1. Sally Shivnan’s review of Ghost-Eye: A Novel by Amitav Ghosh (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). “The story expands to sweep in numerous subplots and characters across times and places, from 1969 Calcutta to its modern identity as Kolkata; to Brooklyn and Oregon and Virginia; and back to India and the vast wetland region of the Sundarban Delta. The cast includes scholars, servants, industrialists, environmental activists, brilliant cooks, supernatural protectors, and the occasional goddess, elephant, and tiger.”


2. Ryan Davison’s review of Cool Machine: A Novel by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday). “Taken together, the three parts form an exhilarating page-turner overflowing with risks and thrills. While packed with poetic flair and meaningful symbolism, they never relent in their ability to entertain. Whitehead is a keen observer, gifted with the trained eye of an insider, but his ability to weave relevant social and political themes into the fabric of the plot is likely the trilogy’s greatest achievement. He lived through Gotham’s embrace of racially discriminatory policies, but rather than grow bitter, he channels his city’s failings into savvy stories of mob etiquette, flawed good guys, and lovable sociopaths.”


3. “Bad Guys on the Bayou” by Lawrence De Maria. “The volume prior to The Hadacol Boogie was Clete, which features (for the first time) the character Clete Purcel as narrator. Clete is Dave’s foil: a crude, overweight, often-drunk, frequently wounded best friend. He was once Dave’s partner in the New Orleans Police Department and was fired for corruption (which surely must be unique in the history of the Big Easy) and is now a private eye. Clete appears regularly in the Robicheaux thrillers, and in the time-honored tradition of sidekicks, he does things his friend won’t.”


4. Wiley Clements’ review of Killing Baby Hitler: A Novel by Michael Tomasky (OR Books). “Killing Baby Hitler is absurd, though given the absurd world we live in, it also supplies a kind of logic that makes its premise plausible. It is self-aware and has one foot planted squarely in the here and now. Among other pop-culture mentions, Tomasky references Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, makes cracks at President Trump, and conjures an antagonist with a ‘Bond-villain’ laugh.”


5. E.A. Aymar’s review of Raps of Resistance: How Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Reignited a Hip-Hop Tradition by Jeremy C. McCool and Earl Hopkins (Bloomsbury Academic). “For devoted fans of rap, much of that history will be known, but the authors’ retelling still makes for an enlightening read. Possibly informed by Hopkins’ background as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the authors write in compelling, mercifully non-academic prose that efficiently covers the genre’s record-spinning origins in the grimy streets of 1970s New York, the variety of its forms and regional influences, and its current worldwide acclaim.”

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