TAUT, FAST-PACED THRILLER combines non-stop action, a gripping plot, and plenty of local Boston detail. B PLUS

BROTHERS AND BONES
James Hankins
2012

NEAR-FUTURE HORROR TALE follows four young women fighting to survive a terrifying viral pandemic. Chilling!

FANTASY, THRILLER, ROMANCE combine in this story of a high-stakes magic battle and the teens who fight it.

What would you do if you woke up on a 19th century whaling ship? Cormac McIlhenny decides to roll with it and see if he’s any good at harpooning whales. Turns out he is, which makes quite a change from his 21st century life of skipping classes, getting drunk, and playing guitar in a terrible band.

Gone Whalin’ is a wonderfully absurd time-travel fantasy, a hilarious campus satire, and a picaresque caper novel. When Cormac’s stoner roommate and the corrupt campus dean join forces to exploit his century-hopping abilities, all hell breaks loose on the home front. Meanwhile, Cormac’s got problems in his 19th century existence as well, aboard the world’s least efficient whaling vessel and at the mercy of its delusional captain. If only he had bothered to read Moby Dick instead of getting high…

This novel does an awful lot of things very well. It’s a farce full of fast-paced action, but there are some pretty sharp barbs aimed at academic politics, social media rubberneckers, sensational journalism, and a broad range of human foibles. The tempo stays quick, the plotting is always smart, and there are plenty of laughs aboard. Don’t miss it!

HILARIOUS, ABSURD FANTASY! A slacker college student travels through time to a 19th century whaling ship.

Science fiction and humor can be a tricky combination. When done well, the result can be as memorable as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; when handled clumsily…well, it’s best to pass over those books in silence. In his book Sequence, Adam Moon shows a gift for incorporating everyday humor into a familiar science-fiction plot.

Moon’s protagonist, Chris, is an average bro abducted by advanced aliens onto an ark-style spaceship for experimental breeding purposes. Where Moon absolutely shines is in catching the comedy inherent in a completely ordinary guy’s reaction to an extraordinary, and often imagined, situation. Chris knows enough about the conventions of UFO stories to understand that he’s an unlikely hero, but he’s also comfortable enough in his own skin to talk back to the aliens he encounters, and to trust in his own instincts even in these bizarre circumstances.

Comedy is hard, and Moon’s skill with it is impressive. Where the book falls a bit short is in its mechanics; the prose is still rough enough to distract from the story in places. All in all, though, Sequence is an enjoyable read.

ENGAGING RIFF ON the science-fiction standby of alien abduction shines with its humor, but could use editing.

The last book about a meat processing plant that made me cry was The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair; the last book about a deadly fire that made me cry was Stewart O’Nan’s The Circus Fire. In A Southern Tragedy, In Crimson and Yellow, Lawrence Naumoff combines the clarity and passion of Sinclair and other 20th-century social realists with the same poet’s eye for telling, humanizing details and vivid touches of regional culture that mark the very best of today’s Southern writing, and creates a heart-wrenching and sobering tale.

A Southern Tragedy takes as its basic material the horrific 1991 fire at a Hamlet, North Carolina chicken processing plant, which killed dozens of workers and injured dozens more. In a heartbreaking echo of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, plant management had locked emergency doors and workers were trapped inside.

The basic story is tragic enough. Where Naumoff’s novelization brings additional emotional power is in his vivid evocation of the town and its people, and of the intermeshed destinies and choices that brought both victims and survivors together. That human element is what gives the story its lasting power as a haunting elegy and a call to action.

IMPASSIONED, TOUCHING, POETIC novel based on a real-life tragedy: a chicken plant fire that killed dozens.

Mixing the charm of chick lit with the suspense of a thriller requires a deft hand; in her debut novel, From Bangkok with Despair: (Mis)adventures in D. C., Tichakorn Khroopan Hill is well up to the task. The book follows Joyjira, a Thai reporter trying to make a new life in the US after a nasty breakup back in Bangkok. Joy’s an engaging character, whose breathless love for Hello Kitty and designer shoes is balanced by her practical approach to the challenges of her new life and new job.

The camaraderie (and occasional savage backbiting) of a city newsroom is vividly depicted here, as are perspectives of the Thai community in the US, from restaurant chefs to international students. If there’s fault to find with From Bangkok with Despair, it’s that the book does so much at once: it’s a coming of age story, a Beltway thriller, and a romance. Joy’s distinctive voice and character are strong enough to tie the book together, though, and delightful enough to leave readers wanting more from Tichakorn Khroopan Hill.