Candice

This is a hauntingly beautiful and disturbing story. Mia is a composer. Her mentor is the adoptive father to Oliver, who is probably the only true love of her life. When Oliver dies, Mia and Ryder, her mentor, have their works upended. Years later and aging Ryder also passes sway and Mia is left alone with Ryder’s last, great composition to finish. Finishing this drives Mia deeper into her self and madness.

I’ve come to realize that I really do enjoy poetic writing in a novel. Some of my favorite this year were written by authors who primarily focus on poetry but have now written novels. The emotion that is drawn from each page pulls you into Mia’s conflicted mind. The jumps from present, back to how she got to this point in her life and even looking back at Ryder’s life and coalescence into a moving story that just builds on the discomfort.

Early in the book is a short passage: “I have no interest in correctness, Ryder said. Music is not correct, it is beautiful. Begin again—make it radiant. Make it rich and vulgar and expressive and terrifying. Make something that would rouse the skeletons from their very graves to dance among us. Make something that would drive even the most indifferent man to a ruinous obsession.”

I think this really sets the stage for Mia’s descent into her own struggles.

There’s also a section later on the book that’s a countdown from present to Ryder as a young boy. The construction of the passage was absolutely incredible and a stand out for me.

If you like horror that is really just impending dread and discomfort this book is for you. If you love beautifully poetic writing this book is for you. If you have a deep background in music and music theory this book is for you.

It feels like it’s so hard to find good mystery novels these days which is why I love the Annie Gore series. Annie is a modern PI with her own ghosts but those ghosts give her so much heart. When she’s hired by an estranged daughter to find out the circumstances around her dad’s death, Annie reluctantly takes the case. Of course, things can’t be that straight forward. Con men, drug dealers, snake churches and not one but four murders. Annie’s support system is still in place with Tina and Leo (and of course Honey).

Just an all around fun mystery.

Ana and Din are two of the best literary characters to come out of modern sci-fi/fantasy in a long time. When there are strange deaths (as usual) they’re on the case. However this time they’re close to Din’s home town and he has to figuratively and literally face his past. What Ana thinks will be a budding case also ends up dragging more of her past to light. We get more of the old gods and lie around this world.

What you can always get from RJB is not just a great story but a thoughtful commentary on the world. Dueling families from interdependent agricultural trades reflect our own modern agricultural space and the impacts and sustainability moving forward.

Mystery, murder, a sprouting virus that can turn you basically into a zombie, social commentary, and a bit of romance. What more can you ask for.