Archives de catégorie : Fiction

FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS de Samuel Sargeant

A gripping and taut Icelandic historical thriller by debut author Samuel M. Sargeant.

FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS
by Samuel Sargeant
Neem Tree Press, July 2024
(via Randle Editorial & Literary Consultancy)

At the dawn of the 11th Century in a small Icelandic settlement, these words, daubed in blood, herald the arrival of a killer. Soon, a spate of murders threatens the fragile peace between pagans and a growing Christian minority. Arinbjorn, a young pagan farmer resolves to track down the killer before the community is permanently torn apart. His investigations will draw in Freya, an isolated housewife whose secrets could either condemn or free her.

Meanwhile in Norway, King Olaf Tryggvason has his own designs upon Iceland and its people. War is rife in Scandinavia, and a Christian Iceland would bolster his control over the region. Only one thing is certain: these murders will change Icelandic society forever…

Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell.

Samuel Sargeant taught English Literature and Creative Writing at Cardiff University as part of his doctoral degree programme where his PhD thesis focused upon the structure of Medieval Icelandic sagas and its applicability to Historical crime and mysteries. He now lectures at the Cardiff University International Study Centre, specialising in Medieval Literature and Philosophy.

MEET THE NEWMANS de Jennifer Niven

Set in sun-drenched 1964 Los Angeles, MEET THE NEWMANS chronicles America’s favorite TV family whose perfect façade starts to unravel when their iconic show (titled of course, Meet the Newmans) is up for renewal and one of them suffers a tragic accident. You can think of this as a mix of Lessons in Chemistry and The Nest with a dash of Daisy Jones and the Six as well as an affectionate nod to Ozzie and Harriet.

MEET THE NEWMANS
by Jennifer Niven
Flatiron Books, Spring 2025
(via Levine Greenberg Rostan)

For two decades, Del (45) and Dinah Newman (43) and their sons, Guy (22) and Shep (18), have ruled the airwaves as America’s Favorite Family. Thirty million viewers tune in every week to watch them play airbrushed, flawless versions of themselves. But behind the smiling black-and-white exterior, the Newmans are a mess.

Patriarch Del is the propulsive motor and visionary behind the Newmans machine— producing, directing, writing, and starring in every single one of the 400 plus episodes. But at forty-five, he suddenly feels like a relic. Ratings have plummeted, the studio is threatening cancellation, his own fame has been eclipsed by his youngest son’s, and their money (that he was managing) is suddenly gone. Meanwhile, Dinah struggles to figure out what is making her body literally go numb, and to break out of her traditional roles as wife and mother. Roles that—off camera— she is terrible at. Lately she finds herself wondering is this all there is and daydreaming about having an affair with the neighbor. Guy and Shep aren’t faring much better. Guy has lived life by the book, doing everything right—at least as far as anyone can see— in a futile effort to win his dad’s approval. Behind closed doors, though, his personal life is in chaos. Younger brother Shep, on the other hand, is a dreamy rock n’ roll idol who seems to be on top of the world—until an ill-timed romance and a surprise baby change the course of his life.

When Del gets into a car accident in a mysterious location across town, the Newmans’ world is turned upside down. Dinah, Guy, and Shep scramble to keep his hospitalization and comatose state from the press and the studio and at the same time figure out how to keep the show afloat without Del at the helm. Being everyone’s fantasy family is a lot to carry!

Enter LA Times Reporter Juliet Dunne (26), here to cover the life and times of America’s beloved Newmans. Trouble is, Juliet loathes them. She grew up watching the show and blames Dinah in particular for setting an unrealistic and antiquated version of what it means to be a woman. Juliet fully expects to get her fluff interview and go back to her actual journalism pursuits.

But Dinah has a different plan…

Meet the Newmans is as relevant today as it will be tomorrow as it was yesterday. A novel about love, money, fame, purpose, friendship, creativity, loss, and most of all the evolution of a family. This funny, warm, affecting read is also about the dual lives we all lead— the version we present to the world and the version that exists off stage. Because it turns out, even when our lives aren’t televised weekly, we all have a behind-the-scenes.

Jennifer Niven is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction, including the massive breakout All the Bright Places which she also adapted for the Netflix film directed by Brett Haley and starring Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Luke Wilson, and Keegan-Michael Key. Her books have been translated into over 75 languages and have won literary awards around the world. When she isn’t working on multiple book and screen projects, Jennifer oversees Germ, an online literary journal for high school age and beyond.

SILVER AND BLOOD de Jessie Mihalik

This enthralling Beauty and the Beast-inspired retelling is Naomi Novik’s Uprooted meets Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thrones and Roses, delivering all the high stakes and steamy intensity that make it every fantasy romance fan’s perfect next read.

SILVER AND BLOOD
Book 1
by Jessie Mihalik
Avon, 2025
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

When Riela, an untrained magic wielder, agrees to venture into the dark forest to kill the deadly beast that has been attacking her fellow villagers, she accepts the responsibility even though it likely means her death. The last thing she thought to encounter while battling one of the forest beasts was a powerful, scarred, and strikingly handsome mage.

Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. Riela soon learns Garrick is not a mortal mage at all—he’s a powerful Etheri sovereign who has been locked out of his kingdom in Lohka for nearly a century, and his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the dangerous woods, Riela and Garrick fight a losing battle against the desire growing between them. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets connecting Riela’s past to Lohka, the tenuous threads of trust between Riela and Garrick begin to fray because her life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything he’s lost.

Jessie Mihalik writes romantic fantasy and science fiction packed with found family, action, adventure, and badass women.

THE ISLAND OF LAST THINGS d’Emma Sloley

A soaring, propulsive, and unforgettably poignant novel about two zookeepers at the last zoo in the world, in the vein of Téa Obreht and Charlotte McConaghy.

THE ISLAND OF LAST THINGS
by Emma Sloley
Flatiron Books, May 2025

Camille has always preferred animals to people. The wild has nearly disappeared, but as a zookeeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island, she spends her days caring for playful chimpanzees, gentle tree frogs, and a restless jaguar. Outside, resistance groups and brutal cartels fight to shape the world’s future, but Camille is safe within her routines. That is, until a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives from Paris.

From their first meeting, Camille is drawn to brash, defiant Sailor, who seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. Together, they bond over their shared passion for their charges and dream up ways to improve their lives. When Sailor whispers the story of an idyllic, secret sanctuary, where wild animals roam free, Camille begins to imagine a new kind of life, with Sailor by her side.

Sailor knows all too well the dangers beyond Alcatraz, but she increasingly chafes at the zoo’s rigid rules. She hatches a reckless plan to smuggle one of the most prized animals off the island to freedom, and invites Camille to join her. The consequences if they fail would be catastrophic, and Sailor’s contacts at the sanctuary go dark just as the threats from the cartels grow more extreme. Camille must decide if she’s ready to risk everything for Sailor’s bold escape, to brave the promise of a better world.

Soaring and poignant, propulsive and fiercely hopeful, with a heart-stopping final twist, THE ISLAND OF LAST THINGS is an elegy for a disappearing world and a gorgeous vision for the future.

Emma Sloley is a two-time MacDowell fellow and Bread Loaf scholar. She is the author of the novels THE ISLAND OF LAST THINGS and Disaster’s Children, and her work has been published in Literary Hub, Catapult, Joyland, and many others.

THE EXPERT OF SUBTLE REVISIONS de Kirsten Menger-Anderson

Steeped in math and misfortune, THE EXPERT OF SUBTLE REVISIONS is a taut, genre-bending historical mystery perfect for readers looking for their next dark academia fix.

THE EXPERT OF SUBTLE REVISIONS
by Kirsten Menger-Anderson
Crown, March 2025

In Half Moon Bay, California, 2016, a young woman waits for her father’s sailboat to arrive at port. They have agreed to meet on this day and time. Yet he never shows. He had told her this day might come. And if it did, she was ready. Go to the library in Berkeley, find a certain book, follow the instructions. But what if the instructions lead to more questions than answers?

In 1933, a young man arrives in Vienna to begin a new post as a professor of mathematics at the University. There he finds himself part of the Engelhardt Castle, a group of intellectuals that have recently been dubbed a target by a growing, anti-academic mob. The circle includes the preeminent minds of their time, and a cast of characters desperate to get invited into their midst, many of whom will stop at nothing to get there. As fascism rises, and polarization increases, moderate voices are drowned out. There are whispers of a machine, a music box, which can transport someone through time. But no one can confirm if it’s a rumor, or true. And the only people who know first-hand are not talking.

What does a young woman who lives off the grid and spends her free time editing Wikipedia entries and picking fights with people online have to do with a circle of intellectuals debating time and space in Vienna on the eve of World War II? Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s beautiful meditation on time, love, and obsession shows us how we never truly know what happened in the past, and often how the past eerily mirrors the future.

Steeped in math and misfortune, THE EXPERT OF SUBTLE REVISIONS is a taut, genre-bending historical mystery perfect for readers looking for their next dark academia fix.

“A touching and deftly constructed story about the most precious thing we have—time. From modern-day San Francisco to Croatia before the Great War and 1930s Vienna, Kirsten Menger-Anderson follows her characters as they try to solve the mysteries of science, faith, and love. A glorious book.”―Laila Lalami, author of Pulitzer Prize-finalist The Moor’s Account

“The Expert of Subtle Revisions begins with a mysterious disappearance and ends with a moving discovery. Along the way, Kirsten Menger-Anderson weaves together history, time travel, and a haunting love story. She also manages to raise stirring questions about identity, family, and what it means to record and revise history, especially one’s own. A powerful and original novel that defies expectations in almost every chapter.”―Stephen McCauley, author of My Ex-Life and The Object of My Affection

“Smart. Propulsive. Addictive. Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s The Expert of Subtle Revisions grabbed hold with the opening sentence and didn’t let go until its surprising and satisfying conclusion. Brilliantly plotted and filled with deft twists and unforgettable characters, this dual-timeline novel about obsession, madness, and love is a must-read for fans of both mystery and historical fiction. I loved this book.”―Peggy Townsend, author of The Beautiful and the Wild

Kirsten Menger-Anderson is the author of Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain (Algonquin), a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in fiction and one of Time Out Chicago’s top ten books of the year. Her short stories and essays have appeared in publications including Ploughshares, the Southwest Review, LitHub, and Undark. She currently lives in San Francisco with her family.