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Daniel H. Wilson is a frequent New York Times bestseller with a long bibliography that spans speculative fiction, techno-thrillers, and science satire. Wilson’s work is informed by his education and research background, including a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Early standouts include How to Survive a Robot Uprising (2005) and How to Build a Robot Army (2007), humorous but fact-based guides about the dangers of robotics and AI. Wilson may be best known to many for his documentary-style doomsday novel Robopocalypse (2011) and its sequel Robogenesis (2014). Subsequent work includes The Clockwork Dynasty (2017), an historical fantasy about a secret, immortal race of biological automatons whose existence has quietly shaped human history, and The Andromeda Evolution (2019), an authorized sequel to the Michael Crichton classic The Andromeda Strain. Wilson’s latest novel, Hole in the Sky, is an alien encounter story inspired by the author’s own Cherokee background. Notes The Seattle Times: “Wilson reimagines first contact through an Indigenous lens, fusing Cherokee cosmology with cutting-edge science and creeping cosmic horror.” The post Club Book Episode 203 Daniel H. Wilson first appeared on Club Book.

Cleyvis Natera is a Dominican-American novelist and a poignant chronicler of the modern immigrant experience. Her award-winning literary debut, Neruda on the Park (2023), follows a grassroots push to stop gentrification in a predominantly Dominican neighborhood of New York City. Community organizer Eusebia’s campaign is made more complicated when her daughter, Luz, becomes romantically involved with a handsome developer at the company her family so vehemently opposes. Neruda on the Park earned Natera an International Latino Book Award and was selected by Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai for her Literati Book Club. Themes of home, identify, immigration, and inequality also feature heavily in Natera’s literary follow up. The Grand Paloma Resort (2025) is a thriller set at a tony Dominican resort for the ultra-rich. National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela praises: “The Grand Paloma Resort is a literary ‘The White Lotus.’ … Natera has written a sexy, sinister, and intricate tale that serves as an indictment of the ‘haves’ at the expense of the ‘have-nots’.” The post Club Book Episode 202 Cleyvis Natera first appeared on Club Book.

Sara Hashem is best known to readers for the chart-topping The Scorched Throne romantasy series, an Egyptian-inspired duology comprising The Jasad Heir (2023) and The Jasad Crown (2025). The Jasad Heir is set a decade after a devastating war between the militaristic nation of Nizahl and Jasad, a kingdom of magic and prosperity obliterated by the Nizahli after a treacherous betrayal. Sylvia, fugitive queen of the lost realm, lives in hiding – until a chance encounter forces her to reveal her survival to Arin, the Nizahl heir apparent. Paste Magazine praised the book as “A summer fantasy banger… A compelling fantasy saga that’s one part political treatise, one part slow-burn ‘enemies-to-lovers’ romance, and one part survival competition.” It charted high on both the USA Today and Sunday Times bestseller lists. Hashem’s latest, Where No Shadow Stays, is her first foray into young adult fiction. After a visit to her family’s ancestral mansion in El Agamy, Egypt, high schooler Mina returns to her California home with an unwelcome souvenir: a sinister entity bent on claiming a generational blood debt. The post Club Book Episode 201 Sara Hashem first appeared on Club Book.

With more than 60 books to her name, Tessa Bailey is one of the most prolific and best loved names in contemporary romance. Bailey has a book for every lover of the genre, with series focusing on law enforcement (Line of Duty), artists (Broke and Beautiful), factory workers (Made in Jersey), construction contractors (Hot and Hammered), lifeguards (Beach Kingdom), and of course sexy vampires (Phenomenal Fate). She solidified her standing in the modern romance canon in 2021 with It Happened One Summer. A juggernaut #1 New York Times bestseller often likened to Schitt’s Creek, this first entry in the Bellinger Sister duology brings together a gruff fisherman and fun-loving socialite. Bailey’s current series, Big Shots, turns the spotlight to professional sports. The fifth and latest entry hits shelves in January. Catch Her If You Can is a play on the “marriage for convenience” trope and pairs New York Yankees pitcher Madden Donahue with high school friend Eve Mitchell – whose vocation as a burlesque club owner is sure to do nothing for Madden’s professional prospects. The post Club Book Episode 200 Tessa Bailey first appeared on Club Book.

In five short years Carley Fortune has established herself as a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist and a leading light in fiction’s international romance boom. Her four books have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than three million copies. Fortune’s first novel, Every Summer After (2022), is a nostalgic tale of love and life choices told over the course of six years. Set in the picturesque Ontario hamlet of Barry’s Bay, this chart-topping literary debut introduced readers to Fortune’s hallmark: the magic of Canadian cottage country and lake life’s unique ability to foster second-chance romance. Fortune’s follow-ups, Meet Me at the Lake (2023) and This Summer Will Be Different (2024), perfected the model. Fortune’s latest novel, One Golden Summer (2025), returns to Barry’s Bay and centers Charlie Floek, a fan-favorite side character from Every Summer After. In a glowing review, E! News summarized: “Fans have been begging [Fortune] to give Charlie his happily ever after for years—and she’s fully delivered with a sweet, summer love story.” The post Club Book Episode 199 Carley Fortune first appeared on Club Book.

Literary wunderkind Nathan Harris is the author behind the instant New York Times bestseller The Sweetness of Water (2021), “a historical page-turner about social friction so powerful it ignites a whole town” (NPR). Set in the waning days of the U.S. Civil War and turbulent aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation, Harris’s debut follows the unlikely partnership and budding friendship between eccentric homesteader George Walker and newly freed Prentiss and Landry. The Sweetness of Water became an Oprah’s Book Club selection and was longlisted for both the Mann Booker Prize and Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction – a rare of honors for any writer, particularly a first-time author still in his twenties. Harris’s anticipated follow-up returns to the Reconstruction era and a South determined to return its Black citizens to bondage. In Amity, Louisiana freedman Coleman treks to Mexico in pursuit of his sister and their former enslaver. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews commends Amity as “a smartly imagined Western with a different sort of hero… with twists and turns from beginning to end.” The post Club Book Episode 198 Nathan Harris first appeared on Club Book.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Hawkins is an acclaimed journalist, memoirist, and podcaster. Over nearly two decades with The Wall Street Journal, Hawkins honed his skill and voice as an investigative journalist, news editor, and on-camera reporter. He gained a following with The Business of Celebrity with Lee Hawkins, a recurring series with Hollywood superstars, sports icons, and business legends that explored the entrepreneurial and financial aspects of fame. Later in his career, Hawkins pivoted to coverage of race, equity, and education, with strong emphasis on the enduring impacts of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. These are subjects with deep personal resonance for him. Hawkins explores centuries of oppression and trauma in his own lineage in I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free. I Am Nobody’s Slave is a potent blend of memoir, history, social commentary, investigative reporting, and cutting-edge genealogical science. In a glowing review, Forbes summarizes: “Hawkins confronts the lingering effects of intergenerational trauma, showing that healing is an act of defiance in itself.” The post Club Book Episode 197 Lee Hawkins first appeared on Club Book.

Thomas Maltman defies genre classification, but the award-winning author’s four novels to date each offer a grounded, unflinching look at rural and small-town life in the Upper Midwest. His first, The Night Birds, vividly captures the devastating U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 as seen through the eyes and reminiscences of German immigrants who lived alongside the Wahpekute Dakota. It amassed top literary honors from sources as varied as the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the Western Writers of America. Maltman’s follow ups, Little Wolves (2013) and The Land (2020), return to the sweeping Minnesota prairie and cement the author’s reputation as a master of the Midwestern Gothic. His latest, Ashes to Ashes, is a worthy addition to this corpus. In it, the sleepy town of Andwhen is rocked by two impossible mysteries. At the local Ash Wednesday service, ashes applied to parishioners’ foreheads refuse to rub off. Equally baffling, local teens uncover the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer improbably buried in a nearby meadow. The post Club Book Episode 196 Thomas Maltman first appeared on Club Book.

Nigerian-British novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite burst onto the literary scene in 2018 with her propulsive debut thriller My Sister, the Serial Killer. Ayoola, the book’s title character, is beautiful and charming but impulsive and ruthless – as evidenced by a string of murdered boyfriends. Dutiful older sibling Korede is an expert at cleaning up Ayoola’s messes – until both set their sights on the same handsome young doctor. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called My Sister, the Serial Killer “bitingly funny and brilliantly executed, with not a single word out of place.” It garnered Braithwaite the 2019 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and a coveted spot on TIME’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time, among other high honors. It has since been translated into more than 30 languages. Braithwaite’s highly anticipated follow-up, family saga Cursed Daughters, hits shelves November 4. Seemingly fated for tragedy from birth, Eniiyi is encumbered by both a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin. The post Club Book Episode 195 Oyinkan Braithwaite first appeared on Club Book.

Historical fiction heavyweight Marjan Kamali is a leading figure within the flourishing Iranian-American literary tradition. Her novels spotlight the lives and irrepressible spirit of Iranian women across generations, both in their native country and the global diaspora. Kamali’s maiden novel, Together Tea, follows a mismatched mother and daughter pair who emigrate to America but, despite their contrasting natures, each feels drawn back to Iran. Her follow-up, international bestseller The Stationery Shop, is a saga of love and loss set against the backdrop of the 1953 coup d’etat that overthrew Iran’s democratic government. Kamali returns to that tumultuous period in her latest book, The Lion Women of Tehran. Inseparable as children, friends Ellie and Homa are pulled apart by political upheaval and personal betrayal. Later in life, a haunted Ellie seeks out her childhood companion to confront and atone for her checkered past. Bookreporter calls The Lion Women of Tehran “a beautifully crafted and subtle exploration of love, family, friendship, ambition, betrayal, and redemption in a socio-political powder keg.” The post Club Book Episode 194 Marjan Kamali first appeared on Club Book.

Elle Cosimano is the pen behind the chart-topping Finlay Donovan series, madcap mysteries unlike any other. Cosimano first introduced her domestic antihero, a single parent and strung-out thriller novelist, in Finlay Donovan is Killing It (2021). In this debut outing, described by reviewers as “part screwball comedy, part morality tale,” a wronged wife mistakes Finlay for a contract killer after overhearing her outline the plot of her latest book to a literary agent. Readers have enjoyed the further adventures of Cosimano’s writer-turned-sleuth at the steady pace of a book a year. Her latest, out in March, is Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave. When a dead body turns up in their elderly neighbor’s backyard, Finlay and her best friend Vero must unravel neighborhood secrets to stay ahead of a police investigation that soon zeroes in on Finlay’s own ex-husband, Steven. Shelf Awareness praises the book – and the series as a whole – as “a celebration of female friendship and a comical exploration of what happens when life keeps imitating art.” The post Club Book Episode 193 Elle Cosimano first appeared on Club Book.

Minnesota’s own Joshua Moehling is a unique voice and rising star in the crowded mystery and thriller landscape. He introduced fans to Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard and the seemingly idyllic town of Sandy Lake in 2023. Notes the Associated Press: “Moehling’s debut, And There He Kept Her, plays out like something on TV, resembling Yellowstone in its small-town setting and larger-than-life drama set against captivatingly detailed scenery… It’s a great opportunity to get into a new detective series at the ground level.” Many readers did exactly that. Both And There He Kept Her and Packard’s sophomore outing, Where the Dead Sleep (2024), were contenders for the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ+ Mystery. Moehling’s latest thriller, A Long Time Gone, hinges around the haunting disappearance of Packard’s own brother – a cold case that cracks wide open after decades of questions and speculation. First Clue Reviews raves: “The third in the series is far and away the best… It’s amazing how Moehling keeps all these narrative balls in the air, but even more amazing is how they eventually come together.” The post Club Book Episode 192 Joshua Moehling first appeared on Club Book.

Jon Hickey is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe) and author behind the 2025 literary breakout Big Chief. Set on the fictional Passage Rouge Reservation in northern Wisconsin, Big Chief follows Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, as he attempts to clinch reelection for Tribal President Mack Beck. Political control of the Nation, and with it the lucrative Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel, is contested by a group of intrepid activists that include campaign manager Layla – Mitch’s estranged sister and Mack’s former love interest. Hickey’s themes and tone have earned favorable comparisons to modern classics like The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich and There, There by Tommy Orange. Among a host of glowing early reviews, fellow novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden opines: “We’ve been waiting for the great Native American political novel, and here it is.” Rare for a debut release, Big Chief charted high on Most Anticipated Books of 2025 lists for publications as varied as The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times to LitHub. The post Club Book Episode 191 Jon Hickey first appeared on Club Book.

New York Times bestselling author Silvia Moreno-Garcia masterfully blends elements of horror, fantasy, noir, and historical fiction. Her distinctive style gained a wide audience with Mexican Gothic, winner of the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel in 2021 and one of TIME’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Moreno-Garcia’s follow ups include The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022), a reimagining of the H.G. Wells classic set in Yucatán, and The Seventh Veil of Salome (2024), a dual-timeline story that interweaves the biblical story of Salome with that of a Mexican actress playing her in a big-budget Hollywood film. Moreno-Garcia’s latest novel hit shelves in July. The Bewitching is a multigenerational saga about the primordial evil forces that have inspired witches in popular fiction. In a starred review, ­Publishers Weekly raves: “With this equally spooky and sophisticated horror novel, bestseller Moreno-Garcia proves she’s as adept playing in the tropes of dark academia as any of the other subgenres she’s tried on… It’s as unsettling as it is unputdownable.” The post Club Book Episode 190 Silvia Moreno-Garcia first appeared on Club Book.

Nickolas Butler is the internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed novels like The Hearts of Men (2017) and Little Faith (2019). His breakout debut, Shotgun Lovesongs (2014), remains among his most enduring works to date. It centers around five lifelong friends who take wildly diverging paths in life but remain indelibly linked both to one another and to the small Wisconsin community they called home. Butler’s two most recent novels build on the author’s literary fiction bona fides with elements of suspense and romance, respectively. Godspeed (2021) follows three struggling construction partners who agree to build a lavish mansion for a mysterious client on an impossible deadline. The Financial Times calls it “an effective blend of rural fable and snow-lashed Rocky Mountain noir… The set-up is pure Hitchcock.” Butler’s latest, A Forty Year Kiss, is a poignant story of second chances and rekindled love. In a glowing review, Library Journal opines: “This is a love story, not only between Charlie and Vivian but also between the novel and the Midwest.” The post Club Book Episode 189 Nickolas Butler first appeared on Club Book.