Sunburn: A Novel by Chloe Michelle Howarth (Melville House). Reviewed by Madeleine de Visé. “I’ve devoured this novel twice now — when it first came out in 2023 and then again in its American reprint. It’s late summer, my shoulders are peeling, and I’m pressing flowers between the pages of my copy. In the flyleaves of this sometimes-epistolary novel, I’ve written a letter of my own. Such is the sickness inspired by Sunburn — its fevered yearning, its claustrophobic quarters, its lurid fixations that sometimes veer into the grotesque. I’m of the opinion that good writing should activate both the body and the soul, and for such a burner of a book, this one’s quite the salve, too.”

The Hounding: A Novel by Xenobe Purvis (Henry Holt and Co.). Reviewed by Marilyn Oser. “In this tightly plotted narrative, nothing is extraneous, nothing wasted. Everything said early in the story has its echo later on. One character, for example, who believes that he’s beheld an angel as a sign of divine choice, later dies with blood pooling around him ironically like wings. The prose is clean and spare, without modernisms or gratuitous archaisms. Dialogue demonstrates relationships among the characters while simultaneously moving the plot along and creating tension over what’s to come.”

The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America by David Baron (Liveright). Reviewed by Bob Duffy. “The Martians is studded with delightful in-text illustrations, as well as allusions to prominent proponents of the craze: Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla, Guglielmo Marconi, J.P. Morgan, Thomas Edison, and Oscar Wilde. Not to mention a stupendous set of endnotes and a thorough index.”

The Macabre: A Novel by Kosoko Jackson (Harper Voyager). Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro. “Jackson also poignantly illustrates how the beauty of art can camouflage the most painful of emotions, and how the compulsion to possess works of art — without fully understanding them — can be ruinous. His use of art as a plot device is brilliantly conceived and evokes Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Stephen King’s Rose Madder. The well-crafted narrative offers more than a few surprises alongside the mind-bending horror, making The Macabre a superior story deserving of a wide audience.”

Amity: A Novel by Nathan Harris (Little, Brown and Company). Reviewed by Patricia S. Gormley. “The narrative’s twists and turns — which include an uprising, a runaway wagon, and a return from the dead — are extremely effective. Although the pacing slows at points, such moments don’t last long. Trepidation is never far as readers anxiously turn the pages to find out whether Coleman and June (neither of whom knows the other is nearby) will reunite.”

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (Tor Nightfire). Reviewed by Nick Havey. “Lucky Day is, fundamentally, a rollickingly fun horror novel that is somehow jovial in its exploration of eldritch terrors and rips in the space-time continuum. It makes statistics fun. Its A+ cast of characters, including casino head Denver (a smooth-talking, no-bullshit woman cosplaying as a wealthy cowboy for no apparent reason), engaging Las Vegas locale, and commitment to the sci-fi bit make it a remarkable read.”

Hot Desk: A Novel by Laura Dickerman (Gallery Books). Reviewed by Kristin H. Macomber. “Bottom line: Don’t judge this book by its title or its cover or its amusing plot. Stick with it for the good stuff, which includes a reckoning of generational wrongs; a battle to keep those in power from having the last word; an affirmation of the right to tell one’s own story; and, best of all, a chance for a woman to renew a broken bond with the dearest friend she ever had.”

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