I received this as an ARC at the American Library Association conference, and enjoyed it on the train trip home. Mike Boyd is a former federal employee (dept of Agriculture), moving back in with his dad and stepmother in a small town in Ohio. As he reconnects with old friends and makes new ones, he gets drawn into helping figure out some serious weirdness. The town's biggest local employer has private equity poking at it, which is also not good.
This novel is another example of Scalzi taking a silly premise/metaphor (see also: the moon turning to cheese in When the Moon Hits Your Eye) and turning it into a heartfelt novel that feels deeply emotionally satisfying because it has a level of humanity, clarity, and emotional closure that is often lacking in real life. It's messy, absolutely. And funny. And challenging. So is life. It's just that this novel actually does the emotional cleanup that we often wish we had. Although I don't envy the folks who have to do the actual cleanup in this case.
Some people will turn into monsters rather than go to therapy, and it shows.
Highly recommended. (I believe it comes out in November 2026).
This novel is another example of Scalzi taking a silly premise/metaphor (see also: the moon turning to cheese in When the Moon Hits Your Eye) and turning it into a heartfelt novel that feels deeply emotionally satisfying because it has a level of humanity, clarity, and emotional closure that is often lacking in real life. It's messy, absolutely. And funny. And challenging. So is life. It's just that this novel actually does the emotional cleanup that we often wish we had. Although I don't envy the folks who have to do the actual cleanup in this case.
Some people will turn into monsters rather than go to therapy, and it shows.
Highly recommended. (I believe it comes out in November 2026).