sublimation By isabel j kim (picador, £18.99)
This debut novel from an award-winning Korean-American short story writer is a fictional reimagining of the immigrant experience. Here, anyone who crosses the border with no intention of returning creates an “instance”: a duplicate self that continues life at home. Reunification into one body is possible, but after years of disparate experiences, Soyoung wonders if it might be the psychological equivalent of murder. This idea shocks his friend Yujin, who talks every day with his example in New York and waits for him to be granted dual citizenship that will allow him to share a privileged life between the two countries. The story of these two pairs is told in the second person, an unsettling choice that slowly immerses the reader in the world of the doppelgangers. As in our reality, travel is surrounded by bureaucratic systems designed to codify identity and control immigration. A brilliantly realized, imaginative and compelling work of literary fantasy.
last day of former life By Andres Barba, translated by Lisa Dillman (Author, £10.99)
The latest novel from Spanish author Sach Small Hands is a gentler, more unusual approach to the ghost story. An estate agent encounters a child in the vacant house she is trying to sell, and realizes she has met a ghost. This experience causes him to think about and act on his closest relationships in a way he never did before. Knowing that it could be dangerous, she goes back home and is determined to try to help the other child trapped there. A small, subtle, scary story that hides depth beneath its surface simplicity.
dead But dreaming of electric sheep By Paul Tremblay (Bloomsbury, £18.99)
The horror writer’s latest article points to the darker side of science fiction, imagining the development of brain implants that allow the dead to walk. Julia is hired to use something resembling a game control console to operate a man in a passive state, allowing his unresponsive body to stand, walk, turn, and sit. Her job is to transport him from California to the East Coast, where it is believed his final wishes will be respected, and he will be able to legally die by choice. There’s nothing respectable about her jerky progress through airports and planes, trying to avoid drawing attention to the man she calls Bernie and pretend her stroke-disabled father is walking under his own power. The creepy, dark humor in Julia’s side of the story is tempered by horror in chapters told from the perspective of a man trapped in a body he can’t control, unable to remember his own name, but determined to escape fast and find answers. Things get progressively more dangerous, the scares building up to a mind-bending finale.
carrier by Ruth Newton (Bantam, £18.99)
In this first novel, a careerist – always female – is one who is paid to relieve another’s pain, relieving the client of negative emotions such as jealousy, grief or anxiety. The mechanics don’t stand up to inspection, but as a metaphor for our professional lives, and especially our expectations of women’s emotional labor, it’s right on the nose. This cleverly crafted thriller highlights how fortunes are made by inventing new addictions, and how easily inappropriate behavior can be hidden, or simply accepted. A thought-provoking read.
burn time By Ellery Lloyd (Macmillan, £16.99)
In present-day London, tech entrepreneur Inigo Frank has launched his latest venture: commercial time travel. Only the ultra-rich can afford it, and the enormous amount of energy required to keep the gateway to the past open even for a few minutes is hardly eco-friendly. Also, the past is not certain. If visitors do something that could change the course of history, even in the smallest way, no one knows what effect it will have on the present. Visits in the 1940s are limited to a few hours spent within walking distance of the London site. When one tourist does not arrive on the third visit and another is badly injured, the characters become uneasy that some details of their lives do not match their memories. A clever, exciting time-travel thriller, full of unexpected twists.
