Neville (The House of Ashes) gives the serial killer thriller a novel spin in this riveting splice of crime and weird fiction. FBI agent Marc Donner is a cybercrime specialist skilled at drawing out pedophiles and groomers by posing as vulnerable young people on social media. When some of his predator quarry turn up murdered with their throats slashed and their spinal cords severed, Marc speculates it’s the work of a serial killer—and he’s right. In a parallel story line, Rebecca Carter and her 12-year-old daughter employ the same sorts of online trickery to lure their victims as they cut a bloody swath from Wisconsin to Arizona. After tantalizing the reader with the prospect that the mother-daughter duo are female Dexters, Neville torques his tale fully into uncanny territory with a spectacular confrontation between Donner and the pair that propels his plot into the realm of the supernatural. The chapters toggle between Marc’s and Rebecca’s perspectives, sustaining breathless suspense as the story builds to its wild and cinematic finale. This is a satisfying exercise in high-voltage horror. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

Kraus’s second attempt at completing an unfinished novel from horror master Romero (1940–2017), after The Living Dead, is a dud; the plot, about a boogeyman targeting children in the Louisiana bayou, is familiar, and lackluster prose and thin characterizations do little to elevate it. The backwoods town of Alligator Point is home to the legend of the Piper, “the thing kids whispered about, the thing that drank laughter like Kool-Aid, that chewed good feelings like bubblegum.” The Piper strikes early in the narrative, abducting nine-year-old Billy May as punishment for the sins of his ancestors, then removing his heart and devouring it. Billy’s fate remains unknown for months, but after more kids disappear, panic sets in, and his best friend endeavors to learn the truth. Kraus’s rendering of the Cajun dialect often sounds like a parody (“Dat somet’ing out t’ere, it de root of all de awful on de Point”), and the plot’s late-breaking Lovecraftian elements feel tacked on and can’t save the cookie-cutter story line. Even diehard Romero fans will be disappointed. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

Winning (Burn the Negative) takes cancel culture to terrifying extremes in this gruesome yet surprisingly upbeat horror novel. Sitcom star Willow is caught in “tweetageddon” after her well-meaning post is misinterpreted and she’s accused of being a right-wing, anti-gay crackpot. After losing her job, her fiancé, and all of her friends, she heads to Camp Castaway, an adult sleepaway camp that bans phones and promises to unplug visitors from the internet. The “Camp Mom,” Bebe, created the haven out of a sincere desire to help others, but the place hides a dark secret. On the first night, campers hear a classic fireside ghost story about Knock-Knock Nancy, a headless spirit who cuts off the heads of others in hopes of replacing her own. As campers begin to disappear and eerie knocking sounds are heard throughout the campsite, Willow and the others start to wonder whether the story might be true. Their retreat from the world soon becomes horrific, but, in banding together, this group of wounded souls learn to embrace their true selves. Between the frequent jump scares and blood spillage, Winning’s story is packed with an awful lot of heart. Readers will be on the edges of their seats. Agent: Kristina Perez, Perez Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

Miles’s tantalizing and surreal debut begins with Everly Tertium on a stroll around her neighborhood. Things take a turn for the strange when she meets Richard Dubose, who claims to be her grandfather. After revealing to Everly that she has a genetic anomaly, he leads her to a 100-story building called the Eschatorologic. Everly has a gut feeling the building is unnatural, but Richard evades all her questions about its history. Convinced she may find answers about her father’s recent death within the Eschatorologic’s walls, Everly begins poking around, encountering odd residents and piecing together the puzzle of the building’s history. But the more time she spends inside the building, the more likely it becomes she will never be able to leave. Miles takes her time teasing out the building’s bizarre powers, while the intrigue surrounding the origins of its otherworldly residents keeps the pages turning. This genre-bending mystery satisfies. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

McMyne (The Book of Gothel) brings rich creativity, feminist sensibility, and a meticulous grounding in history to her captivating imagining of the life of the Dark Lady, the illusive inspiration for Shakespeare’s later sonnets. Hedonist Rose Rushe is more interested in becoming a court musician than preparing for marriage. Rose’s astrologer father’s unexpected death and an accusation of witchcraft by a powerful noble leads her to flee with her mother and her dearest friend, Cecely, to the household of an old friend of her father, whom they discover has also just died. His heir, Richard Underhill, becomes obsessed with Rose, and her mother hopes to encourage a proposal. Meanwhile, Rose attempts to secure independence by finding her mother’s estranged family in London’s brothels. This quest leads her into a tempestuous erotic connection with the young poet Will Shakespeare, an introduction to his friend Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, and, eventually, a secret career as a witch. Rose’s secret romantic devotion to Cecely forms the central love story, but her sensual enthusiasm for and emotional resonance with Will also shines. Rose is a delightfully impish heroine, steeped in music, magic, and a deep urge toward self-determination. McMyne centers Rose’s challenges and successes while weaving her seamlessly into a satisfying alternate history that fits the facts without being limited by them. This is an impressive feat. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

Lee debuts with the quirky tale of a store where dreams are sold in glass bottles to customers hoping to cure their various ills while unconscious. Penny, who gets a job as a vendor despite thinking she botched the interview, learns the trade of dream selling from her wise boss, Dallergut, and her colleagues Weather, Mogberry, Speedo, Motail, and Vigo Myers. Her gentle, episodic narrative chronicles the many customers and their desires. One patron wants her crush to appear in her dreams, while another, who is dying, wants to create dreams with parting messages for their loved ones. Some customers hope for a glimpse into the future; others use dreams to cope with trauma—though they aren’t necessarily happy with the results. The stakes are low and the plot minimal, but it’s a joy to spend time in this whimsical world and the endlessly inventive ways that Lee deploys dreams and nightmares will keep readers invested. This will especially appeal to fans of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award winner Iglesias (The Devil Takes You Home) weaves a dark tale of grief and vengeance set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the lead up to Hurricane Maria. “If someone fucks with one of us, they fuck with all of us,” is the motto Gabe and his friends—Bimbo, Paul, Tavo, and Xavier—live by. When Bimbo’s mother, Maria, is murdered, Bimbo and the others vow to track down her killers. In his quest for revenge, Bimbo leads his friends on a brutal spree of violence. Trouble arises when they discover that Maria’s murder is tied to a notorious drug lord, Papalote. Their plans are temporarily put on hold when Hurricane Maria hits, bringing destruction and a supernatural presence also seeking revenge. Meanwhile, an unexpected tragedy strikes, leaving Gabe and his friends shaken as they navigate San Juan’s criminal underground amid a string of strange occult occurrences. Iglesias blends the history and myths of Puerto Rico into a gritty coming-of-age story, whose violent excesses may be off-putting to some readers. Readers who like their horror bloody, however, will be pleased. Agent: Melissa Danaczko, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

A young woman unravels an ancient mystery in this spine-tingling dark fantasy from Brackston (City of Time and Magic). In Victorian England, Hecate Cavendish accepts a position as an assistant librarian at Hereford’s cathedral rather than consign herself to marriage. There, she discovers she has the ability to communicate with spirits. When bodies disappear from the tombs in the cathedral’s crypt, Hecate suspects something more sinister than simple grave robbery, perhaps related to the mysterious deaths that have been plaguing Hereford. With the help of her new ghost friends from the cathedral and her archeologist father, Hecate sets out to stop the evil lurking in Hereford before it’s too late. Brackston seamlessly blends horror, fantasy, and mystery as Hecate investigates who is pulling the strings to raise the dead. The answers, however, will have to wait, as a cliffhanger ending sets the stage for a sequel. This will frustrate some, but readers with a penchant for gothic fantasy won’t want to miss this. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

Lyons’s addictive and intricately plotted quest story (after The Ruin of Kings) intertwines all the elements of a suspenseful heist—danger, high stakes, clever characters, secrets, and betrayal—in a sprawling fantasy world replete with pompous dragons. Teen Anahrod Amnead, who has the magical ability to control animals, is accused of stealing from a dragon, charged with treason, and sentenced to death. But 15 years later, the arrogant and powerful blue dragon Tiendremos suspects that the humans responsible did not carry through on the execution and demands they locate and return Anahrod to face her punishment. The bounty hunters sent to fetch her betray their assignment by making Anahrod an offer she can’t refuse: they won’t turn her in if she helps them steal the hoard of diamonds belonging to Neveranimas, the queen regent of dragons and Tiendremos’s boss, who stole the jewels from the comatose dragon king, Ivarion. Led by sultry dragon rider Ris, with whom Anahrod soon develops a sweet sapphic romance, the quirky group of adventurers includes knife-wielding warrior woman Claw, sorcerer Naeron, and elder poet Kaibren. Together they race against the clock to find the five swords that form the key to Neveranimas’s vault. If Ivarion wakes up before they succeed, the world as they know it could go up in flames. Fast-paced action, a smart and diverse cast, and fascinating dragon lore sustain this rip-roaring caper. Fantasy fans are sure to be sucked in. (July)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink

Myers (A Dreadful Splendor) delivers a classic Regency gothic with all the trimmings. Beautiful Emeline, the orphaned ward of a Halifax, Nova Scotia, judge and his wife, is old enough to make some rich and powerful man a lovely bride. Her sights are set on the dashing Lieutenant Fletcher of the British Navy, but before she can escape with him to his house in Bermuda, their affair is discovered. Emeline is promptly promised to the suitor least likely to have heard about the scandal, Captain Graves, and shipped off to Faraday House, his run-down, isolated manor on a private island, to become his third wife. Except his second wife, Georgina, is not yet dead, only very seriously ill. Emeline hatches a plan to keep Georgina alive, and herself therefore unmarried, until Lieutenant Fletcher can arrive to rescue her. But the more she learns about the two young wives whose place she is fated to take, the more it becomes clear that something terrible lurks in Faraday House—and if Emeline can’t save Georgina, she herself will be the next victim. Rural Nova Scotia delivers all the requisite atmospheric grimness, and Myers ensures that absolutely nobody can be trusted. This pushes all the right buttons. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/24/2024 | Details & Permalink