A “DISEASE CONTROL SPECIALIST”—in other words, a hired assassin—faces the challenges of getting older, both in her chosen career and in South Korean society. Fascinating combination of noir tropes with character study. B PLUS

THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE
Hanover Square Press
2022

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

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

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

ENGROSSING CALIFORNIA THRILLER mixes lots of action and some ripped-from-the-headlines plot points with thoughtful, nuanced characterization. The story in brief: a former child star searches for her missing twin. But there’s more to it than that… B PLUS

I'LL BE YOU
Random House
2022

THE BOLD UNKNOWN WORK of Muriel Rukeyser, the 20th century US poet, playwright, essayist, journalist, and novelist, examined in the context of her time, serves as a powerful illustration of how Cold War-era publishing marginalized key voices. B PLUS

UNFINISHED SPIRIT
Cornell University Press
2022