Paperbacks: The Forger’s Requiem; Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good; The Burning Library

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This article was published 03/01/2026 (278 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

First things first: Bradford Morrow’s The Forger’s Requiem (Grove/Atlantic, 288 pages, $27) is the final volume in a trilogy, but you don’t need to be familiar with the first two novels (The Forgers and The Forger’s Daughter) to enjoy this one. Morrow helpfully provides a brief summing-up before he jumps into the meat of the story.

And such a meaty story it is: a deadly feud between literary forgers, a quest for revenge, a shocking betrayal.

It starts with a bang: Henry, a literary forger who was beaten and buried in a shallow grave, isn’t dead after all. He’s alive, he’s angry, and he’s going to get revenge on his would-be killer and longtime nemesis, Will, no matter what it takes. And if anyone stands in his way — Will’s daughter Nicole, for example — Henry figures it’s their fault, whatever happens to them.

Rarely have we seen obsession portrayed this viscerally: we can feel Henry’s seething hatred, and his growing insanity, so intensely that we find ourselves flushed with rage. A remarkable novel and a must-read.

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The first edition of Josh Levine’s Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Larry David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm was published 15 years ago. This new edition (ECW Press, 264 pages, $25) is updated to include the final seasons of Curb, and the text has been revised and expanded to provide fans of these classic television comedies an even deeper understanding of the unique genius who created them.

The book is several things all at the same time: an extremely detailed look at how television gets made; a close-up look at Larry David’s creative process; his early, pre-Seinfeld years; and his later, post-Curb work in television and on stage. It’s also a dead-on-accurate appraisal of Seinfeld’s and Curb’s impact on TV and popular culture.

Levine is clearly a huge fan, but he’s also one of the better film and television critics currently working. This isn’t a rah-rah book written by a guy who loves the shows; it’s a sharply observed critical assessment of Seinfeld and Curb, an analysis of each show’s strengths and weaknesses and — most important of all — an exploration of how each show came along at just the right time in television history, and in their creator’s life, to become a success.

It’s one of the best books about television to come along in several years.

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Gilly Macmillan has written a string of terrific psychological thrillers including, for example, The Nanny and To Tell You the Truth.

Macmillan’s new novel, The Burning Library (William Morrow, 304 pages, $25), is something a little different: a contemporary thriller that reaches deep into the past.

For centuries, hidden from the world at large, two rival groups of women, the Order of St. Katherine and the Fellowship of the Larks, have been locked in battle. At stake: possession of a medieval manuscript, and — if the legends are true — domination of the world.

The book opens with the body of a middle-aged woman found on the Scottish seashore. Immediately suspecting foul play, Detective Constable Clio Spicer starts digging into the woman’s life. Meanwhile Anya Brown, an up-and-coming expert in historical documents, receives a job offer from an unlikely source. Anya and Clio are strangers to one another, but when their paths cross it’s as if a fire has been lit, and soon they’re racing against time to solve a murder, unmask a conspiracy, and bring dark ancient secrets into the light.

Macmillan’s fans will love the book, and so will readers who like a really good history-infused, conspiracy-minded thriller.

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Halifax freelancer David Pitt’s column appears the first weekend of every month. You can follow him on Bluesky at @bookman.bsky.social.