Summer always drifts away faster than expected. One minute, the season is stretching ahead with plenty of time for ambitious reading plans, and the next, August is slipping by while half the books on the summer TBR remain untouched.

There is still time to fit in one more memorable read before the season changes. This list brings together ten highly regarded books from a variety of genres, including literary fiction, mystery, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, nonfiction, and horror. Some are sweeping and immersive, while others are short enough to finish over a quiet weekend.

No matter what kind of story fits your current reading mood, one of these books may be exactly what your summer reading list needs.

Literary Fiction

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Why this book: 

Fredrik Backman centers this novel on a young artist searching for the story behind a famous painting. Her investigation leads back to four teenagers whose friendship shaped one unforgettable summer. With its mix of humor, grief, creativity, and complicated relationships, My Friends offers an emotionally rich story that feels especially fitting as summer begins to wind down.

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Mystery and Thrillers

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Why this book: 

This is a mystery that slowly pulls you in instead of throwing twists at you every other chapter. The isolated summer camp setting feels perfect for August, and every new revelation makes you question what you thought you knew. If you enjoy mysteries that spend as much time developing the characters as solving the crime, this one is well worth picking up.

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Historical Fiction

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Why this book: 

Frankie McGrath leaves behind her sheltered California life to serve as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War. Her experiences overseas are only part of the story, as the novel also examines the difficult return home and the lack of recognition many women veterans faced. Kristin Hannah offers an emotional, deeply personal character journey while giving a broader look at service, trauma, friendship, and survival.

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Fantasy

The Will of the Many by James Islington

Why this book: 

Vis joins an elite academy, all while secretly resisting the powerful empire that controls it. Political intrigue, academic competition, hidden identities, and an ancient mystery make this a wonderful choice for readers who want a fast-paced epic fantasy. The Roman-inspired world and carefully constructed hierarchy give the story plenty of depth while the central mystery keeps it moving.

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Science Fiction

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Why this book: 

Don't let the science scare you away. Andy Weir has a knack for explaining complicated ideas in a way that actually makes sense-and somehow makes them fun. Between the humor, the suspense, and one of my favorite friendships in recent science fiction, this is the kind of book that's incredibly hard to put down.

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Romance

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Why this book: 

After her fiancé leaves her for his childhood friend, Daphne becomes roommates with the other person caught in the breakup: her ex-fiancé's new partner's former boyfriend. What begins as an awkward living arrangement develops into a thoughtful story about rebuilding a life after its carefully planned future falls apart. Emily Henry pairs romantic tension with genuine emotional growth and plenty of sharp dialogue.

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Nature and Reflective Nonfiction

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Why this book: 

Robin Wall Kimmerer uses the serviceberry and its place within the natural world to explore gratitude, reciprocity, generosity, and community. This is a compact, reflective book rather than a lengthy commitment, making it a good choice for the final stretch of summer. Its focus on abundance and our relationship with the living world also offers a thoughtful transition into the changing season.
 

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History

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

Why this book: 

Even if history isn't your usual genre, don't let that stop you. Erik Larson has a way of pulling you into real events through the people who lived them, making it easy to forget you're reading nonfiction. Watching the months leading up to the attack on Fort Sumter unfold, knowing what's coming while the people involved don't, creates a tension that's hard to shake.

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Horror

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

Why this book: 

If creepy, slow-building horror is more your style than blood and gore, this one absolutely delivers. Seeing everything through a child's eyes somehow makes it even more unsettling because you never know exactly what's real. I wouldn't recommend reading it alone late at night...unless that's exactly what you're going for.

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Speculative Fiction

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Why this book: 

This was one of those books that completely surprised me. It starts with an intriguing time-travel idea, but it turns into something much bigger-part romance, part workplace satire, part thoughtful look at history and belonging. If you enjoy books that don't fit neatly into one genre, this is an easy recommendation.

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The Last Word

The best end-of-summer book does not have to be light, beachy, or set beside the ocean. It simply needs to be the kind of story that makes the remaining days of the season feel well spent.

Choose The God of the Woods for an atmospheric mystery, Funny Story for romance with emotional depth, or Project Hail Mary for a fast-moving adventure. Readers in the mood for something more reflective may prefer The Serviceberry, while The Women and The Demon of Unrest offer very different approaches to history.

There may not be enough time to finish every book on this summer's TBR, but there's always time to discover one more favorite before autumn arrives.

Which book would you choose to finish before summer ends?

A peaceful writing retreat becomes the setting for a carefully engineered crime when a disappearance, a coerced murder, and an illusionist’s arrival place Sean McPherson at the center of another deadly scheme. Laurie Buchanan’s fifth Sean McPherson novel brings an unusually varied group of writers into the conflict, then asks them to turn their individual skills into a deception convincing enough to outmaneuver an organized-crime boss.

The central threat in Illusionist is not simply a murder waiting to happen. Gambino has selected an unwilling participant, placed a student under surveillance, and designed the crime so that Sean McPherson will carry the blame. That structure gives the suspense several pressure points at once: the intended victim remains unknown, the person ordered to kill is also a hostage, and McPherson must recognize the trap before it closes around him.

The Pines & Quill setting adds another distinctive layer. Its residents are not interchangeable suspects but people with specialized backgrounds—a former NASCAR driver, a triathlete, a house flipper, and a magician—whose abilities may become part of the solution. The resulting clash between criminal strategy and theatrical misdirection gives the novel a premise built around cooperation, timing, and the dangerous difference between what witnesses see and what actually occurs.

Gambino picks up his cell phone and makes another call. His heart races with anticipation. When the recipient answers, he says, “If you hang up, I’ll kill your child. Do you understand?”

"Is this some kind of sick joke?”

"I assure you this is no joke. When I disconnect, you’ll receive a video call from my associate. He’s visiting your child's class—Market Power in the New Economy. If you don’t do what I say, it will cost the life of the person you love most.”

"Who is this? What do you want from me?”

"I’m the person who’s going to kill your child if you don’t do what I say. In two days, you’re heading to Pines & Quill writing retreat. While there, you will frame Sean McPherson for murder.”

"Frame someone for murder? What do you mean?”

"No, not just someone. You’re going to frame Sean McPherson. You’re going to kill one of the other writers in residence. I don’t care which one, nor do I care how you do it. You’re a crime writer. Figure it out. You arrive at Pines & Quill on October first and leave on the twenty-first. You have three weeks to accomplish the task.”

Illusionist should suit mystery and suspense readers who favor elaborate criminal traps over straightforward investigations. Its writing-retreat setting will be especially appealing to those intrigued by stories in which authors, creative work, and staged appearances become part of the danger rather than decorative background.

Established followers of Sean McPherson can return to his conflict with Georgio Gambino, while newcomers drawn to ensemble problem-solving may appreciate the unusual residents gathered at Pines & Quill. The combination of organized crime, divided loyalties, coercion, gang politics, and a magician whose identity is uncertain also makes this a strong match for readers who enjoy plots where every alliance carries a risk.

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Illusionist builds its suspense around control: Gambino controls the threat, the coerced writer controls the immediate danger, and an illusionist may control what everyone believes they have witnessed. Against that design, Sean McPherson and the residents of Pines & Quill must create a countermove that depends on people whose professions seem unrelated until their particular talents become essential.

The premise makes this fifth series installment notable for more than its central mystery. It turns a place devoted to storytelling into contested ground where framing a convincing narrative could determine who survives—and whose version of events the world accepts.

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Mack’s family camping trip trades city lights for Sedona’s red rocks and a sky filled with possibilities, but the adventure takes an unexpected turn when his furry companion races into the darkness. What begins as a nighttime search becomes a child-sized first-contact story, pairing curiosity about what lies beyond Earth with the simple realization that friendship does not require two people—or two beings—to come from the same place.

Ever gazed at the twinkling night sky and wondered, what might be up there? Mack jets off from Texas to the stunning red rocks of Sedona, Arizona, ready for a camping adventure with his family. But when his furry sidekick bolts into the night, Mack sprints after him and stumbles upon a surprise guest.

This new buddy isn’t your run-of-the-mill earthling! Mack soon discovers the stellar delight of making a truly out-of-this-world friend.

In this galactic adventure, award-winning author Clarissa Willis introduces two characters who learn that no matter who you are, or where you are from, friendship is all about having a blast together.

The story begins with two familiar sources of childhood excitement—a family camping trip and a pet that suddenly needs chasing—before opening the door to a much bigger question about who might be waiting beyond the world we know. 

Sedona’s distinctive landscape gives Mack’s encounter a setting grounded in a real place, while his unexpected new friend allows the book to explore difference without making unfamiliarity feel frightening. At its center is an approachable idea for young readers: friendship can begin with curiosity, shared fun, and a willingness to welcome someone whose home looks nothing like your own.

Young readers drawn to camping trips, runaway pets, starry skies, and friendly visitors from beyond Earth will find recognizable interests woven throughout Mack’s adventure. The story may also appeal to families and educators seeking a playful starting point for conversations about welcoming newcomers, approaching differences with curiosity, and finding common ground through shared experiences.

Clarissa Willis is the author of 8 picture books and a captivating chapter book! Carrie Ingalls The Forgotten Sister won the Western Writers of America SPUR Award for best juvenile nonfiction and a Will Rogers Medallion Finalist (2026). Her tale, Bloomers on Pike’s Peak (2024), is the biography of the unstoppable Julia Archibald Holmes, the first woman to climb Pikes Peak. It won a Will Rogers Medallion and was the finalist for the Women Writing the West 2025 WILLA Literary Award. Fast as the Wind: The Story of Johnny Fry Pony Express Rider (2022) galloped away with a Will Rogers Medallion in 2023. Then, there's The Three Little Pigs and the Not So Big Bad Wolf, putting a fresh spin on a classic yarn. 

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By placing an extraordinary visitor inside the familiar excitement of a family camping trip, You Are Not From Around Here, Are You? gives young readers an inviting way to think about the unknown. Mack’s nighttime pursuit, the wide-open Sedona setting, and an out-of-this-world friendship all support a message that remains firmly within a child’s experience: where someone comes from matters less than the joy and understanding two new friends can share.

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A competitive figure skater, a Peace Corps assignment in Tunis, and a marriage interrupted almost immediately by an international crisis give Goodbye Demons an unusually wide emotional range. JJ Harrigan follows Angie Fernandez Parnell and U.S. diplomat James Whitcomb through two ordeals unfolding at once: James faces deprivation, political manipulation, and uncertainty as a hostage inside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, while Angie’s refusal to remain passive leads her toward a high-risk plan that could reunite them or destroy the life she is trying to preserve.

Goodbye Demons

Author: JJ Harrigan

Genre: Suspense, Historical Fiction

Date Published: April 24, 2026

Publisher: Salty Books Publishing Company, LLC

When injuries cut short the figure skating career of Angie Fernandez Parnell, she joins the Peace Corps. She is assigned to Tunis where she finds her soulmate, U.S. diplomat James Whitcomb. At the conclusion of their tours of duty, they marry, and within weeks of the wedding, he is taken captive in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-81. 

James, held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, endures the same demons that afflicted the real-life hostages during the actual crisis 45 years ago. Deprivation, bad treatment, political manipulation, and above all the uncertainty of whether or when it would all end. 

Angie, biting her nails at home, endures her own demons. How can she support him? Should she join efforts that pressure the president to negotiate a release? Or even a rescue? A take-charge person by nature, she follows a path that will reap huge benefits if it works. Or destroy her life if it fails. 

Goodbye Demons is a visceral, emotionally charged exploration of resilience in the face of adversity. It is the story of a man and a woman struggling to overcome demons beyond their control.

This was the chance of a lifetime, and Angie swore she wouldn’t blow it. She did elaborate stretching exercises and weight training. She followed a dietician’s meal plan and skated five days a week under the guidance of her coach. Angie concocted a brilliant plan to capture the Gold at Nationals and guarantee her a slot on the Olympic team. 

Her coach objected. “No woman has ever done a triple axel, and you’re not ready.” 

“I did it in practice. You saw me.” 

“You fell. A perfect double axel that you’re capable of doing trumps a triple axel that you screw up.” 

Angie was determined to do the triple without falling. She doubled down on her training regime. Bruising falls came each day. It wasn’t until a week before the competitions that she completed a triple. She grinned triumphantly at her surprised coach. Then on the next try she took a nasty fall that left her limping when she rose from the ice. Her coach sped over to her. After making sure Angie had broken no bones, she again warned her to stop trying the triple axel. 

“You’re not ready. It’s a riverboat gamble.” 

“I have to take the gamble when I’ve got the chance.” 

“You’ll have a chance next year. You’ll be stronger and more experienced. That’ll be the time to do it.” 

“In the meantime, some other girl might do it first, and nobody will ever hear about me. Even if I do one the next day. Can you tell me who was the second woman to fly across the Atlantic?”

Angie’s history as an athlete matters because it establishes the instinct that drives her throughout the novel: she would rather risk a painful fall than surrender an opportunity through caution. The excerpt places that trait on the ice, where a triple axel becomes a “riverboat gamble.” The hostage crisis later gives the same instinct far greater stakes. 

The dual storyline also allows the novel to examine powerlessness from opposing directions. James must survive confinement while decisions about his future are made elsewhere. Angie remains physically free but cannot protect her husband through ordinary means. Her refusal to remain passive creates the suspense beyond the historical outcome itself. 

Harrigan’s background as a former U.S. Service Officer and political science professor supports a premise built around diplomacy, political pressure, and the human consequences of international conflict. The result is historical fiction shaped not only by a well-known crisis but by the private calculations of a newly married couple caught inside it.

This novel belongs on the reading lists of those drawn to historical suspense in which political events are experienced through intimate relationships. The Iranian Hostage Crisis provides the larger framework, but the emotional focus remains on James and Angie as they respond to separation, uncertainty, and pressures neither can fully control. 

The story may also appeal to readers interested in diplomatic history, the Peace Corps, international service, and protagonists whose defining qualities create both their strengths and their dangers. Angie’s competitive nature, first tested in figure skating, gives the novel a heroine who responds to crisis by searching for leverage rather than accepting helplessness. 

Couples separated by military, diplomatic, or government service form another natural audience. James and Angie’s brief marriage is forced to endure a public crisis through profoundly private fear, making their relationship central to the novel rather than incidental to its historical setting.

Historical thriller author JJ Harrigan is a former US Service Officer and political science professor. He scribbles his tales of intrigue on the banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife, Sandy.

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The defining question in Goodbye Demons is not simply how James survives captivity. It is what happens when Angie applies the fearless logic of an elite athlete to a political crisis in which determination cannot guarantee control. 

Her willingness to gamble once distinguished her on the ice. During the hostage crisis, that same quality may become the only force capable of changing her circumstances—or the decision that destroys the life she is trying to preserve. That tension gives the novel its sharpest edge. 

By connecting a young woman’s competitive ambition, a newlywed marriage, and a defining episode in U.S. diplomatic history, Harrigan creates a story concerned with more than endurance. Goodbye Demons asks readers to consider what action means when every available choice carries a cost.

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Kill Code opens in a future close enough to feel uncomfortably familiar. Climate catastrophe has divided society into protected enclaves and sprawling zones of poverty, while the National Security Council guards the people who still possess wealth and power. Hogan Duran, a disgraced former police officer surviving on society’s margins, sees the organization’s entrance program as a route back to stability. The opportunity, however, requires him to enter a system whose rewards depend on secrets, coercion, and carefully maintained inequality.

In a world gone wrong, can one man actually make a difference, or will he die trying?

Kill Code

by Clive Fleury

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction

ADD TO GOODREADS

WHEN THE OCEANS RISE...THE TRUTH DROWNS

It's the year 2031. Our future. Their present. A world decimated by climate catastrophe, where the sun's heat is deadly and the ocean rises higher every day. A world ruled by the rich, powerful, and corrupt. A world where a good man can’t survive for long.

Hogan Duran was a good man once. He was a cop, forced to resign in disgrace when he couldn't save his partner from a bullet. Now Hogan lives on the fraying edges of society, serving cruel masters and scavenging trash dumps just to survive.

But after four years of living in poverty, Hogan finally gets a chance to get back on his feet. He's invited to join the National Security Council, the powerful paramilitary organization responsible for protecting the rich and powerful from the more unsavory elements of society. All he needs to do is pass their deadly entrance exam, and he'll be rewarded with wealth and opportunity beyond his wildest dreams.

But this ex-cop's path to redemption won't be easy. The NSC are hiding something, and as Hogan descends deeper and deeper into their world, he starts to uncover the terrible truth of how the powerful in this new world maintain their power...and just how far they will go to protect their secrets.

In a world gone wrong, can one man actually make a difference, or will he die trying?

Kill Code is the first novel in an exciting new dystopian science fiction series from the mind of award-winning author, screenwriter, and director Clive Fleury. Fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, and Divergent by Veronica Roth will be captivated by Kill Code. 

Hogan’s struggle begins with a bargain that defines the novel’s central conflict: the institution offering him security is also responsible for defending the social order that has left him scavenging to survive. Joining the National Security Council could restore his income, purpose, and standing, but the entrance process requires him to prove himself to an organization whose authority depends upon exclusion and fear.

The world surrounding Hogan is not presented as a distant abstraction. Driverless transportation has displaced workers, wealthy districts sit behind steel fencing and armed checkpoints, and entire communities have deteriorated into tents and improvised structures. These details make the class divide visible before Hogan reaches the NSC facility, establishing why its promises are so difficult to refuse and why its secrets carry such dangerous consequences.

Hogan is also an unusual candidate for the role expected of him. He is older than most of the recruits, still affected by the loss that ended his police career, and uncertain whether he can compete with younger applicants. His doubts create a more vulnerable route into a story built around paramilitary training, political corruption, climate collapse, and an increasingly hostile landscape.

The Station: a seething mass of humanity. Some came with hope in their hearts, ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime. For others, it was the only place they had left to go. They had reached rock bottom. Day or night, the scene was always the same: Transporters arrived and departed constantly, full of people desperate to get away from here, from there, from everywhere. Others wandered around the Station aimlessly. These were the homeless, the addicts, the criminals, the thieves and deadbeats. They spent their time begging or looking for something to steal.

And there was always tension in the air. A fight could break out at any moment as these tired and hungry people reached their wits’ ends and lashed out at the world.

Max and I had been waiting there two hours, which was at least one hour and fifty-nine minutes too long but neither of us minded. I kept reaching into my pocket to pull out the letter and stare at it.

“You’ll wear it out, buddy,” said a smiling Max after I had brought the note out a tenth time. “Just accept it. Next stop: Easy Street.”

I pushed the letter back into my pocket. I still couldn’t believe it. I’d been accepted. That was the good news. The bad news was I knew that this letter only confirmed that I had been chosen for NSC training. It was incredibly difficult to get this far, but even so, only a very few would make it to through to the next stage—to become officers. Frankly, I had grave doubts I could make it that far.

Max tapped me on my shoulder and pointed to a transporter that had just pulled in to Dock 10. It had the word Seattle printed above its windshield. It was Max’s ride. “Okay, Hogan, looks like it’s my time to go.”

I moved behind Max’s wheelchair and pushed it through the seething crowd towards the vehicle. It was, like all public transporters nowadays, driverless. So since there was no one to help, it was up to me to put Max’s ticket into the scanner and to lower him into in his allotted seat. After that, I folded his wheelchair and carried the chair to the luggage rack at the front.

As I finished storing the chair, I spotted an attractive woman in her mid-thirties walk up to Max. I watched as she checked the seat number on her ticket. “That is twenty-two N isn’t it?” I heard the woman say to Max as she pointed to the vacant seat next to him.

Max smiled. “It sure is. And you have the luck to be sitting next to Max Creeling.” He held out his hand. “Great to meet you.”

The woman smiled and sat next to him as I returned.

“Okay, Max, time to go. See if you can get someone to help you with the chair at the other end.”

“I think I can organize that,” the woman said. “I’m Lisa.” She pushed out her hand and I shook it.

“Pleased to meet you, Lisa. Thank you for your kind offer. Now, Max, don’t forget when you get to Seattle to keep out of trouble.”

“Will do.”

I high-fived Max. “Bye. And behave yourself.”

“Always.”

I turned quickly and headed for the transporter’s exit door. Almost as soon as I had stepped down from the vehicle, the door slid shut, the last passenger just managing to squeeze on. As the transporter drove off, Max peered out of the window and winked at me before turning to speak animatedly with Lisa. It looked like he had struck it lucky.

I missed him already.

My transporter would be in next. Dock 20. I started to walk towards the number 20 sign, scanning the crowd for those who were waiting for the NSC Transit transporter like me.

A tall, handsome man in his early twenties stepped in front of me, momentarily blocking my way. I glanced across at him. I knew the type. Dangerous and arrogant but the sort of asshole that women love. In fact, two young beautiful girls were with him: long legs, flowing blonde hair, angelic faces. They were obviously twins.

***

Kill Code will appeal to those who prefer dystopian fiction grounded in recognizable social and technological developments rather than a remote or heavily fantastical future. Its 2031 setting combines climate damage, automated transportation, mass unemployment, fortified wealth, and privatized security into a society that feels only a few decisions removed from the present.

The novel may also suit readers interested in compromised heroes and dangerous institutions. Hogan is not entering the NSC because he trusts its mission; he is entering because poverty has narrowed his alternatives. That tension gives his attempted redemption a political dimension, particularly as he begins to understand how the organization protects its authority.

Those who enjoy survival trials, conspiracies, paramilitary training, stark class divisions, and action-oriented science fiction will find those elements built directly into Hogan’s route through the story.

Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and has worked all over the world as a Film/TV director, writer and producer. He has written six books, most recently 'All Or None', the second novel in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series.

'All Or None' sees Detective Ryan back in the thick of things. His latest investigation into a mysterious death couldn’t come at a worse time. He discovers his mother is hiding a troubling secret and is further sidetracked by a new romance. Fans of who dunnit's, crime thrillers, and cop and detective stories will love this novel.

Clive's other books include 'Off Season' - book one in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series; 'Kill Code' - a dystopian science fiction novel set in a world facing climate change; ‘Scary Lizzy’ - a novel about an eight year old girl, who befriends an African child ghost – and the teen action adventure book; ‘The Boy Next Door ‘ - a story of what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems. He also co-wrote ‘Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ - a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the Magician.

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The most revealing part of Hogan’s journey may be the view from the NSC transporter. On one side are clean streets, swimming pools, green parks, and guarded checkpoints. On the other are crumbling roads, temporary shelters, unemployment, and communities treated as threats. Hogan is traveling toward the institution that maintains the boundary between those two worlds, even as he hopes it will rescue him from the wrong side of it.

That contradiction gives Kill Code more than a survival-test premise. Hogan must determine whether reclaiming his former status is worth serving a system built to protect privilege—and whether a man already carrying the weight of one professional failure can risk everything to challenge it.

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Strings begins in the eerie stillness of a nearly deserted airport, where two travelers are trying to outrun the uncertainty of an approaching national lockdown. Grace Wheeler is a Southern journalist determined to protect both her health and her precarious career. Robby Song is a Native American rock star returning to northern Minnesota while the music industry pauses around him. Their first conversation—shared over airport coffee, masks, and a misplaced packet of guitar strings—sets an unexpectedly personal story in motion against the upheaval of the pandemic.

Contemporary Fiction

Date Published: November 23, 2025

A pandemic is spreading across the globe. A national lockdown looms in the United States. A Southern journalist sees a chance to protect her health and jumpstart her career by escaping north to a Minnesota wilderness. Feisty and wary of entanglement, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star on his way home.

Robby Song’s career may be on hold, but Grace Wheeler is on a mission to build hers. To Robby, she’s an intriguing challenge. To Grace, he’s a distraction she’s not ready to handle. But the brutal Northwoods winter is coming. Grace flees back south . . . to soul-searching isolation and a puzzling middle-of-the-night call.

The opening situation gives Strings an immediate sense of place and time. Grace and Robby meet in an airport stripped of its usual crowds, commercial noise, and easy anonymity. Surgical masks hide their expressions, flight schedules have become uncertain, and even accepting a cup of coffee requires a new kind of caution. Jan Merritt uses those recognizable details to introduce two people whose lives have been interrupted in very different ways.

Grace approaches the Northwoods as an escape and a professional opportunity, while Robby is heading toward family and an indefinite pause in his music career. Their competing priorities prevent the relationship from beginning as a simple retreat romance. Grace is intent on remaining independent, Robby is intrigued by her resistance, and the approaching Minnesota winter adds another deadline to a connection formed during an already unstable moment.

PART I – THE NORTHWOODS

Chapter 1 – Airports

Empty. No sounds except flight announcements and Covid precautions over the PA as Grace trekked alone through the wide, carpeted corridors, stepped onto the moving walkways, and passed the shuttered kiosks, shops, and restaurants of the Minneapolis airport. The few people she saw, behind counters or scurrying past at safe distances, wore surgical masks, except for one or two who had creative, last-minute coverings . . . red bandannas or black gaiters. The antiseptic smell of hand sanitizer hung in the air, penetrating her mask. If she closed her eyes, she could think she was in a hospital. Her hair probably reeked of the stuff. Of course, her gate was the last one. She shrugged her old, green backpack off and sank into a seat against the wall, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, hoping the flight was still happening. Except for her, the gate area was deserted. Maybe she could drift off.

But it was no good. She couldn’t sleep. She was tired, and the adrenaline had worn off, but she was growing anxious. Maybe she wasn’t as brave or capable as she’d thought. She sat up, pulled the tablet out of her backpack, and began rereading her notes from the last interview she’d done, the one with the middle school English teacher about online classes. She needed to get it written up and into her editor. She could not lose this job, her only income. A seat creaked nearby. She looked up. She hadn’t heard him walk up, but good sign, another passenger. A man was sitting with his head leaned back against the window, eyes closed, long legs stretched in front of him, a guitar case leaning against the next seat with a tan jacket thrown over it. Before long, he sat up, glanced at her over his black mask with tiny gold stars, rose, and walked to the bank of windows at the end of the concourse. He stood there, looking out, a tall, thin man all in black, with a long braid. Quite the silhouette. She looked back at her notes.

“Cozy, huh? A whole airport and just the two of us.”

She jumped. The voice was unexpected . . . and hoarse. He was six feet in front of her. She stared up at him. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

“Well, I try to look for the positive.” He paused and cleared his throat but didn’t turn away. “I’m going in search of coffee. If you’ll keep an eye on my things, I’ll bring you some.”

“I’ll watch them.”

He moved the guitar and jacket to a seat in her row, then straightening, looked at her. “You want coffee or not? You didn’t actually say.”

They studied each other then, the way people do when they’re wearing masks — all eyes. His were dark, almost black, under barely arched eyebrows. They looked at her steadily . . . with a touch of amusement? Hers were brown, with the beginning of a worry wrinkle between her brows. She looked back with a serious expression.

“Sure. Black, one sugar.” She leaned over to get her wallet and noticed her toenails. She had meant to cover the chips with a fresh coat of blue polish. Oh, well.

“I’ll get it.” He walked off.

A red packet was on the carpet below his jacket. She put her tablet down on the little table between her and the next seat, walked over, and picked it up. D’Addario Guitar Strings. She placed it on the worn suede jacket, under the sleeve but visible, and went back to her notes.

************

“I stopped at a hand sanitizer.”

She nearly dropped her tablet this time. “You need a bell!”

“Sorry.” He was in a seat, reaching across his guitar to place her coffee on the little table. “One of my nicknames growing up was Sneak. But you seem a little edgy.”

“Maybe.” She noticed his long, slender fingers and wondered if that was good for playing guitar. Her mother’d always said it helped with playing the piano. She picked up the cup and went to remove one side of her mask, but the loop was tangled in her hair. She put the cup back down. Masks were proving to be a challenge. She’d given up trying to control her hair long ago, but masks weren’t optional. Her hair was dark red, dark enough it was hard to see the red unless she was in the sun. The kind of red hair that’s big and ends up in long twirls unless you comb or brush it which only makes it a bigger, frizzy mess. She tried to free first one side of her mask, then the other, finally getting one, then a sip of coffee. She looked his way. He was watching her. “I hadn’t realized how much I needed this. Thanks.”

“You have a lot of hair.” He turned away, removed his mask with one hand, took a sip, and turned his face toward her, pausing, then going on, “I knew how much I needed it.” Leaning forward, he put his forearms on his thighs and held the coffee between his knees. He was not unattractive, in an angular, ascetic kind of way — prominent cheekbones, straight nose, full lips, and the dark eyes.

He’d bought her coffee, so she figured she should try to be sociable. “Have you come a long way?”

“Not today. Just from my apartment. But I’ve been traveling. Got in late. You?”

“This is my third airport since five this morning.”

“Sounds like you’ve come a long way. Got somebody in Duluth?” He sipped.

“I wish. I have no idea what I’m doing next.”

He raised his eyebrows and looked over at the clock. “I’d say you have about an hour and a half to figure something out.” Just then, an agent walked up to the check-in desk.

“Do you think they’ll take us, if it’s only us?”

“I don’t know. Probably depends on whether they need to get a plane to Duluth, for commuters. I guess we’ll see. I’ve never had this flight cancel.”

“You’ve done this before?”

He nodded, swallowing a sip of coffee. “Every four . . . six months or so. I’ve got family all around Duluth . . . and this time, I’m staying . . . a while. I figure I’m safer up there than most anywhere.”

“Me, too.”

The PA system came on. “Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 2514 to Duluth. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you.” The agent looked in their direction and shrugged. “If you guys are ready, you can board.”

They gathered their belongings. He noticed the strings and looked over at her, but she was putting her tablet away. As she passed him, he said, “I’m Robby.”

She replied, “Oh . . . Grace.”

Strings is likely to connect with those drawn to character-centered contemporary fiction shaped by recent history. Grace and Robby meet under circumstances that make ordinary social rituals feel unfamiliar, so their early exchanges carry the awkwardness, caution, and unexpected intimacy many people associate with the first months of the pandemic.

The novel may also suit those interested in stories that contrast regions and personal backgrounds. Grace brings her Southern perspective and career ambitions into Robby’s Minnesota world, while the Northwoods setting introduces isolation, family ties, and a winter severe enough to influence her choices. Music, journalism, cultural identity, and the tension between independence and attachment all contribute to the relationship taking shape between them.

Jan Merritt lives on the coast of South Carolina with strong ties to northern Minnesota where her dad was born. Her early life was filled with rich, but conflicting narratives. On the one hand, her dad regaled her with pioneering stories from Minnesota: Merritt boys tramping through tamarack swamps and the Northwoods, learning from their Ojibwe neighbors; surviving -60° winters; and the saga of her great-grandfather leading them to discover iron ore on the Mesabi Range only to lose that mining fortune to John D. Rockefeller in a New York City courtroom. But on the other hand, Jan’s education in an elite private girls’ school in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, led her into a privileged, old South social set she wasn’t born into, one with a different set of values. These opposing values simmered in Jan’s head.

She grew up passionate about teaching, both in the classroom and on horses. She married and had a family. Life was good, but it came to a halt when she discovered by accident that she had brain cancer. She has survived, but after the surgeries and treatments, her brain is not the same. She can’t ride or teach school, but her new brain is busy. It creates conversations. One night toward the end of Covid, Jan gave up trying to sleep and decided to write down what the people were saying … maybe if she got the chatter out of her head, she could sleep. It didn’t work but she hasn’t stopped writing. Jan has a new passion.

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The packet of guitar strings Grace finds beside Robby’s jacket is a small object, but it neatly connects the novel’s title to the first fragile line drawn between them. Both characters are traveling toward uncertain futures: Grace does not know what she will do after landing in Duluth, and Robby knows only that he plans to remain near his family for a while. Their meeting occurs before either can understand how thoroughly work, geography, and isolation will reshape their plans.

Strings places that relationship inside a period when distance could mean safety, loneliness, or both. The Northwoods may offer Grace the separation she believes she needs, but the puzzling call that follows her return south suggests that leaving Minnesota will not neatly sever what began there.

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