SHARP PRO WRESTLING NOIR follows a retired champion as he hunts for the killer of his best friend, a larger-than-life star of the circuit. Well crafted mystery with lots of detail on all levels of wrestling. B PLUS

LIVING THE GIMMICK
Shotgun Honey Books
2022

A HUSBAND’S LAST DAYS, as he prepares to end his own life after a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease, depicted with candor, wit, and love by writer and psychotherapist Amy Bloom. B PLUS

IN LOVE
Random House
2022

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

THE LIFE OF MEGABESTSELLER V. C. ANDREWS, best known for her 1979 modern Gothic Flowers in the Attic and its sequels, illuminates her fiction with a discussion of some of the personal challenges she faced, including disability. SOLID B

THE WOMAN BEYOND THE ATTIC
Gallery Books
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

SPECTACULAR CRIME THRILLER follows a 1980s Italian vs. Irish mob war in Providence. Tense, high-stakes action complemented by brilliant characterization and dead-on dialogue. Great beach read, if you can wait that long…. A MINUS

CITY ON FIRE
William Morrow
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