News - Book Reviews

News - Book Reviews

ASTOR received a great review from Publishers Weekly. They write: “CNN journalist Cooper and novelist Howe follow up VANDERBILT with an exhaustive history of the Astor family…This meticulously detailed family saga is also rich with insight into U.S. history, including revealing chapters on topics ranging from mid-19th-century populist sentiments concerning Shakespeare (the Astor Opera House staged a performance of MACBETH that was widely reviled for its high ticket price) and the early 20th-century gay scene (when the Astor Hotel became a queer rendezvous spot). History buffs and readers fascinated by the rich and famous should take note.” Harper will publish the book on September 19, 2023.

Shelf Awareness wrote a warm review for Farah Ali's debut novel THE RIVER, THE TOWN, drawing favorable comparisons to her debut linked story collection PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE by calling out "similar aspects of spare, unblinking incisiveness" and "multiple perspectives form an intricate narrative, further complicated by unreliable characters,” delivering a strong overall verdict: "In this teeming maelstrom of (in)humanity, Ali posits a wrenching, everyman tragedy that shrewdly reads as prophetic warning, nimbly cast in potent storytelling." Dzanc Books published the novel on October 17, 2023.

The latest wave of praise for HOW CAN I HELP YOU by Laura Sims comes from The New York Times Book Review, which declares that the book "reads like an homage to [Shirley] Jackson's work—and, in its portrait of Patricia, to Jackson herself." Criminal Element calls it "a compelling take on the complicated relationship between author and muse, as well as the ethics of writing fiction...[A]n absorbing, fast read...with an ending worthy of a horror story," while Scary Mommy names it one of its "27 Profoundly Unsettling Horror Books To Get You In The Mood For Spooky Season." Novelist Harlan Coben recommended the book as one of his "5 Must-Reads to End the Summer" on The Today Show, after having been recommended the book himself by journalist and author Taffy Brodesser-Akner: "A gripping and dark psychological thriller about two librarians that takes place in a library. Delicious, right? What more do we book-lovers need to know? I read it one sitting." G.P. Putnam’s Sons published HOW CAN I HELP YOU on July 18, 2023.

Tor.com's review of Daniel Hornsby's new novel SUCKER highlighted its sharp satire, in which "moments...where Chuck is blithely ignorant of the petty, privileged amorality his anecdotes reveal, are Sucker’s best, the times when its satire is strongest and most cutting." Meanwhile, Oprah Daily names it one of their “Best Sci-Fi Books of the Summer,” declaring it a "delightfully monstrous sci-fi skewering of modern tech entrepreneurship and age-old human hubris" and "the Frankenstein’s monster of THE DROPOUT and JENNIFER’S BODY you didn’t know you needed." Anchor published the book on July 11, 2023.

The Massachusetts Review offers lavish praise for Shastri Akella's debut novel THE SEA ELEPHANTS, hailing it as an "earnest and aching debut novel" and a "patriarchy-piercing bildungsroman," with a "brisk and forward-facing narrative" that with the "sharp-eyed focus of [its] prose" achieves "[a] poignant success." Flatiron Books published the novel on July 11, 2023.

A review from Tor.com of Keith Rosson's new horror novel, FEVER HOUSE, calls it "a panic attack of a book...[that] plays out like a nightmare—one that’s nearly impossible to put down." Fangoria also shared an exclusive excerpt of the "punky and post-apocalyptic...tale of madness and mysterious relics." The Wall Street Journal hails the book as a "pitch-black novel...[that] isn’t some gothic grave-robbing horror; it’s a modern thriller," in which "the plotting is precise and the tension is wire-tight." Random House published the book on August 15, 2023.

Ronald Winston’s KING OF DIAMONDS was featured on Natural Diamonds’ list of “Diamond-Filled Books to Devour this Fall.” Samantha Simon writes: “You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly judge one by its title. And King of Diamonds says it all. Published 65 years after famed jeweler Harry Winston donated the 45-carat Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, his only living son, Ronald Winston, has penned a biography that offers an enlightening glimpse into the life of a man who once owned a third of the world’s most famous gems. Replete with stories about all of the business rivalries, red-carpet loans, and high-profile clients you could ask for, it’s as glamorous as nonfiction gets.” Skyhorse will publish the book on September 19, 2023.

Financial Times gave Idra Novey's TAKE WHAT YOU NEED a rave review. Reviewer Arin Keeble writes: "[TAKE WHAT YOU NEED] depicts the complexities of a contemporary America whose divisions are often crudely defined. It is an excoriating critique of the violence of MAGA culture that also urges caution at the assumptions one might make of those caught in its currents...That Novey is a novelist, poet, translator and professor is unsurprising, as this textured and compelling novel is redolent of a real depth of experience. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED is a major novel of contemporary America that urgently reminds us of the messiness and complexity of people, love and intimacy." The novel was also reviewed in Spectator, where reviewer Susie Mesure raves: "On the strength of Novey’s third novel, TAKE WHAT YOU NEED, an adept tale about an estranged stepmother and daughter set in a fictional former steel town in Appalachia, all writers should heed her advice. In spare, affecting prose, she moves effortlessly between her two first-person narrators…Novey’s own fairy tale similarities are plentiful and purposeful as she explores the polarisations in American society alongside what it means to ‘make art.’" Meanwhile, Granta published Novey’s short story “Conversations with My Father.” Viking published the book on March 14, 2023.

Molly Dektar's THE ABOLUTES received a wonderful review from Kristen Arnett in The Washington Post, who raves: “Wanting to be seen only as one’s most perfect self is a thrilling through line in this novel…There is much to admire in the way Dektar delves headlong into this delayed adolescence….It’s a riveting thing, desire; THE ABSOLUTES asks you to consider what matters more: the moment the stone is dropped into the pool or the ripples that spread across the surface long after the stone has sunk out of sight. Either answer could be right.” Mariner Books published the novel on July 11, 2023.

National Jeweler featured Ronald Winston’s forthcoming KING OF DIAMONDS: “[R]eaders will get one perspective on the protracted years-long battle between [Harry] Winston’s sons, Ronald and Bruce Winston, that culminated in the company’s sale about two decades after Harry’s death in 1978…KING OF DIAMONDS recounts Harry’s incredible legacy from the ultimate insider’s view, as Harvard-educated son Ronald forewent a career in chemistry and rocket propulsion to work alongside Harry in the family business at the patriarch’s behest.” Skyhorse will publish the book on September 19, 2023.