Best Summer Books & Summer Reading 2013 | Publishers Weekly - SF/Fantasy/Horror : Publishers Weekly

Jack Glass

Adam Roberts (Gollancz (Trafalgar Sq., dist.))

In an interview with PW, Roberts says that he set out to write a new kind of whodunit, where the murderer’s name is revealed on page one yet is still a surprise to the reader at the end. He succeeds admirably with this three-part SF mystery, which just won the BSFA Award. Its eponymous antihero has various escapades while keeping dangerous technological secrets from falling into the wrong hands.

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The Shambling Guide to New York City

Mur Lafferty (Orbit)

Lafferty’s charming debut features a guidebook editor who takes all of New York’s weirdness in stride, even when it turns out her newest project is to write a guide for the city’s “coterie” (“Monster is pejorative,” her vampire boss informs her). Podcast host and blogger Lafferty is known for her sharp wit, which is in evidence here.

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The Best of Connie Willis

Connie Willis (Del Rey)

Fans of SFWA Grand Master Willis’s novels (most recently Blackout/All Clear) will be delighted by this collection of her shorter works, all originally published between 1982 and 2007. Those who aren’t familiar with Willis’s writing will find this an excellent introduction to her facility with what she calls “funny stuff” and “sad stuff,” often mingled in her trademark wry style.

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This Is How You Die

M. Bennardo, R. North, D. Malki ! (Grand Central)

Short-fiction author Matthew Bennardo and Web comic stars Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics) and David Malki ! (Wondermark) follow Machine of Death with a second hilarious, tragic, splendid anthology of stories and comics in which people learn just enough, or not quite enough, about their future demises. Like death itself, this simple premise provokes a broad range of questions and some surprising answers.

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Omens

Kelley Armstrong (Dutton)

Urban fantasy powerhouse Armstrong (the Otherworld series) begins the Gainsville series with a gripping thriller-paced novel featuring a young woman who learns that her wealthy parents adopted her after her biological parents were convicted of being serial killers. Mind control, gunplay, and double crosses will keep readers on edge to the last page.

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