BOOKLOVES

The most revealing scene in Promise Me Never by Liv Constantine contains no threat, no locked door and no dead woman. A famous novelist sits alone in his office, opens the bestseller rankings, and works down them one title at a time. He reads each synopsis. He takes notes. And he is looking, in his […]

An elite SWAT team finds more than they bargain for in the depths of a Louisiana bayou. When Special Agent Jennifer Nash’s partner is killed brutally in a surveillance operation gone wrong, she’s shattered. Not only has she lost a friend and almost her own life along with his, but her superiors need the situation […]

Mystery and mentalism return in this intriguing and cozy sequel. “Pat Messina was missing. Again.” Not much time has passed since Nicole used her mind-reading abilities to help the police find the kidnapped Pat Messina and apprehend the criminal mastermind behind it, Lila. With Lila behind bars, everyone is shocked when Pat goes missing yet […]

On an early night in the canyon, a river guide sits by the fire and tells the guests about a white trumpet-shaped bloom that opens after dark. It grows in the wash. It is beautiful. Processed correctly, it will take a person’s capacity to refuse and leave everything else intact, so that the victim is […]

A nuanced meditation on grief, displacement, and the enduring aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster Mitch Wieland’s The Ghosts of Okuma offers one of this year’s most striking portraits of familial grief and the physical and psychological labor required to reimagine life after the most profound loss. What begins as a father and son’s investigation […]

Real life tragedy is combined with a classic plot in this poignant probe into the human condition. More so than most, India is characterized by the contrast of extremes. In Dreams of Orphans, author Vinay Kolhatkar juxtaposes the dark realities of child trafficking with the glamor of Bollywood to provide the setting for an extravagant, […]