Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews

A recovering addict attempting to rejoin society is swept into the mysterious world of an eccentric sculptor in Oblivion Black by Christa Wojciechowski, a shadowy meditation on art, lust, fame and its ensuing destruction.

From the first explosive, mind-rattling pages, this novel hits like a tailor-made drug, with well-timed jump cuts of narration and insightful drop-ins to critical moments and revelations. Anton, Ona, Aunt Vee, and Oz make an interesting core of this darkly entrancing story, their fates seemingly entwined, despite their haphazard involvement in one another’s lives. Ona’s relationship with the regulars of her NA meetings adds another layer […]

A childless couple ends up taking in four youngsters in D.A. Callahan’s A Full Quiver, an affecting, poignant story about how parenting doesn’t have to be perfect.

Steve and Jennifer Mei Griffin run a security firm for the rich and famous in Washington, DC. They become guardians to their goddaughter after her parents’ untimely death, and through a strange series of circumstances, they end up housing three more kids over the next few months. Over the course of the story, the Griffins form a close-knit, unconventional family unit and must band together to fend off dangerous threats from the […]

Part exposé about the seedy underbelly of Hollywood public relations, part history of private investigations and hacking techniques, Nathan Pettijohn’s slick and bawdy novel Public Opinion tells the story of a morally gray protagonist who blackmails the stars.

Melvin Ritkin bills himself as an IT professional who serves the rich and famous of Los Angeles. In reality, he’s a fleecing grifter who uses countless online personas to spread fake news and influence popular perceptions about clients. After starting a tempestuous relationship with an adult film star and agreeing to manipulate the reputation of an abusive director, Melvin will have to […]