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INVADER

An unconventional, zigzagging story, grounded by energetic characters.

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Kaptanoglu’s (Last Girl Standing, 2019, etc.) sci-fi–infused novel reveals a mysterious link between a prisoner and an amnesiac scientist who’s stranded on an island.

Rose can’t remember anything about the shipwreck that she experienced—or, indeed, anything else about herself. She’s marooned on an island with a man named Thomas Blackburn, who tells her that she was part of an environmental research group with two other scientists, apparently lost in the wreck. He also updates Rose on current events; according to a report, aliens were approaching Earth when the ship sank. Consequently, when they later see an aircraft fall from the sky, she believes that it’s an alien spacecraft. When they later hear eerie wailing, she fears that an alien with sinister purposes is on the island with them. Rose, however, soon suspects Thomas may be hiding something from her. In a parallel story, Kailey is a young woman who flees her controlling mother. She gets by on the streets by stealing but ultimately is convicted of a far worse crime that someone else committed. Her life in prison is hard, and it’s made worse by an abusive male guard who fixates on her. But then she has an opportunity to escape, thanks to a strange plot turn that connects her with Rose. Kaptanoglu presents a short, briskly paced novel that’s full of entertaining plot twists. Most readers will likely see one major revelation coming before it happens, but the author wisely reveals it well before the book’s halfway point. The details regarding the link between the two main characters, however, are often quite surprising. Kailey’s first-person narration is compelling, personal, and occasionally unreliable, and her desire to earn a pilot’s license makes for a sublime metaphor. The author’s depiction of a women’s correctional facility is also affecting, and Rose’s growing distrust of Thomas—and her recurring nightmares—provide plenty of suspense.

An unconventional, zigzagging story, grounded by energetic characters.

Pub Date: April 30, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-648-44715-3

Page Count: 196

Publisher: Leschenault Press

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2019

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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DEVOLUTION

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

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THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.

Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

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