One of the words that book review editors get sick of is "timely." But in 2018, it's unavoidable. The refugee and immigrant novels of 2017, the growing number of Atwood-esque dystopian novels—these are necessary fiction subgenres that continue to grow.

I wasn't planning on writing a Trend Report on the several gun novels that have been published and will be published in early 2018. But in the wake of the 18th U.S. school shooting this year, here they are. And I'm not calling them a trend. I'm calling them a repercussion, a necessary and painful reminder of the way that mass shootings have become part of the American consciousness. Nearly all these novels explore what happens after the news cycle has quieted down, after social media's debates have dispersed—when the people whose lives have been shattered are left to pick up the pieces.

—Cat Acree, Deputy Editor **

Oliver Loving by Stefan Merrill Block

"As periodic eruptions of gun violence surface randomly and inexplicably across our national landscape, it seems the horror of one is barely grasped before the next arrives. For all the intensity of our collective desire to move on from each of these human-inflicted disasters, Oliver Loving soberly reminds us that there are people left behind for whom the grief and pain will never disappear." Read the full review.

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

"Navin succeeds in the tricky job of narrating her tale through the eyes of a young child. She views her characters with compassion, even as they are not on their best behavior. How could they be? Only Child shows the painful aftermath of a calamity that's becoming all too common." Read the full review.



How to Be Safe by Tom McAllister

Coming April 3, McAllister's novel is an exceedingly sharp skewering of media hot-takes and our nation's addiction to protecting masculinity and gun ownership. It's the story of a former teacher who is considered a suspect in a school shooting, and even though she is quickly exonerated, she remains guilty in the eyes of many. If you're angry, read this one first.

Big Guns by Steve Israel

Israel wrote the New York Times op-ed "Nothing Will Change After the Las Vegas Shooting" and served as a U.S. Congressman from New York for nearly 16 years until retiring in January 2017. Coming April 17, Israel's second novel, billed as Thank You for Smoking for the NRA, is a blunt parody set in a small Long Island town that painfully reflects contemporary D.C. politics.

If We Had Known by Elise Juska

Also coming April 17, Juska's new novel was inspired by the Virginia Tech shooting and centers on a college professor who discovers that the shooter at a local mall was one of her former students. Juska, a creative writing professor for more than 20 years, explores questions of red flags and guilt through the story of the professor and her troubled daughter who struggle to hold onto their lives in the aftermath of the shooting.

* Numbers are according to data compiled by the gun control advocacy organization Everytown for Gun Safety, via Huffington Post.

** Opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of BookPage.