Old School Love

October 14, 2019
Joseph Simmons (aka Rev Run from Run-DMC) and his wife, Justine, who have been married for 25 years, offer advice for a lasting union in this sincere and heartfelt collaboration. The couple—known for their reality show, Run’s House—trade chapters on what makes their “Old School” style of marriage successful. Joseph, who was previously married and a father of three, began dating Justine when he was in his 20s; they remained celibate for two years until they married in 1994 and had three children together, one of whom they adopted. Their relationship, they explain, is based upon love for each other and love of God; many chapters begin with biblical quotes (Rev Run is an ordained Pentecostal minister), and the authors acknowledge that not every reader will be a “believer.” The couple share amusing anecdotes (Rev tells of forcing himself to go to Hooters to satisfy his pregnant wife’s chicken wing craving), but their declarations of mutual admiration can be overly sentimental (Justine includes a treacly love poem to Rev). The traditional values the authors espouse will appeal to young couples working to remain true to their wedding vows.

December 9, 2019
Kless’s futuristic second Tarakan novel (after The Lost Puzzler) takes a revelatory trek across a postapocalyptic world. Mannes Holtz, the man responsible for the catastrophe that destroyed Tarakan, a high-tech corporate utopia, and started a world war, may also be the only person able to save it using the last working remnant of Tarakan tech: a space elevator in Mexico. On his way to retrieve the tech, his ship crash lands in central Asia, leaving Holtz to battle his way across continents, opposed by an artificial intelligence with a grudge, and “Twinkle Eyes,” the unnamed narrator of book one, who is also hoping to unlock more forgotten Tarakan facilities and believes Holtz to be a traitor. A good amount of humor balances the more violent scenes. Kless tantalizingly reveals much of the backstory that was teased in The Lost Puzzler through flashbacks and prophetic dreams, and maintains a taut moral tension over which side readers should root for, epitomized in the mercenary Galinak’s refrain “And here I was thinking I was on the good guys’ team.” The result is an expansive, entertaining far-future adventure. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Literary.