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Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sarah Pinborough’s crackling thriller BEHIND HER EYES reminded me a lot of Paula Hawkins’s THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN in a few ways: the voice, the tone, the secrets that lie behind the facade of a seemingly perfect marriage. But EYES is very much its own novel, and what a novel it is! Lonely single mother Louise goes out one night to the local pub, meets a man she likes named David, and they kiss. The next day, she learns that not only is David married, he’s her new boss. Then Louise runs into Adele, David’s wife, on the street, and even as she embarks on an affair with David, she and Adele become fast friends. Soon Louise is leading a double life, keeping the truth from both of them, but the time to come clean is quickly running out. And that’s just the beginning! This novel is so twisty-turny, it constantly surprised me and kept me guessing. The last four pages completely blew my mind with a twist I did not see coming — and I can’t stress enough how rare it is for me not to see a twist coming these days! BEHIND HER EYES is a masterwork of suspense, marvelously written and perfectly structured. It deserves every ounce of praise that has been heaped upon it. If you’re looking for your next thriller to read, this is the book!

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Interzone 280, including my story “Coriander for the Hidden,” and my name on the muthafukkin’ cover! Hitting the shelves in March!

Hey, writers and writers-in-training! My LitReactor class on how to write fast-paced novels your readers won’t be able to put down is happening again on March 6th! Sign up today, learn valuable lessons, and most importantly, leave class with the opening pages of your novel written and critiqued!

Here’s the link: Writing Fast-Paced Novels with Nicholas Kaufmann

Nothing Is Everything by Simon Strantzas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simon Strantzas’s fifth collection brings together ten prime examples of why he’s considered one of the best authors of “strange stories” working today. He’s a master at building a sense of unease and keeping his readers off-balance. You won’t find explanations for supernatural occurrences in a Simon Strantzas story, but you will find yourself thinking about them long after you’ve read them. Among the strongest pieces in this collection, in my opinion, are the novella “All Reality Blossoms in Flames,” in which a group of anti-establishment artists take up a cause that turns out to be part of something much larger than they can control, and “The Terrific Mr. Toucan,” in which a cheap dinner-theater magic show goes hauntingly awry. But the strongest story in the collection, and my absolute favorite, is “Ghost Dogs,” which is an expert piece of dark science fiction that utilizes pitch-perfect voice and tone. An original story to the collection, “Ghost Dogs” is worth the cover price alone. Strantzas’s fiction continues to leave me in awe, and NOTHING IS EVERYTHING is a welcome addition to his growing body of work.

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