April Books

Spring is coming and so are two extraordinary titles.

A tense, claustrophobic and gripping science fiction thriller from the author of The Testimony, our speculative pick is The Explorer by James Smythe. This month's spooky pick is the superb The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

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The Explorer by James Smythe

When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity's great explorers.

But in space, nothing goes according to plan.

The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, and Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue.

But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone and spiralling towards his own inevitable death ... unless he can do something to stop it.

The Only Good Indians by Stephan Graham Jones

This novel follows four Native American men after a disturbing event from their youth put them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and tradition they left behind catch up to them in violent, vengeful ways.

What We Think of The Only Good Indians

In this native American horror, the supernatural is not the only terrifying element. Living in the UK, I knew very little about contemporary life as a native American, but some of the assumptions and facts relayed by The Only Good Indians -- about suicide rates, about lifestyles and livelihoods and the pressure to be a 'good' Indian and a 'good' American -- were really surprising to me. The gore and violence were pretty good too!

What We Think of The Explorer

I love a book that leaves me yelling theories at my husband for basically the entire story. This one perplexed me from the beginning. I read a lot of books where everyone dies, but not usually on the first page! This book will boggle your mind and probably leave your perplexed right up to the last page, like the very best of sci-fi.

Our Previous Boxes

SIX STORIES by Matt Wesolowski

One body
Six stories
Which one is true?
1997. Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an outward bound centre. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who embarked on that fateful trip, and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby.

2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivalled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries' mysterious death. And who's to blame.

As every interview unveils a new revelation, you'll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth.

WHAT WE THINK

The Book of Strange New Things: When people ask me for a science fiction recommendation, this is always my first choice. Michel Faber is probably better known for his Dickensian epic, The Crimson Petal and the White, or his alien horror, Under the Skin, both of which have been successfully adapted for television and film. But The Book of Strange New Things is arguably a book closer to Faber’s heart. Written while caring for his wife during a terminal illness, it explores what it means to be human, and the ways in which we rely on language and shared experience to connect with others. This book has something for everyone, and I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s been disappointed by it.

Six Stories: As a general rule, we won’t be introducing series as part of the BOTB subscription – but our first box is apparently about breaking the rules! Six Stories is the first installment in Matt Wesolowski’s ongoing series, although each novel happily stands alone. Wesolowski masterfully uses the podcast/transcript medium to explore a mystery that’s almost but not quite supernatural, although the reader might be left wondering on which side of that divide the mystery lies. Podcast host Scott is masterful at investigating the mystery from an objective point of view, but the witnesses he interviews always have their own agendas. How far can they be trusted?

This month’s box comes with signed bookplates and a letter from the author exclusive to Books Outside the Box.

THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS by Michel Faber

Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, he boards a flight for a remote and unfamiliar land, a place where the locals are hungry for the teachings of the Bible - his 'book of strange new things'. It is a quest that will challenge Peter's beliefs, his understanding of the limits of the human body and, most of all, his love for Bea.

The Book of Strange New Things is a wildly original tale of adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart. This momentous novel, Faber's first since The Crimson Petal and the White, sees him at his expectation-defying best.

Will Haunt You, Brian Kirk

You don’t read the book. It reads you.

Rumors of a deadly book have been floating around the dark corners of the deep web. A disturbing tale about a mysterious figure who preys on those who read the book and subjects them to a world of personalized terror.

Jesse Wheeler―former guitarist of the heavy metal group The Rising Dead―was quick to discount the ominous folklore associated with the book. It takes more than some urban legend to frighten him. Hell, reality is scary enough. Seven years ago his greatest responsibility was the nightly guitar solo. Then one night when Jesse was blackout drunk, he accidentally injured his son, leaving him permanently disabled. Dreams of being a rock star died when he destroyed his son's future. Now he cuts radio jingles and fights to stay clean.

But Jesse is wrong. The legend is real―and tonight he will become the protagonist in an elaborate scheme specifically tailored to prey on his fears and resurrect the ghosts from his past.

Jesse is not the only one in danger, however. By reading the book, you have volunteered to participate in the author’s deadly game, with every page drawing you closer to your own personalized nightmare. The real horror doesn’t begin until you reach the end.

That’s when the evil comes for you.

What we think Will Haunt You:

I hadn’t really realised horror and surrealism went together until I read Will Haunt You. I remember about twenty pages in thinking, “What on earth is happening?” But hang on for the ride and what you’ve got is a glorious gory spooky ride of weirdness!

Suicide Club by Rachel Heng

Lea Kirino is a 'Lifer,' who has the potential to live forever - if she does everything right. She has lived her life by religiously following the state directives that ensure she remains fit and healthy. She knows she wants to live forever, and she is going to green juice, yoga-cise and meditate her way to immortality.

Yet, when a brush with death brings her face to face with a mysterious group who believe in everything the state has banned, memories of now-forbidden childhood pleasures resurge alongside ghosts of her past. As Lea's long-held beliefs begin to crack, she is forced to consider: What does it really mean to live?

What we think of Suicide Club:

In the, by now, frankly enormous genre of utopia/dystopia and particularly feminist dystopia, Suicide Club stands out for its focus on the wellness movement and the way capitalist society focuses so heavily on health for the sake of productivity. Suicide Club takes this to its Nth degree and asks where the point will come when our bodies aren’t really even our bodies anymore, while still delivering a heartwarming story about family.

Vast: Stories of Mind, Soul and Consciousness in a Technological Age

Ten exciting, thought-provoking science fiction stories exploring the relationship between cutting-edge technology and the human psyche.

What would it mean for an artificial brain to become conscious? Is awareness always tethered to the body? Could we ever accept a virtual reality as our own? Perhaps our minds already have more impact on the fabric of reality than we realise.

What We Think of Vast:

With Vast, we come to our first collection of short stories. Vast features some really smart sci-fi technology and thinking, often questioning the relationship between human and machine, and the boundaries of artificial intelligence. Brilliantly curated, we hope you’ll love these bite-sized pure SF gems!

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored... and one of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence.

What We Think of The Tenth Girl:

The Tenth Girl is my favourite book from last year. I read it right at the end of the year and it just had everything I love in a 21st century gothic story. The characters are really well realised, the story is told in an interesting way and, oh yes, there’s a twist! The sense of unease that runs through the book is subtle to begin with, but grows as the story goes on, leading to a deliciously unpleasant crescendo.

What We Think of Things We Say in the Dark

Kirsty Logan’s prose is almost poetry in this collection of creepy short stories. Chock full of dark and sinister imagery reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, Logan brings a queer flavour to reimagined horror folk tales and original stories of horror in domestic life. There is something for every horror fan in this beautifully dark collection.

Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan

Alone in a remote house in Iceland a woman is unnerved by her isolation; another can only find respite from the clinging ghost that follows her by submerging herself in an overgrown pool. Couples wrestle with a lack of connection to their children; a schoolgirl becomes obsessed with the female anatomical models in a museum; and a cheery account of child's day out is undercut by chilling footnotes.

These dark tales explore women's fears with electrifying honesty and invention and speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence.

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

The case of the extraordinary child...

London, 1863. A strange puzzle has reached Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age. To recover a stolen child, Bridie must enter the dark world of medical curiosities. The public love a spectacle and this child may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen.

Things in Jars is a Victorian novel unlike any other, one that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.

What We Think of Things in Jars

Jess Kidd is a maestro when it comes to whimsical narration of grim and grisly subjects, and I would argue Things in Jars demonstrates this better than any of her other novels. Her prose is beautiful and flits effortlessly between characters. The story itself passes through a number of colourful and extraordinary characters, twisting and turning to an excellent conclusion.