The year is 1974, and Mike Turner is a 13-year-old boy living at Children’s Christian Hostel in Singapore. He spends his time going to school, putting up with his immature roommates, and most notably, awaiting his parents’ return from South Vietnam. However, during their time working in the Foreign Service, Mike’s parents suddenly go missing. […]
Encompassing works published from 1975 to 2013, this collection by Murguía reflects a flinty but compassionate sensibility, focused on people struggling on society’s lower rungs, especially in the Bay Area. The title story exemplifies the approach, narrated by a San Francisco building inspector investigating a fatal Mission District fire; the story encompasses the narrator’s personal […]
Laura and Maya were childhood friends who have drifted apart in high school. Maya carries a torch for Laura but keeps it to herself, but then she and Laura kiss at Laura’s birthday party. Maya wakes up at the Heartbreak Hotel; this offers her a “timeout” from her life, but she’s stuck in a time […]
In current-day Barcelona, Spain, Mitch Rapp just wants to spend time with his girlfriend, Greta Ohlmeyer, who knows he’s a killer for the CIA. Greta’s grandfather is a prominent banker who has connections with interim CIA Director Thomas Stansfield. But someone is threatening all the Ohlmeyers, and Mitch will do anything to protect Greta. His […]
At the center of the narrative, set in the small town of Wintermere, are Sera Linden and Julian Vero, whose bond is revealed less through dialogue than through silence, shared labor, and gestures that skirt definition. Sera is leading a local revitalization project while Julian is undertaking a personal rebuilding task at the chapel.Their companions […]
As the story opens, it’s 1941, and the residents of Soviet-occupied Lithuania are receiving news that the German army is going to invade. University student Leva Koslowski and her younger brother, Al, decide to flee the country, because although Soviet control had been horrible, the Germans are rumored to be much worse. The pair head […]
In the near future, Daniel Bennett is the developer of an AI system called Castor, and he’s the creative force behind startup Promethean Systems. He creates Castor to recognize patterns in medical data, and it has the potential to save patients and insurers hundreds of millions of dollars and prevent needless deaths. For Daniel, the […]
Eager to cultivate his image, Johannes Brahms destroyed much of his early work before it could get out into the world. The composer felt the same about his correspondence. “A person has to be careful about writing letters,” he told a friend. “One day they get printed!” The man had a point. This enjoyable collection—part […]
In this heartwarming adventure story, McCarty takes readers on a modern-day romp in the woods of Boone, North Carolina. Ten-year-old Thomas has come with his family, who present white, to stay near Canaan Woods with Aunt Cecilia, a painter, in the home she and his mom grew up in. It’s a chance for Mom, who’s […]
On September 13, 2022, Iran’s morality police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini for having too much hair protruding from her hijab (“Members of the Gasht-e Ershad then grabbed Amini and began forcing her into their van”). Three days later, she was dead in Kasra Hospital, another victim of the country’s re-education centers. Photos of Amini in […]