My Book Reviews for September 2026
My Book Reviews for September 2026
My Book Reviews for September 2026 comprise two psychological thrillers, a speculative novel, a miscarriage of justice mystery, a Young Adult thriller, a horror novel, a cold-case mystery, a gothic thriller and two literary novels.
It’s 2031 and the USA has disintegrated into militia-controlled sub-states and republics. Ari has been recently released from an 18-year prison sentence after her natural talents for surveillance and premonition led her to a career in corruption and criminality.
One night, to celebrate the end of the curfew in Los Angeles, her flatmate Gloria persuades her to attend a party at a friend’s apartment. The party will have a profound impact on the rest of their lives. Gloria and another guest are seen in different outfits in different rooms as if they have doppelgängers, and the party host disappears and is never seen again. We follow Ari in the decades afterwards and see how her thoughts always circle back to the unfathomable events of that evening.
There is a zooming-in-and-panning-out quality to the perspective as we see Ari in episodes at different points in her life. With a timeline that jumps back and forth to fill in the gaps between the episodes, the storytelling reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.
The second half of the novel is from the viewpoints of characters who seem to have been only on the periphery of Ari’s existence until connections become clear. Strangely, the interweaving of life stories put me in mind of Sadie Smith’s White Teeth.
Themes remained obscure to me for quite some time. However, I ultimately came to enjoy journeying through life with Ari and kept returning to the book as if sitting down with an old friend. Gradually the pieces of Ari’s fractured perspective assembled to shine a light on parallel worlds, climate change, totalitarianism and personal resilience. I found the ending joyous. The novel posed questions about destiny and forks in time.
I’ve since found out the protagonist features in two earlier books, The Singer’s Gun and The Glass Hotel. Although it worked well as a standalone, it might be best to start with The Singer’s Gun if you want to enjoy Emily St. John Mandel’s other works.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
The stressed, vulnerable and resilient protagonist, Sarah, is the stepmother of the title, but is she wicked to do whatever it takes to escape her past and protect her children?
A perfect book for fans of twisty and pacy domestic thrillers.
Taken from the blurb:
When Sarah arrives at the school gate to pick up her two stepchildren, Izzy and Patrick, the teacher informs her that her partner, Mike, removed them from school earlier in the day. All of Sarah's calls to Mike go to voicemail. Worse is to come when the police say that as she and Mike are not legally married, and he is the children's father, there is nothing they or Sarah can do. Then she receives a text message from Mike: Don't go home. It's not safe. What has Mike been hiding? Where are their children? How can Sarah get her family back? Before it's too late...
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
This book will be published on 24 September.
From the blurb:
When a body is found in the woods following a ferocious storm, it appears to be an open and closed case. But something doesn’t add up, and what seemed a tragic accident soon turns into a murder investigation. As the police come under pressure to solve the tragedy and with no witnesses, their case is falling apart. Until they find their suspect: an outsider with no alibi. When the suspect confesses, the police are happy to close the case. But what if there was foul play involved? What if someone is about to get away with murder…
Another solid standalone from crime writing supremo Michael Wood.
Trademarks of this author are: getting the reader to care about the victim (and in this case also the suspect) before they meet their fate; and his matter-of-fact, unflinching way of tackling difficult subjects.
This starts as a murder mystery and becomes a miscarriage of justice story. Told from multiple viewpoints, it features a crusading lawyer and a determined female police officer across the 1980s and 1990s.
And Then We Screamed by Holly Bourne
Clover takes a job on the school newspaper to get closer to Brody, the crush of her life. Unfortunately, Brody’s only passion is to find a killer story that will get him onto the best university journalism course.
One day, Abigail, star cheerleader and all-round golden girl, starts screaming. When more girls scream, Brody finds his story.
I thought immediately of the 2011/2 real-life case of mostly teenage girls – starting with cheerleaders – at a high school in Le Roy, New York who developed severe tics. The educational, environmental and medical responses to the screaming in Holly Bourne’s novel follow closely how the real-life situation evolved. However, although the diagnosis was comparable, I don’t think a root cause was identified.
Rather than a twisty thriller, And Then We Screamed is an exploration of an important theme. Many readers will work out what’s causing the screams early on and will root for Clover and Brody as they unravel the mystery and face profound and personal issues of right and wrong.
I liked the extra momentum of the interviews with the wider cast of characters and science experts years later. I learned a lot I didn’t know about screaming.
There were lots of places where lines ended in mid-sentence and some of the expressions seemed British rather than American, but I expect these will be sorted in the final edit. The voices of the protagonists seemed younger than seventeen but I’m guessing that’s because the readership is likely to be younger teens. I was surprised that two characters willingly put themselves in physical proximity to another one as this seemed at odds with their backstories. However, the author does a good job of justifying this in dialogue towards the end of the book.
This is a page-turning read that shines a light on a shocking issue in an accessible way and it speaks to young readers about how to take back personal power after suffering trauma.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
A Disneyesque film company expands from blockbuster movies and theme parks into creating perfect towns. Not all are a success, but the original model, Serenity Falls in Florida, is the jewel in the company’s crown and about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Houses are beautiful, amenities are well appointed and crime is non-existent.
When British father and daughter, Dan and Sadie, discover they have inherited a house there, it seems like the answer to all their problems. But they soon learn that beneath its veneer, the town is less serenity and more Stepford.
The story is told from the viewpoints of Dan and Sadie. We also hear from some former residents.
Great world-building, vivid characters, breezy writing, lines of deadpan dialogue and creeping suspense make this mystery a page-turner.
Fans of this novel may also enjoy Matthew Sullivan’s Midnight in Soap Lake.
C.J. Tudor horror titles include terrifyingly brilliant The Burning Girls and The Gathering.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Another good outing for true crime podcaster sleuth Cal Lovett.
He's asked to investigate a case that was closed 40 years earlier when a man was convicted of the savage murder of a woman and two of her young children. Now her third child, who survived the attack, starts to have doubts about the conviction.
Cal's investigation leads him into unexpected danger and also back to another case, the one that has haunted his family for almost his entire life.
It's the fifth and final (for now) book in the series but, because the opening chapters provide a recap, it can be read as a standalone.
An enjoyable and fluently written read.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.
The Island of the Lost by Daisy Stephens
Liv doesn't believe in ghosts.
There is a small island off the coast of Italy that was once the site of a plague quarantine station, and later a psychiatric asylum. It now sits deserted, home only to the shadows of local folklore.
Liv doesn't believe her sister is dead.
Granted special permission to visit for a writing assignment, Liv sets sail for the abandoned island, but only she knows the real reason. She is certain it is the last place her twin sister Mia visited before she vanished eighteen months ago.
But Liv believes in whatever is on this island.
Alone with only her colleague Sam, Liv can't deny how unsettling the place truly is. How can a church tower toll when there is no bell? What is the ghostly figure in her peripheral vision? And why can she smell the smoke of burning bodies?
A fluently written, stranded-on-an-island thriller, threaded with atmospheric description and… ghosts. Gothic and ghoulish. Fans of the genre will enjoy this.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson
The writing has the feel of a literary novel from the 1950s, which was no doubt the author’s intention as the story takes place in 1951. Protagonist Harry Flynn finds himself working in the office for the Festival of Britain. He’s a likeable character who carries hidden trauma. Whenever he’s asked what he did in the War, he says he was in a reserved occupation on the Railway. He omits to mention is that it was the Burma Railway as a prisoner of war of the Japanese.
The first half of the novel is a rather tongue-in-cheek description of preparations for the Festival. (The author’s note at the end of the book indicates that the more fore-fetched anecdotes were, in fact, true, documented incidents.)
The second half becomes a spy mystery when one of Harry’s lady friends goes missing and he’s accused of murder.
Ideal for fans of quirky, period-pieces literary novels.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Farewell to Eden by Sebastian Faulks
Taken from the blurb: Philip Deval, a Normandy veteran, arrives in Palestine on a peace-keeping mission in the final days of the British Mandate. War-weary troops marvel at the novelty of oranges and sun – a paradise that belies a fierce new conflict about to erupt.
Some years later, Philip begins teaching at a school in the English countryside and meets the enigmatic music mistress, Frances Darwood. Over long evenings listening to records in her music room, they grow close. But Philip must confront the secrets and scars of all he has lived through – which threaten to upend his future.
A sweeping novel about faith in all its forms, and a rich portrait of an embattled post-war Britain. How, after great suffering, do we retain our humanity, learn to love again, and believe in the promise of a better life?
Ideal for fans of well-researched historical and literary fiction, with the bonus of an unexpected reveal.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
The Wicked Girls by Roz Watkins
Taken from the blurb: In the Cornish village of Peneerie, girls are dying on their seventeenth birthdays and no one can explain why. A curse awoken? Eliza, a serving girl in the local manor house, took her own life on her seventeenth birthday nearly two hundred years ago. She cursed the girls of the village to never see womanhood.
All Kat knows for sure is her daughter Ruby’s birthday is fast approaching. As she races to unravel Eliza’s Curse, how far will she go to protect her daughter? And what will it cost to break the cycle of tragedy before it’s too late?
A well-written thriller that tackles hysteria, herd mentality, mind games, sexual violence and misogyny.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.