Under the Falls by Richard Russo

Published by  Knopf by August 11, 2026

Under the Falls is a novel of guilt. Tyler Sinclair feels guilty because he abruptly left town after shagging his best friend’s girlfriend, abandoning them both. The best friend, now a small-town police chief, feels guilty about looking the other way as his wife commits crimes. Despite their guilt, Tyler is fundamentally a decent person, while the chief doesn’t seem like a bad guy if you don’t hold his criminal behavior against him. While the chief lacks the moral courage to make ethical choices, he has a moral compass that tells him the difference between right and wrong. The guilt that accompanies a lack of courage is the theme that drives the story.

Tyler left Stone Mountain, his hometown in upstate New York, when he was eighteen. He admits that he left without saying goodbye to his friends because he was afraid they would talk him out of leaving. He took only his guitar with him.

Now Tyler is a celebrity living in Nashville. He is the lead singer in the band Stone Mountain. He co-writes songs with Beth, a band member who might love him but might also want to leave the band to be with Jason, the band’s manager.

Although Tyler hoped never to return to his birthplace, Jason booked Stone Mountain to perform at a benefit concert for Tyler’s childhood friend Tim “Doc” Dockery. Doc may or may not blame Tyler for the paralysis he suffered. While Tyler saved Doc from drowning, he also contributed to the accident that caused Doc’s disability.

Curt, Tyler’s best friend in childhood (they pinky swore to be BFFs), is now Stone Mountain’s chief of police. Curt and Freddie, the girlfriend Tyler shagged, are now married and have a son. Freddie has never confessed her relationship with Tyler to Curt. Tyler is afraid that he might see them both during his homecoming and doesn’t know how to handle his shame. Curt’s son, however, is a big fan of Stone Mountain and has a strong desire to meet Tyler — until he doesn’t.

Doc warns Tyler that some residents of Stone Mountain resent him for becoming a success or for writing songs about them without compensating them for the inspiration they provided. The warning proves to be prophetic, as the concert does not go well.

After the concert, a driver runs Tyler off the road, killing two people in his limo. Tyler survives but has fuzzy memories of the accident. Curt is reluctant to investigate for fear of what he might learn. Curt’s “star officer” Deb begins to suspect the truth, but she struggles with the divide between her loyalty to Curt and the rumors she hears about Freddie’s crimes.

The perpetrator of Tyler’s hit-and-run comes as no surprise. The resolution of each story element — Tyler’s relationships with Curt and Freddie and Beth, Deb’s resolution of her anxiety about her job, the reason Tyler’s limo was forced off the road, Curt's unwillingness to confront the truth — are predictable, and that predictability robs the story of its tension. The various endings all struck me as a bit too neat.

At the same time, Under the Falls maintains a steady pace and builds to an exciting moment. Each element resolves in a way that is calculated to please readers, but the resolutions find a careful balance between artificial sweetness and depressing hopelessness. The struggle with guilt and courage assures that key characters have a reasonable amount of depth. On balance, the novel’s strengths outweigh its shortcomings.

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The Blue Flame by George Pelecanos

Published by Grand Central Publishing/Cardinal on August 4, 2026

The Blue Flame is an old-fashioned private detective story. The detective, Derek Strange, appeared in four novels (the D.C. Quartet) between 2001 and 2004, when he was partnered with Terry Quinn. Strange starred in another novel published in 2012. George Pelecanos has gifted crime fiction fans with other series, standalone novels, and screenplays for many years. While he’s been less prolific recently, his fans can be happy he brought back Strange in a novel that has the feel of classic PI fiction.

Strange was in his 40s when his actions were chronicled in the D.C. Quartet. At the beginning of The Blue Flame, Pelecanos tells us that he’s had his storefront office in D.C. for fifty years. He’s mentoring and renting space to a young female detective, Graciella “Grace” Lopez. Grace is a feisty, independent woman who isn’t a business partner and has no desire to become one.

Strange was a cop for a brief time before he became a PI. Near end of The Blue Flame, a police detective tells him, “Once you wear the uniform, the blue flame never goes out.” Hence the title. In the tradition of private detective fiction, however, Strange is both an ally and adversary of the police. He ignores their warnings not to investigate a case and he is selective about sharing the discoveries he makes. His loyalty is to his client and his allegience is to the truth.

Strange has fallen on hard times: “business was off; these days, he was barely getting by.” He therefore agrees to accept Billy Lake’s invitation to conduct an investigation in a murder case, despite his sense that Lake is ethically challenged. Lake’s client, a marijuana dealer named Antone Anthony, is charged with killing Nigel Walker.

The key witness is Cynthia Barnes, who told the police that she spent the afternoon in bed with Walker, then drove him to his car (which Walker parked at a distance from Walker’s home so her father wouldn’t see it). Walker told Barnes that he was going to meet Anthony at the apartment of Ricardo Lennox.

After Barnes drove away, someone shot Walker as he was sitting in his car. Barnes was a lifelong friend of both Walker and Anthony. She didn’t believe that Anthony would kill Walker, but she told the police that Anthony and Walker were “beefing over an unpaid debt.” All this would seem pretty insubstantial but for the murder weapon being found in Walker’s apartment when the police searched it for drugs.

With that setup, Strange conducts a traditional gumshoe investigation. He meets Barnes’ angry father when he tries to interview her. With the help of his office mate, he follows Barnes to a hotel and discovers that she and her friend are being pimped to businessmen who attend conventions. The investigation becomes more complicated after another murder occurs. Strange helps the police solve two murders while managing to avoid his own arrest for obstructing justice.

I admired The Blue Flame for it throwback view of private investigators who aren’t action heroes. The story doesn’t need shootouts or fistfights to maintain a steady pace. The characters have interesting takes on life; the contrast between the worldviews of Strange and Lopez is particularly sharp. I enjoyed Strange’s depiction of two creeps who are part of “the manosphere. They had got there by listening to bro podcasts and both had taken the red pill. Masculinity was the only flag they worshipped, and misogyny was their code.” Strange hasn’t gotten so old that he’s unaware of the direction in which younger men have traveled.

Strange worries about the blurry line between right and wrong. He gets information out of Barnes while buying her drinks. He can see that she has a drinking problem and doesn’t try to get her drunk but takes advantage of the alcohol loosening her tongue as he questions her. A good many detectives in modern fiction are either self-righteous or don’t care at all about ethical conduct. I enjoyed spending time with one who appreciates the difficulty of drawing lines in a morally muddy world.

False leads and loose ends are all tied up by the story’s end. The plot, while not particularly surprising, does not overreach. That’s another pleasant surprise in a time when crime fiction plots are often shockingly implausible. While The Blue Fame isn’t Pelecanos' finest work, it is an entertaining book that should appeal to fans of traditional private detective fiction.

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Etna by Paul Yoon

Published by Scribner on August 4, 2026

The phrase “dogs of war” originates in Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser and is the title of an excellent Fredrick Forsythe thriller, but dogs are not characters in either the play or the novel. Etna is a true “dogs of war” story. It tells the story of war and its aftermath from a dog’s perspective.

The war is waged for four years in an unidentified country, presumably South Korea. American and European soldiers are among the combatants who have arrived to defend the country from an unidentified enemy. Given the use of drones and cellphones, this is a modern war, not a story from the past.

A doctor named Soojin belongs to the army of the country where the novel takes place. She has the ability to communicate with dogs. The Americans have hired her to identify and train dogs who can help with the war. On a farm, she finds a twelve-month old mixed-breed shepherd. She names him Etna, after a volcano, although a bird later tells Etna that in Greek his name means “to burn.”

The story is told from Etna’s point of view. Etna explains that animals communicate with each other silently (“it was like dark shapes appeared and lived in a space between our eyes, shapes we could translate”), but Etna feels Soojin’s words “more physically, and around me: it was like the air was pressing against my ears, and then a small door opened in my head into a corner I had never been inside before.” I’ve had dogs who seemed to understand everything I say (and some who have understood nothing, unless they were feigning ignorance), but I envy Soojin’s ability to understand their language.

Soojin named a second dog Fuji. She urges Etna and Fuji to find her when the war is over so they can move to Italy and live in peace.

The army trains the dogs to attack the enemy, going for the throat when necessary. They are also tasked with sniffing out IEDs and buried mines.

The war lasts four years. The soldier who handles Etna takes good care of him but doesn’t want to keep him when the war ends. “I wasn’t his dog. When he saw me, he saw the dog he had worked with and fought alongside and lost.” Before the war is over, however, the soldier proves his love of Etna.

Etna relates some of his wartime adventures, but most of the story takes place after the war ends. Etna has experienced the same trauma that human soldiers endure. “I had seen mountains burn. I had seen lakes burn and boulders burn and airplanes burn and tanks burn and animals burn and humans burn and bones burn. And when there was nothing left to burn, there was still the sound of it. I would always remember the sound of the burning.” Humans develop PTSD and I suppose there is no reason to think that dogs react to trauma any differently.

For much of his time after the war, Etna is on his own, trying to get back to the farm where he was born. The war has turned the country into a wasteland and left humans in desperate circumstances. Some humans are still fighting. Some want to eat him. He travels to a city and into the mountains during his quest to return to the coastal farm of his puppyhood.

Etna meets a couple of friendly dogs along the way. A dog named Semeru who shares his dreams of a well becomes his companion. Sometimes they play tug with an old rope because, well, they’re dogs. Pausing to play in the midst of turmoil is one of the many things I love about this novel.

For good reason, Etna is wary of humans, but he encounters another doctor, a kindly man who treats his wounds and helps him with part of his journey. Will Etna reunite with Soojin? That question provides the story with some of its drama.

The importance to dogs of being part of a pack is the novel’s underlying theme. It serves as a reminder of the importance to humans of community and relationships, or at least a sense of belonging. At the same time, Etna and Semeru make clear that being part of a pack doesn’t require us to attack everyone outside the pack or to regard others as outsiders. Etna defends himself and protects his humans as necessary but never condemns other humans or animals (even donkeys) simply because they are different.

Near the story’s end, a bird reminds Etna of the importance of having friends, even if the friends are not like us. If we lose our pack, the bird counsels, we need to find another. It is important not to be alone.

Maybe Etna learns that you can’t go home again. If Etna’s home still exists, it won’t exist as he remembers it. The smells will be unfamiliar. Change is difficult for humans and dogs alike, but the time may come to make a new home, to form or join a new pack. We endure because there is always hope that life will get better. Sometimes it does.

If you can’t abide sadness, don’t read Etna. Paul Yoon doesn’t shy away from tragic moments. He nevertheless balances them with moments of grace. The story is written with deceptive simplicity that almost masks its elegance. Lovers of dogs and literature should find Etna to be a memorable experience.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

John Grebble Is Gone by Peter James

 

Published by Amazon Original Stories on August 1, 2026

“John Grebble Is Gone” is a crime story, not a ghost story, yet it begins with the sentence: “John Grebble first learned he was dead when he got a letter from his bank.” The letter, addressed to Grebble’s estate, expresses condolences for his death. Grebble calls the bank to notify it of its error, but the bank (or its AI) tells him that, since he’s dead, he no longer has access to his account. Grebble doesn’t feel dead, so he sets out to investigate.

Grebble can’t take the bus to work because his Apple Pay and debit card have been deactivated. He decides to drive to work but, when he walks back home, discovers his car is being towed. Fortunately, he keeps a stash of cash in his home, so he takes a taxi to work, only to find that his pass card no longer allows him to enter the building. He calls HR, but “for security reasons” HR won’t speak to him. It sucks to be dead.

Grebble’s next stop is his bank, where he hopes to unfreeze his accounts. Because the bank received his death certificate, proving that he’s alive and hasn’t stolen a dead man’s identity turns out to be a chore. The only bank manager he knew is now retired, and his driver’s license photo is so old that it might or might not be him. He then tries the police, but the detectives can’t decide whether he is a crime victim or a criminal.

Grebble has little success convincing anyone that he’s alive. He has always been antisocial. He has no friends. “His two pets were the only living creatures he felt any empathy with.” Most of his coworkers took no notice of him. He might have to depend on his brother to vouch for his identity, but he hasn’t spoken to his brother in years. Perhaps the moral of the story is that relationships and friendships keep us alive.

Why is Grebble thought to be dead? That is the mystery the reader must solve. Suffice it to say that mischief is afoot.

Grebble’s ordeal gives him the opportunity for personal growth. He turns to one of his co-workers for help and, although he’s never had any interest in her, she takes a great interest in him. Grebble realizes by the novel’s end that having a friend really isn’t such a bad thing. He also has a chance to disprove the proverb, “Before you seek revenge, first dig two graves.” As Grebble sees it, “Do you need two graves if one of you is already dead?”

“John Grebble is Gone” is one of the better entries I’ve read in the Amazon Short Stories series. It’s funny, interesting, carefully crafted, and a good introduction to a crime novelist I haven’t followed.

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Undertow by K. T. Konkoly

Published by Thomas & Mercer on July 21, 2026

After consuming a large quantity of alcohol, Greg Stadt falls from his boat. A woman on the boat uses a boat hook to attempt his rescue, unless she’s pushing him under. The narrative leaves both possibilities open. The woman looks like Greg’s wife Stacy, with whom he has just had a loud and public fight, but the reader soon learns that she was not on the boat and did not kill Greg.

Stacy is nevertheless charged with Greg's murder. She retains Kari Sharpe, a former Navy JAG lawyer, to represent her. Kari has built a reputation as a winning criminal defense attorney. Kari has never liked Stacy because Stacy has been a bully since their childhood, but Kari decides to meet the challenge of representing a complete jerk, albeit at double her usual fee.

Greg was a member of the town board of Sweetwater, Maine. He opposed the local racetrack’s request to operate slot machines. Sweetwater is apparently the only government board that requires unanimous approval of zoning requests, as we are often told that Greg was the only board member standing in the way of the racetrack's request.

 The racetrack is owned by Beth Thornberry. Her customer base has abandoned harness racing for the lure of nearby slot machine casinos.Greg may have a selfish purpose for wanting the racetrack to fail, which is certainlly will without the slots.

The bank is about to foreclose on the racetrack. Beth borrowed a large sum from Ryker Jones to keep the track afloat. Ryker is a thug and her only chance of repaying the loan and surviving as a business is to install slot machines. Greg’s death may therefore benefit her.

The other central character is Lori Spec, who takes her daughter in the middle of the night and runs away from her abusive husband. It isn’t clear how Lori fits into the larger story until the novel nears its completion.

Related plot threads involve Kari’s relationships with her alcoholic brother Jimmy and with her law school boyfriend, Bill McGovern. Kari resumes her canoodling with Bill despite the unusual interest he seems to take in her defense of Stacy. Readers are meant to view that fact as suspicious, but the truth about Bill’s character remains a mystery until after the main story’s resolution.

The novel’s only notable subplot involves Kari’s widowed secretary Ruth, who once had an affair with Mack, Kari’s private investigator. Now that Ruth’s husband has been in a grave for a year, Mack is putting the moves on Ruth again. Ruth and Mack may be the only likable characters in the novel, but their roles are too limited to give the reader a good reason to care about them.

Most characters in Undertow have disagreeable personalities. Some deliberately so, including Greg (whose murder is secretly welcomed by most of the community) and Stacy. Bill seems to be unbelievably nice, which only alerts the reader (but, surprisingly, not Kari) that his decency is a pretense.

Kari still holds a grudge against Bill for dumping her in law school after she suddenly announced her decision to work as a Navy JAG. She didn’t bother to consult with Bill before making the decision but is angry that he didn’t consult with her before he ended their relationship. Bizarrely, she complains that he didn’t care enough about their relationship to fight for her. Why is that his job and not hers? Kari’s entitled attitude left me with no character to get behind.

The story is far from exciting and the mystery is surprisingly easy to solve. This isn’t a legal thriller — there are no courtroom scenes at all — and K.T. Konkoly failed to convince me that Kari knows much of anything about law. The only significant plot twist is revealed in the final pages, but it seems to set up a new story rather than shedding light on the story told in Undertow. Konkoly’s prose style is capable and her pace is acceptable, but I would shelve Undertow low on my “To Be Read” pile, given the ready availability of stronger legal thrillers.

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