“The truth? It don't fit clean. Life don't work like no sermon or a newspaper headline. It's messy. It bleeds.” Life does these things and more, and messy can be an understatement as The Bible Of Blackwater County, a novel by Jenny Cafaro, clearly illustrates....

The Girl Who Counted Numbers by Roslyn Bernstein is a fast-moving story of discovery, growing up, acceptance, and romance. It takes place in 1961 during the time of the Eichmann Trials that were held in Jerusalem. The main character is Susan Reich, who is sent...

“The company engineered desire and sold it as experience.” But in Tobacco City, a novella by author Ricardo Novaes, the company did much more than that: it disguised a hellish dystopia as success. Meet Matheus Reis, a power-hungry corporate cog ravenous for advancement no matter...

Kalyani Adusumilli’s The Invisible Canvas begins in the throes of a medical emergency caused by an overdose, where Jansi, a wife and mother living in Texas, is admitted to a psychiatric facility for evaluation and treatment. What begins as a brief hospitalization becomes an extended...

The Shadow of Death: A Tragedy of Yellow Fever by McKenna Rowell is set in 1793 Philadelphia, where Deborah Allard becomes entangled in a dispute that threatens David Byrne’s family after Mr. Foster accuses his father of a ruinous debt. Just when Deborah uncovers a...

The Carpenter and the Apprentice by Grace Zacaroli follows a young wanderer trying to escape his past. Hoping to become an apprentice to an elderly carpenter, Danat arrives in a small town after losing his family in a devastating war. However, the carpenter has something...

The Day It Matters by Troy Patoine follows Thomas Atherton, a retired runner, on a fateful morning when he finds himself in an unexpected rupture in time. As the miles accumulate in a sustained run, moments from Tom’s life surface through motion and dialogue, shaped...

The Woman in the Third Floor Front by Richard Scharine is a collection of prose pieces beginning with a series of short stories and followed by musings about his European ancestors. The author traces his life from a midwestern boyhood, through his career as a...

When King Madrick I and Queen Fionella of Masor decided to walk into the woods to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary, they had no idea it would be their last. The news of their demise, a few weeks later, leaves their kin—Prince Madrick II and...

The Tin Merchant’s Riddle by Steve Reinhart combines historical intrigue, religious exploration, and mystery into a compelling narrative. Set against England’s rich historical backdrop, the story follows detectives, scholars, and religious figures as they pursue a potentially world-changing manuscript: the Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea....