Virginia family entangled with thugs

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S.A. Cosby’s thriller King of Ashes (Flatiron Books, 352 pages, $26) might be his best novel, which is a big deal if you know Cosby’s books, because his other ones (Razorblade Tears, for example, a brilliant tale of revenge) are magnificent… like Elmore Leonard-level magnificent.

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S.A. Cosby’s thriller King of Ashes (Flatiron Books, 352 pages, $26) might be his best novel, which is a big deal if you know Cosby’s books, because his other ones (Razorblade Tears, for example, a brilliant tale of revenge) are magnificent… like Elmore Leonard-level magnificent.

Cosby writes about the people of rural Virginia, where he was born and still lives. His books feature abundantly human characters in exquisitely rendered settings, the dialogue is pitch perfect and the stories are morally complex.

Here, Cosby introduces us to Roman Carruthers, who made it out of the dying town of Jefferson Run only to be forced to return after his father is critically injured in an automobile accident. He finds his family tangled up with gangsters and in shambles — and there might be no easy way to keep it all from falling completely apart. A splendidly conceived and executed novel.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

All Jack Reacher wanted to do in Baltimore was listen to some good live music. He wasn’t expecting to rescue an elderly couple from a con artist, and he certainly wasn’t counting on getting mixed up with a stranger in some serious danger.

But that’s Jack: if someone’s in trouble and he can help them, then he will. No matter what the risks.

Lee Child and Andrew Child’s Exit Strategy (Bantam, 336 pages, $29), is the 30th Reacher novel. That’s an impressive number, and it’s worth noting that the series shows no signs of slowing down: the authors — originally Lee Child writing solo, and now with his brother, Andrew — keep finding new things for Reacher to do, new villains for him to face.

The villain here is an exceptionally nasty one, too, a retired military contractor with no conscience and a taste for violence, and there are moments when, even though we know he will triumph, we fear for Reacher’s life.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

Bree Winter can’t believe it’s been a decade since her daughter, Melanie, was murdered. The wound is still so raw that, in dark moments, it feels like it just happened. But somehow Bree has managed to rebuild her life and find some manner of happiness.

And then this happens: the man who was convicted of killing Melanie confesses to several murders — but not to her daughter’s. Bree is determined to find out the truth about Melanie’s death, but she’s not prepared for the terrible things she discovers.

Kate White’s I Came Back For You (Thomas & Mercer, 299 pages, $26) is the best kind of psychological thriller: a deeply compelling story with a lead character who absolutely commands our attention and our sympathy, and enough twists to keep even the most experienced reader guessing. Outstanding.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

Have you met Twilly Spree? He’s an independently wealthy, rather eccentric part-time eco-warrior who appeared in Carl Hiaasen’s terrific novels Sick Puppy and Scat. He appears here, too, which all by itself is enough to recommend the book (he really is a delightful character).

But there’s also Dale Figgo, who got kicked out of the far-right wing Proud Boys because he was too nuts for them. He’s got a plan to make a big political statement, but he doesn’t realize he’s being manipulated by a couple of crazy philanthropists.

There’s a serious story to be told about right-wing conspiracists, but this certainly isn’t it. Fever Beach (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 384 pages, $26, Hiaasen’s latest novel, is hilarious — comic fiction at its finest, full of wordplay, laugh-out-loud moments of sheer idiocy and a large cast of wondrously loopy characters.

If you’ve never read Carl Hiaasen, you’ve really been missing out.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

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

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BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES United Way Winnipeg president and CEO Matthew Cutler says the charity’s donor base has shrunk significantly over several decades.

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Winnipeg’s charitable sector is being squeezed from both sides: demand for help is growing while the pool of donors to meet that need is shrinking.

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Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Premier Wab Kinew: “We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba.”

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Time’s up for the time change in Manitoba.

Manitobans won’t be setting their clocks back an hour in November. The province has decided to permanently stay on daylight time after surveying residents on the twice annual clock adjustment.

“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a news release Thursday.

Most of the 72,000 votes submitted in an online EngageMB survey — 92 per cent — said they would like to see the practice end. The survey asked if they preferred earlier sunrises in winter with standard time or the later sunsets in summer with daylight time. More than half of survey participants (58 per cent) indicated a preference to stay on permanent daylight time; 34 per cent voted to eliminate the time change but stay on standard time.

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Riel Sturchio photo Much of Tom Lin’s latest novel reads like a series of vignettes set in a dreamscape, where reality and fantasy intertwine.

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Tom Lin’s second novel Babylon, South Dakota moves beyond a historical account of an immigrant family’s struggle, delightfully blending and bending genres.

Lin is a Chinese-born novelist whose family emigrated to the U.S. when he was four years old. His debut novel, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu, won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, making him the youngest ever recipient of that award. He earned a PhD in English from the University of California Davis and is currently an assistant professor of English and creative writing at the University of Iowa.

Babylon, South Dakota takes place in an unspecified time period that can be understood to be during the Mao era — likely the 1950s or ’60s. A young Chinese couple, the Hsuis, immigrate to the rural community that gives the book its title. They take the names Saul and Mei and settle on a 160-acre homestead left to them by a distant relative.

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I demand restitution. Where’s my hour?

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