This book delivers on all the things I want from a mystery thriller. It’s sexy, intriguing, and keeps you guessing until the end. The vibe of this story feels so real and edgy; it pulls you into a web of secrets and shocking twists, and I enjoyed reading every minute of it.
Boom Town by Nic Stone, (List Price: $28, Simon & Schuster, 9781668056271, October 2025)
Reviewed by Jess Bryant, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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I loved this book! Clown Town is classic Mick Herron with his evolving cast of Slough House joes. The book collection of a deceased former First Desk is sent to the MI5 library, but there is a book missing, or is it, and is it even a book? And when MI5’s First Desk and a disgraced politician start asking for help, the question becomes who’s playing whom, because “all spies lie.” This fast-paced novel is engaging, surprising, and very well written. Crafted with dry wit and wry comments, this thriller is an absolute pleasure to read. Also, for those needing novel ways to insult their co-workers, look no further than Jackson Lamb – and in this book the invectives are masterful!
Clown Town by Mick Herron, (List Price: $29.95, Soho Crime, 9781641297264, 2025-09-09)
Reviewed by Lia Lent, WordsWorth Books in Little Rock, Arkansas
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Stacy Willingham has done it again; she seems to never fail to write a great thriller mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. This one intertwines the past of the main character’s parents’ generation, then her sister, who was murdered 20 years prior to the story, and then the main character, Claire. Claire seems to be following right in the footsteps of her big sister as she returns home to help her mom, but then finds herself working at a vineyard, the same one her sister worked at. There are definitely a lot of secrets hiding at this farm, and her career as a journalist has her wanting to uncover them. The diary she found tucked away in her cabin seems to be the key to solving everything, but the more she learns, the more she should turn around and run, but she doesn’t. Super bingeable, and you will be wondering how often history repeats itself in real life.
Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham, (List Price: $29, Minotaur Books, 9781250887979, August 2025)
Reviewed by Kelli Dynia, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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Daniel. Dan. My guy – what’re you DOING to me?? Up til 2:00 a.m. again, breathless and weeping, because I could. not. stop. reading!! How do I even talk about this book coherently?*deep breath*Okay.Angel Down. Immediately, page one, you’re plunged into a fever dream of WW1 front line trenches – bullets whizzing too close, the unearthly whistle and crash of artillery fire, bodies and mud and death. Then comes the shriek – an unending howl driving the soldiers mad. Five are ordered to find the cause, and they do – but it’s nothing they could have ever predicted. An angel is down. What follows is a gut-spilling, reality-warping, soul-searing clash with divinity that will bring you to your knees. It’s gonna take me days, probably weeks, to process this incredible book. Angel Down is set during WW1, but the questions it asks are exactly what we’re asking today: how do we break the systems of war that prop up the world? Do individual lives still have meaning when destruction and violence seem unstoppable? What do we do when confronted with the true, untameable, terrifying divine? Make time to read this book in one sitting, and don’t forget the tissues. And if, at the end, you find yourself devastated and elated beyond words….me too, friend. Me too.
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus, (List Price: $28.99, Atria Books, 9781668068458, 2025-07-29)
Reviewed by Rachel Derise, Friendly City Books in Columbus, Mississippi
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What can’t S.A. Cosby write? When it comes to crime fiction loaded with action, Cosby is the man! Once again, Cosby takes the reader on a journey that one is not fully prepared for. The underlying storyline of the missing mother, along with the main storyline of the “no good” son, played in such a parallel that is easily missed if not paying close attention. King of Ashes begs the question of how far are you willing to go for the family you love? One thing that is different about this Cosby novel from the others is that we actually get a female character’s perspective. Cosby handles this point of view very well. I am sad that I have already finished this book, but I cannot wait to start putting it into customers’ hands!
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby, (List Price: $28.99, Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar, 9781250832061, June 2025)
Reviewed by Kayla Saxon, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
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The horrors of this book provide both an obvious fear but also a deeper, sinister psychological kind (which I’d argue is worse than what looks you in the face). I loved the dynamic of the horrors of the characters’ experience and how they work through the estrangement of a once-familial friendship. The exploration of the relationship between fear, guilt, isolation, and grief through the lens of horror was quite captivating! This may all sound a little vague in regards to what actually occurs, but honestly, anything more would spoil the fun. Please check all trigger warnings before reading, not for those who do not enjoy body/gore horror
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, (List Price: $30, Del Rey, 9780593156568, April 2025)
Reviewed by Sol Johnson, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Paul Vidich’s The Poet’s Game masterfully captures the essence of a classic spy novel. Vidich weaves a compelling narrative filled with intrigue, suspense, and carefully crafted characters. Alex Matthews is a retired CIA station chief, now capitalizing on the new Russian economy. He learns the hard way that the Russians have a long memory, and he will need to risk everything to keep himself and his business alive. Vidich’s attention to detail and his deep understanding of the espionage genre make this book a must-read for fans of spy fiction.
The Poet’s Game by Paul Vidich, (List Price: $27.95, Pegasus Books, 9781639368853, May 2025)
Reviewed by Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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This funny, page-turner of a thriller stars antihero mom, Florence, who decides to do some amateur sleuthing after the disappearance of her son’s classmate. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies, Only Murders in the Building, Class Mom, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Fun from start to finish, with a plot that will keep you guessing right up to the end.
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman, (List Price: $29, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 9780593851463,March 2025)
Reviewed by Amanda Grell, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
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Eddie’s back, and he’s better than ever! Eddie Flynn, conman turned defense lawyer, tears it up in this rip-roaring caper that has him defending a doctor accused of murdering his neighbor. Weaving in multiple plot lines that in lesser hands would leave a reader dazed and confused, Steve Cavanaugh pulls the greatest sleight of hand magic of his already superb career.
Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh, (List Price: $29.99, Atria Books, 9781668049372, March 2025)
Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina
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Tony Malik is a Palestinian American on leave from his position in the FBI due to a traumatic injury suffered when a terrorist bomb detonated while being defused. While on leave, he travels to Gaza to attend the wedding of his niece, whom he has never met. Shortly after his arrival, an Israeli police chief is brutally murdered, and Tony becomes a suspect in the crime. While working to prove his innocence, Tony forms an unlikely alliance with an anti-Arab hardline Israeli police officer who is investigating the murder. Both men are racing to discover the truth, which culminates on October 7th, 2023, in a way that neither could have foreseen. As a fiction thriller, this book stands by itself, but as a deftly written portrayal of real-world issues (with heroes and villains on both sides), it should be required reading for those seeking a deeper understanding of the history that drives the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is truly a masterpiece.
The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright, (List Price: $30, Knopf, 9780593537831, March 2025)
Reviewed by Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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To be honest, every book [I write] has different origins. I remember reading a lot about recruitment videos for Al Qaeda. TikTok and Facebook were being used as recruitment tools for terrorist cells. It was rare, but there was a lot of pearl-clutching when some young suburban white woman was radicalized. To me, that was so fascinating, because on some level, regardless of where these radicalizations came from, there was always a moment where the common refrain from family members was that they weren’t like themselves anymore. They were possessed. You could start listing instances that were said about someone. It was never one thing. It was never just Fox News, or just Facebook. I’ve had family members caught up in the wellness craze that existed before Goop. There’s a mistrust in conventional medicine, where people leap over doctors into untested, unregulated [medicine]. To me, that was alarming, because it was all coming from Facebook ads and memes. It’s like a sinkhole. From doing the deep dive, it’s like wellness culture leads to right-wing extremism. It’s so apparent. There’s like a digital paper trail to maneuver. It’s easy for an outside observer to see it, but if you’re caught in that rabbit hole, it’s terrifying, because you’re just not aware of it.
It makes me think “what’s going to be MY rabbit hole?”
― Clay McLeod Chapman, Interview, Macabre Daily
What booksellers are saying about Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
About Clay McLeod Chapman
Clay McLeod Chapman writes novels, comic books, and children’s books, as well as for film and TV. He is the author of the horror novels The Remaking, Whisper Down the Lane, Ghost Eaters, and What Kind of Mother. He also co-wrote Quiet Part Loud, a horror podcast produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw for Spotify. Visit him at claymcleodchapman.com.
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I’ve been trying to think of words to describe Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho, and I’ve come up with: propulsive, visceral, disorienting, and riveting. The writing barrels you toward an ending that I was prepared to find shocking, but still managed to surprise me. I was amazed at how funny Feito is in the midst of the absolute chaos on the page and how big of a punch she managed to pack into a novella. You know exactly what you are getting into from page one: Virginia Feito grabs you by the neck (with her teeth) and does not relent until long after you’ve finished the book. Winifred Notty will haunt you, and since she can’t kill you, she will have to settle for that.
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, (List Price: $24.99, Liveright, 9781631498633, February 2025)
Reviewed by Chelsea Bauer, Union Avenue Books in Knoxville, Tennessee
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It was an idea I’d been kicking around for a long time. I wanted to write a story that took place in just one night, but it didn’t feel like a whole novel. When my publisher asked if I had anything in the story drawer that might work for a novella, I thought of it immediately. The story grew from there, drawing on a lot of things in my academic past—including the graveyard behind my dorm where I hung out as an undergrad and my own experience of chronic insomnia and the desperation that it causes. Because I also work in the medical humanities, I was eager to try putting a sci-fi spin on something. With the length in mind, I wanted something fast-paced and fun, so I did kind of take Scooby Doo as a model. I’d like to think it’s a grown-up version of that—same wacky energy but with a little more intellectual substance.
― M. L. Rio, Interview, Los Angeles Public Library
What booksellers are saying about Graveyard Shift: A Novella
About M. L. Rio
M. L. Rio is the author of international bestseller If We Were Villains, which has been published in twenty countries and eighteen languages. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Graveyard Shift is her first novella.
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Following a dramatic fall from grace with the LAPD, detective Beth McDade has landed in the lonely desert city of Barstow. Located between LA and Las Vegas, Barstow is, for the most part, a quiet town. That changes on Feb. 2nd when Beth is called to investigate the death of an apparently homeless man who ran into the path of an RV. Wearing raggedy clothes with no buttons or zippers and with only a couple of coins dated in the 1880s in his pockets, Beth can find no evidence of who this man is or was. What’s more, during an apparent electrical storm that same evening that resulted in two separate explosions on nearby military bases, another traveler heading back to LA from Las Vegas seems to simply disappear along with his SUV while in the same area. A few days later, when an old grave is encountered at a nearby construction site, Beth’s investigation takes a wild turn when the construction site body is determined to be that of the missing traveler, but the remains themselves appear to be over 100 years old. Beth continues to investigate the case when she is confronted by the military police and told in no uncertain terms to let it go at the risk of her career and possibly even her life. This one is a roller coaster ride with some incredible twists that will keep you turning pages until the end. A taut thriller that takes the imagination on a wild ride.
Calico by Lee Goldberg, (List Price: $16.99, Severn House, 9781448314560, September 2024)
Reviewed by Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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After reading The Examiner you will never complain about having to work on a group project again. The Examiner is a multitextual mystery, narrated through text messages, emails, class notes, and additional forms of media. The story follows a six-person cohort through their fine arts Master’s program, where tensions grow high after something sinister occurs during a class trip. Each character within the program is vivid and highly complex, and the conflicts between them are masterfully crafted. Despite its page count, I consumed this book in less than a day; the book’s puzzle-like nature, witty dialogue, and impressive intrigue combine to create a ravenous read.
The Examiner by Janice Hallett, (List Price: $29.99, Atria Books, 9781668023426, September 2024)
Reviewed by Catherine Pabalate, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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