A SWORD-WIELDING YOUNG QUEEN, a nation under threat, the magic and mystery of a neofeudal new world. Great! A MINUS

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING
Harper
2014

A STYLISH HIGH-TECH THRILLER with lots of action and an engrossing plot. Diamonds! A military coup! Pirates! B PLUS

LUCIFER’S FIRE (A RYAN MITCHELL THRILLER) (VOLUME 3)
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
2014

COLORFUL CASE STUDIES from the history of neuroscience illuminate the brain in unexpectedly entertaining ways. B PLUS

THE TALE OF THE DUELING NEUROSURGEONS
Little
2014

THE BIZARRE DEATH OF a chance acquaintance transforms a newspaper staffer’s humdrum life. Lovely and wise. B PLUS

THE TRANSCRIPTIONIST
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2014

A SPIRIT-HAUNTED MAINE VILLAGE faces both magic and ordinary human criminality. Vivid, descriptive fantasy! B PLUS

GHOST POINT
Book View Café
2014

A FAMILY REUNITED BY an unexpected legacy: a Louisiana sugarcane farm. Tense, complex, eloquent, bittersweet. B PLUS

QUEEN SUGAR: A NOVEL
Pamela Dorman Books
2014

AN ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING LOOK at how weather influenced war, culture, and politics in Medieval Europe. B PLUS

THE THIRD HORSEMAN
Viking Adult
2014

A THOROUGHLY AMERICAN GHOST story starring haints, outlaws, medicine shows, and the Winchester Mystery House. B PLUS

THERE IS NO LOVELY END
Odd Rot
2014

A DARK TWIST ON Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde imagines some bleak psychological roots for the tale’s horror. SOLID B

HYDE
Houghton Mifflin
2014

A TENSE, SMART THRILLER draws on the longstanding conflicts and connections among Israelis and Palestinians. B PLUS

THE LIE
Scribner Book Company
2014