Backwater
by James Sallis
Soho Press
Such beautiful prose, elegiac in the best possible way - of music, friendship, the impossibility of knowing another, and the search for meaning and justice in small and large places. You need to read this.
If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.
by Tim Sullivan
Atlantic Crime / Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
If you haven't read any of the George Cross mysteries, it would be good to start with the first , The Dentist, only because it's amazing to watch Sullivan develop the characters (not just George) as the series goes along. There's always a good mystery, and you'll learn something about something - tailoring, this time - but the characters are what you'll come back for.
Sometimes you just need a "Cheers bar" of a book.
If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.
by Emily St. John Mandel
Knopf/PRH
My only complaint is that I would like more! lots more! The characters are drawn so that you want to know them forever; the settings are so close to realistic that they are frightening; the plotting is complex but never confusing; the issues raised will stay on your mind. It is well worth a second read, right away.
If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.
By Deon Meyers
Atlantic Crime / Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
pub date March 2, 2027
This gives a brief look at a particular part of South Africa - murders, police and their families. You'll learn more than you imagined you'd ever want to know about the future of warfare, but also understand a bit of the traumas of crime solving. This is more fun than it sounds as the relationship between the two investigators is warm and often humorous. The glossary is very helpful.
The others in this series are also worth your time, but they don't have to be read in any specific order. And they're available now - Devil's Peak is the first.
If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.
by Naomi Alderman
Little, Brown and Company/ Hachette Book Group
This is not the usual Alderman tale. There is a fantastical element, but this is a disturbing book about grief, death, unending sorrow and how badly most of us deal with it. The strangers are a small empathetic animal that is dealt with as is common with humans' reactions to things we don't understand. That is, badly. This is beautifully written and not an easy book, but worth your time.
If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.
