Books: 803

“Project Hail Mary”
Andy Weir
Ballantine Books
$22

Our sun is dimming, and without a cure, humanity and all Earthly life have only years to live. Neighboring stars, save one, are similarly infected by this single-celled, fast-replicating nano-dot, drawing energy from starlight. A draconian American, female taskmaster is given universal, unlimited powers to fabricate a ship and select a three-man crew to sleep aboard, drugged, for 13 years on a one-way mission to immune Tau Ceti. Three embark, only one awakes; a shanghaied secondary-school biology teacher, now rendered amnesiac to his very name (Ryland Grace). He and the reader learn together. Grace navigates alone, until — and that’s the kicker — while the backstory fills us both in flashback. Solo survivor, yet the book revolves around friendship and loyalty as well as star-eating amoebae. A knob- and emotion-twisting read.

“Broken Truths”
Alessandro Robecchi, tr. Gregory Conti
Other Press
$17.99

Acclaimed film director Manlio Parrini abandoned cinema following his masterpiece, “Broken Truths,” declaring the film industry “a place without truth.” Now over 70, he’s planning a comeback concerning crime novelist Augusto de Angelis, ruined by fascist censorship and brutally murdered in 1944, a case Parrini believes remains unsolved. Grotesquely, the widow in the adjoining villa is herself brutally murdered, strangled, just steps away. Reality, police investigations, publicity hounds and reporters become threaded through Parrini’s life as he insists on hewing to the truth of De Angelis’ murder and to the truth of his own cinematic vision. But further research discovers a witness at the site of De Angelis’ fatal beating, while the next-door murder becomes as complex and shrouded as that of the mystery author. Where is the truth?

“To Kill a Queen”
Amie McNee
Crooked Lane
$19.99

London, 1579. Young Jack, slum crime-lord Axe’s eldest, yearns to atone for earlier criminality. Living hand-to-mouth, he gathers evidence for JP Ben and mentor Damian, the coroner. Opportunity arises from an attempt on QEI while enjoying a Thames outing. Safe, but a guard was killed. By bullet or crossbow? No matter; wanted is a Scots perp’s arrest to thwart the Queen’s imminent marriage. Oh. Jack was born Jacqueline, raised a lad, and lives so. If you’re looking for a tidy plot, this isn’t your read. McNee stirs theater, family tensions, class, gender, murder and deceit into a fine labyrinth. And there’s love — always lurking — and truth, as fragile, malleable and illusory centuries ago as it is today. You think you’ve unraveled the mystery? Believe me. You haven’t. A real page-turner.

“Witch of the Shadow Wood”
Tori Anne Martin
Alcove Press
$19.99

Hansel and Gretel as you never heard it in childhood. The pair does enter the Witch’s wood, but herded by their taciturn dad. Pa barters his little girl for a single witch’s wish, turns, flees, Hans following, not attempting to protect his little sister as he’d promised. This twisted family dynamic is the foundation for a tale of loyalty, love and witchcraft. Renamed Miria, the child enters willingly into an eager apprenticeship with the witch Yali. Years pass. One day, out searching for mushrooms, Miria encounters a beautiful young woman (you don’t need magic to predict). She’s Adaline. Lady Adaline. About to be married off, unwillingly. The plot — and emotions, desires, old rages and fears — thickens. And her betrothed? Who might Miria least want him to be?