And if God truly is dead, the only thing that matters is who will inherit his library… and with it, power over all of creationĪs Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her.Ĭarolyn can win, but what she doesn't realize is that her victory may come at an unacceptable price. As they’ve learned more, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. Since their “adoption,” Carolyn and her siblings have studied the books in Father’s library. And when he was disobeyed, the consequences were terrible. That was a long time ago, before she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.įather could do strange things. 'The Library at Mount Char,' by Scott HawkinsĬarolyn's not so different from the other humans around her. Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.

The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world, but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program-and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. On paper, her new job is too good to be true. When Lena Johnson's grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan.

gang member contracted for violence two scientists in Marfa, Texas, on the run from an organization powerful beyond imagining plus a recovering addict in Singapore summoned at midnight by a desperate billionaire and a programmer near Silicon Beach whose game engine might unleash consequences far exceeding the entertainment he intends.Īt the very heart, though, is a twelve-year-old girl named Xanther who one rainy day in May sets out with her father to get a dog, only to end up trying to save a creature as fragile as it is dangerous, which will change not only her life and the lives of those she has yet to encounter, but this world, too… or at least the world we think we know and the future we take for granted. They include a therapist-in-training grappling with daughters as demanding as her patients an ambitious East L.A. The Familiar ranges from Mexico to Southeast Asia, from Venice, Italy, to Venice, California, with nine lives hanging in the balance. 1: One Rainy Day in May,' by Mark Danielewski

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