Triage by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press). Reviewed by Sullivan Summer. “References to Antigone, Saidiya Hartman, Omar El Akkad, Audre Lorde, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and others demand a level of dot-connecting from the reader that makes idle consumption of the text nearly impossible. But why should it be? If the theorist and the narrator can invoke in a single exchange the contemporary historian Robin D.G. Kelley, mid-20th-century senator Joseph McCarthy, and an unattributed 1971 quote from poet/musician Gil Scott-Heron, then surely it’s not too much to ask the reader to carry our share of the analytical load.”

Hope House: A Novel by Joe Bond (Hub City Press). Reviewed by John P. Loonam. “Mr. Watts brings more passion than professionalism to Hope House, signing the boys up for outside jobs that earn them and the facility money, basketball tournaments they inevitably lose, and a school dance that teaches them how little they know about girls. But no matter what, he never gives up, and his unconditional loyalty is the best thing that has happened to these boys. In fact, it’s the outside world that causes them problems. Almost no parents come to visit, and those who do bring as much tension as comfort.”

The Ego Trip: Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence by Kimon de Greef (Doubleday). Reviewed by Lilia Marie Ellis. “Although currently illegal in the U.S., 5-MeO-DMT shows particular promise as a cure for treatment-resistant depression and addiction. LSD and other psychedelics have some medicinal promise, but their trips can last half a day; in contrast, a provider could administer a complete dose of toad within a short session. The science behind 5-MeO-DMT is new and constantly evolving, but de Greef’s clear prose cuts through the hype and fog alike to explain what’s at stake. He keeps the focus on the human side of things — the patients and profiteers behind the burgeoning industry — making the book legible and compelling throughout.”

Agnes Lives!: A Novel by Hallie Elizabeth Newton (Bloomsbury Publishing). Reviewed by Madeleine de Visé. “Most other claustrophobic novels I’ve read are really about a relationship. The titular heroine of Dorothy Baker’s Cassandra at the Wedding reminds me a little of Agnes, but Cassandra’s interactions with her family serve to frame the reader’s understanding of her. Agnes Lives! is a story told entirely in monologue, often stream-of-consciousness. It’s like squeezing into an itchy costume with her in Times Square and struggling to get a look through its mouth while she describes the world to you. Whatever she sees, it’s dark in there, and she’s not letting you out.”

Vanishing Point by Ellen Prentiss Campbell (Apprentice House). Reviewed by Julie Barrie Buchanan. “Early in the novel, the family is devastated when two of the five Hetzel children are killed in a train accident. Jimmie, gravely injured in the crash, drinks and takes laudanum to dull his pain — both literal and mental. Lila, the youngest and the protagonist of later chapters, blames herself due to a fight with Ella prior to the train ride. Mary Louise turns inward, feeling lonely in her marriage and with her remaining children. This is the most compelling section of the novel, diving deeply as it does into the family’s pain and its attempts to recover from such a profound loss.”

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