Celebrating National Eye Exam Month with Fiction

The year is 1984; the scene is London, largest population center of Airstrip One. Airstrip One is part of the vast political entity Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two other vast entities, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment, depending upon current alignments, all existing records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia....

In an alternate America, princesses Beatrice and Samantha Washington and the two girls wooing their brother, Prince Jefferson, become embroiled in high drama in the most glorious court in the world.

British author Pinborough (Murder) effectively shifts perspectives between two complex characters in this twisty psychological thriller set in North London. Louise Barnsley is chagrined to learn that the hunky man who kissed her in a bar turns out to be her new, married boss, therapist David Martin. Louise and David agree that the flirtation would be just a onetime thing, but their interactions become more complicated when David's gorgeous wife, Adele,...

In Bird Box, brilliantly imaginative debut author Josh Malerman captures an apocalyptic near-future world, where a mother and her two small children must make their way down a river, blindfolded. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them -- but is it man, animal, or monster? Within these tracks, Malerman, a professional musician, discusses his love of horror and invokes an ethereal and atmospheric experience in an homage...

Insomnia has claimed everyone Biggs knows. Even his beloved wife, Carolyn, has succumbed to the telltale red-rimmed eyes, slurred speech and cloudy mind before disappearing into the quickly collapsing world. Yet Biggs can still sleep, and dream, so he sets out to find her.

"Nina Hill's life may not seem like much, but for a person battling anxiety, it's more than enough. She enjoys her job at a bookstore and her small circle of friends. Until a visit from a lawyer changes everything... The father that Nina never knew existed has died, leaving behind an enormous extended family. Nina now has innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and cousins all living within a twenty-mile radius--some welcoming and some not...

Using carefully honed sensory skills gleaned from a childhood spent blind to solve cases, music therapist Kendra Michaels is tapped by a former FBI agent, who is investigating the work of a serial killer who may be responsible for the disappearance of Kendra's ex.

In 1893, Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer and his brother, Gustav "Old Red," find themselves in a situation that they never expected: they have a bit of money and time to do something other than scramble. It's enough to confound even that most unconfoundable of men, their mutual inspiration, Sherlock Holmes. So Old Red decides that it's time for the two of them to head off to the Texas hill country, to San Marcos, and deal with the greatest tragedy of Old...

Alexandria, 47 BC. Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant. A shipment of new coins meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen and the Queen's Eye has been murdered, so Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice.

"One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. She doesn't want to be found. Or at least, that's the story. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn't be put back together. They called it a 'walk away.' It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?"--