Books'n'Bytes

The Stacks

All book reviews

773 honest reviews across fiction, non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi, romance, and more.

Showing 697-720 of 773

So Vile a Sin

So Vile a Sin

by Ben Aaronovitch

A 1997 Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures novel co-written by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman. Operatic, dense, the end of a long arc.

The Only Good Yankee

The Only Good Yankee

by Jeff Abbott

The second Jordan Poteet mystery. Jeff Abbott loosening up and writing his small Texas town with full confidence.

Titanicus

Titanicus

by Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett writing the Warhammer 40K novel that nobody asked for and that turned out to be one of his best. Giant war-machines, factory cities, and an honest piece of social fiction underneath the metal.

The Tutor

The Tutor

by Peter Abrahams

Peter Abrahams's slow-burning suburban thriller about a tutor who is not what he says he is.

Tears of Pearl

Tears of Pearl

by Tasha Alexander

The fourth Lady Emily mystery. Constantinople, harem politics, and Tasha Alexander's most ambitious setting to date.

The Toughest Indian in the World

The Toughest Indian in the World

by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie's 2000 story collection. Tougher, sadder, more sexually frank than Lone Ranger and Tonto. The follow-up earns itself.

The Rise and Fall of a Dragonking

The Rise and Fall of a Dragonking

by Lynn Abbey

Lynn Abbey wrapping up the Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas. The series ending the setting deserved.

A Most Contagious Game

A Most Contagious Game

by Catherine Aird

Catherine Aird's 1967 standalone, written between her first two Sloan novels. Quieter, sharper, and a small early-career marvel.

Stiff News

Stiff News

by Catherine Aird

The 17th Sloan procedural. A retirement-home death that may not be natural. Catherine Aird at her most institutional and her most quietly biting.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day

by Brian W. Aldiss

Brian Aldiss writing a literary novel about the IRA bombing of Brighton. SF writer in straight-fiction mode.

The Purity of Vengeance

The Purity of Vengeance

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The fourth Department Q novel. The Danish eugenics program at Sprogo, four decades on. Adler-Olsen at his most morally serious.

The Marco Effect

The Marco Effect

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The fifth Department Q novel. A Roma boy on the run from his family is the only witness to something the Danish foreign ministry is hiding.

Garden Spells

Garden Spells

by Sarah Addison Allen

Magical realism with Southern gothic edges. The Waverley sisters and a garden that pays attention to who comes near it.

Denial

Denial

by Keith Ablow

Keith Ablow's first Frank Clevenger novel. A forensic psychiatrist investigates an apparent suicide that was not. Pre-tabloid Ablow.

In Too Deep

In Too Deep

by Cherry Adair

Cherry Adair doing T-FLAC romantic suspense. Globe-hopping, ridiculous, and exactly as fun as it knows it is.

Dead Man's Bones

Dead Man's Bones

by Susan Wittig Albert

A mid-series China Bayles mystery. Herb mysteries are a niche and Susan Wittig Albert is the queen of it.

Cult: A Novel of Brainwashing and Death

Cult: A Novel of Brainwashing and Death

by Warren Adler

Warren Adler in domestic-thriller mode. A daughter's deprogramming, a parent's panic, and a mid-80s look at the cult crisis.

Nerve Damage

Nerve Damage

by Peter Abrahams

Peter Abrahams writing about a sculptor with a terminal diagnosis and unfinished business. Late-period Abrahams at his most controlled.

A Fatal Waltz

A Fatal Waltz

by Tasha Alexander

The third Lady Emily mystery. Vienna, anarchist plots, and Lady Emily's most uncomfortable house-party investigation.

Jack Knave and Fool

Jack Knave and Fool

by Bruce Alexander

The fifth Sir John Fielding mystery. The blind magistrate investigates a murder at the Drury Lane Theatre. Bruce Alexander at his most relaxed.

The Also People

The Also People

by Ben Aaronovitch

Aaronovitch's 1995 Doctor Who novel, riffing on Iain Banks's Culture. Better than tie-in fiction has any right to be.

The Brazen Gambit

The Brazen Gambit

by Lynn Abbey

The first Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas book. Sword-and-sorcery with extreme heat. A Lynn Abbey shared-world entry.

After Effects

After Effects

by Catherine Aird

Inspector Sloan investigating a pharmaceutical company's drug-trial gone wrong. Aird writing institutional procedural.

Mansfield Revisited

Mansfield Revisited

by Joan Aiken

Joan Aiken's sequel to Mansfield Park. Pleasant, careful, slightly more polite than the original.