Gabino Iglesias

Nat Cassidy's wildly entertaining novel is a superb example of how to work with clichés. When the Wolf Comes Home might sound like a werewolf novel — but it's an entirely different animal.

Lydia Millet's characters in Atavists interact and have little dramas of their own — the author's talent is on full display here. Not every story is strong, but they work well together.

The prose is gorgeous and the plot is complex. The author of The Only Good Indians returns again with a spellbinding yarn about one of the bloodiest, most significant parts of the nation's history.

Willow Winsham's new book on witches, past and present, offers a fun, fast, well researched historical summary that is also a stunning work of art.

With clear, concise prose that delves into harsh topics without losing its sense of humor, Danticat once again proves that she is one of contemporary literature's strongest, most graceful voices.

Novelist Halle Butler understands our worst enemy is sometimes our own brain. Her dark, chaotic novel manages to be often hilarious yet relentlessly uncheerful.

Mateo Askaripour's sophomore novel is a sprawling speculative-fiction narrative that delivers a heartwarming story about a young woman learning to navigate the world.

With exquisite prose, smart lines on every page, a building sense of growing strangeness tinged with dread, and surprises all the way to the end, this might be Laura van den Berg's best novel so far.

A very sinister thriller with a dash of science-fiction and full of inscrutabilities, Sarah Langan's novel is as entreating and creepy as it is timely and humane.

Engaging and wildly entertaining, Kaveh Akbar's debut novel will undoubtedly be considered one of the best of the year because it focuses on very specific stories while discussing universal feelings.