“[Do] you really believe that the US government has deliberately covered up the cure for cancer?” This question, asked by Eli James, the protagonist in Robert Bailey’s newest political thriller, The Boomerang (Thomas and Mercer May 2025), reflects the central conflict in a riveting, suspenseful, and gloriously bold novel. The author has faced cancer within […]
SLR editors converse with Robert Bailey, author of “The Boomerang”
April 29, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Introduction: Southern Literary Review is pleased to present this three-way exchange about Robert Bailey’s newest book, The Boomerang, which is his eleventh novel. Robert joins Editor Donna Meredith and Associate Editor Claire Hamner Matturro in discussing The Boomerang, a political thriller that had Donna and Claire both going “Wow” when they read it. Robert is […]
“Distant Relations” by Cheryl Whitehead
April 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Cheryl Whitehead is both a gifted poet and a gifted storyteller—and these can be two distinct, albeit complimentary talents. In Distant Relations (Loblolly Press 2025), Whitehead weaves these dual talents together into an always engaging, often uncanny collection of poetry rich with family, nature, culture, and transcendency. Her verses reverberate with turmoil and grace, all […]
“Penalties of June” by John Brandon
February 1, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Penalties of June (McSweeney’s 2024) by John Brandon is a well-crafted, invitingly atmospheric tale of a motley group of anti-heroes and a lovely, hard-working young woman in 1998 Florida. These characters cross fortunes and fates as their lives interlace again—and again—in a tale that carries a hint of the Southern Gothic within its absorbing pages. Kirkus […]
“Her Best Self” by Mindy Friddle
December 31, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Her Best Self (Regal House 2024) by Mindy Friddle is a fascinating look inside a dysfunctional family in a well-crafted, evocative story with a psychological thriller quality to it. Throughout the novel, pervasive cunningness by several characters heightens tensions and casts a riveting net sure to pull readers deeper into the tale. A darkly comedic […]