Fiction Reviews
FEBRUARY 2, 2026 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 87
and the Found ) and V.E. Schwab ( The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ). Invited to the remote Scottish island of Skelbrae by bestselling thriller writer Arthur Fletch, a half-dozen commer- cially challenged authors—ranging from horror writer Kenzo Gray to bubbly YA novelist Millie Mitchell— assemble in his castle for one of his legendary salons. But after all the invitees sign NDAs, Fletch’s agent drops a bombshell: Fletch is dead, and the group has actually been sum- moned to compete in a 72-hour competition to ghostwrite the final chapter of his blockbuster Petrarch series. The winner will receive $1 million and a three-book deal with a healthy marketing budget. Soon enough, the contest morphs from battle of wits to cutthroat competition darker and twistier than the secret passageways honeycombing Fletch’s castle. In the home stretch, the narrative takes a turn so head-spin- ning it nearly undermines the careful plotting that came before, but fortunately Clarke has a few more surprises in store. The result is nothing short of dazzling. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Apr.) Spies and Other Gods James Wolff . Atlantic Crime, $27 (272p) ISBN 978-0-8021-6767-5 Former British intelligence officer Wolff follows his excellent Discipline Files trilogy with a quirky and captivating espionage thriller. The action kicks off with the British intel- ligence service receiving an anony- mous complaint regarding a covert operation to identify the assassin who murdered 10 people across Europe. Aphra McQueen, a researcher with Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, is tasked with digging into the matter. She has barely begun her investigation when she’s falsely accused of stealing a top-secret file, and the inquest is closed. Aphra has an undisclosed personal connection to the investigation, however, so she reaches out to Zak, a British Syrian dentist, after saving his contact infor- mation from the case file. Zak is a distant acquaintance of the suspected
existence through the technology in their homes and vehicles. Kate is supposed to help move Harold into a seniors’ residence so the Grid can subdivide the house into apartments, having deemed the space too large for Harold to keep on his own. As this scheme unfolds, the vacuum, who names herself Scout after the To Kill a Mockingbird character beloved by Harold, sets out to save the house and Harold’s belongings, which the Grid wants for a museum. Dixon crafts a fascinating character in Scout, who brims with humanity, as when she observes that a “House with- out Humans was really no House at all.” The story avoids sentimentality, reaching an ending that feels genu- inely hopeful despite the dystopian trappings. Readers will be endeared by this inspired domestic drama. Agent: Hilary McMahon, Westwood Creative Artists. (Apr.) MYSTERIES & THRILLERS Five Ilona Bannister. Crown, $28 (240p) ISBN 979-8-217-08802-7 “Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station,” begins this sharply observed suspense novel from Bannister ( Little Prisons ). The players are a cross-section of contem- porary British commuters assembled at a train platform just outside of London. Emma, an emotionally walled-off sin- gle mother, struggles with the erratic behavior of her brilliant, neurodiver- gent six-year-old son, Gideon. Liam— a wealthy, controlling businessman— is also present. Mrs. Worth, a 78-year- old retired forensic pathologist, sits in silent judgment of Emma as she’s burdened by her own private traumas. Sonny, a mixed-race 27-year-old bat- tling grief and a gambling addiction, is motivated by an initially unexplained desperation that comes into focus as the action progresses. When Gideon’s reckless dash toward the tracks sparks panic in the crowd, Emma and Liam rush to rescue him before they clash and Gideon lashes out at Liam. Then Mrs. Worth collapses, and tragedy ensues. The main action takes place across a condensed matter of minutes,
but Bannister fleshes it out with insight- ful dives into her characters’ pasts (some more convincing than others) and darkly funny asides from an omniscient narrator who addresses the reader directly. Bannister’s compassion and gift for nerve-shredding tension make this a ride worth taking. Agent: Rebecca Gradinger, UTA. (May) Yesteryear Caro Claire Burke. Knopf, $30 (400p) ISBN 978-0-593-80421-6 A tradwife influencer gets trapped inside the harsh life of an early-19th- century homesteader in Burke’s crafty and cutting debut. To her millions of Instagram followers, Natalie Heller Mills is a “flawless Christian woman” lead- ing an idyllic life on the self-sustaining Yesteryear Ranch with her hardworking husband, Caleb, and their five kids. In reality, the family’s remote Idaho farm is a money pit, Caleb is an internet- addicted conspiracist, and nannies raise the children while a live-in producer curates Natalie’s content, which pays the bills. When Natalie wakes one morning in a rustic facsimile of her home with a family that resembles hers but isn’t, it appears that she has traveled back in time to 1805. Is she a kidnapping victim, an unconsenting reality show contestant, or something more bizarre? All she knows for sure is that the bear traps and boredom of the early 19th century might kill her before she finds out (“Tomorrow, I will not have to shit in a rickety old shed outside”). Burke’s scathing satire of the conservative media complex unfolds from Natalie’s increasingly delusional first-person per- spective as the action ping-pongs back and forth in time. Though the climactic plot twist undercuts some of the book’s bite, the narrative is plenty riveting. Burke is off to an auspicious start. Agent: Lisa Grubka, UTA. (Apr.) The Ending Writes Itself Evelyn Clarke. Harper, $30 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-344461-4 ★ ❘ A quirky cast of wordsmiths vies for a life-altering prize in this deviously plotted satire of the publishing industry from Clarke, a pseudonym for Cat Clarke ( The Lost
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