Two Feathers is not her real name but Nancy Benge has been an entertainer for long enough that she almost prefers to go by her stage name, given how she trades on her identity as an authentic Cherokee daredevil to make a living. Performing twice daily at Nashville’s Glendale Park Zoo, where she’s on-loan from…
I’m a big fan of Jess Lourey’s thrillers, mostly because she makes a conscious choice to center the victims in her stories, to give their stories of terror and survival and healing the most prominent place in the narrative. Her latest novel, Litani, is no different in its compassion and scope, bringing to life the…
Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt is a Christmas mystery and the 24th book in the Andy Carpenter series, where the lawyer and his golden retriever, Tara, are on the beat after a body turns up in the snow and a journalist is the prime suspect. Twenty-four books in and the Andy Carpenter Mystery series…
We only go a few more yards before we find the place Jake must have been talking about. It’s like the lagoon where the boats are anchored, but much smaller, a cove surrounded on three sides by sand, and we don’t even pause before diving into the water. When I break back through the surface,…
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021, edited by Alafair Burke and Steph Cha, is a collection of the 20 best crime short stories from the year 2020, featuring tales rife with the stress, anxiety, crime, and violence inspired by an unprecedented year. After taking over as series editor, Steph Cha found herself facing the…
Chapter One JUNE 2019 Week One: THURSDAY It took him four minutes to circle the block. He drove slowly, looking for a parking space on Jenna’s street while keeping one eye out for surveillance cameras. He’d read somewhere that Midtown had more security cameras per block than any other neighborhood in the city. It made…
Pearl by Josh Malerman is the legend of a strange new monster, unlike any other in horror—a sentient, talking pig that brings death and destruction to those it encounters. Pop culture is rife with tales of adorable pigs developing a close rapport with their owners, displaying almost human intelligence, as shown by pigs such as…
Austin attorney Leigh Larson is the lawyer of choice for “victims of sexual extortion, harassment, and online abuse.” Last Seen Alone could not be more topical as October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The plot lives up to the cliché, “ripped from the headlines,” since the news is flush with tragic stories of women killed…
While I certainly enjoy watching the Star Trek movies and TV shows, and very much admire their philosophies, I’ve never been the kind of superfan who gets into the minutiae of the series universe. But when given the chance to review Brent Spiner’s debut novel, written in collaboration with Jeanne Darst and centering on his…
Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger is a riveting thriller where secrets, obsession, and vengeance converge when an online dating match turns into a deadly cat-and-mouse game. New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger is at it again. Her 2020 standalone, Confessions on the 7:45, was a finalist for top honors from the Audie Awards,…
