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The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A. J. West
Spoiler Alert: OK, not a true spoiler–it doesn’t give away the ending. Still, this review may tell you more about the book than you want to know. No big deal. Read it anyway. A fictional account of real people and events, The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A.J. West tells the story of Professor William Jackson…
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The Fifth House of the Heart (2015) by Ben Tripp
The Fifth House of the Heart (2015) by Ben Tripp should have been a series. The success of a book series hinges on a strong main character, who is compelling enough to carry a readers’ attention from one adventure to the next. Asmodeus Saxon-Tang is that kind of character. Smart, witty, and a master of…
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Mind of Winter (2013) by Laura Kasischke
Some of the best novels bring several ideas into relationship without fully resolving their connections. Instead of the stolid sureness of a single clear note, they have the haunting musicality of a wind chime. Laura Kasischke’s Mind of Winter (2013) is a wind chime. Rather than a linear narrative with a predictably unfolding plot, it…
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Blood Kin (1996) by Ronald Kelly
Ronald Kelly’s Blood Kin (1996) is an 80s-style vampire romp complete with uncomplicated bloodsuckers who relish their power, stakes galore, and, of course, flashbacks from Vietnam. For a Gen X’er like me, it’s a nostalgic comfort read. Part of this pleasure comes from the novel’s self-consciousness. Kelly makes vampire fiction itself part of the story…
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Joplin’s Ghost (2005) by Tananarive Due
Joplin’s Ghost (2005) by Tananarive Due participates in multiple genres–horror, biography and romance–to tell the story of Phoenix Smalls, a fictional contemporary character, and Scott Joplin, the historical “King of Ragtime.” Collapsing the past and the present, Due operates in multiple modes to weave a poignant, frightening, and utterly immersive story that explores how love…
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Gothic (2022) by Philip Fracassi
Gothic (2022) by Philip Fracassi is a love letter to Stephen King and a tribute to the horror trope of possessed authors. But while King’s Jack Torrence is complicated, funny, and ultimately terrifying, Fricassi’s Tyson Parks lacks the psychological nuance that would make his descent into madness sad or scary. Has-been horror novelist, Tyson Parks…
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The God of Endings (2023) by Jacqueline Holland
The God of Endings (2023) by Jacqueline Holland loses its momentum in the middle but makes up for it in the end. It’s the 1830s and Anna, the daughter of a tombstone maker, struggles as her New England Village is decimated by disease. Dying of the illness that has carried away her family and friends,…
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Progeny of the Adder (1965) by Leslie H. Whitten Jr.
Some of the language in Progeny of the Adder (1965) can be hard to take: Women are “hysterics” and “bimbos,” black men are “obedient” “boys,” and gay men are “perverts.” Still, for those who love vampire fiction and its history, Progeny is a must read. Published in 1965, the novel places a classic vampire, who…