In this month’s look at the best-reviewed self-published titles, we highlight a Sherlock Holmes pastiche and a memoir of cancer, as well as some fantasy and sci-fi, and a nonfiction book about how we perceive time.
★ Into the Fun House
Walter Harp
Synopsis: Harp takes readers along for the ride on his hair-raising, heartbreaking, hope-making battle with acute, life-threatening leukemia.
PW’s Takeaway: Harp’s writing is matter-of-fact, exquisitely detailed, and often moving, while eschewing sentimentality.
Comparable Titles: When Breath Becomes Air
Sample Line: I should have died—more than once. Yet I remain alive (at least for now), as can anyone with cancer, regardless of how dreadful the prognosis.
Remember, Remember
Anna Elliott, with Charles Veley
Synopsis: In this third novel pairing legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his daughter, Lucy James, the latter must work to regain her memory while unraveling a knotty mystery.
PW’s Takeaway: Readers will look forward to Lucy’s further adventures.
Comparable Titles: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
Sample Line: Somewhere in the spinning chaos behind my eyes, I must have the answer to exactly who I am.
The Power of Time Perception
Jean Paul Zogby
Synopsis: Zogby draws on interviews to investigate the way we experience time.
PW’s Takeaway: Zogby’s endeavor is a worthwhile one, and his thoughtful explanations have a wide appeal.
Comparable Titles: Time Warped, The Time Paradox
Tuning the Symphony
William C. Tracy
Synopsis: In a universe where alien worlds are connected at the Nether, Rilan Ayama investigates her brother’s death.
PW’s Takeaway: Fans of fantasy will find much to love about this enchanting story.
Comparable Titles: John Varley’s Gaean Trilogy
The Worst Man on Mars
Corben Duke
Synopsis: The comic misadventures of a mission to Mars in 2029.
PW’s Takeaway: With humor, this story reveals the absurdity that might ensue if technology is endowed with too much personality.
Comparable Titles: Bill the Galactic Hero
