A promising set of tales that will have readers looking forward to more of Rank’s work.
Rank presents a solid collection of contemporary short stories about characters who feel stuck in moments of crisis.
These 15 pieces circle similar themes from a range of perspectives. Most of the protagonists are men at a crossroads, as in “Patio,” in which a man who’s “been on edge for months. Nervous. Anxious,” struggles to communicate his true feelings to his ex-girlfriend when she stops by. Sometimes the stories are told from other points of view, as in “The Rain” which employs the first-person perspective of a wife of someone working through a second attempt at college; the pair are also trying to keep their house literally afloat after heavy rains and flooding. Similarly, “Near the Tree Line” is about divorced parents David and Hannah, observed via the third-person perspective of their son, Chase. There are some flashes of humor throughout these tales; Chase, for instance, names his dog Brexit, simply because he likes the way the word sounds: “‘Do you know what Brexit even is?’ asked David with a rare smile on his face. Chase nodded. ‘It’s my dog.’” The shortest works are closer to character sketches and often a bit stranger, as in the aptly named “I Collect Teeth.” The longer stories—“Fireworks” and “Chance to Fade”—show the most range, capturing subtleties of family relationships, grief, and memory. The title story is the most structurally interesting, offering a quietly devastating portrayal of a man navigating the aftermath of his fiancée’s death and struggling to distinguish between reality and hallucination. Although the stories here are often sad, they have a pleasantly smooth style. With few exceptions, Rank delivers sturdy, non-fussy prose, very much in the tradition of late-20th-century short fiction, with moving moments and epiphanies that bring aspects of Raymond Carver’s work to mind.
A promising set of tales that will have readers looking forward to more of Rank’s work.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781963869507
Page Count: 237
Publisher: Running Wild Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
