A WRITER REDISCOVERS HER mother’s virtues in challenging times. Lovely, loving memoir is both sweet and wry. B PLUS

GLITTER AND GLUE
Ballantine Books
2014

TWO IRISH ÉMIGRÉS meet again after years in the US and uncover troubling family secrets. Stark and vivid. SOLID B

THE VISITORS
Viking Adult
2014

MURDER IN THE HIGHLANDS once again, and a complex case to untangle for policeman Hamish Macbeth. SOLID B

DEATH OF A POLICEMAN
Grand Central Publishing
2014

BOSTON’S INDIE ROCK scene in the 1980s, vividly evoked in a smart, gritty tale of a young band on the rise. B PLUS

NEXT BIG THING
self-published
2013

A HAUNTED CIRCUS, GODS walking the streets of San Francisco, and other terrifying tendrils of dark fantasy. SOLID B

HANG WIRE
Angry Robot
2014

A SCARY FAIRY TALE romance: a recently married woman finds out her husband’s been keeping some dark secrets. SOLID B

BEFORE WE MET
Bloomsbury USA
2014

A FAST-PACED HIGH-TECH THRILLER about a secret war between the US and China, and the rogue unit fighting it. B PLUS

THE ASCENDANT
Simon & Schuster
2014

A PROVOCATIVE, INSIGHTFUL INQUIRY into whether some US and UK anti-terrorism initiatives foster Islamophobia. B PLUS

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING!: ISLAMOPHOBIA, EXTREMISM, AND THE DOMESTIC WAR ON TERROR
Verso Books
2014

PRECOCIOUS ENGLISH SLEUTH Flavia de Luce’s toughest mystery ever: untangling war secrets and family legends. B PLUS

THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES: A FLAVIA DE LUCE NOVEL
Delacorte Press
2014

AN EXTRAORDINARY AMERICAN NOVEL! A tragic, comic, touching story set in a tightly-knit black neighborhood. A MINUS

BEDROCK FAITH
Akashic Books
2014