books Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi Tordotcom Publishing, $26.99 In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means have left the cities of the US for the comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized brick by brick, their houses sent to the colonies. Their home is now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked. Goliath weaves disparate narratives—a space-dweller looking to reconnect with his lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping—into a mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history. Mermaid Confidential by Tim Dorsey William Morrow, $28.99 Serge A. Storms and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, have decided to pump the brakes and live on island time. After years of manic road tripping, the antiheroes drop anchor in the Florida Keys. They settle in a condo complex with friendly neighbors. But the community is at war with investors who are buying up units and leasing them to young vacationers who party at all hours. With their little slice 20
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of heaven on the line, Serge takes it upon himself to convince the tourists to move on and quickly becomes a local favorite. Meanwhile, the island chain’s rich smuggling heritage is causing mayhem—a war erupts when a drug lord passes the family business to his son, and the residents are suddenly dodging bullets. Luckily, Florida’s most lovable serial killer is there to help! Never by Ken Follett Viking, $36 “Every catastrophe begins with a problem that doesn’t get fixed.” So says President Pauline Green, in Follett’s nerve-racking drama. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis. Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer; a spy working undercover with jihadists; a brilliant Chinese spymaster; and Pauline herself, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next election. Never is an extraordinary novel that brims with cautionary wisdom, delivering a heartpounding read that transports readers to the brink of the unimaginable. The Great British Baking Show: A Bake for All Seasons by Great British Baking Show Bakers and Paul Hollywood Mobius, $30 Whether you’re looking to make the best of asparagus in spring, strawberries in summer,
pumpkin in autumn or blood oranges in winter, these recipes from the Bake Off team and the 2021 bakers themselves, offer insight and ins p i r a t i o n throughout the year. From cakes to breads and pies, tarts and pastries, this book shows you how to make the very best of what each season has to offer. The Bright Ages by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry Harper, $29.99 The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light: the fall of Rome, Charlemagne, Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, the genius of Hildegard, and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. The Starless Crown by James Rollins Tor Books, $28.99 A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death. Fleeing, she is drawn into a team of outcasts: a broken soldier; a prince; an imprisoned thief who finds a gleaming artifact—one that will ignite
a power struggle across the globe. On the run, hunted by enemies, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation. History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw Atria Books, $27 Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a wellknown author of dark, macabre children’s books— he’s led to a place many believed to be a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded by likeminded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it…he disappears. Just like St. James. Years later, Theo, a member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, and her sister keep from each other—ones that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed. Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind. n
