For fans of Martha Wells’ Murderbot (it’s also giving us big John Wick and Blade Runner vibes, too), you might want to put James Islington’s Scion on your radar this month. Set in a world where the rich – known as lifers – get the opportunity to live forever, as opposed to the poor who die young, Azure is an assassin tasked with killing the richest of them all. That is until he’s hired to protect one of them instead.

Given that this is the exact opposite of what he’s usually tasked with, at just over 200 pages, this is a snappy, fast-paced cyberpunk thriller that you won’t want to put down.

Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison

• Release date: September 1 (US) and September 8 (UK)

Now, imagine if Groundhog Day was a horror movie, where each iteration of the same day got progressively worse, and you’ve got Rachel Harrison’s incredible new novel, Kiss Slay Replay. And having read an early copy of this myself, I can confidently say that it has easily cemented itself as one of my favourite books of the year.

Set on the day when Willa’s best friends are set to get married, it was always going to be a bittersweet moment, as it sees her come face to face with her ex-fiancé for the first time in months. Oh, and he just so happens to have brought a date to the wedding. If that wasn’t bad enough, something about the day feels off, but Willa can’t quite place it. That is, until a masked killer terrorises the reception, and she certainly doesn’t make it as the final girl. She then wakes up, and it’s the morning of the wedding again. Could it just have been a bad dream? Well, when all manner of horror tropes and terror make their way to the reception day after day, it becomes clear that something is seriously wrong. Stuck in a time loop, she must learn how to escape it or risk being a wedding guest forever.

Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo

• Release date: September 15

If you’ve eagerly been anticipating the third and final book in Leigh Bardugo’s brilliant Ninth House trilogy, Dead Beat reunites us with Alex and the delegates of Lethe House. And with the door to hell left open and an increasing number of demons making their way into New Haven and the Yale campus, it will take a herculean effort to stop the gates to the underworld from flooding open permanently.

Thankfully, this isn’t a fight that she will have to face alone. Dawes, Turner, Mercy, and even Tripp will have roles to play, as well as Alex’s mentor, Darlington, who is back and cursed with some dangerous powers of his own. Will they be able to stop the onslaught? Or what could go wrong? You’ll need to pick up a copy to find out.

Crone by Keth Rosson

• Release date: September 22

Keith Rosson’s Coffin Moon blew us away last year, so it’s safe to say that we were more than happy to hear that he had a brand new book coming out in 2026. Crone follows ex-detective, ex-addict, and grieving father, Eli, whose daughter disappeared a decade ago. And after spending the ensuing years imploding his life in a bid to find her, or what happened to her, he is now working as an enforcer for a local drug gang to pay off his debt to them.

However, everything changes when the son of his boss is brutally murdered, and he is seemingly given a golden ticket out of his current situation. If he can find out who killed him, his debt will be cleared forever. But all isn’t quite as it seems. With a hunt for answers that brings him face to face with a slew of conspiracy theories and even more tragedies, ones which even reignite those from his own past, something dangerous is lurking in the woods and creeping ever closer.

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

• Release date: September 15 (US) and September 17 (UK)

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven continues to be one of our favourite post-apocalyptic reads. And she’s back with Exit Party, another immersive story set in a broken world.

The year is 2031, and after America has been at war with itself, things appear to be on the up. The curfew in Los Angeles has been lifted, and the Republic of California has been declared. Finally, there’s some cause for celebration. But, as you might expect in a book like this, the party that our characters find themselves at doesn’t exactly go to plan. And we won’t spoil it beyond that. Years later, living a very different life, one of our main characters continues to be haunted by what happened that night, but could it be the key to a completely different world? If you enjoy Emily St. John Mandel’s distinctive writing, this should definitely be at the top of your TBR (to be read) list this month.

Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison

• Release date: September 15

It wouldn’t be a roundup from me without a tiny sprinkling of romance. So, if you’re hoping to read outside of your usual genres this year, or are looking to recommend some new books to family or friends, we always have a lot of fun with B.K. Borison’s books.

Grim Tidings, as you might be able to glean from the title, follows a female Grim Reaper, Darcy, who is tired of shuttling her assignments to the underworld. Upon turning up at Gabriel’s bar, looking for a bit of respite from the day-to-day drudgery of work, they get to talking and sparks fly between the pair. That is until Gabriel discovers what Darcy does for a living. It would probably be alarming for anyone to find out that they’d been flirting with the Grim Reaper, but as the town’s Guardian Angel, he has centuries of bad experiences with Reapers, and surely Darcy is no different. Or is she? Even though this is the second in a series of interconnected stories, you don’t necessarily need to have read Good Spirits to enjoy or jump right into this unique take on a paranormal romance.

Blightfall by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson

• Release date: September 1

Bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson have teamed up once again, this time for a new young adult (YA) trilogy set in Sanderson’s epic Cytoverse. And after decades of war, Arturo – leader of Skyward Flight – starts to realise that freedom isn’t what he thought it would be.

The threat of the alien oppressors might be over, at least for now, but his first postwar assignment – an attempt to make contact with fellow survivors – is far from simple. With mysterious debris and giant, invasive forests covering most of the planet, Blightfall isn’t exactly hospitable. And when Arturo and his team are attacked, they find themselves trapped there, with no idea who to trust or team up with to make their escape and get home safely.

Driven by Mason Coile

• Release date: September 8

What would you do if you were being haunted? I’m talking ghosts standing at the end of your bed or appearing when you pull back the shower curtain. And no matter where you go or move to, they follow you there. Well, Jamie thinks that he’s found an ingenious solution when someone is selling their Lion – the world’s most advanced self-driving car. Surely being enclosed and constantly on the move will keep him safe?

If you’ve ever been a bit weary of fully autonomous vehicles, reading this book won’t exactly change your mind, as one morning Jamie wakes up to the Lion speeding down the road. The hood of the car looks to be dented and covered in what appears to be blood, and it won’t respond to his demands or stop to let him out. As they keep driving, Jamie becomes increasingly involved in the car’s decisions, with unimaginable consequences. Published posthumously, following the author’s death in 2025, Driven skillfully blends horror with a type of sci-fi that doesn’t feel all that far away from what could happen now or sometime soon, keeping us firmly in the passenger seat the whole way through.

Hollywood, Ending by John Green

• Release date: September 22

From the bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, and our 2025 top pick Everything Is Tuberculosis, comes John Green’s first novel for adults. And that, in and of itself, immediately piqued our interest. Described as a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story, it follows rising stars Kai and Juniper, who have just been cast in a biopic that everyone is talking about. And, as is the case for many who find stardom as quickly as this pair do, their lives change in unexpected and unimaginable ways.

Giving us a glimpse into what it takes to make it in the world of Hollywood, as ambition and public attention collide, we get to see the private cost of their public personas. At the same time, it focuses on two young people finding out who they are, both on their own and as a couple. Let’s just say, we can’t wait to curl up with this one soon.

Sometimes I Scare Myself by Jeneva Rose

• Release date: September 22 (US) and September 24 (UK)

With Halloween and spooky season fast approaching, Jeneva Rose’s trio of eerie short stories is a fantastic way to get in the mood. And the great thing is, each one has its own distinct voice and take on the genre.

First up is ‘Never Kill the Medium,’ which centres around a deadly thirtieth dinner party, where what appeared to be a playful and innocuous séance spirals out of control, with the assembled guests covering up a death and not realising that they’ve left the ritual unfinished. The second story, ‘The Nightmare House,’ is an interesting take on the haunted house story, where a family’s new forever home hides insidious secrets, ones which have seen every family who has lived there either die or disappear. And finally, we have ‘All Curses Are Final,’ as a group of friends stops off at a roadside store. Oh, and there just so happens to be seemingly cursed items for sale there. Good news – the curse is lifted at the time of sale. Bad news – one of the group finds an unpaid item in her bag. Even though she initially laughs it off, things change when they are snowed in at a remote cabin, and things take a turn for the worse.

Turncloak by L.K. Steven

• Release date: September 15 (US) and September 17 (UK)

Book two in the Silvercloak Saga hits shelves this month, and we can’t wait to see where the story goes next. Picking up after the frankly devastating events in Havenwood, Saffron is attempting to move forward and push towards her ultimate revenge. But as she’s still deep undercover in the Bloodmoon gang, she only sees one path forward – to harness her long-dormant Timeweaver power to fix some of her biggest mistakes.

Ordinarily, this would be tricky enough. However, the now kingpin of the gang, Levan, has discovered Saffron’s true identity. And at the same time, an ambitious rookie detective is keen to put a stop to both the Bloodmoons and their rival gangs. How will it all turn out? You’ll need to grab a copy.