“Night Film” is instantly chilling, and is the best skewed ghost story you will read this year. It’s a passport into the world of horror films, cult fandom, and the burdens of the unknown.

Countdown City is an end of the world adventure you will love reading, with an ending that sets the stage for Book 3. Get into this series if you’re looking for some philosophy in your escapism.

King lets the murder mystery and ghost story drift to the periphery, and you realize that the book is a coming-of-age tale in which the real killer is time.

Drury’s Grouse County novels are naturalism verging on surreal, simultaneously heartbreaking and funny, and supremely true. His characters want to find themselves, and live in the world. Find this book.

You never fall out of the author’s spell because you never stop believing that what you’re reading is real, a rare and exceptional feat for a horror/fantasy writer.

This is a novel that you will read quickly, think about often, lend to friends, and want to read again.

“Live By Night” is presented in a cinematic sweep, free from dull moments. It’s a book you’ll want to finish immediately in a marathon read.

More than a novel, “Telegraph Avenue” is a history of race relations, and forgotten crimes that are real and imagined. It’s also a time capsule that may contain your last chance to walk inside a locally owned record store. Bury it for your kids.

There will not be another book like this written until the next Zadie Smith novel, a novel that challenges you to notice. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.

“Gone Girl” is a tightrope walk of a novel. A believable tale about ordinary people caught in the dark side of love, and going through the motions. Expect the unexpected.

“Broken Harbor” works great as a stand-alone psychological mystery, but even better if you’ve read the series. I highly recommend it for fans of literary crime thrillers.