FASCINATING FAR-FUTURE ADVENTURE about a high-tech city ruled by artificial intelligence,the low-tech villages outside its border, and a tension between the two that may not be quite what it seems. Great world-building and characterization! B PLUS

THE CITY OF INFINITE LIFE
Mullory Press
2021

EXTRAVAGANTLY ATMOSPHERIC THRILLER set in the art-student expat scene of 2009 Berlin is also a mordant satire on celebrity culture and a deep dive into young women’s complicated self-inventions. B PLUS

OTHER PEOPLE'S CLOTHES
Doubleday
2022

THE LIFE OF MEGABESTSELLER V. C. ANDREWS, best known for her 1979 modern Gothic Flowers in the Attic and its sequels, illuminates her fiction with a discussion of some of the personal challenges she faced, including disability. SOLID B

THE WOMAN BEYOND THE ATTIC
Gallery Books
2022

A DEEP-SPACE CREW UNCOVERS some troubling secrets about their mission, yet must have trust and work together to head off an unthinkable disaster. Thoughtful, complex near-future science fiction adventure that takes the science part seriously. B PLUS

THE DISTURBANCE: HARD SCIENCE FICTION
Hard-SF.com
2022

AN UNUSUAL PUBLIC EXPERIMENT—the 1967 creation of a “Premonitions Bureau” by an English psychiatrist and a popular science journalist—is the centerpiece of a fascinating look at how people of that era viewed psychic phenomena and time. B PLUS

THE PREMONITIONS BUREAU
Penguin Press
2022

SPECTACULAR CRIME THRILLER follows a 1980s Italian vs. Irish mob war in Providence. Tense, high-stakes action complemented by brilliant characterization and dead-on dialogue. Great beach read, if you can wait that long…. A MINUS

CITY ON FIRE
William Morrow
2022

A RAFTING ADVENTURE TURNS DEADLY, and a runaway teen must find out the truth in a small town full of secrets and lies. High-stakes, atmospheric Oregon thriller with strong characterization and a vivid sense of place. B PLUS

DEAD DRIFT (A WHITEWATER THRILLER BOOK 1)
Kelly Romo
2022

DREAMING THROUGH MANY WORLDS, a multiverse adventurer and his friends must combat an array of powerful threats. Fascinating speculative fiction with breathtakingly original world-building and lots of action. B PLUS

PRISON OF SLEEP
Angry Robot
2022

STYLISH MODERN GOTHIC plays with traditional conventions in an of-the-moment setting, pitting a struggling med school dropout and botanist against a patrician Boston family with wealth to burn and secrets to keep. B PLUS

TRIPPING ARCADIA
Dutton
2022

IN A MAGICAL 1930s NEW YORK, a private detective with the power of casting runes takes on real estate corruption, stock market chicanery, and an attack on his sorceress sweetheart. Fun mix of noir tradition and fantasy themes. SOLID B

HOSTILE TAKEOVER (ARCANE CASEBOOK BOOK 8)
Dan Willis
2022