Autonomous
Annalee Newitz, 2017
Tor Books
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780765392077
Summary
When anything can be owned, how can we be free?
Earth, 2144.
Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap scrips for poor people who can’t otherwise afford them.
But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they become unsafe or insane.
Hot on her trail, an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his robotic partner, Paladin. As they race to stop information about the sinister origins of Jack’s drug from getting out, they begin to form an uncommonly close bond that neither of them fully understand.
And underlying it all is one fundamental question: Is freedom possible in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1969
• Where— Irvine, California, USA
• Education—Ph.D., Univesity of California-Berkeley
• Currently—lives in the San Francisco Bay Area
Annalee Newitz is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her most recent work is the novel Autonomous published in 2017.
Newitz was born in 1969, and grew up in Irvine, California, the daughter of two English teachers: her mother, Cynthia, at a high school, and her father, Marty, at a community college. Her father was Jewish, and her mother a white Southerner former Methodist, leading Newitz to call herself "biethnic." She graduated from Irvine High School, and in 1987 moved to Berkeley, California, where in 1998 she completed her Ph.D. in English and American Studies from University of California. Her dissertation focesed on images of monsters, psychopaths, and capitalism in 29th-century American popular culture,it was later published in book form from Duke University Press.
Career
Newitz became a full-time writer and journalist in 1999 with an invitation to write a weekly column for the Metro Silicon Valley weekly, a column which then ran in various venues for nine years. Newitz then served as the culture editor at the San Francisco Bay Guardian from 2000–2004. During thoise years, from 2003-2004, she received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship as a research fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Following her work at the Guardian she worked as a policy analyst, from 2004-2005, for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Then from 2007–2009, she served on the board of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Those years also saw the beginning of Other magazine, which Newitz co-founed with Charlie Jane Anders, a Hugo award-winning author and commentator.
In 2008, Gawker media asked Newitz to start a blog about science and science fiction, dubbed io9 (later merging with Gawker's Gizmodo blog). She served as io9's editor-in-chief until the end of 2015, when she joined Ars Technica as the Tech Culture Editor.
Works
Newitz has written short stories, the novel Autonomous (2017), and several works of nonfiction: White Trash: Race and Class in America (1997), Pretend We're Dead: Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture (2006, based on her doctoral thesis), and Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction (2013). In addition, she edited The Bad Subjects Anthology (1998) and She's Such a Geek (co-edited, with Charlie Anders, 2006).
Her work has also been published in Popular Science, Wired, Salon.com, New Scientist, Metro Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and at AlterNet. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 11/8/2017.)
Book Reviews
Fascinating.… [Newitz is] an excellent writer, with an effortless style.… The inner science geek in all of us will uncover some really cool stuff.… A terrific book that covers an astounding amount of ground in a manageable 300 pages.… You will be smarter for it.
San Francisco Chronicle
(Starred review.) [P]henomenal…sure to garner significant awards…. [Newitz] sends three fascinating characters on an action-packed race against time through a strange yet familiar futuristic landscape.… [A] skillful inspection of attraction and identity.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) [Newitz] takes some of today's key social and technical issues (the nature of artificial intelligence, the notion of property and ownership) and wraps them in a compelling, original story line [with] memorable characters.
Library Journal
[A] vehicle for some very interesting questions: is there a difference between owning a human being or a mechanical being if both possess sentience…? A strong and cerebral start if perhaps a little too open-ended.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Autonomous … then take off on your own:
1. Describe the state of things in the near-future world of Autonomous. What does this fictional world have in common with our present-day world — anything, or very little? It is a realistic, or far too extreme, outcome for "advanced capitalism"?
2. How would you describe Jack? Even though she is old enough to know the ways of the world, does she remain an idealist or has she become jaded through experience? What motivates her?
3. How do you explain the feelings that Eliasz has for Paladin? What do his feelings for the bot say about him and his own sexuality or gender identity. Does the fact that Paladin possesses a female brain make a difference in how we are to perceive the bot or how Eliasz perceives her/him/?
4. What are Paladin's feelings toward Eliasz? How do the loyalty and attachment programs running in through the bot's background affect her/him? Can the bot truly consent to a sexual relationship or not?
5. What is Eliasz's background and how has he been affected by it? What does it mean to be "indentured"?
6. Does anything change by the end of the novel? Is anyone held accountable for Zacuity? Is the basic power and economic structure still in place? Why or why not?
7. One of the big questions posed in Autonomous has to do with personal identity. Can one own a mechanical being if it is sentient?
8. What are some of the other questions posed by Autonomous in terms of ownership, free will, income disparity?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
The Family Upstairs
Lisa Jewell, 2019
Atria Books
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501190100
Summary
From author of Then She Was Gone comes another page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light.
Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions.
Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom.
Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of "bone-chilling suspense" (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—July 19, 1968
• Where—London, England, UK
• Education—Epsom School of Art & Design
• Awards—Melissa Nathan Award For Comedy Romance
• Currently—lives in London, England
Lisa Jewell is a British author of popular fiction. Her books number some 15, including most recently The House We Grew Up In (2013), The Third Wife (2014), The Girls in the Garden (U.S. title of 2016), I found You (2016), and Watching You (2018).
She was educated at St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London, leaving school after one day in the sixth form to do an art foundation course at Barnet College followed by a diploma in fashion illustration at Epsom School of Art & Design.
She worked in fashion retail for several years, namely Warehouse and Thomas Pink.
After being made redundant, Jewell accepted a challenge from her friend to write three chapters of a novel in exchange for dinner at her favourite restaurant. Those three chapters were eventually developed into Jewell's debut novel Ralph's Party, which then became the UK's bestselling debut novel in 1999.
Jewell is one of the most popular authors writing in the UK today, and in 2008 was awarded the Melissa Nathan Award For Comedy Romance for her novel 31 Dream Street.
She currently lives in Swiss Cottage, London with her husband Jascha and two daughters. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 6/22/2016.)
Book Reviews
[A] un-put-downable psychological thriller…. Distinct, well-developed characters, shifting points of view, and a disturbing narrative that pulses with life create an enthralling tale full of surprises.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) This thriller will stay with the listener long after the last line is spoken. —Ann Weber, Bellarmine Coll. Prep., San Jose, CA
Library Journal
Stellar domestic drama…. Expert misdirection keeps the reader guessing, and the rug-pulled-out-from-beneath-your-feet conclusion—coupled with one final, bonechilling revelation—is stunning. Best not to bet on anyone. A compulsive read.
Booklist
As Jewell moves back and forth from the past to the present, the narratives move swiftly toward convergence… [yet] little suspense is built up, and the twists can't quite make up for the lack of deep characters…. This thriller is taut and fast-paced but lacks compelling protagonists.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The Family Upstairs is told from three perspectives: Henry, Lucy, and Libby’s. Was there one character in particular whose point of view you especially enjoyed? What is the effect of having Henry’s sections told in first person narration and Lucy and Libby’s told in third person narration? Why do you think Lisa Jewell structured her novel this way?
2. Henry, rightfully, hates David. Yet, Henry and David share many similar tendencies and qualities. Compare and contrast the two men.
3. There are many intriguing characters who do not directly narrate the novel. Is there a character whose point of view you’d have liked to had included? What do you think Martina, for example, thought about David and Birdie’s choices?
4. What is the effect of characters calling Libby "the baby" throughout the novel? How does this inform your opinion of Libby and her role in the story?
5. Which of adult Henry, Lucy, and Clemency’s behaviors can you directly trace back to their harrowing experiences as children? How do you see the influence of their abuse in their grown up lives?
6. The relationship between Henry and Phin is pivotal to the plot, but we aren’t told as much about the friendship between Lucy and Clemency. What details do we glean about their relationship from Henry and Lucy’s memories and Clemency’s account toward the end of the novel?
7. What types of power are wielded in this novel? Who has power, who loses it, and who wants it? Is there a character without any agency?
8. Do you think Henry’s lies and violent acts were born out of his need to survive an unimaginable situation, or do you think there is, as Clemency states, "a streak of pure evil" (page 280) in him?
9. Lucy and Clemency experienced unspeakable abuse as children, but, miraculously, they managed to break the cycle and become good mothers to their children. What are their relationships like with their children? What makes them good moms?
10. After Clemency tells Henry that her father tried to con his own family once, Henry decides he must act against David. As he remembers his conversation with Clemency, he thinks,
It was a fork in the road, really. Looking back on it there were so many other ways to have got through the trauma of it all, but with all the people I loved most in the world facing away from me I chose the worst possible option" (page 274).
While Henry claims he would have resorted to less violent ways of escaping the Lamb house, do you really believe him? Or do you think part of him wanted revenge?
11. Libby finds many disconcerting traces of the house’s previous inhabitants when she tours it. Which artifacts did you find the eeriest? Which intrigued you and made you want to find out what had happened inside the house?
12. In your opinion, who is the most tragic figure in this novel? Do they experience healing or redemption?
(Questions issued by the pubisher.)
Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson, 2019
HarperCollins
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062913463
Summary
From the author of The Family Fang, a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with a remarkable ability.
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since.
Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way.
Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.
Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband.
Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?
With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1978
• Where—Winchester, Tennessee, USA
• Education—B.A., Vanderbilt University; M.F.A., University of Florida
• Awards—Shirley Jackson Award
• Currently—lives in Swanee, Tennessee
Kevin Wilson is the author of the novels Family Fang (2011) and Perfect Little World (2017). His short story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009), received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Shirley Jackson Award.
Wilson's fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Tin House, One Story, A Public Space, and elsewhere, and has appeared in four volumes of the New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best anthology as well as The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Rivendell, and the KHN Center for the Arts.
Born and raised in Tennessee, Wilson now lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife, the poet Leigh Anne Couch, and his sons, Griff and Patch. He is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Sewanee: The University of the South. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
It’s a giddily lunatic premise, one that author Kevin Wilson grounds with humor and deadpan matter-of-factness.… Wilson’s observational humor is riotous in its specificity.… The writing dazzles.… But what dazzles most are the warmly rendered dynamics of an ad hoc, dysfunctional family that desperately wants to work.
USA Today
Darkly funny yet quietly devastating.… Wilson crafts a stunning portrait of the push and pull of parenthood.
Time
A peculiar, entertaining and insightful book about the hazards of child-rearing and the value of friends.
People
Winningly bizarre.
Vanity Fair
Wilson turns a bizarre premise into a beguiling novel about unexpected motherhood.… Lillian’s deadpan observations zip from funny to heartbreaking…. Wilson captures the wrenching emotions of caring for children in this exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel.
Publishers Weekly
Wilson is a remarkable writer…. One of his greatest strengths is the ability to craft an everyday family drama and inject it with one odd element that turns the story on its head. He's done it again here…. A funny and touching fable about love for kids.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The twins in Nothing to See Here spontaneously combust when they get agitated. The fire they generate can burn others, but leaves them unharmed. What might the nature of this condition represent? Did your perception of the condition change at all throughout the book? Did you become more used to it? Less?
2. This novel offers a unique perspective on the complexities of love and what it means to look beyond a person’s differences. What sort of preconceived notions does Lillian bring to this job? How do Bessie and Roland challenge those notions?
3. Lillian works hard to establish and maintain a bond with the twins. What is it about Lillian that makes her uniquely equipped for this job? Why is she able to connect with them while others have failed?
4. Throughout the book, many characters look for ways to control or cure the twins' condition. Think about the variety of methods put forward. What did you think of each method? What might the methods suggested reveal about each person who suggested them?
5. At the end of chapter three, Lillian expresses surprise that the children’s hair remains unsinged after they burst into flames:
I don’t know why, with these demon children bursting into flames right in front of me, their bad haircuts remaining intact was the magic that fully amazed me, but that’s how it works, I think. The big thing is so ridiculous that you absorb only the smaller miracles.
Do you relate to this sentiment? What other “smaller miracles” are present in the story?
6. The novel offers examples of how class dynamics can shape an individual's experience: Lillian and Madison’s differing experiences at their elite high school, for instance, or Lillian’s early days as an employee on the Roberts estate alongside Carl and Mary. How does wealth and privilege shape the story? Which characters most feel the impact of this?
7. How does Lillian’s dark sense of humor amplify the book’s themes of love, acceptance, and parenting? Did you enjoy the use of humor throughout the novel? What did it tell you about Lillian’s character?
8. Lillian makes a big life change at the end of the novel. What did you think about her journey from Madison’s high school roommate to eventual caretaker to her step-kids? What do you think she ultimately saw in Roland and Bessie that led her to make such a change?
9. Madison and Lillian have a complicated relationship that veers from deep affection to intense rivalry to bitter resentment to uneasy allies. Do you think they’re foils for one another or something else? How does their competitive edge play into their relationship? And do you think their relationship will live on after the events of the novel?
10. Nothing to See Here explores different representations of family structure and dynamic. How do the family units presented at the beginning of the book evolve and change? What does Lillian value in family? Which characters share those values, and which characters differ?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Artemis
Andy Weir, 2017
Crown/Archetype
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553448122
Summary
The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.
Jazz Bashara is a criminal.
Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire.
So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.
Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 16, 1972
• Where—Davis, California, USAb
• Education—University of California, San Diego (no degree)
• Currently—lives in Mountain View, California
Andy Weir is an American novelist and software engineer known internationally for his debut novel The Martian, which was later adapted into a film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott in 2015. Artemis, his second novel, was released in 2017.
Early life
Weir was born and raised in California, the only child of an accelerator physicist father and an electrical-engineer mother who divorced when he was eight. Weir grew up reading classic science fiction such as the works of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov At the age of 15, he began working as a computer programmer for Sandia National Laboratories. He studied computer science at UC San Diego, although he did not graduate. He worked as a programmer for several software companies, including AOL, Palm, MobileIron and Blizzard, where he worked on Warcraft 2.
Writing
Weir began writing science fiction in his 20s and published work on his website for years. His first work to gain significant attention was "The Egg", a short story that has been adapted into a number of YouTube videos and a one-act play.
Weir is best known for his first published novel, The Martian. He wrote the book to be as scientifically accurate as possible and his writing included extensive research into orbital mechanics, conditions on Mars, the history of manned spaceflight, and botany. Originally published as a free serial on his website, some readers requested he make it available on Kindle.
First sold for 99 cents, the novel made it to the Kindle bestsellers list. Weir was then approached by a literary agent and sold the rights of the book to an imprint of Penguin Random House. The print version (slightly edited from the original) of the novel debuted at #12 on the New York Times bestseller list. A Wall Street Journal review called the novel "the best pure sci-fi novel in years." In 2015 it was adapted to film, starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.
Weir is working on his second novel, initially titled Zhek. He describes it as "a more traditional sci-fi novel, with has aliens, telepathy, faster-than-light travel, etc."
Personal
He currently lives in Mountain View, California, in a rented two-bedroom maisonette. Since he has a deep fear of flying, he never visited the set of the filming of The Martian in Budapest, which is where most of the Mars scenes were shot. With some therapy and medication, however, he was able to fly to Houston to visit Johnson Space Center and to San Diego to attend Comic-Con.
Weir refers to himself as an agnostic. As a fiscally-conservative social liberal, he tries to keep his political views out of his writing. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 12/22/2015.)
Book Reviews
This is a heist narratie at heart — but it lacks the core elements of modern heist narratives: no team of charming specialists, no surprise plot twists. That may be fine for "hard" science fiction fans who prioritize idea over execution, or who simply crave well-researched technical speculation presented as fiction. Otherwise, this is a 300-page film pitch that, like its predicessor, will probably be more appealing after it goes to Hollywood.
N.K. Jemisin - New York Times Book Review
(Starred review.) Jazz Bashara, the heroine of this superior near-future thriller … grew up in Artemis … where she dreams of becoming rich.… The independent, wisecracking lead could easily sustain a series. Weir leavens the hard SF with a healthy dose of humor.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) [Sci Fi] fans everywhere can once again rejoice because [Weir's] done it again.… Narrated by a kick-ass leading lady, this thriller has it all—a smart plot, laugh-out-loud funny moments, and really cool science. —Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage P.L., AK
Library Journal
(Starred review.) An exciting, whip-smart, funny thrill-ride …one of the best science fiction novels of the year.
Booklist
Strip away the sci-fi trappings, though, and this is a by-the-numbers caper novel with predictable beats and little suspense. The worldbuilding is mostly bland and unimaginative.… One small step, no giant leaps.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Artemis … then take off on your own:
1. How would you describe Jazz Bashara? Did you enjoy her flippancy, finding it amusing? Or did you find it tiresome? How do you view Jazz's illegal activities: first her smuggling and then her involvement in the aluminum smelting scheme? Does she have a moral compass? Is she an easy or difficult character to root for?
2. Follow-up to Question 1: If Jazz is so intelligent, which both she and others make frequent mention of, why does she remain in her menial, low-paying job? What role has the rift with her father had on her life choices.
3. What is the moon city like? Consider aspects such as safety, living with 1/6 the gravity of earth, the monetary system, economic stratification … even the seemingly insignificant details like watches or the taste of coffee. Is Artemis a place you would want to visit as a tourist?
4. Follow-up to Question 3: Andy Weir endows his stories with nerdy scientific detail. Many find this minutia fascinating, others not so much. Which camp are you in?
5. Are you satisfied with the way the novel ended? Did the pacing of the last segment live up to the phrase "compulsive reading" or "a real page-turner" for you?
6. If you've read (and/or seen) The Martian, Weir's first work, how does this novel compare? Some (not all, by any means) believe it was written more as a future film than as a literary work.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix, 2020
Quirk Books
408 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781683691433
Summary
Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this '90s-set horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town, perfect for murderinos and fans of Stephen King.
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list.
The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years.
But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Grady Hendrix is a novelist and screenwriter based in New York City. His novels include Horrorstör, named one of the best books of 2014 by National Public Radio, and My Best Friend’s Exorcism, for which the Wall Street Journal dubbed him "a national treasure."
The Bram Stoker Award winning Paperbacks from Hell, a survey of outrageous horror novels of the 1970s and '80s, was called "pure, demented delight"” by the New York Times Book Review. He’s contributed to Playboy, Village Voice, and Variety. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
(Starred review) [A] clever, addictive vampire thriller.… This powerful, eclectic novel both pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it.
Publishers Weekly
The April Library Reads list is out. The number one pick is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.
Library Journal
(Starred review) Hendrix has masterfully blended the disaffected housewife trope with a terrifying vampire tale, and the anxiety and tension are palpable…. [A] cheeky, spot-on pick for book clubs.
Booklist
(Starred review) Hendrix cleverly sprinkles in nods to well-established vampire lore, and the fact that he's a master at conjuring heady 1990s nostalgia is just the icing on what is his best book yet. Fans of smart horror will sink their teeth into this one.
Kirkus Reviews
(Starred review) A vampire's hunger for blood may be insatiable, but this masterpiece novel ladles out ample thrills, chills, and relevant examples of sociopolitical injustices to satisfy any literary appetite.
Foreword Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. After an uncomfortable introduction to the neighborhood, James Harris quickly and almost seamlessly transitions into being a trusted resident. Why does he fit in so well despite his sudden and surprising appearance?
2. Discuss the dynamics of the neighborhood. What are the pros and cons of living in a suburban community like Mt. Pleasant in the 1990s? Do these vary depending on gender, race, or social status?
3. The book is female-driven, and much of the horror happens to women and children. How do all the women in the book club respond to reports of strange or downright scary events, and how does their environment influence the different strengths and weaknesses they display?
4. "Something strange is going on" is a phrase Patricia repeats throughout the book. Are there red flags about James Harris early on that the women miss, or ignore? Are their reservations different from those of their husbands?
5. Patricia is the one person who remains suspicious of her handsome new neighbor despite his friendly and charming exterior. Why do you think she, out of all James Harris’s new friends in their quiet neighborhood, is more prone to considering the possibility of a menace in their midst?
6. The response to reports of missing children in Six Mile versus Mt. Pleasant differs greatly, among both residents and law enforcement. What are the social implications of these differing reactions, and how do they influence the way the story plays out?
7. Despite the small-town charm and close-knit ties in Mt. Pleasant, Patricia finds her confidence broken again and again by people she trusts. How is her trust betrayed, both inside her social circle and beyond her community?
8. Although there is one obvious monster at the center of the story, we learn that fear, dread, and terror come in many forms. Is there more than one kind of monster? What are the scariest elements of this story and why?
9. Discuss how the women come together to end the threat to their community. Do you think the women's actions are justified, or do they go too far?
10. Discuss the novel in terms of other vampire horror fiction. What elements of vampire lore has Grady Hendrix expanded upon, discarded, and added to the genre? Do you think he has successfully furthered readers’ expectations for the vampire novel?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)