An overwhelming sense of dread permeates each of the six short tales in Ford’s collection.

In the story “The End,” Professor Todd nods off during a late night at the office working on his debut fiction novel. When he awakens, the world seems to be in disarray; while the U.S. and other nations brace themselves for war, strangers at the professor’s office drop shocking news concerning his late mother. Are these the first signs of impending global doom? (“An unnatural hush hung over the world; something massive and unseen was absorbing the ambient sounds of everything that moved.”) “Not Counting Hope” takes place in a harrowing alternate world in which slavery was never abolished in America. Benjamin and his wife, Darling, who are both Black, work for “employers” (the modern term for owners). An enslaved person out past curfew will likely land in a subterranean holding cell, but Benjamin, who has no idea why Darling suddenly vanished or where she is, vows to track her down. Ford propels these riveting stories with psychological scares in lieu of more overt horror or thriller genre conventions. For example, “Apparitions” is, generally speaking, a ghost story: In the late-19th century, Londoner Cecilia Blessington moves to her grandparents’ Boston home after they die under mysterious circumstances. She hears inexplicable noises at night, like a creaking floor. Her ensuing investigation amps up suspense—it’s only a matter of time before she checks the basement. Similarly, in the book’s ominous closing tale “Obsidian Sky,” the moon’s bizarre disappearance practically incites a panic as the world’s citizens demand an explanation. Underneath the subtle horror lie profound recurring themes of systemic racism, unwavering family loyalty, and the acceptance and inevitability of death. Readers will easily knock these stories off in a sitting—the only real complaint is that this stellar collection is over too soon.

These somber, hard-hitting, and memorable stories boost tension and never let up.

A Black man flees his home after a terrible act of violence in this historical novel.

In 1934, Willie Lee Jameson, a descendant of enslaved people, is having an affair with a married Black woman named Emmy. Willie Lee wants to leave Charlotte’s Bend, Mississippi, and head west to California with Emmy, even though Emmy is a doting stepmother to her husband’s children. They get caught together, and the white men who catch them beat Willie Lee badly. Shortly after that, he gets fired from his job. He struggles to keep a job in Natchez, but he manages to save some money so he and Emmy can leave Mississippi and have a life together. Then Emmy’s husband announces they’re moving to Chicago. At the same time, Willie Lee meets a man named Wise who gives him the guidance he needs to go west. Before he can leave, though, he has a vicious run-in that ends with the death of a white man. Now Willie Lee must flee; he grabs Emmy, and they make a run for it. They wend their way toward California, running into frequent obstacles. Emmy’s husband doesn’t intend to let her go, and there’s an unrelenting sense of danger. The white men in Ford’s novel are pure evil, and a sense of dread infuses everything Willie Lee does. The constant threat of violence makes the novel a difficult read, emotionally—although Willie Lee does occasionally get some help from kind strangers along the way. The dialogue is written in dialect that some readers may struggle with (“Schoolin’? Naw suh, I ain’t got much use fo’ it out yonder where I’m at”), but the novel is clearly well-researched, and the resolution is an unexpected but interesting surprise.

A brutal, adventurous tale of Black life in the Depression-era South.