Book Reviews

Malinda Lo's new book sets up a classic conflict — townie kids versus prep schoolers — and adds nuanced queer characters. Despite a flawed second half, A Line in the Dark has much to offer.

The Irish novelist is known for his sense of humor — but his latest, about a man abused in his youth by Catholic priests, is distressing and at times almost unbearable. It's also his best book yet.

Kate Winkler Dawson's new book chronicles The Great Smog of 1952, when moist air from the Gulf Stream stalled for days over London, mixing with poisonous gases and causing more than 12,000 deaths.

Tom Hanks' well-documented obsession with typewriters is on display in his new story collection, tales linked not just by typewriters but by a benign, humane view of people and their many foibles.

Frances Hardinge's captivating tale follows a girl during the English Civil War who discovers she has the power to invite ghosts into herself — a power that puts her in danger, but can also save her.

An FBI investigator once famously said "There are no female serial killers," but Tori Telfer sets out to prove him wrong with this gruesome new account of multiply-murderous women throughout history.

There's one thing romance heroes have in common — whether a duke, a workaholic billionaire or reality TV hunk: They look really good with their shirts off. Here are three of our favorites this month.

Comic artist Ulli Lust's unique, surreal style proves a bad match for this adaptation of a historical novel about the children of Joseph Goebbels and their last days in Adolf Hitler's bunker.

Peter Manseau skillfully weaves together spirituality, technology and the legacy of the Civil War to tell the story of a "spirit photographer" on trial for claiming he could take pictures of ghosts.

For most of recorded history, men have held power over women. Naomi Alderman's new novel imagines a world where women suddenly have power — actual electrical power — to oppress, hurt and kill men.