“There’s no such thing as a whole, functional, fuck-up-free human. We all have our problems and things that prevent us from being perfect.” True, and that may include Nicholas Bruechle, author of the novel All Writers Are Liars. At the very least, his characters certainly...

In the anthology Undercity by Monte Schulz, we primarily move alongside Marco Grenelle, through a city consumed by fire after a coordinated attack forces the residents into flight. He travels with Geismar Brecht while searching for Mirés Grillet, a performer whose path leads into a...

Laura Briel Sullivan has written an adult tale for those who are grieving in Sailing With Angels. The story is both gracefully poetic and extraordinarily visually beautiful. Princess Briel takes her sailboat out on the open water. Along the way, she meets many characters who...

In Ali Hamdoun’s Habracadabrah, after surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Shinobu stays alive way beyond his expected lifespan. This is in the care of Seiren, who moves him to an isolated forest home where his damaged body requires constant treatment so he can keep...

Weighing a Miracle by Steven Nimocks is a well-written fictional account of a familiar Bible story in which Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The story begins in a commercial setting along the Jericho Road, where Caleb and his two sons go about their daily...

‘It’s a matter of degree, that’s all. We all prostitute ourselves when it suits us; we only differ in how far we’re prepared to go.’ Two stories for the price of one await readers in The Seven Stars, a novel by Simon Leighton-Porter. And in...

North of Ordinary by Angela Grey is a collection of interconnected stories set in small northern towns where the landscape shapes the lives within it. The opening introduction establishes a world built from familiar places such as lakes, diners, bait shops, and bars, where repetition...

To H1-B or Not To Be by Hitesh Dev is a timely and powerful book. Amit Khanna is a young Indian student who pursues his dreams and ambitions, like many others of his generation, through higher education in the U.S. The foreign student experience, the...

In Joanne Woodley's Destiny, Oklahoma roofer Jacy Deere is ordered into a government relocation program. The world has undergone a complete environmental collapse, and global war has reshaped daily life. People are at the mercy of those in power who have restricted access to food...

“The boy was an unknown, but Claire thought unknowns could eventually make something of themselves.” Of course she did, because Claire Benson, the protagonist of The Dyer Legacy by Albert Sipes, is goodhearted to a fault. The story begins when Claire narrowly escapes two would-be...