TCR Talks with Elizabeth Ellen, author of American Thighs

By Breen Nolan Elizabeth Ellen’s dazzling and darkly funny novel, American Thighs, follows Tatum Grant, a former child actor who steals her daughter’s identity to start her life over as a high school cheerleader. Tatum’s troubled upbringing is the catalyst for her move from Hollywood to Elkhart, Indiana, a town with painful ties to Tatum’s past. Written in interview style, American Thighs takes wild leaps though the inner lives of high school students and the flawed people expected to guide them into adulthood. Part high school drama, part cultural critique, and part high-speed chase, American Thighs explores the ways young…

BOOK REVIEW: Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Reviewed by Eric Martin In his latest novel, Theft, Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah spins a tapestry of interwoven lives in Tanzania, where social mores both connect and divide. It’s a world defined by family—historic and impromptu, broken and reimagined. In this world, the lives of individuals are powerfully shaped by a family history that the individual has no power to control. Consigned by choices made by parents and grandparents, children grow into adults who are confronted with the question: Can I find a way to be anything other than the sum of my history? To emphasize the relationship between person and…

TCR Talks with Rachel Howzell Hall, author of The Last One

By Dave Oei Rachel Howzell Hall is entering brand new territory with her latest novel. After writing a book series featuring Detective Elouise Norton and ten other standalone crime and mystery novels, the two-time Los Angeles Times Book Award winner has published her first foray into the genre of romantasy with her new novel, The Last One. It features Kai, a sharp, strong, beautiful woman who discovers her clothes are missing, and worse, she has no memory of who she is or why she’s in the middle of a forest. The world is in the midst of drought and a…

Jessup’s Quick Fill by Kerri Brady Long

Jessup used to think thieves were the scum of the earth. Scab-picking sleazeballs just a mote better than serial killers, pedophiles, and rapists. But what had happened lately at the Quick Fill? It made him reckon that so-called artists were the true creeping brutes, ranking only a quarter-step above the Devil. Hell, maybe even tied with Big Red himself. The kid was bone-thin and filthy, his pockets jammed full of pilfered junk, his arms full of those gold bars they all tried to steal. Jesus God almighty, it was too hot for this. The AC was blasting inside the mart,…

The Belt by James Armstrong

He’s special, this one. I never would’ve taken him home if he weren’t. And it’s not like it’s our first date. I’ve done this before. I’ll do it again. Unless he’s the one. Whether he is or not, he’s the one right now. What’s that he says? My belt? I picked it up at a thrift store. I tell him that. He says he likes it anyway. More, in fact. There’s a mystery about it, having belonged to someone else. I smile. I watch his fingers as he unbuckles the belt. He peels the pants off my legs. I laugh.…

The Imposter by Derek Andersen

Just as I was about to close my therapy office for the day, a mysterious figure arrived at my door. I could only make out his silhouette, for a brilliant aura radiated from him. From some unseen vantage, angels trumpeted his arrival, their heavenly fanfare rendering me mute. Hark and behold! Before me stood Jesus Christ, Son of Man.  When my eyes adjusted to Christ’s aura, I realized He was not attired in His iconic messianic garb. Instead of immaculate white robes, He sported a gray sweatsuit that bore a rich tapestry of stains: mustard, red wine, and Cheeto dust.…

Funfettti Kisses by Lorraine A. Wheat

Cayla didn’t want her boyfriend telling anyone about their mistake. Not ever.  She didn’t even want to believe their mistake was real. That’s why she was up again peeing on sticks while the entire world was sleep. Her pee dripped from her body to the stick. Squeezing the stick tight, she prayed it would prove the others wrong. Hope, horror, and impatience climbed up her legs. The two pink lines grew, her hands shaking. Maybe she should pee on another. Maybe she should accept this pregnancy as her new reality.  She wrapped each stick in three folds of toilet paper…

REVIEW: The Harrowing by Kristen Kiesling and Rye Hickman

Reviewed by Evelyn Garcia The Harrowing is an innovative thriller written by Kristen Kiesling and illustrated by Rye Hickman. When a teenage farm girl named Rowan discovers she has psychic powers that give her the ability to see horrifying visions of future murders, her life is turned upside-down. Rowan joins Rosewood, a secret organization dedicated to training Harrows, who are individuals with psychic abilities like her own. Every Harrow is given the responsibility to seek out and find imcrims (imminent criminals), so they can put a stop to future crimes. Kiesling presents a refreshing take on the hero’s journey, as…

TCR Talks with Nicholas Belardes, author of The Deading

By Daniel J. Collins Multi-hyphenate author Nicholas Belardes writes what he knows—the ecological landscape of Central California, the study of climate change and crisis, birds, the Chicano experience—and then blends and turbocharges it with the unknown, crafting energetic and complex works that combine the best elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. A graduate of UC Riverside Palm Desert’s Low Residency program with an MFA in fiction, Nick studied under horror writer Stephen Graham Jones and crime writer Tod Goldberg. His new book, The Deading, is an eco-horror tale that blends the sensibilities of both genres while also grounding the…

Plums by Anna da Silva

“How about you put the phone away while we eat?” I tell Beck. My words float up, accidental question mark dangling.  “Ma, it’s for school,” Beck says without looking up from under his basketball hoodie. “Besides,” he waves his hand at the empty place-setting in front of me, “are you even eating?” The three of us sit at a round table in the center of a bustling Holiday Inn Express breakfast hall, boys’ jackets and backpacks strewn on chairs, their clunky boots jostling under the table. The air tastes like hot maple syrup.  “Duh! She never eats breakfast!” Finn makes…