability—and willingness—to operate outside the bounds of NYPD rules and regs. When Ryan comes across a gang of fellow officers beating up a man who threatened to file a complaint against one of them, one of the officers tells Ryan it’s not his concern.

Ryan’s reply: “When people tell me not to be concerned, it concerns me.”

Although this is far from a typical police procedural, it’s also hard not to love the series’ tagline: “When you’re in trouble, you call 911. When cops are in trouble, they call Nick Ryan.”
Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

Q&A with Reed Farrel Coleman.

My Book, The Movie: Sleepless City.

The Page 69 Test: Sleepless City.

The Page 69 Test: Blind to Midnight.

My Book, The Movie: Blind to Midnight.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Eight top mysteries about family secrets

At Book Riot Addison Rizer tagged eight top mysteries about family secrets. One title on the list:
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

Fleeing an abusive husband in China, Jasmine Yang winds up in New York with no money and nowhere to turn. But, she has a goal: to find the daughter that was taken from her. Her journey intersects with Rebecca, a wealthy woman with a professor husband and an adopted daughter navigating a workplace scandal. How will their paths intersect? Pick this up to find out!.
Read about the other entries on the list

The Leftover Woman is among
K.T. Nguyen's eight thrillers about dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, February 7, 2025

Nine Catholic-haunted titles

William Boyle is the author of eight books set in and around the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born and raised. His most recent novel is Saint of the Narrows Street. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in the Washington Post, CrimeReads, and more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

[My Book, The Movie: Gravesend and The Lonely Witness; The Page 69 Test: Gravesend and The Lonely Witness; The Page 69 Test: City of Margins; My Book, The Movie: City of Margins; Q&A with William Boyle; The Page 69 Test: Shoot the Moonlight Out; My Book, The Movie: Shoot the Moonlight Out; Writers Read: William Boyle (December 2021); The Page 69 Test: Saint of the Narrows Street]

At Electric Lit Boyle tagged nine "books that interact with Catholicism ... as a powerful force that hangs over everything in the worlds of these characters and authors." One title on the list:
Rush by Kim Wozencraft

I first read the book after seeing Lili Fini Zanuck’s 1991 adaptation starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric. Based on Wozencraft’s own experiences, it’s the story of Kristen Cates, “a nice Catholic girl who becomes an undercover narcotics officer and a junkie.” At the beginning of the book, as Kristen gets ready to face the Parole Commission, she thinks about leveraging her goody-goody Catholic background for some goodwill. The book is subsumed with an atmosphere derived from Kristen’s Catholic-shaped perceptions of the world. That strain is all but nonexistent in the film adaptation, but you can still feel it somehow. The pressure. The guilt. In an interview with Jill Eisenstadt for BOMB in 1992, discussing her initial naïve belief that drugs themselves are evil, Wozencraft said, “I grew up in a very conservative, traditional household, and I was a good Catholic girl. They teach you never to question authority. I didn’t question authority, and I bought the hype.”
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Five top thrillers with parents searching for missing children

Katie Garner was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She has a degree in Art History from Ramapo College and is certified to teach high school Art. She hoards paperbacks, coffee mugs, and dog toys and can be seen holding at least one of those things most of the time.

Garner lives in a New Jersey river town with her husband, little boy, and shih-poo where she writes books about women and their dark, secret selves. The Night It Ended is her debut novel and The Family Inside is her newest novel.

At CrimeReads Garner tagged five books that turn "that ‘ordinary’ fear—losing your child—into something extraordinary." One title on the list:
Rick Mofina’s SOMEONE SAW SOMETHING

Mofina shines telling the story of Corina, a journalist whose son disappears in the middle of Central Park. Add that to a plot bubbling with conspiracy theorists, hate mail, and an abundance of red-herrings, and this one is worth checking out if you’re interested in a realistic and twisty page-turner.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Five books featuring unconventional families


Tom Lamont
is an award-winning journalist and one of the founding writers for the Guardian’s Long Reads.

He is the interviewer of choice for Adele and Harry Styles, having written in depth about both of these musicians since they first emerged to fame in the 2010s.

Lamont's debut novel is Going Home: A Novel of Boys, Mistakes, and Second Chances.

At Lit Hub the writer tagged five titles featuring unconventional families. One title on the list:
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Spoiler avoidance will necessitate some vagueness here: but the core characters in Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel—Kathy H, Tommy D and Ruth C—were born in such a way that family was denied to them. Growing up in an institution together, they become each other’s support system, friends, rivals, lovers, carers.

The title (agonizing, in its fictional context) is a reference to a song that Kathy H, who cannot have children of her own, sings to herself while she imagines rocking a baby to sleep.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Never Let Me Go is on Lauren Ling Brown's list of five dark academia novels by BIPOC authors, Costanza Casati's list of five of the best titles about literary threesomes, Sadi Muktadir's seven novels that give you hope before devastating you, Scott Alexander Howard's list of eight titles from across the world about isolation, Kat Sarfas's list of thirteen top dark academia titles, Raul Palma's list of seven stories about falling into debt, Akemi C. Brodsky's list of five academic novels that won’t make you want to return to school, Claire Fuller's list of seven top dystopian mysteries, Elizabeth Brooks's list of ten great novels with unreliable narrators, Lincoln Michel's top ten list of strange sci-fi dystopias, Amelia Morris's lits of ten of the most captivating fictional frenemies, Edward Ashton's eight titles about what it means to be human, Bethany Ball's list of the seven weirdest high schools in literature, Zak Salih's eight books about childhood pals—and the adults they become, Rachel Donohue's list of seven coming-of-age novels with elements of mystery or the supernatural, Chris Mooney's list of six top intelligent, page-turning, genre-bending classics, James Scudamore's top ten list of books about boarding school, Caroline Zancan's list of eight novels about students and teachers behaving badly, LitHub's list of the ten books that defined the 2000s, Meg Wolitzer's ten favorite books list, Jeff Somers's lists of nine science fiction novels that imagine the future of healthcare and "five pairs of books that have nothing to do with each other—and yet have everything to do with each other" and eight tales of technology run amok and top seven speculative works for those who think they hate speculative fiction, a list of five books that shaped Jason Gurley's Eleanor, Anne Charnock's list of five favorite books with fictitious works of art, Esther Inglis-Arkell's list of nine great science fiction books for people who don't like science fiction, Sabrina Rojas Weiss's list of ten favorite boarding school novels, Allegra Frazier's top four list of great dystopian novels that made it to the big screen, James Browning's top ten list of boarding school books, Jason Allen Ashlock and Mink Choi's top ten list of tragic love stories, Allegra Frazier's list of seven characters whose jobs are worse than yours, Shani Boianjiu's list of five top novels about coming of age, Karen Thompson Walker's list of five top "What If?" books, Lloyd Shepherd's top ten list of weird histories, and John Mullan's lists of ten of the best men writing as women in literature and ten of the best sentences as titles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Seven thrillers about the role of the witness

Jacqueline Faber is an author and freelance writer. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University, where she was the recipient of a Woodruff Scholarship, and taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University, where she received an award for excellence in teaching. She studied philosophy in Bologna, Italy, and received a dissertation grant from Freie University in Berlin, Germany. Faber writes across genres, including thrillers, rom-coms, and essays. Her work explores questions about memory, loss, language, and desire. Steeped in philosophical, psychological, and literary themes, her writing is grounded in studies of character. She lives with her family in Los Angeles.

Faber's debut novel is The Department.

[My Book, The Movie: The Department; Q&A with Jacqueline Faber]

At Electric Lit Faber tagged seven books in which bystanders must decide whether to speak out or stay silent. One title on the list:
In the Woods by Tana French

This gorgeous thriller was Tana French’s debut and introduced the world to her lush prose and rich characters. It’s included on the list because it circles around a character who is haunted by his own inability to become a veritable witness in a crime perpetrated against him. The novel opens with the disappearance of three children in the woods. Only one resurfaces, but he recalls nothing of the harrowing event, or the fates of his best friends. Twenty years later, they are still missing and he’s on the Dublin Murder Squad, investigating another crime in those same dark woods. The question is: can he quiet his own demons enough to solve it?
Read about the other entries on the list.

In the Woods is among Margot Harrison's six titles about the perils of memory manipulation, Peter Nichols's six novels whose crimes & mysteries grow out of place and manners, Amy Tintera's five top thrillers featuring amnesiacs, Emily Schultz's eight top novels about memory loss, Gabino Iglesias's fifty best mysteries of all time, Kate Robards's five thrillers unfolding in wooded seclusion, Paula Hawkins's five novels with criminal acts at their heart, Alafair Burke's top ten books about amnesia, Caz Frear's five top open-ended novels, Gabriel Bergmoser's top ten horror novels, Kate White's favorite thrillers with a main character who can’t remember what matters most, Kathleen Donohoe's ten top titles about missing persons, Jessica Knoll's ten top thrillers, Tara Sonin's twenty-five unhappy books for Valentine’s Day, Krysten Ritter's six favorite mysteries, Megan Reynolds's top ten books you must read if you loved Gone Girl, Emma Straub's ten top books that mimic the feeling of a summer vacation, the Barnes & Noble Review's five top books from Ireland's newer voices, and Judy Berman's ten fantastic novels with disappointing endings.

The Page 69 Test: In the Woods.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, February 3, 2025

Seven spy novels to take you around the world

Barbara Nickless is the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of At First Light and Dark of Night in the Dr. Evan Wilding series as well as the Sydney Rose Parnell series, which includes Blood on the Tracks, a Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 selection and winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Dead Stop, winner of the Colorado Book Award and nominee for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Ambush; and Gone to Darkness.

[The Page 69 Test: At First Light; Q&A with Barbara Nickless; The Page 69 Test: Play of Shadows]

Nickless's newest novel is The Drowning Game.

At Novel Suspects the author tagged "seven novels from cities around the globe to whet your appetite" for "historical espionage or modern-day hijinks." One title on the list:
Ilium by Lea Carpenter

I’m cheating a bit, because while Ilium opens in London, it quickly moves to Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret. But our protagonist is thoroughly British. And young. And naïve. And smart. She’s the perfect unwitting asset. The title comes from the Latin name for the city of Troy, while the events of the story—played out as a series of revelations—are loosely based on historical events. I won’t share that history, as doing so would tip readers to the novel’s surprise ending. Suffice to say Ilium is riveting, a cerebral experience—different from more action-packed spy novels but no less rewarding. Bonus: Multiple settings presented in sharp detail.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Ilium is among Flynn Berry's four great novels of subtle espionage.

Q&A with Lea Carpenter.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Five notable hostage novels

Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time.

Her novels include Wrong Place Wrong Time and Just Another Missing Person.

McAllister's new novel is Famous Last Words.

At the Waterstones blog she tagged five favorite "novels that employ hostage situations as their main source of drama," including:
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

I endorsed this as ‘the most gripping thriller I’ve ever read’ and I meant every word. It’s a closed-set thriller which focusses on a home invasion. A woman is alone in her house with her two young children in bed asleep when she hears a footstep on the stairs. She gathers up the children and hides with them in a nook behind a chimney breast and it is from this location that Sierra plays out much of the novel. As they seek shelter, there follows a breathless cat-and-mouse thriller, with the invader trying to find them, the protagonist hiding with her children, until the moment she realises he isn’t a stranger: she knows exactly who he is, and why he is there. It ought to be too difficult to write a thriller with only one speaking character and one set, but she lands it. The ending absolutely delivers: I almost cheered.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Five novels with tantalizing anti-heroes

Taylor Hutton is the pseudonym of a pair of writer friends, one of whom has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award and the other who is a New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award finalist. Between the two of them, they have written over forty books. When they are not passing their latest sexy thriller back and forth on Google Doc, they are browsing bookstores, sending each other ridiculous memes, walking their dogs Trudy and Potato around their Los Angeles neighborhood, and making their children cringe with their TikTok videos.

Their new novel is Strike and Burn.

At CrimeReads the authors tagged five novels in which "readers can’t help but find themselves occasionally rooting for the dark side." One title on the list:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

There are no good people in Gone Girl, only fascinating and surprising characters. If you are one of the few left on the planet who have not yet read this masterpiece or saw its film adaptation, we will not spoil the ending. But man, if we were to teach a class about badass anti-heroes, this book would be required reading.
Read about the other novels on the list.

Gone Girl made Nadia Khomami's list of five top psychological thrillers by women, Kaley Rohlinger's list of fifteen of the best books with unreliable narrators, Katherine A. Olson's list of five books with righteous female rage, Azma Dar's list of five dark novels that explore the sinister side of marriage, Jonas Jonasson's top ten list of books about revenge, Suzanne Redfearn's list of six novels about women trying to outrun their past, Max Manning's top ten list of psychopathic crime & thriller characters, Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufmann's list of six favorite literary human monsters, Elizabeth Macneal's list of five sympathetic fictional psychopaths, Jo Jakeman's top ten list of revenge novels, Amanda Craig's list of favorite books about modern married life, Sarah Pinborough's top ten list of unreliable narrators, C.A. Higgins's top five list of books with plot twists that flip your perception, Ruth Ware's top ten list of psychological thrillers, Jane Alexander's top ten list of treasure hunts in fiction, Fanny Blake's list of five top books about revenge, Monique Alice's list of six great fictional evil geniuses, Jeff Somers's lists of the top five best worst couples in literature, six books that’ll make you glad you’re single and five books with an outstanding standalone scene that can be read on its own, Lucie Whitehouse's ten top list of psychological suspense novels with marriages at their heart and Kathryn Williams's list of eight of fiction’s craziest unreliable narrators.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, January 31, 2025

Five novels with houses to die for

Camilla Bruce is a Norwegian writer of speculative and historical fiction. She has a master’s degree in comparative literature and has co-run a small press that published dark fairy tales. Bruce currently lives in Trondheim with her son and cat.

Her new novel is At the Bottom of the Garden.

At The Nerd Daily Bruce tagged five "novels with powerful houses that the characters are willing to fight, live, die – and even kill – for." One title on the list:
Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

Ana and Reid are reeling from the difficult birth of their daughter, which left Ana in a wheelchair, when they catch an unexpected break: The two of them have won a lottery where the prize is an affordable apartment in the prestigious Deptford building, complete with stunning architecture and a view of Central Park. It almost seems too good to be true. Navigating new parenthood and Ana’s disability is hard, though. So hard that it takes a while for them to notice the strangeness lurking in the corners of their new home. The neighbors are pretty eccentric, true, and the gargoyles adorning the building are creepy – but you are willing to put up with a lot for the apartment of your dreams. There is no explaining away the needle-like marks on baby Charlie, though, or the sudden disappearance of visitors to their home. This house is like a hive, with many individuals living together in a complex structure. It is undoubtedly beautiful; an object of desire and the fulfilment of a dream. But what is truly hiding behind its delectable walls?
Read about the other titles on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Eight historical novels that add a little magic

Susie Dumond is a queer writer originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is the author of Queerly Beloved, Looking for a Sign, and Bed and Breakup, and she also talks about books as a senior contributor at Book Riot and a bookseller at her local indie bookstore. Dumond lives in Washington, D.C., with her spouse, Mickey, and her cat, Maple. When she’s not writing or reading, you can find her baking cupcakes or belting karaoke at the nearest gay bar.

At Book Riot Dumond tagged "eight novels that combine historical fiction with magical realism and fabulism to create something truly special." One title on the list:
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende

What list of magical realism historical fiction would be complete without the legendary Isabel Allende? This sweeping epic involves three different protagonists orphaned by political violence who seek a different kind of family together. Samuel lost his parents to the Nazis in 1940s Austria. Leticia suffered great loss during a revolution in 1980s El Salvador. Seven-year-old Anita recently found herself separated from her loved ones at the U.S.-Mexico border. Anita, who is blind but has a gift of seeing much more than others, is placed temporarily with Samuel and Leticia, who work in his home. The three find a meaningful connection that gives them all hope for a better future. Weaving together multiple historical narratives with contemporary lives and touches of magic, Allende tells a powerful story of multiple generations healing from trauma.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Five mystery novels with unique settings

Jenny Elder Moke is the award-winning author of children’s and adult literature. She enjoys fast-paced adventures with plenty of mysteries, surprising turns, and laughs along the way. Her adult debut, She Doesn’t Have A Clue, is a murder-mystery rom-com mash-up for fans of Clue and Knives Out.

At CrimeReads she tagged
five selections that range from haunting thrillers to whip-smart homages to detective novels of a bygone era, [in which] setting plays a critical role in the execution of the story. The stories are worth reading not only to solve the murder, but to lose yourself in their immersive worlds.
One title on the list:
Night Film by Marisha Pessl

An expert blend of mystery, thriller, and horror, Night Film is a meticulous look at the lengths obsessive creatives will go to achieve their visions. When disgraced former journalist Scott McGrath reads about the death of a cult film director’s daughter, he immediately knows foul play was involved. After all, the director, Stanislaus Cordova, was the engineer of Scott’s professional downfall after Scott’s obsession with him went too far. The investigation into the daughter’s death is anything but by the book, as elements of the occult and stories of Cordova’s extreme directing methods begin surfacing. Pessl has written an absolute masterpiece, the culmination of which takes place at Cordova’s remote ranch/filming stage. What follows is a mind-bending chase through film sets, puzzle boxes, and even an abandoned pool that will make you question everything you know and trust. Fans of cult films and underground directors will appreciate Pessl’s detailed dedication to creating Cordova’s world.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Night Film is among Lauren Acampora's nine top novels of art and seduction, Kate Reed Petty's seven thrillers about filmmakers & subversive art, and Jeff Somers's ten creepy Halloween books and four huge books that will hurt your brain—but in a good way.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Seven books where real estate drives the plot

Daniel Kenitz is a freelance writer and the author of the thriller The Perfect Home. He has also published several short stories, including the Pushcart Prize-nominated "A Hand to the Plow" (2022, Red Rock Review), "Tickleneck" (2022, Spotlong Review), "The Cycle" (2021, Evening Street Review), "Seen" (2020, Every Day Fiction), "The Parent License" (2020, The Virginia Normal), and "Sunset 9037" (2013, Strangelet Magazine).

At Electric Lit Kenitz tagged seven novels in which "authors have skillfully used unique real estate situations for all sorts of literary purposes: metaphors, side plots, symbols, and entanglements." One title on the list:
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me begins in a floating home, and the metaphor there is a life about to be swept away in the current. What a great choice, because the effect is instant: Owen’s mysterious “Protect her” letter kicks off a story with riverine momentum. The search unites Hannah and Bailey—not related by blood but through Owen—the same way the floating home forced them into living in close quarters.
Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, January 27, 2025

Six top thrillers featuring sisters (and murder)

Kate Alice Marshall is the bestselling author of thrillers and horror for kids and adults. Her middle grade books include the Secrets of Eden Eld trilogy and Extra Normal. In YA, she’s written the survival thriller I Am Still Alive, as well as supernatural suspense including Rules for Vanishing and The Narrow. She made her adult thriller debut with What Lies in the Woods, followed by the USA Today bestseller No One Can Know.

She lives outside Seattle with her family, two very friendly (but not very smart) golden retrievers, and a growing collection of fancy pens.

At CrimeReads Marshall tagged six of her "favorite stories featuring sisters—the good, the bad, and the complicated." One title on the list:
The Turnout by Megan Abbott

Not for the faint of heart, this unsettling and at times uncomfortable book takes a long, dark dive into the world of ballet. Sisters Marie and Dara, along with Dara’s husband Charlie, run a ballet studio once owned by their mother. Their claustrophobic world is disrupted when a fire damages the school, necessitating repairs. The contractor the three hire proves a corrosive, dangerous force. This book oozes atmosphere and dread, creating a fascinating portrait of the sisters and their deeply intertwined lives.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Turnout is among M. M. (Marjorie) DeLuca's six psychological suspense stories that feature young protagonists and Lynn Slaughter's five memorable mysteries for performing arts lovers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Books that teach how to be alone

Rebecca Joines Schinsky is the Chief of Staff for Riot New Media Group and a co-host of the Book Riot Podcast.

At Book Riot she tagged a few "books to help you savor solitude, sink into silence, and be alone with your thoughts in a world filled with noise." One title on the list:
[F]or those who really want to sit in silence and get comfortable with having nothing but their own thoughts for company, there’s Thich Nhat Hanh’s Silence. Some familiarity with basic mindfulness techniques will be helpful here, but it isn’t required, as Hanh explains the importance of silence for our spiritual well-being. The book includes meditation techniques and mantras to anchor the practice of sitting still, making it a particularly good candidate for audiobook listening.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Six books on belonging and identity

Charlene Carr has published eleven novels. Her first agented novel, Hold My Girl, was named one of the Best Books of 2023 by CBC, shortlisted for multiple awards, and has been optioned for adaptation to the screen. Carr lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with her husband and young daughters.

Her new novel is We Rip the World Apart.

At The Nerd Daily Carr tagged six books that explore themes of identity and belonging. One title on the list:
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Black Cake is a multi-generational story that shifts between the past and the present as two siblings uncover the secrets of their late mother’s life. These revelations bring into question everything the brother and sister thought they knew about not only their mother’s identity, but their own, too.

Expansive and tender, Black Cake is an exploration of the intermixing of cultures and the ways in which the choices we make in an effort to survive and, maybe no less important, to belong, can ripple through the years.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Black Cake is among Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's five top books that wine & dine, Donna Hemans's eight books on love, loss, and betrayal in the Caribbean, and Sally Koslow's five novels about families far worse than yours.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, January 24, 2025

Nine titles combining the Gothic & the glamorous

Layne Fargo has a background in theater, women’s studies, and library science, so it’s only fitting that she now writes deliciously dramatic, unapologetically feminist stories for a living. She’s the author of the novels The Favorites, They Never Learn, and Temper, as well as co-author on the bestselling Young Rich Widows series.

[My Book, The Movie: They Never Learn]

At CrimeReads Fargo tagged nine books "that pair the Gothic with the glam." One title on the list:
The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore

David Lynch meets Disney in this thoroughly original dark academia novel, featuring a school for teen stars that’s hiding a mass grave of dark secrets underneath its polished exterior. We follow Ivy, a veteran actress who’s been at the titular academy for 18 years, plus Ramona and Grace, two up-and-coming ingenues eager to follow in Ivy’s footsteps. The Dollhouse Academy’s denizens will do anything for success—including subjecting themselves to constant surveillance and strange experiments. Montimore proves that sometimes the shiny, happy, and perky can be even more disturbing than obvious evil.
Read about the other titles on the list at CrimeReads.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Five historical fiction titles about little known history

Rachel Brittain is a writer, Day Dreamer, and Amateur Aerialist. Her short fiction has appeared in Luna Station Quarterly, Andromeda Spaceways, and others. She is a contributing editor for Book Riot, where she screams into the void about her love of books. Brittain lives in Northwest Arkansas with a rambunctious rescue pup, a snake, and a houseful of plants (most of which aren’t carnivorous).

At Book Riot she tagged five "historical fiction books about little-known history [that] bring the more obscure sides of history to light." One entry on the list:
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

More lives were lost in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff than the Titanic and Lusitania combined, but many people have never even heard of it. I hadn’t before reading this heartbreaking historical fiction novel by Ruta Sepetys. The ship, overcrowded with more than 10,000 wartime personnel and refugees on a craft only meant for 1,800, was hit by a Russian torpedo in the Baltic Sea. To tell its tragic story, Sepetys imagines the people who might’ve found their way to the Wilhelm Gustloff: a young Lithuanian nurse, a Prussian soldier ferreting away Nazi treasures, and a heavily pregnant Polish girl, all fleeing for their lives.
Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Eleven thrillers that feature the mega-rich

Trisha Sakhlecha grew up in New Delhi and now splits her time between Berlin and London. She is a diplomat, currently working as Director of The Tagore Centre at the Embassy of India. In the past, Sakhlecha has worked in the fashion industry as a business consultant, designer, and trend forecaster.

The Inheritance is her U.S. debut.

At Electric Lit Sakhlecha tagged thrillers featuring the mega-rich in which "the themes of betrayal, secrecy, and ambition [are] explored with razor-sharp intensity." One title on the list:
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

This psychological thriller tells the story of Amber Patterson, a woman who infiltrates the life of a wealthy couple with sinister intentions. She is determined to take the place of the perfect, seemingly untouchable wife, and the narrative unravels with shocking twists as Amber’s own secrets are revealed.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Last Mrs. Parrish is among Jaime Lynn Hendricks's seven best unlikeable characters in thrillers, Eliza Jane Brazier's nine books that pit the Have against the Have-Nots, Seraphina Nova Glass's seven top obsession thrillers, Allison Dickson's top ten thrillers featuring a dance of girlfriends and deception, Kristyn Kusek Lewis's eight shocking thrillers featuring scandals, Margot Hunt's top nine thrillers featuring duplicitous spouses, and Jennifer Hillier's eight crime novels of women starting over.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Mrs. Parrish.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Four tech thrillers rooted in the tensions between technology and human nature

Sara Sligar is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. Her first novel, Take Me Apart, was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year and a finalist for the Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Phil. in Modern European History from the University of Cambridge. Her new novel is Vantage Point.

At CrimeReads Sligar tagged four books that "are living on the blade edge of progress, using fiction’s vast possibilities to imagine what comes next, for tech and for the people who use it." One title on the list:
Ken Liu, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

I learned about Ken Liu’s work from one of my students, Luis Ferrer, who wrote his senior thesis on Liu this fall. This collection pulls together eighteen stories and a novel excerpt, some of which take place in fantasy worlds or distant futures. But the collection also features other stories that speak to more specific present fears. There’s a series of several linked stories beginning with “The Gods Will Not Be Chained”—the series Luis focused on, and which was also the inspiration for the TV show Pantheon—set in a world where it has become possible to upload individuals’ brains to computers, turning them into digital consciousnesses and effectively allowing their minds to “live” forever. In another story, “Byzantine Empathy,” cryptocurrency-literate nonprofits begin turning real atrocities into violent VR experiences to shock users into donating.

The story that hit me a little too close to home was “Real Artists,” in which an aspiring filmmaker learns that the films she loves are secretly made by artificial intelligence. An advanced algorithm called “Big Semi” tracks audiences’ real-time responses and creates countless story iterations until it reaches the “exact emotional curve guaranteed to make them laugh and cry in the right places”—then uses this information to make “perfect films.” When Big Semi’s film studio offers the protagonist a job, she discovers that in this world (as in our own), AI’s success depends on the exploitation of human creative expertise.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, January 20, 2025

Five wild girls of literature

Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum's most recent collection of fiction, What We Do with the Wreckage, won the 2017 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her two previous collections are Swimming with Strangers and This Life She’s Chosen, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick of the Month.

Elita is her first novel. She lives near Seattle.

At Lit Hub Lunstrum tagged five works of literature featuring wild children, including:
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson

No account of the literature of the wild nature of the child is complete without Marilynne Robinson’s canonical masterpiece. Here, in a Pacific Northwest landscape as untameable as the novel’s characters, the reader sinks into the fog of orphaned narrator Ruth’s adolescence and the year her aunt Sylvie comes to care for her and her sister Lucille. Ruth and Lucille form perfect opposites—Lucille moved by the sisters’ impoverished and uncertain childhood to mold herself into a model of adult stability and social acceptance; while Ruth is towed as if by invisible undercurrent away from all that, toward the mountains and the lake that define their Idaho town, toward Sylvie’s strange reveries and feral tendencies. The house these three keep is a house of silent, creeping discord, as Sylvie abandons typical caretaking routines in favor of tending her wild mind instead, and Ruth—unable to resist all that is also wild in her—follows. In Housekeeping, the question that drives the story is not how to hold onto the self but rather how to let it go that one might become absorbed, like Sylvie (whose name alone connotes her essential belonging in the wild) and the fog itself, into the true freedom of the larger world.
Read about the other entries on Lunstrum's list.

Housekeeping is among Cameron Walker's eight books about finding magic in the domestic, four books that changed Karen Foxlee, Yiyun Li's six favorite novels, Claire Cameron's five favorite stories about unlikely survivors, Sara Zarr's top ten family dramas, Philip Connors's top 10 wilderness books, Kate Walbert's best books, and Aryn Kyle's favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Nine chilling thrillers about marriage

At BookRiot Courtney Rodgers tagged nine chilling thrillers about marriage. One title on the list:
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

One year after the kidnapping of her son, Marin is a shell of her former self. After the FBI case has gone cold, Marin hires a private investigator who discovers that Marin’s husband is having an affair. Unwilling to lose Derek, too, Marin sets off on a path to destroy Derek’s girlfriend. Hillier weaves emotional turmoil with psychological elements to create an intense read from start to finish.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Little Secrets is among Andromeda Romano-Lax's four top thrillers that explore a mother's worst nightmare, Jessica Hamilton's six top novels about extra marital affairs, and Lisa Regan's ten riveting reads filled with shocking secrets.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Five titles that exploit our fear of being known

Melissa Larsen is the author of Shutter and The Lost House.

She received her M.F.A. from Columbia University and her B.A. from New York University.

When she isn’t traveling somewhere to research her next novel—and somehow hurting herself in the process—she lives in New York City and teaches creative writing.

At CrimeReads Larsen tagged five novels that embody "the fear of even letting someone get close to us, because once we submit to that ordeal, they have the potential to hurt us." One title on the list:
Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

Fifteen years ago, Syd Walker witnessed her best friend’s murder and barely escaped with her own and her sister’s life. Now, working far out of state as an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd is called home by a threat: A skull placed near the scene of the crime, with her ID badge held in its teeth. Reluctantly, Syd returns to uncover old wounds and new horrors alike. Her sister, troubled and far too involved in the dark threads that hold their hometown together, has gone missing. I read this one so fast I was almost out of breath, both from the pace and the terrors within.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Blood Sisters is among Eliza Browning's 2023 list of sixteen new books by Indigenous authors.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, January 17, 2025

Ten wintery horror novels

Claudia Guthrie is a writer covering culture, entertainment, and lifestyle content. Her work has appeared in ELLE, The Muse, Food52, and more. Originally from Kansas City, she now resides in Denver, where you can find her reading the newest thriller or knitting sweaters for her cats.

At Electric Lit Guthrie tagged ten wintery horror novels that will chill you to the bone, including:
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

On a cold winter night, a woman joins her new boyfriend on a roadtrip to meet his parents, despite her doubts about their relationship. Things get more and more eerie as the two drive through the snow and arrive at his parents’ farmhouse, and the woman can’t escape her intuition that something is deeply wrong.

At under 250 pages, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a short read with a twist that packs an ice-cold punch.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Five titles where bad things happen in beautiful places

Sandra Chwialkowska is a television writer and producer who splits her time between Los Angeles and Toronto. Most recently, she served as writer and co–executive producer on the Golden Globe–nominated ABC series Alaska Daily, created by Oscar-winning writer Tom McCarthy and starring two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Chwialkowska holds a BA in literature from Yale.

The Ends of Things is her first novel.

At The Nerd Daily she tagged "five delicious mysteries and thrillers to feed our obsession with bad things happening in beautiful places." One title on the list:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

A fast-paced mystery about the disappearance of two siblings, fourteen years apart, at an idyllic summer camp in the Adirondacks. The missing children are no ordinary campers either – they’re the kids of the family that owns the camp and employs the locals.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The God of the Woods is among Midge Raymond's eight books about women keeping secrets and Molly Odintz's eight thrillers & horror novels set at terrible summer camps.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Ten titles to make you rethink AI

Erika Swyler is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed novels Light From Other Stars and The Book of Speculation.

Her new novel is We Lived on the Horizon.

At People magazine Swyler tagged ten favorite books examining the impact of artificial intelligence on our lives and humanity. One title on the list;
Hum by Helen Phillips

Unemployed after being replaced by artificial intelligence, Mae subjects herself to experimental surgery to support her family, and to pay for a moment of escape to a botanical garden in a city rife with surveillance and devoid of nature. The novel’s AI — called hums — are an extension of the ways corporations and governments use surveillance technology, sometimes even taking on the role of caretaker in a literal nanny state. Most striking is the way Philips portrays the impact that tech has on parents and children alike as it considers both the anxiety around being watched, and the comfort in being able to watch and track another.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Five top mystery romances

Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. Following a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, she earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She’s the author of four young adult novels: Leisha's Song, an Agatha Nominee for Best Mystery Novel in the MG/YA category, a Moonbeam Children's Book Awards' Bronze Medalist, and a recipient of the Silver Falchion Award and the Imadjinn Award for best young adult novel; It Should Have Been You, a Silver Falchion Finalist; While I Danced an EPIC finalist; and Deadly Setup, recipient of the NYC Big Book Award, the Maincrest Media Book Award, the Book Excellence Award, as well as a Moonbeam Silver Medalist and a finalist for the M&M Chanticleer International Book Awards, the Silver Falchion, and Imadjinn Awards. Her first adult mystery, Missed Cue, received the Independent Press Award for Distinguished Favorite in the mystery category.

Slaughter's latest novel is Missing Mom.

At CrimeReads she tagged five favorite mystery romances, including:
The Body In the Backyard by Lucy Score

The latest entry in the Riley Thorn mystery series features a madcap cast of characters. Riley’s over-the-top narcissistic ex-husband, Griffin Gentry, unexpectedly shows up begging for help tracking down the person who’s trying to kill him. Not surprisingly, Riley’s sexy private investigator boyfriend, Nick Santiago, refuses to take the case. But he’s overruled by Mrs. Penny, his eighty-year-old business partner, who points out their nearly empty bank account.

Their client’s selfish behavior and endless betrayals have enraged a bunch of people, so even with Riley’s psychic abilities and Nick’s skills as a detective, sorting through all the potential suspects is no easy task. There’s even a support group for women who hate the impossibly self-absorbed Griffin!

Meantime, the roof of the mansion next door has collapsed, and Riley and Nick’s elderly neighbors move in. Nick longs for some alone time with Riley for romance and a marriage proposal, but finding time alone proves to be almost as difficult as identifying Griffin’s would-be murderer.

For readers partial to romantic comedy capers and snappy dialogue, seasoned with a touch of the paranormal, this is a thoroughly entertaining read.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue