School Library Journal: Anika Dragomir is the third most popular girl in school, despite being of mixed heritage in an overwhemingly white neighborhood. She’s smart, attractive, and knows that the most popular girl, Becky Vilhauer, is a bully. Still, Anika clings to the tenuous friendship for fear of the total social annihilation that Becky will put her through if she displeases her in any way. Anika is constantly trying to reconcile the “spider stew” of her true self with her social persona, which leads to a series of hilarious escapades and a decidedly double life. When she finds herself falling for former nerd turned hottie, Logan McDonough, she manages to keep their relationship secret by arranging regular midnight rendezvous. Continue reading »
Jul 032014
July 3, 2014
Booklist: The author of the outrageous Frank Sinatra in a Blender (2012) returns with an equally blood-spattered but slightly less offbeat thriller. If you see a burned-out house trailer on the cover of a crime novel, you can pretty well count on the book being country noir and the former occupants of the trailer having something to do with cooking or selling meth. Both assumptions hold true here, but that’s about all that’s predictable in McBride’s uncompromisingly gritty but surprisingly tender and quite funny tale of a good cop who impetuously grabs $52,000 of meth money hidden in a long-untended kitty-litter pan on the floor of meth cook Jerry Dean Skaggs’ trailer (yes, the one on the cover). 
The New York Times has a profile of Amy Alkon and her book Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck.
Library Journal: Watching this romance unfold from Ian’s point of view is refreshing and insightful. A stock womanizer soon unfolds into a complex hero. But as with all heroes, Ian has flaws and is all the more lovable for them. Savoring each page of this novel, this reviewer found the end unfolding a bit too quickly; still, with this first-time effort, Braden will soon amass a strong readership.
Publishers Weekly: McGoran fluidly blends science and suspense in his outstanding second eco-thriller starring Philly cop Doyle Carrick (after 2013’s Drift). Because Doyle’s significant other, Nola Watkins, who’s showing signs of rethinking their relationship, needs a break from city life, the couple take a weekend trip to Martha’s Vineyard. On the resort island, their friend Moose is worried about the dwindling bee population, which may be due to a phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, that inexplicably leads to disappearances of whole hives. Even as Moose spearheads a research project on CCD, a corporation has received permission to introduce genetically modified bees into the island’s ecosystem. After they return to Philadelphia, Nola decides to take a job on the Vineyard. When Nola misses her train, Doyle drives her to the ferry and accompanies her to the island, where he agrees to lend Moose a hand. This second visit, predictably, ends up being a busman’s holiday for the detective, who finds himself involved in multiple murder investigations. 
Publishers Weekly: Bennett (American Elsewhere) ventures into secondary-world fantasy in this action-packed, occasionally numinous, noir-like novel, which combines metaphysical and geopolitical observations. The city of Bulikov, once the sacred seat of a brutal, miracle-fueled empire, now stagnates under the administration of its former colony Saypur, which has become a technology-driven superpower. Exiled operative Ashara Komayd is the privileged great-granddaughter of the last Kaj of Saypur, the man who killed the Divinities, thereby both literally and politically destabilizing an entire continent. While investigating the politically inflammatory murder of a Saypuri professor who was studying Bulikov’s censored history, she finds disquieting evidence that some Divinities—and their legacy—may yet survive. Bennett largely sidesteps questions of colonialism and cultural appropriation in his tightly paced mystery, but supporting characters like Ashara’s indestructible aide, Sigrud, and conflicted ex-lover Vohannes Votrov flesh out the otherwise narrowly focused setting. The open ending promises a sequel.
Shelf Awareness: Just when you thought Cia’s journey couldn’t get any better, it does, in this finale to the Testing trilogy, which recounts the culmination of Cia’s studies and battles in the dystopian United Commonwealth.