Latest Fiction News

‘The pictures, they look at you.’ A stroll with novelist John Banville through Spain's Prado Museum

Nov. 02, 2024 01:36 AM EDT

MADRID (AP) — It’s the eyes peering from the canvases that get him, their gaze piercing the boundary between art and life. That’s why acclaimed Irish novelist John Banville prefers to visit Spain’s Prado Museum during its opening hours — even though he's been invited to...

Tina Knowles to tell her story in 'Matriarch,' a memoir scheduled for next year

Oct. 29, 2024 08:52 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Knowles will have a memoir out next spring with a title that will not surprise her many admirers. The fashion designer and mother of Beyoncé, Solange Knowles and “bonus daughter” Kelly Rowland has a deal with Random House Publishing Group for...

Book Review: A man searches for meaning in Mike Fu's unnerving debut novel, 'Masquerade'

Oct. 28, 2024 12:17 PM EDT

Meadow is coming up on 10 years living in New York, and he’s still adrift. His boyfriend ghosted him, his current residence is actually a housesitting gig, and his bartending job isn’t exactly filling his parents with pride. But this summer, strange things keep happening that will make or break...

Nick Harkaway steps into his father John le Carré's footsteps with spy thriller 'Karla's Choice'

Oct. 26, 2024 00:12 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — George Smiley, the subtle fictional spymaster navigating treacherous Cold War currents, is back. And so, somewhat surprisingly, is his creator, John le Carré. Four years after the spy writer’s death at the age of 89, comes a new thriller,...

Book Review: 70-year-old psychiatrist takes to the road in Anna Montague's beguiling new novel

Oct. 21, 2024 13:55 PM EDT

Americans love road trips. Or at least American writers love them as metaphors of self-discovery. In Anna Montague’s beautiful, beguiling and slightly bonkers debut novel, “How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?” the main character does indeed jump into a car and head out on the highway...

Book Review: Richard Chizmar tells a creepy occult tale in ‘Memorials'

Oct. 21, 2024 11:59 AM EDT

Richard Chizmar, who co-wrote parts of the “Gwendy” trilogy with Stephen King from 2017-2022 (“Gwendy’s Button Box” and “Gwendy’s Final Task”), has written his longest novel yet and readers should not be surprised that it reads, at least somewhat, like something from the mind of...

Percival Everett's 'James' wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize for fiction

Oct. 16, 2024 21:07 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Percival Everett's novel “James,” his acclaimed reworking of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” has won a $50,000 prize that continues Everett's recent wave of literary honors. On Wednesday night, “James” was awarded the Kirkus Prize for fiction....

Book Review: Single mother in her 50s falls hard for much younger man in Susan Minot’s latest novel

Oct. 15, 2024 11:19 AM EDT

From the very first page of Susan Minot’s latest novel, “Don’t Be a Stranger,” Ivy Cooper, a single mother in her early 50s, has sex on her mind. The scene opens with her in the bath, thinking about the sex she’s had in that tub, the sex she’d like to have — but also, her bills, her...

Book Review: Cop cold case unit pursues a rapist, foils a terrorist plot and tackles a 1947 murder

Oct. 15, 2024 10:21 AM EDT

It’s early morning in Southern California, and Renee Ballard, director of the LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit, is where she most loves to be. She’s surfing, and she’s darned good at it. After a final run, she returns to the parking lot and discovers that someone has broken into her car and stolen her...

Jason Mott follows award-winning meta-novel with novel about award-winning author

Oct. 11, 2024 08:02 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Mott's first novel since “Hell of a Book” is a kind of meta-sequel to his award-winning meta-narrative about a Black author's haunting promotional tour. The Penguin Random House imprint Dutton announced Thursday that it has reached a deal with Mott for...