Award-winning Denver novelist Kali Fajardo-Anstine is at it again. You might know her name from the 2019 smash success that was “Sabrina & Corina” — an acclaimed collection of short fiction stories — as well as her 2022 national bestselling novel, “Woman of Light.”
Recently, Fajardo-Anstine shared with fans that she is back at the desk, working on something new. What can we expect? “It’s sort of dystopian,” she says. And like her other hit works, it is set right here in the Mile High. But we’ll have to be patient for the release party, as Fajardo-Anstine says she’s still “deep in the middle” of the project.
Until then, here are a few other Denver-based novels that come highly recommended from local bookworms.
Horror
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth — “An Urban Native woman must face her past when she discovers a bracelet haunted by her mother’s spirit.”
Mystery / Suspense
Desperado: A Mile High Noir by Manuel Ramos — “This gritty novel set in Denver features blackmail, murder and gang warfare.”
The Poet by Michael Connelly — “Death is reporter Jack McEvoy’s beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write.”
Booked to Die by John Dunning — “Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he’s an avid collector of rare and first editions. … When prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies.”
Get to know a new version of the Mile High. (Peyton Garcia / City Cast Denver)
Historical Fiction
Denver by John Dunning — “By the 1920s, Denver had outgrown its frontier-town beginnings. But for some, life was still as perilous as the surrounding terrain.”
Little Souls by Sandra Dallas — “A gripping tale of sisterhood, loyalty, and secrets set in Denver amid America’s last deadly flu pandemic.”
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson — “A woman in the 1960s must reconcile her reality with the tantalizing alternate world of her dreams.”
Fantasy
White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton — “Adam Binder has the Sight. It’s a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another…”
Comic Series
The Asphalt Warrior by Gary Reilly — “[Murph] strives to earn no more money as a driver for Rocky Mountain Taxi Company than his needs require. He is determined to stay out of the lives of those he transports. He struggles with the first issue and he is spectacularly bad with the second.”
👉 Want even more recs?
- Recommendations for fiction set in Denver from Arapahoe Libraries
- “18 must-read books with connections to Colorado” from The Denver Post
- “The Twenty Best Books About Colorado” from Westword
