Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Release of a Stephen King novel is always a major literary event. But he tops even himself with Other Worlds Than These the third and final book in the Talisman series he began with the late Peter Straub.
We first met Jack Sawyer as a twelve-year-old boy venturing into “the territories” to save his mother from certain death. This time out, circumstances force “Travelin’ Jack” back to his old haunts when multiple threats imperil not just this, but all worlds at the hands of truly evil forces bent on complete destruction. Those forces include an infected gang of teenagers straight out of King’s classic The Stand who are in league with an even more dire threat in the armies of something known as the Gullet. Only someone with intimate knowledge of the connection between our world and others can save the day. Trouble is age and disillusion have tempered Jack’s magical talents and even he may not be up to the task.
Other Worlds Than These isn’t the first time King has revisited a character as an adult originally introduced in childhood. He did the same with a grown-up Danny Torrance from The Shining taking the title role in the brilliant Doctor Sleep. His latest, though, is a far more expansive, sprawling, and high-stakes tale that captivates and enthralls. No other author has ever been this good for this long. King is a national treasure and Other Worlds Than These is a masterpiece.
The Hollow by Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly pulls no punches with his sensational The Hollow, the first Harry Bosch standalone novel in several years that turns out to be very much worth the wait.
We’ve known all about the murder of Harry’s mother going all the way back to the series debut, The Black Echo. In the wake of the tragedy, Harry became a ward of the state and ended up in a residential facility where abuse ruled the day and no child escaped damage. A lawsuit against the dreaded MacLaren Children’s Center has finally settled, entitling Harry to a sizeable sum. With the old wounds opened up, a haunted Harry revisits the cold case of another child who was murdered there in what becomes a tortuous journey into his own heart of darkness. Not surprisingly, there are powerful forces that don’t want him uncovering the truth even as he follows the long, winding trail of a killer who remains at large.
The Hollow is both Connelly’s and Bosch’s most personal tale yet, a relentlessly riveting quest story in which the ghosts of the past prove to be very real. Neither has ever been better, as Connelly solidifies his status as this century’s best crime writer with a book certain to be at the top of just about everyone’s top ten mysteries of the year.
Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child
I read Andrew and Lee Child’s Chain Reaction shortly after finishing the latest season of Reacher on Prime Video which happened to be based on my favorite Reacher novel hands down. The brothers’ most recent efforts have definitely held their own, solid entries in a fabulous series, but I’ve been missing the Jack Reacher of Gone Tomorrow.
Until now. Chain Reaction is distinguished by the presence of series semi-regularly Susan Turner, now a general who needs to find Reacher and fast, someone who can fix a problem and take no prisoners in the process. He accepts the assignment already given to a murdered operative, explaining why Turner needs to go outside the system, and heads to Colorado to a town with more data centers and solar farms than people. The data centers take center stage, since the foe Reacher needs to thwart above all others is the rogue AI being developed there.
Pitting Reacher against those behind AI run amuck harks back to the grab bag of Reacher books that brought him to somewhat larger small towns where he took down any number of powermongers exploiting the innocent. Chain Reaction follows that same formula, while adding AI to the mix in devilishly entertaining fashion. This is the best book from the Child brothers since Andrew joined the team, as close to a one-sitting read as any entry in the series.
Mestra by Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller burst onto the literary scene in 2012 with her huge bestseller, The Song of Achilles. Now she continues her shrewd, sensitive and sensational take on ancient Greek history with Mestra, an absolute must-read for anyone fascinated with the thin line separating fact and legend from myth.
With her smashing debut, Madeline revisited the Trojan War from the viewpoint of Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend and lover. This time out, she introduces us to Mestra, daughter of the King of Thessaly whom the gods have imbued with the ability to transform herself into any being she can imagine. Unfortunately, the gods have punished her father for a transgression with perpetual hunger. What can a loyal daughter who can shape shift do to help? That’s the dilemma facing Mestra, as she tries to use her gift to satisfy her father’s insatiable appetite without endangering his kingdom.
Mestra is more of a novella in length, but sometimes big things come in small packages. Just as she did with Achilles, Madeline treats Mestra as a fully drawn character and not merely an invention of myth. The result is a beautifully drawn, vibrant tapestry portraying an ancient age where morality comes in all shapes and sizes. There is truth in all myths and the truth about Mestra is that it’s a stunning achievement in period perfect writing.
The 10:12 by Anna Maloney
2026 has been chock full of sterling debuts, which now includes Anna Maloney’s smashing The 10:12, the second thriller of the year to be set largely on a train (after The Survivor) in the tradition of the John Godey classic The Taking of Pelham 123.
The 10:12 is distinguished not just by its London setting as opposed to New York City, but the book’s hero in the form of mild-mannered, middle-aged art lecturer Claire Fitzroy. When her train from Manchester is hijacked by heavily armed, paramilitary types, circumstances lead Claire to organize a rebellion among the passengers that heroically saves the day. Instead of being hailed a hero, though, aspersions are cast on her motivations and actions. What’s any self-respecting, inadvertent hero to do?
That moral dilemma forms the heart of this exquisite exploration of human nature, both good and bad. Maloney masterfully turns the claustrophobic confines of the train into a metaphor for life itself as the walls begin to close in around Claire. Doing the right thing never felt so wrong, but what if something dark lurks under her spanking new halo of heroism?
Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey
For a lighter take, look no further than Home for the Homicides from the stalwart team of Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey, a Christmas-based tale that harpoons the Hallmark approach to the season.
Special agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd are called in when a tourist visiting the bucolic town of, well, Christmas is stabbed to death with an icicle in the midst of a nativity scene. Talk about a great way to spoil the holidays, right? Never mind the fact that heated rivals Holly and Mark are on the clock, since the murder needs to be solved so an annual festival that pumps money into the town’s economy can go forward. Hmmmmm, might small-town politics and squabbles be behind the murder? As their investigation takes them through seemingly every Christmas movie ever made in hysterical fashions, Holly and Mark find themselves tracking an unusual killer who wants to leave coal in every stocking.
If Carl Hiaasen ever decided to skewer Christmas as seen through the eyes of the Hallmark Channel, Home for the Homicides would be the result. Having long tired of Christmas music dominating the radio from Halloween forward and Christmas movies all year long, reading the book became such a cathartic experience, I almost forgot how much fun I was having.
Tear the City Down by Andre Hardy
In contrast to that, Andre Hardy’s beautifully framed debut, Tear the City Down, is a gritty urban noir featuring an equally dark and gritty hero.
Coltrane Davis works as a fixer for the politicos running San Diego, a city whose glistening radiance seems no more than a cover for its dark, seedy underbelly. But Davis is tired of his job greasing the wheels to make sure things turn properly and is ready to move on. That is until a superstar NFL running back disappears the night before a game bearing massive implications, and Davis finds himself with one last mess to clean up, at the potential expense of his soul. He might be able to save the political giants he’s beholden to from being toppled, but can he save himself from the moral rot the task requires?
Mysteries like this normally call Los Angeles home, as opposed to the staid confines of San Diego. But a measure of the brilliance of Tear the City Down lies in the fact that the darkness at the book’s root lies in people, not places. Hardy has fashioned a pitch-perfect tale right out of the box, a heady mix of Walter Mosely and S.A. Crosby with just enough Don Winslow thrown in for good measure.
