36 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 8, 2021
Review_FICTION
engineer gives birth while her astronaut
husband is away on the moon; and
“Summer of Our Discontent,” by Tyler
Keevil, in which a father struggles to pro-
tect his family from an insidious techno-
logical menace. Featuring a diverse range
of protagonists and a wide variety of genre
and voice, this anthology nevertheless
forms a cohesive whole, united by deep
thought, emotional truth, and a hopeful
tone. Speculative fiction buffs will find it
well worth searching out. (Aug.)The Past Is Red
Catherynne M. Valente. Tor.com, $20.99
(160p) ISBN 978-1-250-30113-0
Valente expands on her 2016 short
story “The Future Is Blue” with an enter-
taining and moving peregrination that
sometimes raises more questions than it
answers. In “The Future Is Blue,”
reprinted here, 19-year-old Tetley
Abednego recounts the events that made
her “the most hated girl in Garbagetown,”
a far-future settlement built on an island
of floating garbage. In the title novella,
Tetley is 29 and still Garbagetown’s star
dissident: while others dream of a 21st-
century-style life of ease, Tetley loves her
life in Garbagetown in spite of the ostra-
cization that has forced her to strike out
on her own, and she refuses to sacrifice
Garbagetown’s stability to chase a mis-
guided fantasy of dry land. In the course
of her wandering, she finds love and dis-
covers a shocking secret about her world.
Tetley’s distinctive voice and cheerful
resilience in the face of misfortune make
her a delightful guide through this bleak
future, but her mistreatment by nearly
everyone she encounters, along with her
excoriations of humans of the past (the
“fuckwits”), makes for a melancholy
reading experience. This volume will
appeal to fans of Valente’s characteristic
vivid prose and anyone wanting a sketch
of what might remain after the climate
apocalypse. (July)★ Rabbits
Terry Miles. Del Rey, $28 (432p) ISBN 978-1-
984819-65-9
Seemingly benign coincidences
become clues to a mind-bending scav-
enger hunt in Miles’s outstanding debut
technothriller, set in the world of his
podcast of the same name. Protagonist K’sHighest Law
finds NCIS
agent Lawson
Pacheco, who
lost part of a leg
while leading a
Seal Team Six
platoon years
before, dealing
with a horri-
fying murder
case with a per-
sonal connection. Pacheco is part of the
response team called to the Norfolk, Va.,
house of Navy Lt. Cmdr. John Casey, a
former brother-in-arms. In the living room
are the mutilated bodies of Casey, his wife,
and their two teenage daughters. Only the
oldest daughter, a high school senior,
escaped the massacre, because she was away
from home at the time. When investigators
suggest that the crime was a murder-suicide
carried out by Casey, Pacheco is appalled, as
he believes his friend incapable of commit-
ting such atrocities. Instead, he suspects the
carnage relates to Casey’s role as a whistle-
blower who implicated a Seal Team Six cap-
tain in war crimes committed in Syria while
Pacheco served there. The violence extends
beyond the Caseys, and Piniero doesn’t pull
any punches as he expertly blends action
and character. This complex, intelligent,
and suspenseful thriller marks its author as
a significant talent. (Self-published)SF/Fantasy/Horror
Seasons Between Us: Tales of
Identities and Memories
Edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law.
Laksa, $28 (360p) ISBN 978-1-988140-16-2
This uplifting fourth installment to the
Laksa Anthology series (after Shades Within
Us) brings together 23 authors of science
fiction, fantasy, and horror, with stories and
poems ranging from mildly speculative to
full-blown secondary-world fantasy. Each
piece explores the concept of the seasons of
a life as characters grapple with coming of
age, growing old, generational trauma, and
healing. Highlights include “A Grave
Between Them” by Karina Sumner-Smith,
in which a teenage protagonist is forced at
gunpoint to bring someone back from the
dead; “Messages Left in Transit, Devices
Out of Sync” by S.B. Divya, in which antheir arrival, Hal and Evan stumble upon
a dead dog on the outskirts of the small
town. The animal, which has been tor-
tured and murdered, turns out to have
belonged to Constable Mick Goodenough,
another recent transplant to Moorabool,
who’s on probation after being demoted
from detective. Later, while Hal’s father is
away on a business trip, his mother
receives a series of harassing phone calls
from a man who whistles in an unnerving
way. When the Humphries get little
support from the police other than
Goodenough, Hal decides to investigate
on his own. The process unearths dark
secrets within the tight-knit community
as Hal faces betrayal by those he loves
most. This enigmatic novel will disturb
animal lovers, but its eerie atmospherics
will enthrall others. Fans of Outback noir
will want to check it out. (May)Peaches and Schemes:
A Georgia B&B Mystery
Anna Gerard. Crooked Lane, $26.99 (304p)
ISBN 978-1-64385-584-4
In Gerard’s easy-going third Georgia
B&B mystery (after 2020’s Peachy Scream),
kind, good-natured Nina Fleet, owner of
Fleet House, a bed-and-breakfast in
Cymbeline, Ga., decides to increase her
income by offering Fleet House as a venue
for weddings. To this end, she participates
in the third annual Veils and Vanities
Bridal Expo. Nina is grateful for the help
and encouragement of new friend
Roxanna Quarry, an event planner and
“the queen of all things wedding.” At the
end of the bridal gown fashion show, an
oversize faux wedding cake is rolled onto
the runway. When it’s opened, a lifeless
Roxanna falls out with a scarf wrapped
around her neck. With the aid of her hand-
some tenant Harry Westcott, an unem-
ployed actor, Nina sets out to catch the
killer. Along the way, she discovers that
Roxanna often bent the truth to breaking
point. Harry proves to be an unusual
potential love interest, and pleasant char-
acters compensate for the rushed ending.
Cozy fans will find plenty to like. Agent:
Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (May)★ Things We Cannot Unsee
R.J. Pineiro. Pineiro, $6 e-book (351p)
ASIN B08HM7HZ18
Pineiro’s high-octane sequel to 2020’s