FASCINATING TRUE STORIES of space projects that never were, from a 1960s moon base to a monkey space station. SOLID B

FALSE STEPS
None
2015

GLOSSY, CLEVER, SURPRISINGLY complex novel about a woman whose upscale life is haunted by a past tragedy. B PLUS

LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE A NOVEL
SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE
2015

MAXINE KUMIN’S MEMOIR is as terse, elegant, and full of love as any of the late Pulitzer Prize winner’s poems. B PLUS

THE PAWNBROKER’S DAUGHTER
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2015

CHARMING “OLD HOLLYWOOD” novel captures the wild life of Olive Thomas, a winsome star of the silent film era. B PLUS

THE FORGOTTEN FLAPPER
None
2015

THE UNFLINCHING JOURNALISTIC EYE of Jon Krakauer turns to rape in a Montana town, uncovers wrenching details. B PLUS

MISSOULA: RAPE AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN A COLLEGE TOWN
BANTAM DOUBLEDAY DELL
2015

A TAUT PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER in the great English tradition: secrets and danger at an isolated house party. B PLUS

IN A DARK, DARK WOOD
Gallery/Scout Press
2015

INGENIOUS TIME-TRAVEL THRILLER spans seventy years and two continents. Lots of action, likable protagonists. SOLID B

LINEAR SHIFT
None
2015

THE VIETNAM WAR FROM a Vietnamese perspective, vividly brought to life in a complex, powerful novel. Wow. SOLID A

THE SYMPATHIZER
Grove Press
2015

HILARIOUS, CREEPY, HEARTBREAKING novel weaves together a fortyish woman’s neurotic and erotic obsessions. A MINUS

BONUS MAN
None
2015

WILD DEPRESSION-ERA PICARESQUE follows a larger-than-life hero across the US in a series of mad adventures. B PLUS

BONUS MAN
None
2015