Book Reviews

Journalist Åsne Seierstad's new book retells the story of Norway's Anders Breivik, from his troubled, violent childhood to his 2011 killing spree. Critic Michael Schaub calls it a painful masterpiece.

Writer Christopher McDougall digs into the exploits of Britain's legendary World War II commandos to form a new definition of heroism: It's a skill you can learn, if you push your body to the limit.

Courtney Summers' new YA novel centers on a girl who was raped at a party, and the community that mostly doesn't believe her. Critic Tasha Robinson says the book's portrait of trauma packs a punch.

Alex Marshall (a pseudonym for an established author taking an epic new path) creates a memorable heroine in Cobalt Zosia, a retired general who's drawn back into blood and struggle against her will.

Benjamin Percy's new thriller re-tells the story of Lewis and Clark's expedition, against a postapocalyptic future backdrop where the Mississippi has dried up and monsters roam the West.

Chigozie Obioma's novel follows a group of young boys who disobey their elders to spend afternoons fishing on the banks of an unlucky river, and the terrible consequences that flow from that choice.

Amelia Gray's new story collection is brimming with gore, guts, madness and deviance. Reviewer Colin Dwyer says Gray is reclaiming a place in literature for our bloody, clumsy, inconvenient bodies.

Jón Gnarr, the punk rocker turned mayor of Rekjavík, paints a beautiful but disturbing portrait of a misfit childhood in his new novel. Critic Michael Schaub calls it hypnotic and heartbreaking.