At Check These Out!, each month you will find a few recently published or upcoming titles that are worth “checking out” from the library. All titles are either currently available or have a record in the catalog where you can place a hold and be among the first to read them when they hit the library's shelves. For many of these titles, you will also find interviews with the author on the LAPL Blog and/or a longer, more in depth review on LAPL Reads.
Goss, the author of the eminently enjoyable The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter and European Travel For The Monstrous Gentlewoman, is also a poet and the author of several short stories. This is a collection of her work in both formats and it is a must read for fans of her novels or of fairy tale inspired fiction.
Clark, author of The Black God’s Drums, returns to the alternate Egypt of 1912 and the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities from his short story “A Dead Djinn in Cairo.” In this story, readers follow ministry agents as they try to determine how, and why, Tram Car 015 appears to be haunted. This new novella proves that P. Djeli Clark is a new name in fantasy to watch!
30 years ago, the Kingfisher prowled the streets of Chicago, dispensing his own brand of vigilante justice. When found by the Chicago Police Department, the criminals were battered and near death or dead. Some saw him as a crime-fighting avenger, others see him as a renegade menace dispensing lethal, or near lethal, retribution. And, then, suddenly, he was gone. The CPD declared him dead and the city held a funeral that was attended by thousands.
Today, a masked terrorist claims that the CPD faked the Kingfisher’s death and demands that they release proof that the Kingfisher is still alive. Unless they do that, the hostages that he has taken will die, one by one. Debut author T.J. Martinson takes the basic elements of Batman’s mythos and spins from them a markedly more realistic and darker crime thriller and a tremendous debut novel.
Kim Michelle Richardson tells two stories that have, until now, been overlooked in most fiction and history: the story of the blue people of Kentucky and the Pack Horse Librarians of the 1930s, both of whom are incredible examples of resilience to triumph over difficult circumstances. This is a love letter to the women who daily risked their lives delivering books and other reading materials to those far removed from the traditional realms of “book learning.” It is also an ode to a group of people that, as with all racism, were subjected to terrible treatment and crimes because of the color of their skin. This is a compelling and enjoyable read.
In the second book in the Daniel Hawthorne mystery series, author Anthony Horowitz, and his fictional doppelganger, tackle solving who killed celebrity-divorce attorney Richard Pryce with a £3,000 bottle of wine and then painted a three digit number on the wall. And, most importantly, which of Pryce’s many, many enemies would have been motivated to murder him? The mystery presented is top notch, the writing is sharp, the humor is wickedly pointed and the resolution is more than satisfying. This series is off to a marvelous start!
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