Library Journal: A charming, stand-alone workplace romance with a foodie bent…a must-have for library audiobook collections.
Oct 182022
Oct 172022
Library Journal: A solid debut . . . For fans of hardboiled PIs with hearts of gold.
Oct 142022
Booklist: At just about six months old (in a nineteen-year-old body), Nona lives a full life. She recounts her dreams to her protectors and works as a teacher’s aide at a local school. She’s been grudgingly accepted by a gang of streetwise kids and is trusted to watch a beloved teacher’s dog. At the edges of Nona’s life, glimpses of other truths occasionally slip through: there’s a giant blue sphere hanging in the sky, for one thing. Zombies are a problem. Occasionally Nona and her family are kidnapped by a clandestine local cell and interrogated about her true identity, but she manages to find the best in even those situations. In this ancillary volume set between Harrow the Ninth (2020) and the forthcoming Alecto the Ninth, Muir takes the time to explore unfolding calamity through the eyes of a true innocent. The book is set over the course of five days in the prelude to an apocalyptic event, with chapters interspersed where the reader learns how the death and resurrection of the people of Earth came to pass. Muir fans will be even more eager for the imperial scope of Alecto once they’ve finished Nona’s quiet character study.
Oct 132022
Publishers Weekly: World Fantasy Award winner Polk (The Midnight Bargain) does what they do best with this genre-bending fantasy noir novella that brings lofty magic to a grimy 1940s city and showcases queer love along the way. Ten years earlier, warlock and private investigator Elena Brandt made a deal with the devil, bargaining away her soul to save the most precious thing in the world to her. Now she has only three days left before her deal is up and she goes to Hell. She should be spending that precious time with Edith Jarosky, the love of her life, or Teddy, her estranged brother. Instead, her best client reveals herself to be a demon and makes Elena an offer she can’t refuse: if Elena can track down a serial killer, she can have her soul back and live out her days in comfort with Edith. Simple enough—except the murders are gruesome human sacrifices used to invoke an ancient, evil, and terribly powerful magic. Though readers will wish they had more time to explore this shadowy world, Polk’s focus on character development makes every interaction matter as they craft a layered exploration of love and power with genuine emotional stakes and a soaring, perfectly bittersweet payoff. It’s another winner.”
Oct 122022
Library Journal: Marino demonstrates his skill as a storyteller, creating empathetic, fleshed-out characters who must fight through the madness that is bearing down on them….
VERDICT Marino is very willing to plumb the depths of human discomfort and nihilistic despair, revealing disturbing images that sear into the brain while showing how art, and sibling bonds, can both create and destroy.
Oct 112022
Congratulations to our DMLA author who was nominated for the 2021 Shirley Jackson Awards!
NOVEL
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (Nightfire)
Oct 102022
Publishers Weekly: Sparks fly in Tsai’s refreshing and enchanting paranormal debut. A sordid family past has driven gifted immortal Elle Mei, a descendant of Shénnóng, the Chinese god of medicine, into leading a quiet, unassuming life. Though Elle’s exceptional talent at magical calligraphy could easily earn her a lucrative career, she chooses to cover up the extent of her gift, hiding in plain sight as an “ordinary” glyphmaker in Raleigh, N.C. It’s the only way she knows how to protect her family, as using too much power would surely draw attention. But the temptation to use her full abilities becomes too much to resist when it comes to her favorite customer (and crush), the dashing half-elf security expert Luc Villois. When Luc realizes what Elle’s truly capable of, he commissions her to create custom glyphs for an upcoming assignment, and, against her better judgment, she agrees. Meanwhile, Luc has a secret of his own, and he knows that Elle would never choose to spend more time with him if she knew who he truly was. Despite their mutual reservations, their friendship deepens into love—but will their trust in each other be enough to save them when their twisted pasts come back to haunt them? With brilliantly developed, multifaceted characters; a clever magic system; and witty prose, the pages of this fantasy fly. This marks Tsai as a writer to watch.
Oct 072022
Nebula Award finalist Suzan Palumbo’s COUNTESS, a space opera pitched as a queer Caribbean Count of Monte Cristo, in which a betrayed Captain is set on a journey of revenge against the interplanetary Empire that has subjugated her people for generations, to Jenifer Albert at ECW Press, for publication in Spring 2024, by Michael Curry.Oct 062022
School Library Journal: This novel is sure to resonate with teens who haven’t yet found their calling and who are trying to figure out who they are.
Oct 052022
Andy Marino’s next novel for adults, THE SWARM, an epic horror novel pitched as THE STAND meets JURASSIC PARK, about an insect apocalypse in which people are being attacked by swarms of out-of-season cicadas, and characters across the country, including a girl who seems to have a growing connection with the bugs, must work together to uncover the horrifying purpose behind the attacks, to Bradley Englert at Redhook, for publication Summer 2024, by Cameron McClure.