ADRIFT IN A NEARLY DESERTED VENICE in the early months of the 2020 pandemic, a writer contemplates his native Nigeria, his life in Detroit, his love of travel, but most of all his complicated family. Beautifully crafted prose, distinctive story. B PLUS
SUMMONING THE DEAD was only the first mistake Alex made—things got a lot worse after that. Sharp, evocative horror novel has a powerful sense of place and of the terrors of suffocating slowly in dead-end towns. B PLUS
SMART, SIZZLING VAMPIRE novel is a sexy, erudite, witty retelling of the Dracula story with a young Black woman at its center. Contemporary and queer and funny as hell. A MINUS
INNOVATIVE WORLDBUILDING AND THOUGHTFUL characterization make this steampunk speculative fiction tale about the hidden marvels in a glacial mountain shine. B PLUS
SHARP PRIVATE EYE thriller follows a detective and his childhood best friend, now an investigative reporter, to Mexico on the trail of a seasoned criminal. Lots of relatable characters and some great descriptions. SOLID B
A LONG-FORGOTTEN LITERARY GEM from 1938, reissued in a sumptuous new edition. Beautifully stark modernist novel traces the gradual diminution of a woman’s life with pitiless clarity. A MINUS
SENSATIONAL WILD-WEST DETECTIVE yarn features the “Holmes On the Range” brothers—a pair of cowboys turned sleuths—guarding a fossil dig in Wyoming with trouble not far behind. Brilliant return of these colorful characters in a sharp, twisty plot. A MINUS
NEAR-FUTURE NOIR THRILLER, set in a Pacific Northwest sodden with “broken weather,” combines lots of action and a colorful cast of characters for a highly entertaining read. B PLUS