A PASSIONATE HISTORY OF ACT UP New York documents the AIDS activist group’s true range and power. It’s an extraordinary achievement in public history—a symphony of voices honoring deep courage and clarity. SOLID A

LET THE RECORD SHOW
Farrar
2021

SMART CARIBBEAN THRILLER stars an ex-Navy SEAL turned freighter captain and his crew drawn into an international incident. Some of the best qualities of Lee Child and John D. MacDonald combine in this high-energy tale. B PLUS

A VIABLE THREAT (A MARTIN BILLINGS STORY BOOK 4)
Float Street Press
2021

SCATHINGLY OBSERVANT THRILLER set in the literary world is at once a brilliant social satire and a sharp, twisty tale of psychological suspense. A MINUS

THE PLOT
Celadon Books
2021

THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY of a self-anointed prophet and “king” who briefly ruled an island in Michigan. Brilliantly researched and oddly timely tale of a 19th-century megalomaniac. B PLUS

THE KING OF CONFIDENCE
Little
2020

A MOSTLY-HUMAN SPACEFARER and her mostly-machine companion travel between worlds in a flash, supporting and annoying each other in equal measure. Experimental SF inspired by Cortázar is a twist on genre conventions. SOLID B for me, but somebody’s A.

TRAFIK
Coffee House Press
2021

SLEEK PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER spares nobody in its sharp-eyed look at the writing life, the angst of aging Boomers, and the myths we make about ourselves and our families. Not to mention a tense, twisty plot! B PLUS

DREAM GIRL
William Morrow
2021

LOVE, YEARNING, GRIEF, and joy are the cornerstones of this raw, brilliant memoir by a writer and musician whose extraordinary mother died far too young. Beautifully complex insights on split identity (Korean and American), and food and memory. A MINUS

CRYING IN H MART
Knopf
2021

A JOURNALIST SEEKS REVENGE: on a self-aggrandizing streamer who hurt his godchild, on an increasingly corrupt and commercialized profession, on a modern world where he feels out of place. Sharp, compelling Washington thriller. B PLUS

FALSE LIGHT
Greenleaf Book Group Press
2021

A SPECTACULAR MAGICAL ADVENTURE set in an alternate steampunk universe where ancient magic has made Egypt the world’s superpower. Loaded with action and brilliant worldbuilding. A MINUS

A MASTER OF DJINN (DEAD DJINN UNIVERSE #1)
Tordotcom
2021

RE-ENVISIONING THE CLASSIC WESTERN with a powerful tale of frontier revenge—the difference here is that the steel-eyed sharpshooter exacting brutal justice is a Chinese outlaw with some help from the supernatural. Epic, vivid, cinematic. A MINUS

THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU
Little
2021