Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls is a thrilling summer read that mashes up several genres into a propulsive narrative that never flags or becomes too enamored with itself. The story is a twist on the standard serial killer plot. We meet Harper, a sociopathic loner living in Depression-era Chicago who stumbles across a mysterious house that has doors into the city spanning the twentieth century. For reasons never fully explained, the house uses Harper as its instrument to kill several young women across time. We also meet Kirby, a college-age woman in early-90s Chicago who is the only person to survive one of Harper’s attacks. She is obsessed with finding her assailant and, thanks to an internship at the Sun-Times, begins piecing together the strange connections that link her with the other victims.

The plot may seem outlandish, but Beukes grounds it with rich characterizations. The inner dialogues of her characters are some of the best writing I’ve seen in recent years. Her meticulous research also pays off in vivid depictions of Chicago across the years. The ending left me a bit frustrated because I wanted more of an explanation for the book’s terrible events. But by not giving the reader a pat conclusion, the book leaves a more lasting impression.

Your reading recommendation for the weekend is the first volume of Locke and Key, the brilliant comic scripted by Joe Hill. The story introduces us to the Locke children, who suffer a horrific family tragedy in the first few pages and find themselves moving across country to start a new life in their father’s New England hometown of Lovecraft. The Lockes are the heirs to the Keyhouse estate, a Gothic mansion that looks like something out of a, well, Lovecraft novel. The children soon discover why their new home is called Keyhouse as the supernatural begins to make its presence known.

I recently read the first volume again and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. Hill’s tight plotting doesn’t skimp on character development; all three Locke kids have distinct personalities that come into full view as they struggle to understand the strangeness creeping into their lives. Subsequent volumes delve into Keyhouse’s history, but Welcome to Lovecraft begins the bizarre tale on a deeply human note.

This charming illustrated interpretation of a Fresh Air interview between Terry Gross and author Maurice Sendak is worth your time:

Sendak makes some clear-eyed yet deeply humane observations about growing old, losing the people he loves, and his atheism. He also manages to leave Terry Gross momentarily speechless with a comment so generous that it made me cry a little bit as I sat at my desk. If only we all had the words and presence of mind to tell the people we love how much they mean to us.