Untethered Sky

 By: Fonda Lee

Genre: Fantasy, Novella

Location: FIC LEE

“A person might pass a tree on the path every day and not notice it until it springs fruit at a time they’re hungry.”

Untethered Sky is a beautifully crafted gem of a novella, which reinforces Fonda Lee’s standing as one of the most talented authors in fantasy today. The Middle Eastern-inspired setting is an ideal backdrop for Lee’s tale, which gently interweaves fantastical elements in this graceful story about the nature of humanity, our relationships with each other, and humankind’s place in the natural world. Fonda Lee’s understated approach is the perfect vehicle for this moving novella about rising from tragedy to find one’s true calling.- John Mauro- Goodreads

From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky , an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.

A Most Anticipated in 2023 Pick for Polygon | Book Riot | Paste Magazine

Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.

Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.

I’m astonished at how Fonda Lee managed to evoke specific, piercing emotions in me in such a short book. The ending left me in tears. This is a story I’ve been waiting for: spare, gracefully told, filled with feelings of overwhelming awe and quiet aching. It feels like a folktale, complete with the incoming dread of a fable, yet balanced with the same comfort and warmth. I will treasure Untethered Sky for years to come. Sofia

Liars Beach

 By: Katie Cotugno

Location: FIC COT

Genre: Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller

A fresh new take on Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery The Mysterious Affair at Styles , with iconic detective Hercule Poirot recast as a brilliant, brash teen girl named Holiday, and narrated by her childhood friend Linden, an athlete-scholar who fits right in at his elite New England prep school—all the while hiding some secrets of his own.

Michael Linden—or just Linden to his preppy boarding school pals—doesn’t belong in wealthy, storied Martha’s Vineyard. But when his roommate Jasper invites him to spend the end of summer at his massive beachfront home, August House, Linden tries his best to fit in. Linden wouldn’t call it lying, exactly. Though it turns out August House is full of liars.

Then someone is found unconscious in Jasper’s pool, and everyone has something to hide—Jasper, his beautiful sister Eliza, their older brother Wells, and their friends. The accident is written off as just that—an accident—but Linden begins to wonder...

Holiday Proctor. Linden’s childhood friend, and the one person on the island who knows the truth about Linden. There’s nothing Holiday loves more than a good old-fashioned mystery and she’s convinced there's a potential killer on the Vineyard. The only question is…who?

A fresh take on one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), Liar’s Beach was aptly named. After all, with secrets, lies, and plenty of hidden agendas buried deep within its pages, there were plenty of unexpected details left to uncover.

While billed as a YA mystery, I personally found this one decidedly more along the lines of a crime fiction novel geared towards teens. Following in Christie’s brilliant footsteps, the plot unwound with one twist after another, although perhaps a bit more predictably than the Grand Dame of Mystery herself. I was, however, thoroughly pleased to find the much required dénouement at the very end where all of the suspects gathered for the final reveal. Even better, I didn’t, for the life of me, sniff out what really happened until Holiday delivered her spiel.

Lets Play Murder

 By: Kesia Lupo

Genre: Horror, Mystery- Video Game Fiction

Location: FIV LUP

Video games have never been more murderous.

Veronica wakes up trapped with four strangers in a sprawling manor house in a snow storm with a dead body, a mystery right out of an Agatha Christie novel. It feels so real - but it isn't. This is VR and this is THE Game; a rumoured Easter Egg hidden in other VR games that draws you into a competition for a prize beyond your wildest dreams. And there's no escaping the VR world until the Game is won.

But while Veronica and her fellow players are trying to figure out the puzzle, something is not right in the VR world. Blackouts, glitches, NPCs acting strange, and a mysterious figure haunting their footsteps. Then when a player dies, and also dies in real life, all hell breaks loose.

Without warning, the game Veronica thought she was playing gets overshadowed by a much darker, and much more real, mystery: who is killing us?'

It may not be a game Veronica wanted to play, but it's one that she has to win - or die trying.

Review- Kasha

The first thing you need to know about this book is that it is so addictive, the moment you start you will not be able to put it down until you are finished.

The second thing you need to know is that it will take you on an amazing adventure full of surprises.

Veronica was playing a VR game with her brother when she suddenly wakes up trapped with four strangers in a manor in the middle of a snow storm.

To make things worse, there is a dead body.This is a mystery right out of an Agatha Christie novel. It feels so real - but it isn't. This is VR and this is THE Game.

People are randomly selected to join this special game that has a big monetary prize. The players need to solve the murder mystery before they run out of time.

This was Cluedo meets Ready Player One in an intense adventure that will have you guessing and playing detective together with our characters.

Definitely a really strong YA Horror Mystery Thriller that combines the modern technology of VR gaming with the classic murder mystery investigation of a Cluedo board game.

Judgement Day

 By: Mali Waugh

Location: FIC WAU

Genre: Crime, Fiction

Family law judge Kaye Bailey is found murdered in her chambers. Is this the work of a disgruntled complainant? Or an inside job by a jealous colleague? Or is there something even more insidious at the heart of this brutal act?

Detective Jillian Basset is just back from maternity leave, struggling with new motherhood as she tackles the biggest case of her career. As her work and home lives get messier and messier, though, something's going to give.

Exploring the murky underworld of the justice system and setting a cracking pace, Judgement Day is a gripping thriller from a fresh and compelling new Australian voice.


Praise for Judgement Day

'I absolutely loved Judgement Day. It kept me guessing right the way through, but pulled it all together in the end in a way that was immensely satisfying and solid. It's really refreshing to read such a quality procedural, and it's impressive work for a debut. I also loved the relationship between Jillian and McClintock, it's a different dynamic from the usual, and made for another great payoff in the end.' Shelley Burr, author of WAKE

'Judgement Day is a thrilling ride. I loved delving into the world of the courts - what a place to set a crime novel - the intrigue, the snobbery and the privilege. This book kept me up all night and I can't stop thinking about it.' Margaret Hickey, author of Stone Town

'The best crime novels make readers confront uncomfortable truths. Judgement Day delivers on that front - and more. Great characters. Clever plot. The cops and the courts collide in this compelling debut thriller from Mali Waugh.' Tim Ayliffe, author of the John Bailey series

'The verdict is this is damn fine crime fiction. Mali Waugh lifts the lid on the legal profession's biggest secret: what happens behind the courtroom is even more compelling than what happens in it. Beyond a reasonable doubt this is one of the best Australian legal thrillers in years.' Aoife Clifford, author of When We Fall

Emily Wildes Encyclopaedia of Faeries

 By: Heather Fawcett

Location: FIC FAW

Genre: Fantasy ,Romance , Fae

“If anyone were to claim greater happiness in their careers than I do in poking about sunlit wildwoods for faerie footprints, I should not believe it.”

  "I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did but I found myself genuinely cackling with delight throughout :’)" Ashleigh

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.

“I wish to know the unknowable… To peel back the carpeting of the world and tumble into the stars.”

I can’t put to words how much I adored this book. A logical professor dealing with a whimsical plot? Sign me up. I loved her banter with Wendell, I loved the folklore, I loved the little frozen town. I loved everything.

When Women Were Dragons

By: Kelly Barnhill

Location: FIC BAR

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction

Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons...and change the world.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950's America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex's beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn't know. It's taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new "sister" obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex's journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.

Review: Laurel

Absolutely splendid.



This is a story of women and the universe, and all the ways we lie to each other to try to cope with reality and unreality, and the hypocritical normalcy of the 1950s and early 1960s. Of puns and euphemisms and saying without saying. Of mothers and daughters and aunts and cousins and first loves and growing up and figuring shit out. Of first loves and first losses. Of not just breaking outside of societal conventions, but smashing them completely and making something new. Of grief and joy and everything that comes in between. Of turning perceived weakness into impenetrable strength.

It is a love letter to libraries and the librarians who run them.

Also, the commentary on dragoning and its meaning and the inherent transness of it was breathtaking. Because this book is about transformation. Not into something else, necessarily, but into a true self.

And, of course, this is a book about dragons.

You Dont Know What War Is?

 By: Yeva Skalietska

Location: NF 920 SKA WAR

Genre: Ukraine War- Memoir- Diary

“Everyone knows the word war. But very few people understand

what it truly means. You might say that it’s horrible and frightening,

but you don’t know the scale of fear it brings. And so, when you

suddenly have to face it, you feel totally lost, walled in by fright

and despair. All of your plans are suddenly interrupted by

destruction. Until you’ve been there, you don’t know what war is.”

An important, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful memoir about the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war as told through the diary entries of a young Ukrainian girl.

Yeva Skalietska’s story begins on her twelfth birthday in Kharkiv, where she has been living with her grandmother since she was a baby. Ten days later, the only life she’d ever known was shattered. On February 24, 2022, her city was suddenly under attack as Russia launched its horrifying invasion of Ukraine. Yeva and her grandmother ran to a basement bunker, where she began writing this diary. She describes the bombings they endured while sheltering underground, and their desperate journey west to escape the conflict raging around them. After many endless train rides and a prolonged stay in an overcrowded refugee center in Western Ukraine, Yeva and her beloved grandmother eventually find refuge in Dublin. There, she bravely begins to forge a new life, hoping she’ll be able to return home one d

Goliath

 By: Tochi Onyebuchi 

Location: FIC ONY

Genre:  Sci Fi, Dystopia

Goliath is an outstanding example of literary science fiction with the ability to interrogate the pressing fears of the day- from climate change and race wars to disease, gentrification, technological advancement, class division, and more. It contains a non-linear story structure and is told in an elevated style of prose that readers might find challenging, but I promise it is well worth the effort. This novel manages to be both experimental and fiercely relevant to the human experience. Bethany

"In this ambitious novel, dense with perspectives and social commentary, Onyebuchi dreams up disparate lives in a crumbling future America—with gentrifiers returning to Earth from space colonies and laborers trying to make a precarious living—while leaving room for moments of beauty and humor."—The New York Times, Editors' Choice

In his adult novel debut, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Award finalist and ALA Alex and New England Book Award winner Tochi Onyebuchi delivers a sweeping science fiction epic in the vein of Samuel R. Delany and Station Eleven.

In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have departed the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized. Brick by brick, their houses are sent to the colonies, what was once a home now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked.

A primal biblical epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives—a space-dweller looking at New Haven, Connecticut as a chance to reconnect with his spiraling lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping—into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.

Brilliant, imaginative, provocative, and, at times, terrifying. Goliath takes us to disturbingly plausible dystopian future, through the perspectives of the many denizens who call it home.

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder

 By: Kerryn Mayne

Location: FIC MAY

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Crime

"If Eleanor Oliphant had an Aussie twin, Lenny Marks would be her." 

Lenny Marks is good at not remembering.

She has spent the last twenty years not thinking about the day her mother left her when she was still a child. Her stepfather’s parting words, however, remain annoyingly unforgettable: 'You did this.'
Now thirty-seven, Lenny prefers contentment and order over the unreliability of happiness and the messiness of relationships. She fills her days teaching at the local primary school, and her nights playing Scrabble with her pretend housemate, watching reruns of Friends and rearranging her thirty-six copies of The Hobbit.
Recently though, if only to appease her beloved foster-mum, Lenny has set herself the goal of ‘getting a life’.
Then, out of the blue, a letter arrives from the Adult Parole Board. And when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel.

Worse, she starts to remember . . .

Review below

Thank you Penguin for sending us a copy to read and review.
A smart, fun and very enjoyable debut that will warm your heart, stimulate your mind and entertain your soul.
Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder is everything and so much more.
Lenny is a primary school teacher, loves watching Friends, has 36 copies of The Hobbit and enjoys playing Scrabble with herself.
She can’t remember her childhood but does remember her stepfather’s mean words.
Now her loving foster mum has suggested a goal for Lenny, get a life! (in the most affectionate way).
One day, Lenny gets a letter from the parole board, asking a difficult question.
Soon she begins to remember her past and her life slowly starts to unfold.
In four easy words, I adored this book, there’s a lot to love here.
First of all, at it’s core is Lenny Marks, a character you won’t be able to forget.
Misunderstood, intelligent, astute and she says how it is.
I’m so excited for you all to meet her.
The plot is riveting, funny, sombre, spectacular, inspiring with a twist or two and a splash of mystery.
It’s a story that’s totally addictive.
Top notch, memorable, captivating, heartwarming and I found myself grinning sporadically.
If this is what we get from a dazzling debut, then I can’t wait to see what Kerryn gives us next.

My Contrary Mary

 By: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Aston and Jodi Meadows

Location: FIC HAN

Genre: Mary Queen of Scots

Jane is done- BRING ON THE MARY'S

“‘Should we ban baguettes as well?’ the queen asked Nostradamus. ‘No, Your Majesty. That would be madness.’ Oh, to be French.”

Long live the The authors who brought you the New York Times bestselling My Lady Jane kick off an all-new historical trilogy with the classy, courtly tale of Mary, Queen of Scots.   Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and . . . queens? Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she’s a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is an Eðian (shapeshifter) in a kingdom where Verities rule. It’s a secret that could cost her a head—or a tail.  Luckily, Mary has a confidant in her betrothed, Francis. But things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn after the king meets a suspicious end. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis face a viper’s nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary’s secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll. With a royally clever sense of humor, Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows continue their campaign to turn history on its head in this YA fantasy that’s perfect for fans of A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue .

The Winter Soldier

 By: MacKenzie Lee

Genre: Marvel, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Location: FIC LEE

1954: The Winter Soldier is the Soviet Union’s greatest weapon. Assigned the most dangerous covert missions from the USSR’s secret military branch, and guided by a handler who knows him better than he knows himself, he has only one purpose: to obey orders.
But he wasn’t always the Winter Soldier . . .
1941: As World War II begins, sixteen-yearold Bucky Barnes is determined to enlist in the US army—if only the local commander will stop getting in his way. When Bucky is offered enrollment in a training program with the British Special Operations Executive—the UK’s secret service—he leaps at the chance to become a hero. But Bucky has hardly touched down in London when he finds himself running from a mysterious assassin and accompanied by an English chess champion fond of red lipstick and double crosses. She’s in possession of a secret every side is desperate to get their hands on. If only they knew what it was . . .
Decades later, the Winter Soldier struggles to solve the same mystery Bucky is just beginning to uncover. As their missions intersect across time, their lives collide too—in a way that neither of them would have expected, and that will change the course of their respective wars.
In The Winter Soldier: Cold Front, best-selling author Mackenzi Lee explores the youth of one of Marvel’s most compelling characters, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes—and the enemy soldier he is forced to become.

“ I thought you said [your dad] survived the war.”

“He came home.” She picked up her knight, twirling it absently between her fingers as she studied the board. “That’s not really the same, though, is it? He might have been the greatest chess player in the world, but the first tournament he enrolled in after France, he just sat there, staring at the board.”

“What was the matter with him?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. Not bodily, anyway. But in his mind, the war didn’t end.” She set the knight on her board, then looked up at Bucky. “The first year he was home, my father went to five funerals for men in his company. By the time I was born, more men he served with had died back in England than had in France. His best friend shot himself through the head at a Veteran’s Parade in Birmingham. My father was there—I was there. It’s the only thing I remember clearly from childhood.”

“Geez,” Bucky murmured.

She glared at the board, though the rattle of her cuffs against the table betrayed her shaking hands. “My father gave up chess. He went to university to study chemistry. He started working on a way to implant memories in the brain—and, the flip side of that coin, how to remove them. He hoped it could be used to treat shell shock.”I t

The Monkey From The Future

 By: Ross Welford

Genre:  Sci Fi

Location: FIC WEL

The hilarious, moving and adventure-packed new novel for readers of 9 and up from Ross Welford, the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of Time Travelling with a Hamster



The year is 2425. Centuries after a catastrophic meteor collision, nature has retaken the earth. In a small town in what was once England, young Ocean Mooney and the monkey-owning Duke Smiff have just dug up a 400 year-old tablet computer.


Meanwhile, in the present day, Thomas Reeve and his genius cousin Kylie create the Time Tablet – a device which they hope will allow them to communicate with the future.


But when the Time Tablet malfunctions live on television, Thomas and Kylie are sucked into the year 2425 – and have only 24 hours to return home, and save the future of humanity…

"Ross Welford is a wonderful writer. I have read all of his books and I have loved every single one of them. When I saw he had a new one, I ran to my library to get it, and oh boy! He has done it again. Magic.

This book had me wondering, had me in tears (as a mum of a 9yo, I could totally feel what Melissa, Freddy and Nanny Moon were feeling), made me anxious, and made me happy.
I feel a bit sad that Ocean, Pierre, Kylie and Thomas didn't get to spend time together and learn stuff from each other.

I can't wait for my wee one to read all of Ross Welford 's books and discover all these truly amazing adventures! :)" Raqual

City of Brass

 By: S A Chakraborty

Location: FIC CHA

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Series:  The Daevabad Trilogy#1

"There are magic rings, flaming swords, strange beings of diverse sorts, plots, battles, large scale and small, plenty of awful ways to die, without that being done too graphically. And there is even a bit of interpersonal attraction. Did I mention Dara being smokin’? There is also some romantic tension between Nahri and Ali. Add in a nifty core bit of history centered on Suleiman."....WILL

Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty, an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings, and Uprooted, in which the future of a magical Middle Eastern kingdom rests in the hands of a clever and defiant young con artist with miraculous healing gifts.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she's a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by--palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing--are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.

But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she's forced to reconsider her beliefs. For Dara tells Nahri an extraordinary tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire and rivers where the mythical marid sleep, past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises and mountains where the circling birds of prey are more than what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass--a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In Daevabad, within gilded brass walls laced with enchantments and behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments run deep. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, her arrival threatens to ignite a war that has been simmering for centuries.

Spurning Dara's warning of the treachery surrounding her, she embarks on a hesitant friendship with Alizayd, an idealistic prince who dreams of revolutionizing his father's corrupt regime. All too soon, Nahri learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say to be careful what you wish for . . .

The Name She Gave Me

 By: Betty Culley

Location: FIC CUL

Genre: Family, Adoption, Novel verse 

'The Name She Gave Me' is a fascinating book about adoption, family struggles, and finding your own identity. It offers lots of deep lessons about how life is precious and more meaningful than anything else, but also respect other people's feelings and situation. As some of the topics related to me a lot, this book really helped me feel positive about myself. 😇🌸

From the acclaimed author of Three Things I Know Are True comes a new novel in verse, a deeply emotional story about an adopted teenager exploring the meaning of family, friendship, and love in all its many forms.

Perfect for fans of Robin Benway, Cynthia Hand, and Jandy Nelson, Rynn’s journey shows how complicated and infuriating, yet healing, family can be.

When Rynn was born, her birth mother named her Scheherazade. It’s one of the only things Rynn has from her. Now sixteen, Rynn and her adoptive parents live on a small garlic farm in central Maine. Rynn’s father is kind and gentle but oblivious to Rynn’s mother’s temper and coldness toward their daughter.

Rynn has longed to know her birth family for years. She can’t legally open her adoption records until she turns eighteen, but that won’t stop her from searching on her own. She finds out that though her birth mother has died, she has a younger sister—who’s in foster care two towns away. But if Rynn reconnects with her biological sister, it may drive her adoptive family apart for good.

The Children on the Hill

 By: Jennifer McMahon

Location: FIC MCM

Genre: Horror, Thriller

"This creepy, heart throbbing, intense, dark, chilling story is such a great tribute to Marry Shelly’s epic classic novel Frankenstein meets Ryan Murphy’s AHS’ season two: asylum with the vibes of so much disturbing, old school Stephen King novels!" Nligur

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Drowning Kind comes a genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein , that brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.

1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.

Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.

Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.

2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us , is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.

A haunting, vividly suspenseful page-turner from the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson” (Chris Bohjalian, author of The Flight Attendant ), The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all.