The Artful Dickens by John Mullan review – how did he do it?
How to convey sexual obsession and opium dreams? Entertaining and insightful essays on the skill of the supreme storyteller
Exit Management by Naomi Booth review – how to survive in London
This compelling tale of people scrabbling for purchase in the capital is peculiarly appropriate to our current crisis
Our Shadows by Gail Jones review – a quiet rejection of conformity in the Kalgoorlie mines
Three generations of a gold-mining family search for meaning in a carefully rendered ninth novel from last year’s Prime Minister’s literary award-winner
Reality, and Other Stories by John Lanchester review – horror for the digital age
Vinegar-sharp ghost stories play with the hold that technology has over all of us
The Dead Are Arising by Les Payne and Tamara Payne review – the real Malcolm X
How black America’s anti-hero remains underestimated, even when he speaks to our times
The Silence by Don DeLillo review – the machine stops
Planes go down and screens go dark in this slim apocalyptic tale from a master stylist
The Witches review – Roald Dahl reboot fails to cast the original’s magic spell
Robert Zemeckis’s retelling of the wicked children’s story feels more grumpy than scary, while its comedy veers between frantic and strained
Behind the Enigma by John Ferris review – inside Britain’s most secret intelligence agency
From codebreakers at Bletchley Park to the crisis surrounding whistleblower Edward Snowden … an authorised history of GCHQ
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton review – a sharp-eyed debut
Comfortable tropes are mixed with darker themes in a zeitgeisty comic novel about thirtysomething life
Joe Biden by Evan Osnos review – a story of survival
After a lifetime of tragedies and dashed hopes, will he finally triumph? And what would it mean if he does?
Picture books for children – reviews
Three bears have a terrible night’s sleep, a pug has a pet human, and a veggie patch goes raving
Trio by William Boyd review – lights, camera, chaos
The secret lives of three characters on a 1960s film set make for the novelist’s funniest book in years
Love by Roddy Doyle review – boozy old pals find a twist in the tale
Two fiftysomething Dubliners go on a pub crawl full of surprises
Azadi by Arundhati Roy review – at her passionate best
The author tackles Kashmir, Hindu nationalism and the dangers of being outspoken in this startling collection of essays
In brief: War: How Conflict Shaped Us; What Are You Going Through; Shadowplay – reviews
Margaret MacMillan’s exemplary study of war