I have a confession to make. Not only do I read spoilers for movies, books, and tv shows, I also peek at the end of books. If I don’t like the outcome, I stop reading or watching at the spot that seems “safest.” I’ve always enjoyed spoilers, but it was Stephen King’s novella, “The Mist” that started it all for me. That cliffhanger ending haunted me for years. What happened next? Did the people survive and repopulate the earth? Did the scary mist ever dissipate? I came up with my own stories to answer those questions (which is part of the purpose of open-ended cliffhangers like this novella had) but I wanted a sense of finality… until the movie for THE MIST came out. No spoilers, but that is one movie that I definitely stop watching and leave the cliffhanger ending in place without seeing the new conclusion to the tale–my own imagination has clearly been less horrifying! The final Harry Potter book, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, is another book that I refused to finish until I knew who would live and who would die. Despite standing in line at midnight and immediately starting the book as soon…

by Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley Did you guys hear my loud squeals of joy over some of the recent urban fantasy novels? This summer has been the book equivalent of winning the jackpot as far as I’m concerned. Earlier this summer, we had Kim Harrison return with AMERICAN DEMON but now we have several of my other favorite authors also releasing books. Let’s face it… I’m not really going anywhere regardless (thanks, Covid-19) but who wants to leave the house anyway when such great books are at my fingertips? So let’s skip the chatter and my squeals of joy and jump right into the books! It’s been six years since we’ve had a new Dresden Files book from Jim Butcher. Six looooonnnng years. And now, we have PEACE TALKS out with BATTLE GROUNDS soon to follow in the same year! Ah, this almost makes up for some of the misery of 2020. In PEACE TALKS, various supernatural entities are gathering in Chicago in an attempt to broker a peace deal. The White Council is assisting with security, and Harry Dresden finds himself in a dubious position as his support within the Council is wavering. Worse yet, his vampire half-brother is…

The new year is always a time to reflect on the past year while looking ahead to starting fresh. One of the things that stands out about to me from 2018 is the ending of some long-running and very beloved series. However, endings often signal new beginnings as well, so 2019 offers up some new series for me to love. How does one end a favorite series? Well, if you are Simon R. Green you take two beloved series and put all the characters at odds with each other and watch the mayhem that ensues. The hardest loss for me of 2018 was seeing the end of two series by Simon R. Green as he ended his Secret Histories and Nightside series in true Simon R. Green style. NIGHT FALL heralded the end of both long-running series as we saw the Drood family take on the Nightside, with all our favorite characters at risk of dying. Heck, Simon R. Green even throws in the Ghost Finders series, as we bit our fingernails and quickly turned the pages, hoping against hope that all would end well. I’m not going to lie- I cried a little over the ending of Secret Histories…