HORRIFYING SUPERNATURAL TALE set in 1918 France; intriguing ideas but prose could use some pruning. SOLID B

DOVE KEEPER
Emily Deibler
2018

CREEPY TRUE CRIME tale of a tennis coach’s predations on wealthy Manhattan teens also paints a grim portrait of a privileged, hollow life. SOLID B

YOU ALL GROW UP & LEAVE ME A MEMOIR OF TEENAGE OBSESSION
WILLIAM MORROW & COMPANY INC
2018

A CULT-CENTERED CHILDHOOD, in the notorious Children of God, and a writer’s search for her own path afterwards. Thoughtful, touching memoir. SOLID B

APOCALYPSE CHILD (PAPERBACK)
Turner
2018

A FAMILY HAUNTED BY MAGIC, generations of women with eerie powers, and a mystical wood add up to a complex fantasy tale. SOLID B

WHAT SHOULD BE WILD (HARDCOVER)
Harper
2018

SPACEFARING POLICE PROCEDURAL has an exciting denouement, rich worldbuilding, but a sluggish first act. SOLID B

ELYSIUM FIRE
Orbit
2018

TIME-HOPPING THRILLER PITS a man down on his luck against a shadowy government project. Intriguing premise. SOLID B

MKULTRA
T.S. Smith
2018

FRIENDSHIP AND SISTERHOOD TIE five Black women together from their California childhood through tumultuous lives. SOLID B

CLARETTA STREET
Brown Bear Books
2017

A HARD-WON SOBRIETY after a long trail of drink, drugs, lies, and theft celebrates the friendship of survivors. SOLID B

HALFWAY (HARDCOVER)
Scribner Book Company
2018

RE-IMAGINING UNCLE TOM’S CABIN from the enslaved characters’ point of view; Eliza’s book is touching, thoughtful. SOLID B

HARRIET (BURNING UNCLE TOM’S CABIN)
Bright Sons Media
2017

COMIC SPACE CAPER has lots to offer fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide, Red Dwarf. SOLID B

SPACE TEAM: A FUNNY SCI-FI SPACE ADVENTURE
Zertex Media
2016