Publishers Weekly – July 29, 2019

® REVIEWS

54cBOOKLIFE, JULY 29, 2019

I, Claudia

Lin Wilder. Wyatt Mackenzie Imprint, $15.75

(272p) ISBN 978-1-948018-43-2

Wilder (The Fragrance Shed by a Violet)

provides a fresh, entertaining take on one of

the lesser-known women of the Bible:

Claudia Procula, daughter of the last Oracle

of Pythia in Delphi and wife of Lucius

Pontius Pilate. Told from their alternating

perspectives, the story begins with Claudia

recognizing in adolescence that she is gifted

with premonitions and a knack for aca-

demics. Meanwhile, Lucius distinguishes

himself in battle as a standout soldier and

is named Roman tribune by the end of his

first campaign. Lucius moves quickly up

the ranks, but when he is promoted to

Prelate of Judea he realizes he is unable to

control the unrest of the land he now must

govern. After Claudia’s aunt arranges for her

to marry Lucius, she departs for Delphi,

which is also the burial site of her parents.

On her way, she has premonitions of the

tumultuous land where she will live, and

finally meets Lucius as the strife around

Jesus begins. Christian readers will recog-

nize the familiar story that unfolds from

there, as Claudia (a nameless woman in the

Bible) experiences a tormenting dream and

unsuccessfully warns her husband not to

execute Jesus. Wilder paints a vibrant por-

trait of biblical times in this enjoyable story.

Infiltration (Mindspace #1)

A.K. DuBoff. BDL Press, $0.99 e-book (257p)

ASIN B07L95N1ZD

DuBoff (Scions of Change) begins the

Mindspace saga, set after her Cadicle series

in the galaxy-spanning Taran Empire,

with spunky characters, a conventional

plot, and planetary politics. Tararian

Guard Captain Kira Elsar and her specially

trained team are sent to her home planet,

Valta, to infiltrate the MTech laboratory,

which is suspected of using alien nanotech

to conduct experiments on unwilling sub-

jects with telekinetic abilities. Valta’s

unique properties have allowed natural

telepaths to evolve. Kira, who’s able to read

minds and compel people to do her bid-

ding, tussles with Dr. Monica Waylon, the

cartoonishly devilish director of MTech,

who has powers of her own. Meanwhile,

tension is building among neutral Valta,

Empire-loving Elusia, and warlike and

independent Mysar. Adding urgency to

Kira’s mission is her knowledge that

someone is planning to assassinate the

Elusian president. Numerous overlapping

plot threads clutter the story and make it

hard for readers to immerse in the setting,

but the battle mechs and political machi-

nations will appeal to fans of epic space

opera. This breezy but passable series

launch holds some promise for future

works.

Murder at Blackburn Hall

Sara Rosett. McGuffin Ink, $15.99 trade

paper (280p) ISBN 978-0-9988-4317-9

Rosett’s lively sequel to Murder at Archly

Manor continues the adventures of plucky

Olive Belgrave, a young gentlewoman who

has fallen on hard times in post-WWI

England, but who has a talent for solving

mysteries. Olive’s new client, London pub-

lisher Vernon Hightower, asks her to find

missing author R.W. May, whose mystery

novels are the financial mainstay of

Hightower Books. Olive sets off for the vil-

lage of Hadsworth in Kent, where the

writer is believed to reside. To keep her

inquiries discreet, Olive poses as the pub-

lisher’s assistant and stays with Lady Holt

of Blackburn Hall, who believes that Olive

is there to assess her book on etiquette.

When a rainstorm unearths a body, the

police consider the death to be an accident;

Olive disagrees. A second death quickly

follows. Olive’s dashing friend Jasper

Rimington arrives and offers to be her

Watson, saying, “I’d prefer Sherlock, of

course, but that role seems to be taken.”

Olive’s charming narrative voice effortlessly

pulls the reader into a world full of sur-

prising and fascinating period details. Fans

of light historicals will be satisfied.

The Narrows

Travis M. Riddle. Travis M. Riddle, $2.99

e-book (256p) ISBN 978-1-72676-874-0

Fans of Twin Peaks and Stranger Things

will recognize many elements of Riddle’s

story, but he puts his own spin on classic

tropes in this chilling mix of horror and

fantasy. In a quiet suburb in present-day

Shumard, Tex., Oliver and his friends

lament the suicide of their friend Noah.

Desperate to understand why Noah killed

himself, Oliver secretly visits the crime

scene each night. When he sees a man dis-

solve into a puddle of orange goo and begins

to get flashes of an alternate Shumard, he

wonders whether there’s more to the story

of Noah’s death. Soon he ventures into a

preternatural world called the Narrows

where horrors and answers—as well as

further mysteries—await him. Riddle’s

intricate worldbuilding and familiar but

strong narrative arc sustain fear throughout.

However, the author is too eager to answer

readers’ questions, stifling the suspense,

and backstory slows the momentum. The

well-written and highly individualized

characters carry the story through its lapses.

Fans of eerie tales will easily fall into this

one.

★ The Nothing Within

Andy Giesler. Humble Quill, $13.99 trade

paper (552p) ISBN 978-1-73356-764-0

This magical, terrifying, and whimsical

debut is a genuinely original and immersive

take on post-apocalyptic SF. Several genera-

tions after an illness called the Nothing

turned people into chimeras and destroyed

civilization, only Amish culture has sur-

vived. Root, the blind daughter of the vil-

lage weaver, asks too many questions and is

often suspected of being infected with the

Nothing. She grudgingly accepts her other-

ness within her regimented life until a

tragedy in the community causes her to hear

a voice that no one else can. Pushed to her

limits and forced to question everything she

has been taught, Root finds herself solely

responsible for the fate of the world. In a

departure from tales of grim technological

nightmares, this not-quite-dystopian novel

focuses on folk storytelling—with Root at

its center, now old and recounting her life

story to future generations—and the per-

sonal nature of questioning what is normal.

Every word is placed as carefully as a quilt

square. This is a welcome breath of fresh air

and calm after the apocalyptic storm.

Overture

Skye Warren. Book Beautiful, $3.99 e-book

(312p) ISBN 978-1-940518-90-9

Warren (Falling for the Beast) combines

hot love scenes and suspense of questionable

plausibility in this erotic romantic thriller,

the first of a planned trilogy. Violin prodigy

Samantha Brooks was placed into the cus-