After a refreshing winter hiatus, the Ottawa Review of Books is back to bring you, our readers, insights into five new Canadian books. In our lineup are Michael Springate's Allegiance, Nora Gold's Yom Kippur in a Gym, Casey Plett's On Community, Janice Barrett's Authorized Cruelty, and the Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Vol.1 (2023)Â anthology, edited by Stephen Kotowych.
On a more sobering note, we must inform you of the passing of one of our founding reviewers, Jim Napier. With over six hundred reviews in ORB and his own website, Deadly Diversions, Jim was by far the most prolific crime fiction reviewer in Canada, and arguably much farther afield. Jim passed away peacefully after our last issue of ORB in December 2023. He is survived by his wife Roya. Jim was also a gifted crime writer in his own right, with two novels to his credit and a third nearing completion before his passing. His enthusiasm and dedication to the crime fiction community in Canada were unwavering, not only as a reviewer and writer, but also in assuming leadership roles in the Crime Writers of Canada. A native of California, Jim lived in Quebec for more than half a century, where he taught community college before retiring to devote himself to his first passion, writing. A good and loyal friend, Jim will be sorely missed.