The 8 hottest new books to read this summer

Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo

Odubanjo, one of Britain’s most talented young poets, died last year aged 27. Both an act of remembrance, and a lyrical portrait of London, his debut explores another life cut tragically short: that of “Adam”, an unidentified black boy whose body was found in the Thames in 2001.
Faber

Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum

Forget the cackling madmen. Today’s autocrats, argues the liberal doyenne in this polemic, are transactional operators, united only by their lust for power – and hatred of the West.
Allen Lane

The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves & China Miéville

One makes films, one writes speculative fiction; both are pre-eminent in their field. Expect no shortage of electricity in this co-written novel about the exploits of an immortal warrior.
Del Rey

Paris ’44: The Shame and the Glory by Patrick Bishop

Eighty years ago, Charles de Gaulle swooped triumphantly into Paris – or so we remember. This new history exposes the reality of the liberation, a whirl of “suspense, danger, exhilaration and vengeance”.
Viking

Phantom Limb by Chris Kohler

A faithless Scottish minister with an unhappy past finds a severed hand that’s still alive, and trying to impart a message. The most sinister, God-haunted novel of the year so far.
Atlantic

Madoff: The Final Word by Richard Behar

How did Bernie Madoff string everyone along for so long? And where did that $68 billion go? Behar, who had unparalleled access to the late trader, tells all.
Simon & Schuster

On the Edge by Nate Silver

The American statistics guru steps back from political forecasts to deliver this analysis of how risk-takers, from casino-goers to art collectors, control the world.
Allen Lane

A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown

The author of Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret moves onto her elder sister. Inventive, restless, wry and always fascinating, this biography will put most others this summer to shame.
Fourth Estate