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Creepy Stories & Nathan Harris's Next Novel
Rachel Harrison, Nicola Solvinic, curated guides, and more ...
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BookBrowse Highlights
Hello Readers!
This week, our First Impressions reviewers get a jump-start on Halloween reading with Rachel Harrison’s Play Nice, a haunted house tale that delves into societal expectations, trauma, and more.
The suspense continues with our discussion of Nicola Solvinic’s The Hunter’s Daughter, a riveting mystery about a woman who has distanced herself from her past with her serial killer father, only to be pulled back by childhood memories.
In Editor’s Choice, we cover Nathan Harris’s eagerly awaited Amity, a Reconstruction-era story about two siblings seeking personal freedom after emancipation.
Plus, get into a fall mood with our reading list of books about MFA programs—relating to Emily Adrian’s campus-set drama Seduction Theory—and check out our updated Curated Guides page, where you can find content bundles and expert advice on bookish subjects.
Thanks for reading,
The BookBrowse Team
First Impressions
Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
“In this book, Harrison tackles the ‘haunted house’ trope and it’s a winner in my estimation. Clio Louise Barnes inherits a haunted house, along with her two sisters, Leda and Daphne, after the death of their mother, Alexandra. It’s also the house the three grew up in. Told in part through a book Alexandra wrote which Clio obtains at her mother’s funeral and through Clio’s attempts at remodeling the house, the story is spooky, scary, and great fun to read—a perfect October read given its publication date in September!” —JanineS “The horror elements serve as metaphors for the emotional labor women often carry, adding layers of meaning beneath the book's sly humor and razor-sharp dialogue.” —Heather M. (Acushnet, MA) |  |
“I'm not typically into books about anything paranormal…but I thought this sounded interesting…I always enjoy books with flawed characters, where the house is also a character, and when there is a focus on mental health…The story was creepy without being scary or terrifying.” —Jaz (Fredericksburg, VA)
Book Club Discussions
Discussions are open to all! If you’d like to participate, you can do so by creating an account here. Please note that discussions can contain spoilers.
The Hunter’s Daughter by Nicola Solvinic
From the Jacket Anna Koray escaped her father's darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She's now a decorated sheriff's lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father's shadow. When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest. |  |
From the Discussion
“It was hard to put down. I was very involved and curious with everything that Anna was doing.” —Paula_Walters
“I would recommend The Hunter’s Daughter to readers who enjoy atmospheric, gritty, dark mysteries, and a bit of fantasy/magical realism. It would also appeal to those who enjoy in-depth studies of morally ambiguous characters.” —Janie-Hickok-Siess
“I do love a mystery and this was so different from the many that I have read or seen on the screen or television that I was transfixed.” —Lauri_Z
For Members
This issue of The BookBrowse Review contains reviews and "beyond the book" articles for 14 titles, including Between Two Rivers by Moudhy Al-Rashid, Amity by Nathan Harris, and Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian. We also bring you previews of upcoming releases, 10 Books You'll Love Reading in Fall 2025, book club recommendations with reading guides, and much more. Not Yet a Member? Do you love to spend your reading hours immersed in captivating storytelling and intriguing ideas? |  |
Then a BookBrowse membership is for you! What you see on BookBrowse for free and in this newsletter is just a small part of what is available to members—for just $5.00/month! Join Today!
Curated Guides
Starting a book club? Our guide A Club of One’s Own can help. Want to get more out of your reading? See our Reading Deeply bundle. We even have an extensive overview of World War II fiction focused on women. These guides and others draw from more than two decades of book club research and editorial content. View them all in our updated Curated Guides section. |  |
Editor’s Choice
Amity by Nathan Harris
Siblings June and Coleman were enslaved as children by the Harper family in Baton Rouge. They've now been emancipated, but having found themselves with nothing to their names and nowhere to go, they've opted to stay with the Harpers as servants. The family patriarch, Wyatt Harper, has left for the Texas/Mexico border in the hopes of establishing a silver mine, forcing June to go with him, while the now nineteen-year-old Coleman has been left behind with Harper's wife and daughter. Turlow, a rough-looking stranger, arrives with a letter from Harper which Mrs. Harper chooses to interpret as her husband asking her to join him in Mexico. She, along with Coleman and her daughter, Florence, set off with Turlow. |  |
Most of the story is narrated by Coleman as he recounts his ensuing misadventures along the journey. Harris's description of both the bleakness and the beauty of the desert is masterful, and June's narrative in particular captures the feel of the American Southwest … continued
Review by Kim Kovacs
Beyond the Book
Books About MFA Programs
Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian is framed as a student's creative writing MFA (Master of Fine Arts) thesis, and the book's main characters are instructors in the program. MFA programs can serve as uniquely effective settings for stories. Many authors have been through them themselves, and can portray the experience in an authentic way. The often-competitive nature of these programs and the creative types who enroll in them can also act as a foundation for a variety of off-the-wall plots. Here's a genre-spanning list of books about MFA programs. … continued Article by Jillian Bell |  |
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