CYNICAL, SURREALIST SATIRE riffs on Nabokov, Pynchon, the idiocy of Internet comments. Sharp moments. SOLID B

THE MAGNIFICENT THIRD RAIL: A RETROSPECTIVE
None
2015

CHICK-LIT, SMARTER AND FUNNIER than most, with a clever and satirical thriller plot to boot. Lots of laughs. B PLUS

THE BEST OF ENEMIES
New American Library
2015

FIERCE, CANDID MEMOIR of a childhood in fractured families, both birth and adoptive. Sibling love shines. B PLUS

BASTARDS
W. W. Norton & Company
2015

A VANISHED WORLD, CAPTURED through a child’s eyes in a gorgeous novel of Egypt’s Jewish community ca. 1951. A MINUS

ALEXANDRIAN SUMMER
New Vessel Press
2015

DASHIELL HAMMETT, DETECTIVE: engaging, well-researched account of how the writer’s Pinkerton days shaped him. B PLUS

THE LOST DETECTIVE : BECOMING DASHIELL HAMMETT
Bloomsbury USA
2015

BANGLADESH TO BROOKLYN and back again: evocative, intense novel of a family facing changes and old secrets. B PLUS

BRIGHT LINES
Penguin Books
2015

RICHLY TEXTURED FANTASY set in a vividly imagined, Aztec-inspired world. Smart debut from a Bulgarian writer. B PLUS

WHEN THEY SHINE BRIGHTEST
None
2015

BREAKNECK SF THRILLER with a smart time-travel premise, lots of action, and some unforgettable characters. A MINUS

TIME SALVAGER
None
2015

RECREATING EXTINCT SPECIES, preserving endangered species; on-site interviews with scientists shine most. SOLID B

RESURRECTION SCIENCE
St. Martin’s Press
2015

THE DEATH OF A SMALL-TIME CROOK shakes up the lives of his estranged son and daughter. Poetic Danish noir. B PLUS

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
Open Letter Books
2015