Readers are either going to revel in the horror of this book.—Josh Silver’s first adult title—or pass it on as quickly as possible. The novel features two great narrators: Mallory Maddox, who wrote one successful novel that was published seven years ago.—talk about writer’s block!—and the young, drug-addicted Leo, who sleeps under a bridge and works in the sex industry, doing anything to score another hit. The two quickly form a sort of symbiotic relationship, as Mallory needs to appropriate Leo’s life to create her new novel and Leo needs help from Mallory—such as drugs—to survive. But Mallory is hardly the only exploiter in the lot; just take a look at Mallory’s publisher, who falls in love with her latest book but reminds her to “go gay, go sad, go dark” if she wants the book to succeed. In this BBC must-read book of 2026, Silver is even able to slip some humour into the text, which is really quite the miracle. Excellent writing and explosive characters make for a uniquely powerful read.—Brian Kenney
