Locus: Most of the reviews of Cherie Priest’s new-ish Maplecroft and its just-released quasi-sequel Chapelwood focus on what her world borrows from H.P. Lovecraft. Those reviews are totally right. There are a lot of tentacles and creeping dread in these two titles. They are loving tributes to Cthulhu and all that dread lord has wrought.
But that’s only the surface, which becomes especially clear in the newer of the two books. […] Add to that smart subtext a young, female protagonist who is more than capable of rescuing herself, thank you very much, plus an ending that doesn’t fit the expected beats of a climactic ending but is incredibly satisfying and Chapelwood becomes much more than a Lovecraft knock-off. It is wholly and wonderfully itself.
Jay Lake’s final collection of stories, Last Plane to Heaven, won 2015’s Endeavor Award
Booklist: Messinger successfully sets Catholic theology and the occult against an authentic Old West backdrop to create a richly detailed, suspenseful debut. Jacob “Trace” Tracy nearly died in the Civil War, but with his recovery came the ability to see and talk to the dead, a most unwelcome curse as far as he is concerned. The cowboy life suits him, since the dead are more bountiful in large cities, and he and his capable partner, Boz, make a living doing ranch work and guiding homesteaders out West. When Trace takes on a seemingly simple job to retrieve an item from nearby Missouri, he is unaware that his employer, an eccentric Englishwoman named Sabine Fairweather, knows about Trace’s psychic abilities and has more than a passing interest in him. As the novel unfolds, Trace battles demonic beasts, spirits, and sundry other creatures, all the while trying to understand and control his own burgeoning powers. The indefatigable Boz is the perfect sidekick: at once supportive, chastising, and supremely protective (Trace and Boz squabble like an old married couple). Fans of horror and the Weird West will want more of Jacob Tracy, and while Messinger wraps up the ending nicely, there are plenty of dark forces lurking in the shadows suggesting that sequels could be in the offing
Booklist: Nijkamp’s debut adds to the growing list of novels about school shootings. As Opportunity, Alabama, high-schoolers are welcomed in for a new school year, an armed male student locks the student body inside the auditorium, and then the carnage begins. The subsequent 54 minutes unfold with breathless pacing in the alternating voices of characters who know the shooter: Claire, the track star and former girlfriend of the shooter, who’s outside when the shooting begins. Tomás, a troublemaker who rises to the occasion. Autumn, a promising dancer and the shooter’s sister. Sylv, a straight-A student, who is Autumn’s closeted girlfriend and Tomás’ twin sister. Although the shooter’s motivation could have been more developed and the slow response times of authorities require a suspension of disbelief, Nijkamp’s story sadly reflects a very real concern in contemporary America. Strong characterizations capture diversity in gender, race, ability, and sexuality. Even reluctant readers will anxiously pursue the ending, unable to turn away from the tragedy and in desperate hope for a resolution, knowing there cannot be a happy ending.
Shelf Awareness: Discover: Adam Christopher’s novel mixes science fiction and noir mystery, as the world’s only robot assassin searches for a missing person in 1960s Los Angeles. Christopher notes that he was inspired to write this novel when considering what it might be like to read an unknown science-fiction epic from Raymond Chandler, and that inspiration shows. Made to Kill evolves over the course of the story from science fiction to a noir-style mystery and back again, never missing a beat in the process.
Publishers Weekly: Bennett’s astonishingly good sequel to 2014’s City of Stairs makes a riveting and often heartbreaking case against war. […] Bennett continues his theme of the influence of imperialism on what appears to be a very similar world to ours (albeit one in which gods helped shape the geopolitics), seamlessly melding spycraft and mythology. Turyin, a physically and emotionally wounded warrior who both loathes battle and excels at it, serves as a fascinating character to shoulder the book’s heavy burden of tragedy. This is a deep, powerful novel that’s worth reading and rereading with many pauses for thought.
RT Book Reviews: The third book in the Matchmaking Babies series opens with Lord Warrick asking Lady Caroline Trelawney Dowling for help in refining his manners in order to find a wife and provide an heir. Lady Caroline finds that she enjoys spending time with Lord Warrick. For reasons of her own, Lady Caroline has chosen not to marry. But will Lord Warrick and the two abandoned children she has been taking care of make her change her mind? Brown’s latest is a faith-filled read sure to touch hearts. Readers will be pleased to find out that the storyline about the children’s origins is resolved. In addition, previous characters are back as the story wraps up all loose ends nicely and culminates in a moving ending.
i09: Newman does a fantastic job…