book review

Book Review: Daniel O’Malley’s ‘Royal Gambit’ finds magic in murder of royal family member

July 26, 2025 Connie Panzariello

Author Daniel O’Malley returns to the world of his series he started with “The Rook” with “Royal Gambit,” an enjoyable and sometimes unwieldy novel about the supernatural operatives of a paranormal secret service investigating a […]

Book Review: ‘Hotel Ukraine’ wraps up the late Martin Cruz Smith’s detective Renko book series on a high

July 19, 2025 Anita Snow

Arkady Renko now fumbles with his keys at the door as his Parkinson’s disease gradually grows worse. The legendary Russian detective has struggled to keep his declining health a secret, but the worsening symptoms have become impossible […]

Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning her missing sister’s fate

July 12, 2025 Bruce DeSilva

Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly’s teenage sister, Thea, slipped out of their family home in rural Maine to party with friends and never came home. Shaw (short for Shawnee), now a fingerprint expert […]

Book Review: Wally Lamb explores human cruelty, grace in prison with `The River is Waiting’

July 5, 2025 Anita Snow

Corby Ledbetter is in trouble. In Wally Lamb’s new novel, “The River Is Waiting,” Corby has lost his job as a commercial artist and has developed a secret addiction to alcohol and pills, setting him […]

Book Review: New biography goes deep on rise, fall of Talking Heads

June 28, 2025 Ann Levin

Talking Heads fans, rejoice! Hard on the heels of the re-release of “Stop Making Sense,” the 1984 Jonathan Demme film widely considered the best concert movie ever made, Jonathan Gould has published a comprehensive biography […]

Book Review: Jess Walter’s ‘So Far Gone’ sets redemption story in fractured, modern America

June 21, 2025 Rob Merrill

When the history of the United States in 2025 is written, perhaps one of the best things that will be said is: “Well, it made for some great art.” Consider “So Far Gone,” the new […]

Book Review: In ‘The Listeners,’ Maggie Stiefvater approaches WWII with distinct voice

June 14, 2025 Rachel S. Hunt

Maggie Stiefvater has brought her magical prose with her to her first adult novel. “The Listeners” takes place at a luxury hotel in West Virginia as World War II begins. In need of a place […]

Book Review: Donal Ryan’s spellbinding sequel in 21 voices continues saga of small Irish town

June 7, 2025 Ann Levin

In 2014 Donal Ryan published a novel in the U.S. called “The Spinning Heart” about a rural Irish town after the 2008 financial collapse. It was narrated by a chorus of voices, one per chapter, […]

Book Review: New essays from writer Richard Russo on how his life informs his art

May 31, 2025 Rob Merrill

Richard Russo, whose “Fool” trilogy is beloved for the characters he created to populate a fictional upstate New York town, freely admits he’s always pulled from his real life to write his novels. “I was […]

Book Review: Ron Chernow’s ‘Mark Twain’ gives readers honest assessment of beloved author’s life

May 24, 2025 Andrew DeMillo

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow is known for writing massive biographies of the country’s most enduring figures, including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton. So, it comes as no surprise that his biography of author […]