A Study in Redby Connie GaultPublished by Thistledown PressReview by Brandon Fick$24.95 ISBN 9781771872904 A Study in Red is aptly named. It evokes Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel. Literally, the novel is a study of red emotions like lust, anger, and jealousy. Edgar Degas’ painting, Combing the Hair, nicknamed “the big red monster,” is a subject of fascination for one of A Study in Red’s protagonists, the painting’s ambiguity and eroticism key to understanding the novel’s aims. The word “study” is also well chosen, as this is a highly intelligent work of fiction that circles a crucial event in the past, putting its two female leads under the microscope. Summer is the perfect time to read this mystery that generates considerable suspense without resorting to genre-specific tropes. There are two narrators in A Study in Red, Amy and Carol, and part of the suspense comes from the alternating nature of their narration. Connie Gault renders their voices with precision and considerable difference. It is a masterclass in psychological writing. Amy is introduced first, on the run, speaking in terse sentences: “I left Hattie’s place after everyone else. I left the cabins empty, the pool drained. I’d like to…

Ashme’s Songby Brad C. AndersonPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $26.99 ISBN 9781998273164 When a Brad C. Anderson book drops into my life, I know I am in for an entertaining ride! I loved his last book, Duatero, so my expectations for Ashme’s Song were high. And it absolutely delivered! Ashme is the main character in this dystopian science fiction novel. An “indigo child” with the ability to manipulate technology to her will, she lives in New Mesopotamia, a futuristic world shaped by control and conformity. She spends much of the story protecting her twin brother, who is quirky and neurodivergent—traits that are not prized in their society.  For me, this is ultimately a story of one’s calling versus one’s loyalty, a struggle that people have faced throughout history. Seeing this theme play out in the future kept me glued to the pages. Ashme is fiercely protective of her brother, yet equally drawn to join the resistance against the regime ruling her country. Those competing pulls wage a constant battle within her. It’s an age-old conflict, told through a fresh lens.  Even as AI and genetic modification become more common in our everyday world, I couldn’t quite imagine a…

HopeStreetby Bel TerrillPublished by Pete’s PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781997713029 If you’re into dystopian stories with a tech twist, HopeStreet needs to be on your radar. HopeStreet centres around a city named Toivo – picture a futuristic, grim version of Toronto. It is a bleak city ruled by AI that has stripped its residents of autonomy and joy. Enter HopeStreet, a total-immersion virtual reality game where users plug into gamer pods and all their senses are replaced. Players design a world they want to live in and everything they see, touch, feel, and taste is real. The main character, Tycho, is a Basic, a term referring to people who aren’t Plugged. Plugged people wear a Piece behind their ear, a device that allows for seamless communication but also allows others to see what they are thinking and feeling. Those who wear a Piece are safe but also easily controlled by governing bodies. The Plugged/Basic divide is an interesting concept. Sadly, the the number of free-thinking Basic people in Toivo are dwindling by the day.  The intrigue keeps ramping up as Tycho and his group of rebel friends infiltrate HopeStreet in an attempt to keep AI from taking over…

Gods of a New Worldby Ryan MelsomPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Michelle Shaw$26.99 ISBN 9781998273379 A mind-bending thriller set in a dystopian future is not something I usually read, but Ryan Melsom’s immersive world and powerful writing in Gods of a New World kept me turning the pages. All 336 of them! What initially drew me to the book was its premise. A thriller set in a world controlled and reshaped by trillionaires using superpowered AIs – “a world where miracles are engineered and secret technology is wired into the very air”. It sounded frighteningly almost relatable. Within this world we are introduced to the two central characters: James Kessler – a childhood survivor of the “Bad Times” (when the world as we know it crumbled), who is now living a very pleasant life as a cog in the new social structure; and Maree Shell – a privileged executive living the high life in the controlling hierarchy of the new society. These two unlikely collaborators are confronted with a frightening conspiracy by the gods of this new world to seize control of reality itself, by encoding their consciousness into the world — stripping away the free will of the world’s…

Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Dieby Harriet RichardsPublished by Shadowpaw Press RepriseReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781998273317 This compact collection of ten short stories delivers a nonstop emotional rollercoaster. Richards explores heavy themes – death and dying, family dynamics, sibling relationships, love, loss – but what stands out is how hope runs through it. It packs a punch by taking raw situations and humanizing them.  While I enjoyed all ten tales (not something I can usually say in a short story collection), my favorite was Andrea’s Kitchen. It comes in at just under seven pages but it leaves a lasting impact. It tells the story of a woman blessed and burdened by her beauty and how that has played out in her life, for better or worse. A close second was Marine and Jonathan, Plus Carmalita’s Journal, the longest story at thirty pages. The layout of the tale was cool as parts of it were journal entries, hence the title. It follows the story of the three people in the title from adolescence into adulthood and the complications that arise. Most of the stories quietly linger, resurfacing hours or even days later.  I know a book is special when I’m…

Twice Cursed: An Ever After Tales Collectionby Robyn TockerPublished by Pete’s PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781069345998 Twice Cursed, the fifth installment of Robyn Tocker’s Ever After Tales series, takes a beloved fairy tale and gives it a fresh twist. Tocker began developing this series when she was just twelve-years-old and what a great idea for a book collection it is! She takes classic fairy tales and reworks them, putting a creative and entertaining spin on them. Tocker plans for the series to eventually span sixteen books. Each tale is set in a different country and in a different time period, adding to the literary punch. Twice Cursed is a spin-off from the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. It takes place in the 1700s, a hundred years after Brier Rose woke from her century-long sleep. Now married to Tsar Leo and living on the outskirts of the haunted forest, she falls into a second cursed sleep. Her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Eliza, must uncover the cause and break the spell, aided by a cast of ragtag characters. (I did struggle to keep all the characters straight at first, but once I made a quick list to tuck inside the book it was much easier to follow.)   As…

The Laundrymanby Dwayne BrennaPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Brandon Fick$26.99 ISBN 9781998273522 If you’re looking for a fast-paced historical crime novel, presenting a cross-section of frontier life and a region on the brink of massive changes, then The Laundryman is for you. What Dwayne Brenna achieves in his third novel is twofold: a mystery with twists and turns and two protagonists of differing but complementary personalities; plus, like most worthwhile historical fiction, he touches on issues we still deal with today, including racism, corruption, and the nature of justice. This might sound like a heavy story, and while solving murders is at the heart of The Laundryman, Brenna’s work is more along the lines of Agatha Christie than the ruthless westerns of Cormac McCarthy. The Laundryman focuses on two North-West Mounted Police Officers: Corporal Belvedere, a hard-drinking, laudanum-using officer with five years of experience, and Surgeon Virgil Montgomery, a strait-laced recruit haunted by mistakes in his previous medical practice. They are sent from Battleford to investigate the murder of a Chinese laundryman in Prince Albert in the fall of 1883. But what initially seems to be a one-off murder over a disagreement or racial prejudice expands into a wider conspiracy…

Broken Scarecrows: Deceit and Cheatby D.R. CameronPublished by Cameron NarrativesReview by Toby A. Welch$25.00 ISBN 9781738687763 Broken Scarecrows is the third book in D. R. Cameron’s satirical fiction series exploring regulatory bodies and whistleblowers.  The series begins with Dysfunctional Regulatory Bodies: Scarecrows and Stupidity, where readers are introduced to BruceG, a man locked in battle with regulatory bodies. The conflict escalates in book two, Dysfunctional Regulatory Bodies: Cowpies and Lies, as BruceG takes on the environment ministry (Ministry of GoodforAll.) By the time you dive into Broken Scarecrows, the regulatory system is almost entirely broken – and it’s time to start fixing things.  In this third book, BruceG clashes with the LOG (League of Growers) and the LOP (League of Prosecutors) after whistleblowing on questionable bylaws passed by council. While the story builds on earlier events, new readers to the author’s work don’t need to worry about jumping in here. Cameron includes a detailed preface summarizing the first two books, along with appendices at the back that provide even more background. Even though I read the first two installments, I found these sections helpful as a refresher. Given the large cast of characters in Broken Scarecrows, Cameron thoughtfully provides a list of main characters near the front of…

Honeydewby Ben ZalkindPublished by Radiant PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $25.00 ISBN 9781998926350 Scholars love to argue that all stories fall into a handful of universal plots: love, good versus evil, coming of age, survival, identity, family, power, justice, loss, and redemption. But within each of those themes is a great deal of variety. Books that stay with me are the ones that resist easy categorization. Honeydew is one of those rare reads. It gave me Ayn Rand vibes – think Atlas Shrugged – but through a satirical and Canadian lens. I had the title Honeydew wrong – I assumed melon, not man. But it’s actually the surname of a main character, celebrity CEO Moses Honeydew. He is described as a “sneaky snake,” a “smarmy dick,” and a “nerd emperor,” among others. Honeydew is an interesting character to watch unfold, but I would expect nothing less from a guy who owns a private space station.   Trying to sum up what Honeydew is about without giving too much away is a challenging task. The main character is a spunky gal named Rose Gold who befriends a group of young rebels that are on an uphill battle against a corporate megalomaniac. Their struggle plays out like a high-tech David versus Goliath…

A Fondness for the Reckless: A Ten Past Midnight Storyby Jennifer Jacoby-SmithPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.95 ISBN 9781778690488 Life is busy and reading time often gets squeezed between laundry cycles and those last minutes before sleep takes a hold of me. That’s my reality, even as a book nerd. But all that – my day job, the house chores, even my gym classes – came to a screeching halt when I picked up A Fondness for the Reckless. I couldn’t put this entertaining book down! You don’t have to be interested in the music industry – I’m not – to fall into Indie’s fascinating world. The book follows him from a boy with big dreams of being a music star to someone actually living the life: recording, performing, navigating the personalities of a boy band, and figuring out who he is and what he wants. The details of the journey are crisp and surprisingly addictive.  A Fondness for the Reckless jumps all over the place in terms of timelines. We meet present-day Indie in 2016 as he jets off to secure a music deal. We rewind to 2009 and 2010, when he is a teen sneaking into…