James Nicoll Reviews

Wendy N. Wagner’s 2025 Girl in the Creek is a stand-alone science fiction horror novel.

Bryan Harper vanished near Faraday, Oregon. After a perfunctory investigation, police concluded that Bryan committed suicide. But Bryan’s sister Erin cannot believe that Bryan killed himself. Furthermore, Erin knows something about Faraday that the police appear to have overlooked or willfully ignored.

Faraday has a missing persons problem.

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Wendy N. Wagner’s 2021 The Secret Skin is a stand-alone horror novella.

June Vogel of the Oregon Vogels escaped wealth (and exacting, impossible expectations) for the austere but rewarding life of a spinster artist. Escape proves temporary; her brother Frederick asks for her help. Having found a suitable replacement for his late wife Blanche, Frederick intends to enjoy a honeymoon with his new bride, Lillian.

That leaves the matter of Abigail. Who is to care for Frederick’s daughter while he is having fun? Not a nanny, for those tend to flee the family estate as soon as they can.

Duty overrides preference and prudence. June packs her things and journeys to the Vogel Estate, Storm Break.

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2017’s An Oath of Dogs is a standalone SF novel by Wendy N. Wagner. 

A near-fatal accident has left Kate Standish traumatized, paralyzed by acrophobia. Thanks to her therapeutic dog Hattie, Standish is able to function well enough to work again. Thanks to the selfless benevolence of the Songheuser company, she has a job wherein she can demonstrate her hard-won stability. 

Poor Standish.

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