Peter Cannon

Senior reviews editor Peter Cannon recommends ‘The Singapore Grip’ by J.G. Farrell, about the impact of war on a group of English people in the period leading up to Japan’s entry into World War II.

A thriller first published in 1986 and set in the world of New York real estate development reads as fresh now as when it came out. And not just because Trump gets a mention.

Carroll and Jodee Blanco recreate the life and career of John Kennedy Toole, author of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’, in ‘I, John Kennedy Toole’ (Pegasus, May.).

The shadow of Agatha Christie hovers over more than one major mystery in a season that offers a number of titles focused on authors and books, including Edgar Allan Poe and his self-published debut, ‘Tamerlane.’

Hillary Rodham Clinton makes her fiction debut this season with a political thriller coauthored with Louise Penny, and a number of veteran genre authors also have big books, including Megan Abbott, Paula Hawkins, and Stephen King.

This season, shady characters rely on a host of professionals, from a veteran former PI to a former British race car driver, to do their dirty work.

Former FBI director James Comey makes his fiction debut with a legal/political thriller, while veteran Martin Cruz Smith sends Russian detective Arkady Renko on a mission to Ukraine just before the 2022 Russian invasion.