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Editorial Content for Dark Is When the Devil Comes

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Daisy Pearce rose to prominence with her previous book, SOMETHING IN THE WALLS, which was a fine cross-section of horror and suspense. Now, she returns with DARK IS WHEN THE DEVIL COMES, which begins as a straightforward thriller but then slowly injects some very dark horrific elements. Read More

Teaser

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister, Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet. Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either. But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying: If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.

Promo

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister, Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet. Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either. But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying: If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.

About the Book

Unrelentingly scary and thrilling, DARK IS WHEN THE DEVIL COMES is an ambitious and chilling novel from acclaimed horror author Daisy Pearce.

The woods are known as the place to avoid. What goes in, doesn’t come out.

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister, Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet.

Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either.

But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying.

If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.

Audiobook available, read by Catrin Walker-Booth

Editorial Content for Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Cleo Dang and her husband, Ethan, have been preparing for the birth of their first daughter for a while. They have good, steady jobs (Cleo is an actuary; Ethan is an anesthesiologist), they have read all the advice manuals, they have purchased a home in one of Toronto’s best neighborhoods for raising a family, and they have furnished the nursery with everything they need once they bring their little bundle of joy home. Best of all? That wonderful new house is directly across the street from Cleo’s best friend, Paloma, who also is expecting her first baby. Read More

Teaser

All Cleo Dang has ever wanted is to be a mother. The day she discovers she’s pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It’s a wonderful surprise, and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not. Ravaged by grief, Cleo must now navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, particularly her best friend, who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to take leave from her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find work at a funeral home, where she meets a revolving cast of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief.

Promo

All Cleo Dang has ever wanted is to be a mother. The day she discovers she’s pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It’s a wonderful surprise, and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not. Ravaged by grief, Cleo must now navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, particularly her best friend, who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to take leave from her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find work at a funeral home, where she meets a revolving cast of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief.

About the Book

A darkly humorous yet uplifting novel about a grieving mother who starts working at a funeral home and discovers that the best way to honor the dead is to live --- from the author of the “insightful, moving” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author) SUNSHINE NAILS.

All Cleo Dang has ever wanted is to be a mother. The day she discovers she’s pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It’s a wonderful surprise, and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not.

Ravaged by grief, Cleo must now navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, particularly her best friend, who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to take leave from her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find work at a funeral home, where she meets a revolving cast of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief.

Darkly humorous yet uplifting, CLEO DANG WOULD RATHER BE DEAD follows a grieving mother who starts working at a funeral home and discovers that the best way to honor the dead is to live.

Audiobook available, read by Elyse Dinh

Editorial Content for 51%

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jack Kramer

Matt Witten's new mystery novel is scary and suspenseful, and it points clearly to a problem that presents a major trap for America. No, it's not about the potential takeover of the country and the world by artificial intelligence. That subject already has been treated in numerous articles, essays, videos and some excellent novels. But an equally dangerous trap is at the heart of this complex work. Read More

Teaser

Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments...even human beings. When a young immigrant woman --- 51% owned by the syndicates --- is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. Detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, Crime Marketing Consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can't crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer. Their search for the truth leads them to Juke's ex, Safiya Jones, a Resistance leader on the syndicates' most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom.

Promo

Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments...even human beings. When a young immigrant woman --- 51% owned by the syndicates --- is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. Detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, Crime Marketing Consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can't crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer. Their search for the truth leads them to Juke's ex, Safiya Jones, a Resistance leader on the syndicates' most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom.

About the Book

In a future where corporations own everything --- including people --- one murder could ignite a revolution.

Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments...even human beings.

When a young immigrant woman --- 51% owned by the syndicates --- is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. Detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, Crime Marketing Consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can't crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer.

Their search for the truth leads them to Juke's ex, Safiya Jones, a Resistance leader on the syndicates' most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom. To rescue 51 percenters --- and everyone else --- from syndicate control, they'll have to defeat the most ruthless, powerful AI in the world.

51% is a gritty, fast-paced thriller about power, justice, and what happens when everything --- even people --- can be owned.

May 1, 2026

I rarely go to the movies. But last night, I gathered a group of girlfriends (some of whom knew each other and others of whom did not), and we went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, which was really terrific.

Besides the over-the-top fashion and the acting by the iconic Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, as well as Stanley Tucci, the cinematography is stunning. The lighting is just beautiful on the shots in New York, Milan and Lake Como. Fun fact: George Clooney’s home, Villa Oleandra --- “an 18th-century, 25-room estate in Laglio on Lake Como” --- shows up in the background in one scene. When the credits ran, I saw how many well-known people were part of the film. I had missed many of them, so I will watch it again another time.

Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2026

The Mystery Writers of America has announced the winners for the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2025.

April 30, 2026

I feel like April sped by. My book group met this week, and we discussed SPEAK TO ME OF HOME by Jeanine Cummins, which was a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.

We had a good discussion about it, especially touching on what it was like to leave “home,” and what it was like to either stay somewhere new or want to return to “home.” We all grasped and were saddened by the prejudice that was flung at Rafaela when the family moved to the Midwest. The story felt authentic, and there were comments about how well written it was.

May 2026

May's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Devil Wears Prada 2, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Animal Farm and Best Served Cold: A Hannah Swensen Mystery; the series finales of "Outlander" on STARZ, "Margo's Got Money Troubles" on Apple TV, "The House of the Spirits" on Prime Video, and "Watson" on CBS; the season finales of CBS's "Tracker," ABC's "Will Trent," and Hulu's "The Testaments"; the series premiere of "Lord of the Flies" on Netflix; the season premieres of Netflix's "A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder" and "The Chestnut Man"; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Reminders of Him, “Wuthering Heights” and Dracula.

Readers Comment on WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH by Lisa Ridzén

 

In March, we ran a contest where 25 readers won a copy of Lisa Ridzén's debut novel, WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH, an international bestseller and a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. We asked them to read the book and let us know their thoughts on it. We are happy to share some of their comments with you here. Many thanks to all who took the time to give us such wonderful feedback.

» Click here to watch our "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event with Lisa Ridzén.
» Click here to listen to a podcast of the event.

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