Reviews

Up to this point, most of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s novels have centered on journalists whether they are newspaper writers, television reporters, or true crime documenters. With The Murder List, her second stand-alone novel of suspense, Ryan takes a step away from that...

It is certainly challenging to find a way into a crime plot that has not been attempted before, but in The Hidden Things, Jamie Mason has managed to do just that. Teenager Carly Liddell is attacked as she enters her home one afternoon and her ability to fend off the...

When one knows that a book is the last in a series, some expectations are bound to exist. Longtime fans of the series will be looking for some closure, some sense that their time investment served some “higher” purpose. With Miami Midnight, the final Pete Fernandez...

There is a long held notion that science fiction is a predicator of the future, but what happens when the near-future world described is much closer than anyone would like to think? In Rob Hart’s The Warehouse, that future is now (sort of.) This novel feels almost...

If written by a less astute writer, The Wolf Wants In – a story permeated by the opioid crisis and rise in crime in rural locations – would have been a depressing slough difficult to get through, but under Laura McHugh’s guiding pen, it becomes essential reading and a...

In Never Have I Ever, Joshilyn Jackson turns the iconic party game into a method for harassment. While the whole neighborhood will eventually end up in turmoil, it is Amy Whey who might just have the most to lose. It all starts when the neighborhood’s newest resident,...

Despite being titled The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone, Felicity McLean’s debut novel is much more concerned with those left behind. In particular, Tikka Malloy – through whose lens all the action is filtered – and her older sister, Laura. The Malloy sisters were childhood...

The Swallows, Lisa Lutz’s latest novel, is one of the most provocative, astute, and indelible books to come along in ages. While it is unlike anything she has written before, The Swallows continues Lutz’s tradition of crafting extremely complex characters, throwing...

Melissa De La Cruz’s The Birthday Girl is a perfect summer read – fast-paced and easy-to-read with short chapters and plenty of unexpected revelations. Readers who have experienced any of the vast number of books in the De La Cruz oeuvre know to expect a pop-culture...

If Alfred Hitchcock guest-edited Martha Stewart Living, the result might look something like Hallie Ephron’s latest novel, Careful What You Wish For. This domestic suspense novel focuses on a professional organizer who finds herself completely tangled up in the...

One year after releasing Sunburn – her slim and deft ode to the noir aesthetic – Laura Lippman once again pivots to provide readers with something completely different, something that defies categorization, something utterly beguiling. Make no mistake, Lady in the...

Heaven’s Gate, The Peoples Temple of Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, the Rajneeshpuram community, Kashi Ashram, the Manson Family, and the Brethren. Just the mention of their names is enough to conjure images of fortified compounds, social isolation, bizarre...

Once you read this review, go forth and pre-order Adrian McKinty’s The Chain, then share the review with others and instruct them to do the same. This is a chain, but fortunately, it is vastly less dangerous than the chain as described in this juggernaut of a novel....

Sometimes the scariest premise evolves out of the most mundane of events. In Louise Candlish’s Those People, new residents move into the vacant house on Lowland Way setting off a string of events that shatters the sanctity of this once peaceful neighborhood. Once upon...

Alison Gaylin is one of the most consistent writers in the crime fiction genre. Never one to repeat herself, readers can always count on her novels to be solidly structured and peopled with realistic and fascinating characters. Her latest release, Never Look Back, is...

Tracing a legacy of hate in America would seem a daunting task for any writer, but Lori Roy makes it look effortless in her new novel, Gone Too Long. Instead of attempting to address this in an epic way, Lori Roy distills her examination down to one family – The...

With just two cases on the written page, Cass Raines has solidified herself as a vital constituent on the long roster of crime fiction heroines. By sliding directly into an unfortunate void within the hard-boiled private eye canon, Tracy Clark champions diversity via...

For all intents and purposes, the Swedish authorities are convinced that eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell killed thirty-two year old Christopher Olsen. But did she really? And if she did, why? This is the premise behind M. T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family, the...

Anyone who read The Darkness, the first book in Ragnar Jónasson’s "Hidden Iceland" series knew that by necessity, the follow-up was going to have to be a very unconventional sequel. And that is exactly what The Island delivers. By breaking out of the structural mold...

Dervla McTiernan’s The Ruin seemingly dropped out of nowhere to garner critical acclaim, award nominations, and countless fans, but the release this week of the follow-up, The Scholar, confirms that this was not an anomalous fluke. Dervla McTiernan is a storyteller to...