Wild Dark Shore

Title: Wild Dark Shore
Author: Charlotte McConaghy
Published: March 4, 2025 by Flatiron Books
Format: Hardcover, 300 Pages
Genre: Thriller

Blurb: A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.

A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.

My Opinion: I’ll be honest, this book didn’t sweep me away at first. For the first two-thirds, I found myself drifting. Not bored, exactly, but questioning whether the journey was worth it. Charlotte McConaghy has managed to combine literary fiction, thriller, and a TED Talk on climate change, all in one.

The final hundred pages hit with the force of a wave. Suddenly, the characters weren’t just names on a page. They were flesh and soul. Rowan, Dominic, Fen, Raff, and Orly each carry their own burdens, and each one cracked me open in a different way. But it is Orly, who carries the book with his innocence, that will break your heart and stay with you for a long time.

Shearwater, the wild coastal setting, isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing force. It mirrors the characters’ pain and resilience, shaping them as much as they shape each other, with its sacred, brutal, and heartbreaking beauty.

At its heart, this is a story about family, not the glossy kind, but the raw, fractured, deeply human kind. It’s about how we break, how we lose our way, and how, if we’re lucky, we find our way back through grief, courage, and the quiet faith that healing is possible.

I picked up Wild Dark Shore because of the buzz. I nearly put it down more than once. But I’m glad I didn’t. It took me somewhere unexpected and gave me truths I didn’t know I needed. It reminded me that sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones that sneak up on you and then refuse to let go.

The Medusa Protocol

Title: The Medusa Protocol
Author: Rob Hart
Published: June 24, 2025, by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 320 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Assassins Anonymous #2

Blurb: When Astrid, known in her assassin days as Azrael, stopped showing up to Assassins Anonymous, the group assumed her past had caught up with her. Only her sponsor Mark, formerly the deadliest killer in the world, holds out hope that she’s okay. Then, during a meeting, the group gets a sign, or rather, a pizza delivery. Is there another psychopath out there who actually likes olives on their pizza, or is Astrid trying to send Mark a message? Meanwhile, Astrid wakes up in the cell of a black site prison, on a remote island. A doctor subjects her to mysterious experiments, plumbing the depths of her memory and looking for a vital clue from her past. She’ll do anything to escape, except…killing anyone. Hmm. Turns out it’s not easy to blow this joint without blowing anything, or anyone up.

My Opinion: The Medusa Protocol didn’t land for me the way Assassins Anonymous did. That first book had Mark at its center with his dry humor, reluctant vulnerability, and the strange warmth of a support group for killers trying to stay “clean.” It was sharp, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt. This sequel shifts the spotlight to Astrid, whose backstory was deliberately withheld in the first book.

Astrid’s been abducted and dumped in a secret black site off the coast of Brazil, where doctors experiment on humans, poisonous snakes form a protective barrier, and inmates wear pink or blue to signal their value. It’s a bizarre setting and Hart doesn’t hold back when it comes to the depravity. The reveal of why she’s there comes late, and the who behind it either blindsided me or wasn’t clearly seeded because it appeared to come out of nowhere. It felt more like ticking boxes rather than unfolding a layered character arc.

Still, the Assassins Anonymous (AA) meetings continue like clockwork and that consistency becomes Astrid’s lifeline. She manages to get a message out, and Mark, despite risking his hard-won “sobriety”, doesn’t hesitate to answer the call. Their bond, forged in violence and redemption, is the emotional core of the book. Astrid knows that taking out evil might mean starting her sobriety over, but she’s willing. And her AA family? They’re there, no judgment, just support.

A few familiar faces from the first book pop in and out, but they’re more cameo than connective tissue. The real throughline is the idea that even assassins deserve second chances, and sometimes, third or fourth ones too.

This book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s brutal, bleak, and unflinching. There’s blood, gore, and some deeply unsettling Epstein-esque moments that made me queasy.

Even though The Medusa Protocol didn’t resonate with me like Hart’s earlier work, I still think he’s an underappreciated voice. His ideas are bold, his execution fearless, and I’ll keep watching for whatever he writes next.

The Fifth Season

Title: The Fifth Season
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Published: August 4, 2015 by Orbit
Format: Paperback, 468 Pages
Genre: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Dystopian
Series: Broken Earth Book #1

Blurb: Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze -- the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand years -- collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman's vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She'll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

My Opinion: There’s a lot packed into the prologue of The Fifth Season and I wouldn’t blame anyone for setting the book down after those first fourteen pages. It’s dense, dry, and daunting. The appendices at the back don’t help either; they signal that this isn’t going to be a casual read. But for those who press on, there’s a map of the Stillness waiting; a small reward, a hint that this world, however harsh, is worth the effort.

Once you move into the chapters, something shifts. Maybe it’s the book that settles, or maybe it’s you. Either way, Jemisin begins to work her magic. And it’s not the kind of magic that gently pulls you in, it’s the kind that grabs you by the collar and drags you through ash and agony.

Genre-wise, I’m still not sure where this book belongs. Science fiction? Fantasy? Dystopian? It’s all of them and none of them. Jemisin builds a world that defies easy categorization, and maybe that’s the point. The Stillness is a place of constant upheaval—geologically, emotionally, socially—and the narrative mirrors that instability.

Just when you think you’ve found your footing, Jemisin hits you with a new brutality. You’re sideswiped, knocked off balance, and left wondering, “What the rust am I getting into?” There’s shock, surprise, and a relentless stream of “I didn’t see that coming” moments. It’s not just plot twists; it’s emotional whiplash.

The story unfolds through three distinct perspectives:

• Essun, a grieving mother and powerful orogene, searching for her daughter in the wake of her son’s murder.

• Damaya, a young orogene just beginning to understand the terrifying power she holds.

• Syenite, a seasoned orogene on a mission that will unravel everything she thought she knew.

Each voice is unique, compelling, and heartbreakingly human. You’ll try to choose a favorite, but Jemisin won’t let you. Eventually, their stories converge in ways that are both devastating and brilliant, revealing an intricate architecture and the lives within it.

I didn’t see the last hundred pages coming. I read the final fifty with my mouth open, my stomach clenched, and tears streaming. Jemisin did something to me, something I’m still recovering from. And yet, I know I’ll reread this series once I’ve finished all three books. Not just to relive it, but to catch what I missed. Because I know she’s not done with me.

Yes, I’m late to this party. But I’m so glad I showed up. The Fifth Season explores oppression, prejudice, family, loss, and the brutal cycles of destruction and survival. It’s not an easy read, and it’s not meant to be. Book One will sit with you, both physically and emotionally, until you’re ready to face Book Two. And even then, you won’t be ready.

Return to Sender

Title: Return to Sender
Author: Craig Johnson
Published: May 27, 2025 by Viking
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Genre: Western Police Procedural
Series: Walt Longmire #21

Blurb: When Blair McGowan, the mail person with the longest postal route in the country of over three hundred mile a day, goes missing the question becomes—where do you look for her? The Postal Inspector for the State of Wyoming elicits Sheriff Longmire to mount an investigation into her disappearance and Walt does everything but mail it in; posing as a letter-carrier himself, the good sheriff follows her trail and finds himself enveloped in the intrigue of an otherworldly cult.

My Opinion: At least there wasn’t the Mallo Cup woo-woo that pops up in some of Johnson’s earlier entries. This time around, he leaves the supernatural out of it and lets the oddball cult take center stage instead, which somehow feels more grounded, if no less bizarre.

Walt is brought in by a shirttail relative of his late wife to track down a missing mail carrier. She's eventually found, but Walt sticks around. Is it curiosity about the nearby cult? An excuse not to go back and face Cady? Or is there something deeper gnawing at him? Walt hates leaving a job unfinished, sure, but there’s something here that raises the hairs on the back of his neck. And Walt’s instinct rarely lets go until all the questions are answered.

Walt still sees Cady as a 12-year-old, which is understandable, maybe, but not a sufficient reason to resist the idea of her becoming Wyoming’s next Attorney General. When the truth finally cracks through, it’s sobering: Walt would do anything for his daughter, like she for him, but only if it is the best option for all involved. No threats, only personal choices. That moment of emotional honesty lands with weight, and then vanishes. Johnson never speaks about it again. A missed opportunity, perhaps, or a deliberate choice to leave some things unsettled for the next book.

Some of Johnson’s books require brute force to get through; woo-woo fatigue is real, while others make you wish for a few hundred more pages. But what makes this series an automatic buy for me is the dry, deadpan humor that threads through every page.

For me, the beginning ambled along, and then the second half is a full gallop. There are stretches where you forget to breathe, and then he drops a one-liner, about prairie poodles, and you snort-laugh before being pulled back under again. It’s that rhythm that makes Johnson so addictive. He reels you in, lets you catch your breath, then slams you with another twist.

And as this book ends, you assume to know exactly where the next Longmire story will pick up. Until then, Johnson will be off somewhere collecting local anecdotes, catching up on the history, and when he’s done, his own cult following will be there ready to follow Walt down whatever trail comes next.

The long-time readers of this series will be glad to see that all the familiar characters are here, along with a few others from previous books who pop in to see what’s happening and what kind of trouble is brewing.