Man-Killer: Gina Cototi Cases Book 1 by Lawrence Kelter ISBN: 9781685133528 (Paperback) ASIN: B0CHR2MH2P (Kindle edition) Page Count: 260 Publication Date: January 11, 2024 Publisher:Black Rose Writing Genre: Fiction | Women Sleuths | Mystery & Crime
Gina Marie Cototi is a feisty Sicilian sparkplug, a Brooklyn-based PI with a fondness for family, friends, and one roguishly handsome Casanova named Rocco Benelli. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
This headstrong sleuth drives a split-window ’63 Corvette coupe and never, I mean never, misses Sunday dinner with Ma, Dad, and her sister Theresa.
Broke, brooding, and breathtaking, Benelli, an out-of-work parole officer is cursed with more charm than any man deserves. Deep down, Gina knows she shouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, but she’s got more cases than she can handle, and Benelli’s ready, willing, and able-bodied, the perfect partner to help her get the goods on Vlad “The Scud” Rzhevsky, a disreputable boxer running point on dirty deeds for Luca Mura, a mobster as evil as he is dangerous.
Gina must somehow close the case without losing her life to Mura or her virtue to Benelli, but a moth working alongside a flame is always in danger of catching fire.
For fans of Janet Evanovich. Think of Man-Killer as Stephanie Plum meets Moonstruck.
Lawrence Kelter is the bestselling author of the Stephanie Chalice Mystery Series. A resident New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn and residing on Long Island. He often uses Manhattan and Long Island as backdrops for his stories. He is the author of three novels featuring street-savvy NYPD detective, Stephanie Chalice: Don’t Close Your Eyes, Ransom Beach, and most recently, The Brain Vault. Early in his career, he received direction from bestselling novelist Nelson DeMille, who put pencil to paper to assist in the editing of his first book. He was also a member of a private writing workshop led by the late soap opera legend and AFTRA president, Ann Loring. His novels are quickly paced and routinely have a twist ending.
Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings Y’all! Once again, I spent way too much time this year re-reading as well as reading. As with previous years, this year’s “best of…” list will cover a variety of genres. This list includes books read with online and local book groups, a few books that I read and reviewed, and other books I’ve had the pleasure of reading over the year. Not all of the titles listed here were released in 2023, but all were read in 2023.
If you haven’t read any of the books on this list, it is my most sincere hope that one or two will stand out and you’ll want to grab a copy to read for yourself (or to gift).
For those of you who love Southern noir, crime fiction, mysteries, or thrillers, I strongly encourage you to grab a copy of every book written by S.A. Cosby, including his latest, All The Sinners Bleed.
A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.
Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student, and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.
As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.
2. I read and reviewed this one earlier this year (and recommended it to y’all). The subject matter touched me because I have a close family member who was a victim of identity theft and currently has a federal court case pending against the perpetrators. Identity theft causes emotional and psychological trauma and Identity by Nora Roberts touches on all of those traumas and more (romance, intrigue, and murder).
Identity by Nora Roberts ISBN: 9781250284112 (hardcover) ISBN: 9781250284327 (ebook) ISBN: 9781250897626 (digital audiobook) ISBN: 9781250893345 (audiobook on CD) ASIN: B0BH9BBTZM (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B9KSW9JN (Kindle edition) Page Count: 448 Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: May 23, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Romantic Suspense | Suspense Thriller
A new thriller about one man’s ice-cold malice, and one woman’s fight to reclaim her life.
Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan’s job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who’d been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.
Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. “Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.
What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn’t his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan’s nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother’s home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn’t flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn’t forgotten the one who got away.
3. Horror isn’t usually one of my go-to genres, but now and again there’s a horror read that pulls me in. Lone Women by Victor LaValle was one such read. An intriguing mixture of horror, historical fiction, magical suspense, and the American West, this was a story that kept me enthralled from the first page through to the very last.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle ISBN: 9780525512080 (hardcover) ISBN: 9780525512097 (ebook) ISBN: 9780593611050 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B0B648K358 (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B4R7NMQ7 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 304 Publisher:One World Release Date: March 28, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Historical Fiction | Horror | Western | Fantasy
Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
4. I know, I said that horror wasn’t one of my go-to genres, but The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is so much more than horror, and another book you won’t want to miss reading (in my not so humble opinion). This historical fiction read is part horror, part thriller, part mystery, and just a darn fine read!
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
5. One of the many pleasures I derive from reading is learning about different cultures and cultural practices. I strongly believe that books are windows and mirrors. This next book provided a glimpse into a facet of Indigenous American culture and beliefs that I hadn’t previously seen. Shutter by Ramona Emerson was an amazing read that combined bits of horror with paranormal, crime fiction, and mystery. I read this one in print AND listened to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed both experiences.
This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.
Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook.
As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.
And now it might be what gets her killed.
When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction’s most powerful new voices.
6. I was introduced to the writings of John Scalzi a few years back when he was a guest at the West Virginia Book Festival. I can’t say that I’ve read a ton of his books, but everything I’ve read thus far I’ve enjoyed (The Lock In Series, Kaiju Preservation Society, Redshirts, and The President’s Brain is Missing). I’ve spent most of this year encouraging folks to read this next book. The cover for Starter Villain made me wonder what the…? Then I read the book, multiple times. I then listened to the audiobook, twice! The first audiobook listen was during a trip to an infusion appointment and my youngest brother had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Neither one of us wanted to leave his truck to go into the hospital for my treatment. (Although it isn’t prohibited in most places, I find it annoying to hear videos, music, or cell phone conversations via someone else’s cell phone speaker. Needless to say, I don’t use this function when in public. Hey, I’m tacky but not that tacky.) My brother and I were anxious for the treatment to end just so we could get back to this book. Starter Villain combines a lot of humor with science fiction and a nod to the villains from the world of James Bond. To say this was one of my favorite reads for 2023 is a massive understatement. Seriously, I LOVED this book and will probably end up reading or listening to it again before the year is over.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi ISBN: 9780765389220 (hardcover) ISBN: 9780765389237 (ebook) ASIN: B0C6FR3JN1 (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B9KVXCQ6 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 264 Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: September 19, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Science Fiction | Humor | Thriller
Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.
Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.
Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.
But becoming a supervillain isn’t all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they’re coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.
It’s up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.
7. One of my local book clubs was blessed and received a book club set of The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb earlier this year. The timing was quite fortuitous as this became our February group read and perfect as a Black History Month read. After reading my print copy I ended up purchasing a digital copy of this book and even ordered a print copy for my elderly mother to read (yes, she also enjoyed it).
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world.
“I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch
Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.
When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.
8. The next book isn’t a sequel, but it is another fascinating musical mystery by Brendan Slocumb. Symphony of Secrets interweaves the story of a renowned composer from the early 20th century with a hidden figure mystery being uncovered in the early 21st century.
A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history’s wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves.
Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime. As one of the world’s preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern knows everything there is to know about the man behind the music. When Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation and direct descendant of the man himself, asks for Bern’s help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, RED, he jumps at the chance. With the help of his tech-savvy acquaintance Eboni, Bern soon discovers that the truth is far more complicated than history would have them believe.
In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed is living on the streets and frequenting jazz clubs when she meets the struggling musician Fred Delaney. But where young Delaney struggles, Josephine soars. She’s a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney’s career takes off—but who is the real genius here?
In the present day, Bern and Eboni begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Armed with more questions than answers and caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, Bern and Eboni will move heaven and earth in their dogged quest to right history’s wrongs.
I had a difficult time keeping this list short. My initial list of “top reads of 2023” had over 25 titles on it. I consider myself incredibly blessed to have read a host of great books this year. I’m grateful to the authors, publishers, publicists, virtual book tour companies, and book clubs that have afforded me the opportunity to read so many wonderful titles. I’m looking forward to all of the releases coming out in 2024 and I’m sure I’ll be raving about them around this time next year.
If you have a moment, tell me a few of your favorite reads from 2023.
Death in the Holler, Luke Ryder Book #1, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493073 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C7K9Z7F1 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 336 Publication Date: July 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
MURDER, ADDICTION, AND REDEMPTION COLLIDE IN THIS ENTHRALLING SMALL-TOWN MYSTERY.
Kentucky Game Warden Luke Ryder is an alcoholic on the verge of losing his job. But when a Louisville gangster is found dead in rural Kentucky—on the first day of muzzle-loader hunting season—a chance for Luke to prove his worth strikes.
Asked to help with the investigation by County Sheriff Jim Pike, Luke works on the case while also confronting his addiction and using his innate detective skills to uncover clues and track down the killer.
Along the way, he discovers that the murdered man came to the Holler for a specific reason—a reason that might connect to a larger conspiracy. Suddenly, solving this murder is the perfect opportunity for Luke to turn his life around and become a deputy sheriff.
The true question is…can Luke Ryder find the killer before something more menacing comes to the Holler?
Murder at NASA, Luke Ryder Book #2, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493097 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C83KK25B (Kindle edition) Page Count: 332 Publication Date: July 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
UNCOVER THE TRUTH BEHIND A COLD CASE MURDER AT NASA IN THIS THRILLING INVESTIGATION.
By the year 2030, the investigation into the brutal murder of NASA Space Plane Test Manager Scarlet Hauk has grown cold. In a last-ditch effort to solve the case and give an up-and-coming agent experience, the FBI assigns Agent Rita Reynolds with the impossible—find a lead.
To assist in her investigation, Rita enlists the help of Kentucky Deputy Sheriff Luke Ryder, known for his acute detective skills, who must go undercover in California where he will work in public affairs at NASA.
Given the access he and this cold case so desperately need, Luke interviews potential suspects and employees who were involved in a classified project the deceased was managing—in the name of feature articles for an employee newspaper—while secretly trying to uncover the murderer’s identity.
An honest man, can Luke maintain his covert identity and finally close the books on this cold case?
Mayhem at Sea, Luke Ryder Book #3, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493110 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C9VMB3CN (Kindle edition) Page Count: 288 Publication Date: August 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
AN ACTION-PACKED, HIGH SEAS THRILLER FULL OF UNEXPECTED TWISTS AND PAGE-TURNING ADVENTURES.
Kentucky Deputy Sheriff Luke Ryder is on a heart-stopping mission to save the lives of 5,000 passengers aboard the luxury cruise ship, Sea Trek. When pirates hijack the ship—and demand a jaw-dropping ransom of $350 million—Luke finds himself in a nail-biting game of cat and mouse. Luke enlists the help of FBI Agent Rita Reynolds to outsmart the pirates and protect his girlfriend, Layla, from danger. But when the pirate captain threatens to set off the bomb in the engine room, the mission becomes even more urgent.
As the clock ticks down and the fog rolls in, Luke must act fast to prevent disaster. Armed with a Soviet-era grenade launcher, he faces off against the pirates in a thrilling attempt to save the lives of everyone on board.
Will Luke be able to stop the sea raiders in order to protect his loved ones and everyone else before it’s too late?
John G. Bluck is a mystery/thriller novelist. He was an army journalist during the Vietnam War. Then he became the daytime crime newsreel photographer for WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) in Washington, DC.
Finally, he worked thirty years for NASA and retired as a public affairs officer. He recently signed a contract with Wolfpack Publishing / Rough Edges Press.
The first three novels in Bluck’s Luke Ryder series were published in July and August 2023 by Rough Edges Press. Death in the Holler was re-released with a new cover. This novel is the story of how Ryder, a Kentucky deputy sheriff, solves a murder that takes place on a farm’s food plot. In the second book, Murder at NASA, Ryder goes undercover at NASA to investigate a cold case murder. The third book,Mayhem at Sea, is a thriller. While on an Alaska vacation cruise, Ryder deals with pirates who hijack his ship.
Coded to Kill: A Techno-Medical Thriller by Marschall Runge M.D. ISBN: 9781637589250 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781637589274 (Hardcover) ISBN: 9781637589267 (eBook) ASIN: B0C83Q9624 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 318 Publication Date: June 13, 2023 Publisher:Post Hill Press Genre: Fiction | Thriller | Mystery
Is medicine’s greatest breakthrough also the world’s most efficient killing machine?
After a decade of development, Drexel Hospital’s cutting-edge Electronic Health Records system is about to become the national standard and revolutionize health care. Housing the real-time medical records of every American, the EHR system will enable doctors to access records with a keystroke and issue life-or-death medical orders with a finger swipe.
No one wants the EHR to succeed more than Hugh Torrence, a former NSA honcho who sees the system as a tool for unimaginable and unaccountable power. The only thing standing in his way is a loose-knit group of Drexel employees with conflicting agendas and questionable loyalties—including Dr. Mason Fischer, a physician with a taste for intrigue and a shadowy past; a street-wise techie named RT; and an internal medicine resident, Dr. Carrie Mumsford, the daughter of the hospital’s president.
While they search for answers, the suspicious patient deaths keep mounting as the target on their back grows larger.
“A beautifully written, complex mix of medical drama, espionage story, and hi-tech skulduggery, Coded to Kill is a thrilling read under the guidance of someone who knows what he is talking about, and never fails to enthrall with its detail and deft plotting.” –Iain Pears, author of An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream of Scipio
“Dr. Marschall Runge gives us both a heart-stopping thriller and a searing indictment of the degree to which technology has sapped the soul of medicine and handed it to the technocracy.” –Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science Family of Journals
An Interview with Marschall Runge
1. Where did the idea for Coded to Kill originate from?
Two words: aggravation and imagination. Like many physicians – I’m a cardiologist – I found the transition to electronic health records (EHRs) to be problematic because they increased our paperwork and diverted attention from patients. As a hospital administrator, I learned more about the power of EHRs – they do improve communication between healthcare providers and make previously illegible notes now legible. But there is little evidence that, overall, EHRs have reduced medical errors, which was their promise. And protected health information (PHI), which previously had to be obtained in written medical records, is now on-line and accessible both to all who have access to these records, as well as to nefarious characters cruising the internet for private information. With these ideas swirling in my mind, and having read too many thrillers, it occurred to me that a novel hinged on the promise and perils of emerging medical technologies would be a fun and effective way to share my concerns with the public.
2. What are your thoughts on recent ransomware attacks on hospitals and how does this phenomenon relate to Coded to Kill?
Ransomware attacks - where hackers steal or take control of vital systems and information – are a growing threat to public safety and health. Hospitals are an especially attractive target because we must maintain highly detailed and organized information on those we care far and because our work truly involves life and death stakes. Though the potential risks of online medical records are heightened in Coded To Kill, it is important that everyone who uses EHRs and/or have their information contained in them understand their vulnerabilities. In Coded to Kill, the action of my “heroes” provide a realistic hope that we can fight back.
3. How should the medical industry approach privacy concerns?
Hospitals have a sacred duty to safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI) even as we face challenges not just from malevolent hackers, but, ironically, from our own decision to improve patient care (and generate revenue). “Data aggregators” like Google offer tens of millions of dollars for access to large medical record databases and high quality information that can be used to devise new diagnostic tools and treatments. Coded to Kill illustrates a reality – that some of these arrangements become deals with the devil as “anonymous” patient records can, in some circumstances, be de-anonymized. I am proud to say that Michigan Medicine has become a leader in implementing programs to thoroughly evaluate and vet these requests.
4. In the medical field, do the pros of technological advancements outweigh the cons? Is there a clear path for mitigating the negative effects of progress?
I am convinced that medicine is on the edge of a golden age of innovation that will deliver lifesaving and life-enhancing results to patients around the world. Technological advances are already resulting in amazing therapies and many diseases that were untreatable when I began my career four decades ago can now be cured. A major problem, which Coded to Kill illustrates, is that technology can also be hijacked by bad actors. These vast changes also create another problem: the opportunity of fraudsters such as Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to exploit this hope to peddle high-tech versions of snake oil that hurt those who need help.
5. In your opinion, does the future of medicine involve AI?
Absolutely. Generative AI and deep machine learning are already providing amazing advances in drug discovery, diagnosis and prevention. When I began my career, it took months or even years for advanced medicinal chemists to identify a small number of compounds they could modify and test to inhibit key disease pathways. Just within the last year, AI/ML algorithms have been developed that can generate more than one million new structures a day. But, like the advanced EHR featured in Coded To Kill, we never forget that machines are tools that must be used and controlled by human beings, who possess a conscience and morals. We are the secret sauce of innovation.
6. What’s next for you?
My experience writing Coded to Kill has convinced me that novels provide a great opportunity to bring important medical issues to life – to start meaningful conversations with the people we care for. I am working on a second novel that revolves around an extraordinary investigator using AI to discover secrets that seem to reverse aging. But shortcuts were taken, data was faked, and terrible outcomes in an illicit clinical trial involving prisoners were suppressed…. you get the picture. As with Coded to Kill, I will use real-life examples as a starting place for each of these themes.
Author Bio:
Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., is the executive vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan, dean of the Medical School, and CEO of Michigan Medicine. He earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He was a cardiology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of over 250 publications and holds five patents for novel approaches to health care. As a Texas native who spent fifteen years in North Carolina and an avid thriller reader, Runge has experienced so many you-can’t-make-this-up events that his transition to fiction was inevitable.
Good day, my bookish peeps. If you’ve followed me for any time now, you’ve probably noticed that I have several favorite genres: romance, mystery, suspense, thrillers, and romantic suspense. I do read from other genres, like science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but these aren’t my standard go-tos.
However, since we’re in the middle of “Spooky Season,” I thought I might recommend a few of my favorite spooky reads. Some are horror, some are what I consider psychological horror, and some have horror elements (or at least they do in my mind). Some are old (including what is considered the first horror novel and if you haven’t read the original do it please; the movie adaptations don’t do it justice) and the others are more recent releases.
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley ISBN: 9780143131847 (paperback) ISBN: 9781524705701 (eBook) ISBN: 9781400176342 (Audiobook) ASIN: B00FQS5BBO (Audible Audiobook) ASIN: B071NCSKSP (Kindle edition) Publisher:Penguin Classics Release Date: 1818
“Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart…”
For the bicentennial of its first publication, Mary Shelley’s original 1818 text, introduced by National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read
2018 marks the bicentennial of Mary Shelley’s seminal novel. For the first time, Penguin Classics will publish the original 1818 text, which preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley’s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley’s relationship with her mother—trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman—and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother’s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.
This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle ISBN: 9780525512080 (Hardcover) ISBN: 9780525512097 (ebook) ISBN: 9780593611050 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B0B648K358 (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B4R7NMQ7 (Kindle edition) Publisher:One World Release Date: March 28, 2023
Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
The Fervor by Alma Katsu ISBN: 9780593328354 (paperback - released September 5, 2023) ISBN: 9780593328347 (ebook) ISBN: 9780593552421 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B09FW9G5ZX (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B09B8NJS8C (Kindle edition) Publisher:G.P. Putnam’s Sons Release Date: April 26, 2022
The acclaimed author of the celebrated literary horror novels The Hunger and The Deep turns her psychological and supernatural eye to the horrors of the Japanese American internment camps during World War II.
1944: As World War II rages on, the threat has come to the home front. In a remote corner of Idaho, Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, are desperate to return home. Following Meiko’s husband’s enlistment as an air force pilot in the Pacific months prior, Meiko and Aiko were taken from their home in Seattle and sent to one of the internment camps in the Midwest. It didn’t matter that Aiko was American-born: They were Japanese, and therefore considered a threat by the American government.
Mother and daughter attempt to hold on to elements of their old life in the camp when a mysterious disease begins to spread among those interned. What starts as a minor cold quickly becomes spontaneous fits of violence and aggression, even death. And when a disconcerting team of doctors arrive, nearly more threatening than the illness itself, Meiko and her daughter team up with a newspaper reporter and widowed missionary to investigate, and it becomes clear that something more sinister is afoot, a demon from the stories of Meiko’s childhood, hell-bent on infiltrating their already strange world.
Inspired by the Japanese yōkai and the jorōgumo spider demon, The Fervor explores the horrors of the supernatural beyond just the threat of the occult. With a keen and prescient eye, Katsu crafts a terrifying story about the danger of demonization, a mysterious contagion, and the search to stop its spread before it’s too late. A sharp account of too-recent history, it’s a deep excavation of how we decide who gets to be human when being human matters most.
The Hunger by Alma Katsu ISBN: 9780735212534 (paperback - Released March 5, 2019) ISBN: 9780735212527 (ebook) ISBN: 9780525527688 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B07B4GRN6H (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B071X2K32P (Kindle edition) Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Release Date: March 6, 2018
Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere.
Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone—or something—is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck—the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.
While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions—searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand—evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves “What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased…and very hungry?”
The Fireman by Joe Hill ISBN: 9780062200648 (Paperback - released on January 3, 2017) ISBN: 9780062200655 (ebook) ISBN: 9780062443779 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B01COQZWTQ (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B013C5M08O (Kindle edition) Publisher:William Morrow Release Date: May 17, 2016
From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.
The fireman is coming. Stay cool.
No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.
Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.
Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.
In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke.
Of course you don’t need to wait for “Spooky Season” to read any of these. I will say that I don’t recommend reading The Fervor or listening to the audiobook during snowy weather. I listened to the audiobook whilst driving to a medical appointment and freaked out due to the “white specks” I saw floating past my car. It took almost 45 seconds before I realized it was SNOW! Yes, I know I probably shouldn’t get that immersed in a narration, but I was pulled into the story and I momentarily forgot that it wasn’t the 1940s…
I’ve read and re-read all of these books. I’ve recommended all of these books. I can only hope that any, if not all of these, will provide you with hours of similar reading pleasure.
Secrets Laid to Rest, The Ladies of SPI Mystery #1, by Catherine C. Hall ISBN: 9798987214206 (Paperback) ASIN: B0CJG58XQR (Kindle edition) Page Count: 283 Publication Date: September 19, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Cozy Mystery | Young Adult
The Secrets of Sutter Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance…
Fall is in the air, the scent of autumn leaves and apple pies, and now a brand new business is opening its doors in small-town Sutter, Georgia.
But not just any business. It’s the Golden Girls meet the Ghostbusters when four women find themselves in an unlikely career: Southeastern Paranormal Investigations. Ree Lane, a stylish widow, is more cynic than true believer, while her childhood chum Elle Harper has a knack for getting sensitive info with the help of her homemade pies. The preacher’s wife, Betsy Jones, can’t be seen with SPI unless she’s in her disguise as Nora, a psychic-in-training with a gift for Tarot. And the recently-returned-home Gillian Buchanan is a whiz at technology, especially of the supernatural sort.
Their first case lands on the doorstep when neighbor Doris Tucker is sure her prized vintage dolls are haunted. But there’s hardly time for ghost-hunting when the bank director’s wife mistakes SPI for a private eye venture. Now they’re also hot on the trail of a misbehaving husband. It’s a wild ride as the sixty-something sleuths start digging into the past. But have the Ladies of SPI gone too far? And how far will Sutter go to keep its secrets dead and buried?
There’s a great song, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” made popular by Johnny Cash (and a couple of commercials). If you put the song in Georgia, it would be about Catherine C. Hall, starting when she moved to the Peach State at eight years old.
She grew up in Savannah, Georgia, where you can’t throw a stick without hitting a ghost. Even when she was a little girl, Savannah was known for its haunted history and she was hooked!
Broadcast Journalism hooked her as well, so she studied at Valdosta State University way down in South Georgia where it is the heat and the humidity. She worked in a few radio stations but it was WNEX Radio in Macon that turned out to be life-changing. She met a cute deejay from Sandersville, Georgia, and married him a year later.
They moved above the Gnat Line (Oh, it’s real) to the Atlanta area, where they grew their family to two boys and a girl, and she took a turn in the teaching world. And then whoosh! She met the half-century mark wondering what to do? Maybe it was the merlot talking but after years of reading mysteries, Catherine thought it was high time she write one. And she did; it was awful. (And way too short. Who knew readers expected 70, 000 words?)
So she learned her craft, starting with flash fiction, then moving on to short fiction, where she won a few awards. She wrote essays that ended up in books like Chicken Soup for the Soul. She penned assorted humor columns and continued to freelance. And then one day, she wrote another story that wasn’t exactly novel-length but it wasn’t a short story, either. It was a children’s book.
She joined SCBWI, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and had a wonderful career in children’s writing, including publishing six books. But in the midst of her last two book contracts, life changed unexpectedly when Catherine’s favorite deejay up and died.
When at last she wanted to write again, she heard four women of a certain age, each seeking purpose and joy in where they found themselves. Which for them was a small town in Georgia called Sutter. For Catherine, it was at home, still in the Atlanta suburbs, revisiting the ghost stories of her youth, and finally getting that mystery written. All 70,000 words of it!
Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card AND a copy of the cozy mystery, Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. Click HERE to fill out the Rafflecopter form by 11:59 PM CT on October 26th. The winner will be selected and contacted on 10/27/2023.
Blog Tour Schedule
October 13th @ The Muffin Join us as we celebrate the launch of Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. Read an interview with the author and win a copy of the book for yourself. https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
October 13th @ Just Katherine Join Katherine today as she shares an excerpt from Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. https://justkatherineblog.wordpress.com
October 15th @ The Book Diva’s Reads Join Vivian for a spotlight of Secrets Laid to Rest. https://thebookdivasreads.com/
October 20th @ The Forgotten Books Join Heather as she features a review of Secrets Laid to Rest. https://www.instagram.com/The_forgotten_books_/
October 27th @ Musings of a Literary Wanderer Join Angela as she reviews Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. She shares an excerpt of the book as well! http://musingsofaliterarywanderer.blogspot.com/
October 30th @ Finished Pages Join Renee as she reviews Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. https://finishedpages.com/
November 1st @ Chapter Break Don’t miss a Secrets Laid to Rest guest post by Catherine C. Hall about how to develop a cast of characters over at Julie’s blog today. She also reviews Catherine’s book Secrets Laid to Rest. https://chapterbreak.net/
November 2nd @ One Writer’s Journey Join Sue for her review of Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. https://suebe.wordpress.com/
November 8th @ A Lit Life Join Stephanie for a guest post by Catherine C. Hall about the cozy mystery food connection. https://www.alitlife.com/
November 9th @ Deborah-Zenha Adams’ blog Join Deborah as she features a guest post by Catherine C. Hall about why it’s never too late to achieve your dreams. http://www.deborah-adams.com/blog/
November 10th @ StoreyBook Reviews Visit Leslie’s blog for a review of Secrets Laid to Rest. https://storeybookreviews.com/
November 12th @ Jill Sheets’ blog - Visit Jill’s blog for an interview with author, Catherine C. Hall. http://jillsheets.blogspot.com/
November 13th @ Word Magic Join Fiona’s blog for a guest post by Catherine C. Hall about what’s a nice Catholic like her writing paranormal like this. https://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com/
November 16th @ A Lit Life Visit Stephanie’s blog for her review of Secrets Laid to Rest. https://www.alitlife.com/
November 17th @ Just Katherine Visit Katherine’s blog again as she shares a guest post by Catherine C. Hall about why you need an editor and how to find one you can afford. https://justkatherineblog.wordpress.com
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
“The writing here is spectacular; the pacing, engrossing; the setting, heartbreaking but honest; and the characters are given a nuance and depth rarely seen… A masterpiece of fiction.” —Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“With fully realized characters and well-placed twists, Due ratchets up the tension until the final, extraordinary showdown.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“A vividly realized page-turner, which is at once an ingenious ghost story, a white-knuckle adventure, and an illuminating if infuriating look back at a shameful period in American jurisprudence.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Her fiction is always powerful, and The Reformatory promises to be her most moving — and horrifying — tale yet.” —Vulture
“One of the greatest living horror writers… Sure to be as powerful as it is haunting.” —CrimeReads
“Due knocks it out of the park every damn time.” —Book Riot
Author Bio:
Tananarive Due (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is an American Book Award–winning, Essence bestselling author of sixteen books, including Blood Colony, The Living Blood, The Good House, Joplin’s Ghost, and Devil’s Wake. She was also a contributor to Jonathan Maberry’s middle-grade anthology, Don’t Turn Out the Lights. She has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award. She teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Connect with the author: Goodreads | Instagram | X (formerly known as Twitter) | Website | YouTube
Shadow Speaker, The Desert Magician’s Duology - Book 1, by Nnedi Okorafor ISBN: 9780756418762 (Hardcover) ISBN: 9780756418779 (eBook) ISBN: 9798350861068 (Digital Audiobook) ASIN: B0BX8R81PL (Kindle edition) ASIN: B0CD2NZWHK (Audible Audiobook) Page Count: 336 Publication Date: September 26, 2023 Publisher: DAW Books Genre: Fiction | Dark Fantasy | Young Adult
Amazon Editor’s Pick, Best SFF September 2023 - The Strand, Science Fiction Pick of the Month October 2023
Deluxe, expanded edition of an out-of-print early novel from Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor, with a brand-new introduction from the author.
Niger, West Africa, 2074
It is an era of tainted technology and mysterious mysticism. A great change has happened all over the planet, and the laws of physics aren’t what they used to be.
Within all this, I introduce you to Ejii Ugabe, a child of the worst type of politician. Back when she was nine years old, she was there as her father met his end. Don’t waste your tears on him: this girl’s father would throw anyone under a bus to gain power. He was a cruel, cruel man, but even so, Ejii did not rejoice at his departure from the world. Children are still learning that some people don’t deserve their love.
Now 15 years old and manifesting the abilities given to her by the strange Earth, Ejii decides to go after the killer of her father. Is it for revenge or something else? You will have to find out by reading this book.
I am the Desert Magician, and this is a novel I have conjured for you, so I’m certainly not going to just tell you here.
“The postapocalyptic Saharan landscape is striking; technology, magic, and awe-inspiring nature all weave together in the background of this vivid adventure centered on the coming-of-age theme that is a hallmark of Okorafor’s work. The characters, meanwhile, are expertly realized… a mind-blowing expedition into a not too distant future world.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Shadow Speaker is wonderful, highly original stuff, episode after amazing episode, full of color, life and death…. Nnedi also deals head-on with the fact that power and pain are closely linked, as are magic and blood. I think this book is marvelous.” —Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl’s Moving Castle and the Chronicles of Chrestomanci
“There’s more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor’s work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics.” —Ursula K. Le Guin, author of The Left Hand of Darkness
“Shadow Speaker is endlessly imaginative, full of mystery and delight on every page. Nnedi Okorafor is a voice that will delight readers of all ages and backgrounds.” —Tananarive Due, American Book Award-winning author of Joplin’s Ghost
“As wildly inventive and suspenseful as her first novel, [Shadow Speaker] is at the same time more ambitious and thematically complex, and represents a major step forward for a storyteller who, in the tradition of Octavia Butler and Nalo Hopkinson, is equally adept at combining that most contemporary of forms, science fiction, with the ancient beliefs and values of non-western cultures that have for too long been underrepresented in modern fantastic literature.” —Gary Wolfe, lead reviewer for Locus Magazine
“Crafted around complex themes of identity, morality, and empowerment, this bildungsroman, originally published in 2008, will appeal to young adult and adult readers alike with its highly original and imaginative Africanfuturism elements.” —Booklist
Author Bio:
Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning New York Times–bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adults, and children. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for drawing from African cultures to create captivating stories with unforgettable characters and evocative settings. Nnedi’s works have received the World Fantasy, Nebula, Eisner, Lodestar, Nommo, and Hugo Awards, amongst others. Nnedi holds a PhD in Literature and two Master’s Degrees (Journalism and Literature), and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mama Said: Stories by Kristen Gentry ISBN: 9781952271984 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781952271991 (eBook) ASIN: B0CDHLY51X (Kindle edition) Page Count: 288 Publication Date: October 1, 2023 Publisher:West Virginia University Press Genre: Fiction | Short Stories
Original stories of Black family life in Louisville, Kentucky, for readers of Dantiel Moniz (Milk Blood Heat) and Kai Harris (What the Fireflies Knew).
The linked stories in Mama Said are set in Louisville, Kentucky, a city with a rich history steeped in tobacco, bourbon, and gambling, indulgences that can quickly become gripping and destructive vices. Set amid the tail end of the crack epidemic and the rise of the opioid crisis, Mama Said evokes Black family life in all its complexity, following JayLynn, along with her cousins Zaria and Angel, as they come of age struggling against their mothers’ drug addictions.
JayLynn heads to college intent on gaining distance from her depressed mother, only to learn that her mother’s illness has reached a terrifying peak. She fears the chaos and instability of her extended family will prove too much for her boyfriend, whose idyllic family feels worlds, not miles, apart from her own. When bats invade Zaria’s new home, she is forced to determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to be a good mother. Angel rebels on Derby night, risking her safety to connect with her absent mother and the wild ways that consumed her.
Mama Said separates from stereotypes of Black families, presenting instead the joy, humor, and love that coexist with the trauma of drug abuse within communities. Kristen Gentry’s stories showcase the wide-reaching repercussions of addiction and the ties that forever bind daughters to their mothers, flaws and all.
“A celebration of Black family life that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“The collection will reshape what you think about the region and the people that inhabit it.” —Debutiful
“Surprising and revelatory. . . . I love this book.” —Stephanie Powell Watts, author of No One Is Coming to Save Us
“This book has staying power.” —Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts
Author Bio:
Kristen Gentry received her MFA from Indiana University. Her award-winning fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Jabberwock Review, and other journals. She is a VONA and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference alumna, as well as a member of the inaugural Poets & Writers publicity incubator cohort for debut authors. Her passion is helping Black women and girls share their stories—the ones they’ve lived and the ones they create. She lives and writes in Louisville, Kentucky.
A cynical twenty-something must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly…something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.
Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.
“Think The Princess Diaries meets Dante’s Inferno. That’s Black Sheep. Only Rachel Harrison could write something with such fiery playfulness and such stunning acerbic wit. Undoubtedly the most enjoyable and compelling horror novel you’ll read this year.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
“Harrison finds new ways to press on the bruise of growing up as an outsider, delivering small-town religious horror with wit as sharp as a ritual dagger piercing through a bleeding core of familial trauma.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Vesper’s story ruminates on themes that include nature vs. nurture, the legacy of family trauma, and the repercussions of organized religion in its various forms…this subject matter elevates a horror novel to a study in philosophy, even as the bloodletting ramps up.” —Shelf Awareness
“Black Sheep is a devilish good time made all the more compelling with an exploration of the complexities of family dynamics. Compulsively readable.” —Kristi DeMeester, author of Such a Pretty Smile
“A razor-sharp voice full of wit and humor, along with some edge-of-your-seat moments, will have readers clamoring for more.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“No other contemporary author harnesses the humanity found in horror quite like Rachel Harrison. With Black Sheep, she warms your heart, then breaks it, then rips it out.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters
“Once again, Rachel Harrison finds light in the darkness and darkness in the light…Black Sheep sits proudly among her family of contemporary horror classics.” —Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening of Terror and Nestlings
“Anyone who read Such Sharp Teeth knows that Harrison can absolutely nail thorny family dynamics and blend them with visceral horror, but with Black Sheep, there’s something new going on, proving yet again that Harrison is one of the most versatile authors in the genre.” —Paste Magazine
“Surprising and snappy, Harrison catches you on Hellraiser hooks with a ceremony of grim wit and communal dread. Black Sheep makes a firm case for dodging every family get-together.” —Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth
“Vesper is my favorite new antihero. . . . This is, in short, my ideal read and my favorite Rachel Harrison novel yet.” —Anne Heltzel, author of Just Like Mother
“Harrison has molded her own addictive niche of relatable heroines caught in unconventional (and usually supernatural) situations. Black Sheep may be the epitome of her brand.” —Fangoria
“With brilliant underline-worthy writing, thrilling page-turning pace, and genuine laugh-out-loud humor, Black Sheep confirms what I already knew: I will follow Harrison down any dark alley, always.” —Claudia Lux, author of Sign Here
Author Bio:
Rachel Harrison is the National Bestselling author of Cackle, Such Sharp Teeth, and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection Bad Dolls. She lives in Western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord.
Man-Killer: Gina Cototi Cases Book 1 by Lawrence Kelter
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Identity by 
Lone Women by 
The Reformatory by 
Shutter by 
Starter Villain by 
The Violin Conspiracy by 
Symphony of Secrets by 
Death in the Holler, Luke Ryder Book #1, by 
Murder at NASA, Luke Ryder Book #2, by 
Mayhem at Sea, Luke Ryder Book #3, by 
John G. Bluck is a mystery/thriller novelist. He was an army journalist during the Vietnam War. Then he became the daytime crime newsreel photographer for WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) in Washington, DC.
Coded to Kill: A Techno-Medical Thriller by 
Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., is the executive vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan, dean of the Medical School, and CEO of Michigan Medicine. He earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He was a cardiology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of over 250 publications and holds five patents for novel approaches to health care. As a Texas native who spent fifteen years in North Carolina and an avid thriller reader, Runge has experienced so many you-can’t-make-this-up events that his transition to fiction was inevitable.
This interview brought to you by 
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley
The Fervor by 
The Hunger by 
The Fireman by 
Of course you don’t need to wait for “Spooky Season” to read any of these. I will say that I don’t recommend reading The Fervor or listening to the audiobook during snowy weather. I listened to the audiobook whilst driving to a medical appointment and freaked out due to the “white specks” I saw floating past my car. It took almost 45 seconds before I realized it was SNOW! Yes, I know I probably shouldn’t get that immersed in a narration, but I was pulled into the story and I momentarily forgot that it wasn’t the 1940s…
Secrets Laid to Rest, The Ladies of SPI Mystery #1, by 
Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card AND a copy of the cozy mystery, Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall. Click 
Shadow Speaker, The Desert Magician’s Duology - Book 1, by 
Mama Said: Stories by 
Black Sheep by 
The Book Diva's Reads 