VILLAINS

by Samantha Neugebauer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 26, 2027

Neugebauer’s short story collection shines a light on disaffected, discontented, and alienated characters who live their lives on the fringes of society.

These 13 tales feature unconventional narrators who are struggling in relatable circumstances. François, the narrator of the first story, “Uncertain Times,” takes in his niece, Mona, when her depressed mother—his sister, Valerie—enters a sanitarium. François is in a financially precarious situation and lives in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore, but he works hard to enjoy life with his niece (“Before Mona, to be honest, I wasn’t a guy drowning in plans”) and to cultivate a burgeoning relationship with Trish, a recovering addict who works at the local Potbelly. Other protagonists, truer to the book’s title, harbor a dissatisfaction toward their fellow human beings that borders on rage. After Mandy in “Where Is Melvyn Bragg?” is stood up by a co-worker, she allows her resulting anger to fester and color every interaction. She also imagines a conspiracy of hatred toward her that only fuels her inability to make lasting friends. By contrast, two interconnected stories, “One Other Summer I” and “One Other Summer II,” focus on a young girl, Ashley, who’s desperate for connection. She watches her older brother gain his own sense of self outside of their family and yearns for that same independence as she waits desperately for her crush to log onto AOL Instant Messenger and curates her contact lists and away messages. For people of a certain age, these small details will spark feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality.

In most of these stories, Neugebauer displays a talent for crafting characters who feel real—like someone you know, or, often, someone you wish you didn’t know. Many of the people occupy an uncertain place in society, due to economic struggles that feel timely and genuine; they might once have been considered middle class but now hover closer to poverty. Although the collection shies away from physical violence, a sense of dread and tension hovers over every story, as in one of the most affecting, “Sachi & the Yurt,” in which a girl who longs to find a sense of belonging lies to her outcast sister and denies her the chance to have a last moment with their dying father. The author manages to portray such cruelty with empathy, which makes for an exciting read. That said, not every story in the collection is equally as penetrating. “Museum of the Future,” in which a nonreligious expatriate living in Dubai struggles to define her relationship with a Muslim man in a rapidly modernizing city, feels hazy compared to some of the crisper narratives; the characters’ motivations remain just out of reach, perhaps because their financial situation is so much more stable than those of most other characters in the book. Still, such moments don’t detract from the joy of reading the collection, and of recognizing various aspects of the tales in one’s own life. A smart, tight set of stories that examine its characters’ faults and insecurities with harsh precision.

Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2027

ISBN: 9781941551585

Page Count: 270

Publisher: Washington Writers' Publishing House

Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2026

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

SHORT STORIES | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION