(The Dunwich Hoarder - Terry L. Estep - Image generated with the aid of ChatGPT)

“Beasts of the Sea,” by Iida Turpeinen. Translated by David Hackston. Publication Date Nov. 18. 288 pages.

In 1741, naturalist Georg Steller was aboard the St. Peter when it was shipwrecked on an island in the Bering Sea for nearly a year. There he encountered a new creature, a huge seal-like creature that would become known as Steller’s Sea Cow.

The crew eventually made it off the island and back to civilization, but the sea cow’s encounter with mankind would prove fatal. In less than 30 years, it had been hunted to extinction.

“Beasts of the Sea” is a haunting historical novel. Told in three parts, it ranges from the ill-fated voyage of the St. Peter to the discovery of a sea cow’s bones and their eventual display in a Helsinki museum. The idea that people could drive a creature to extinction was unthinkable at the time, but sadly now it’s business as usual.

It’s surprisingly gripping and melancholy, with respect for scientific achievement but recognizing its limitations and our responsibilities as stewards of the planet. Turpeinen’s novel was an international bestseller. This English translation by David Hackston marks its first North American publication.

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“My Name Isn’t Paul,” by Drew Huff. Publication date: Nov. 18. 119 pages.

Sometimes you need some “What did I just read?” cosmic horror storytelling, and “My Name Isn’t Paul” certainly qualifies.

Paul is a traveling salesman. Paul is also a wasp-like creature from another dimension who perfectly mimics a human that nobody knows has been dead for years. He and the rest of his “Mirror People” are just trying to fit into human society, but Paul struggles with self-loathing. He insists he’s human and not a bug named Uxon. It’s when his true nature takes over and the need to breed comes on him that the horror and death begins.

It’s a clever and disturbing novella, like if Chuck Palahniuk got high while reading H.P. Lovecraft. It also earns a few bonus points for being partially set in West Virginia. When in Martinsburg, watch out for those giant bugs.

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Short takes on some recent reads:

* “The Shattering Peace,” by John Scalzi. A welcome return to Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” universe. He writes in one of my favorite genres: clever people solving complex problems with skill and deadpan humor. In this case, an analyst joins a group trying to locate a missing colony asteroid. Hijinks ensue.

* “The Gold Coast,” by Nelson DeMille. The author describes this as “‘The Great Gatsby’ meets ‘The Godfather.'” Our narrator, John Sutter, is a blue blood living on Long Island when a mafia don moves in next door and triggers a midlife crisis. I’d only read his novel “The General’s Daughter,” so I wasn’t prepared for how funny this is.

* “Gunmetal Gods,” by Zamil Akhtar. A fantasy novel modeled after the Crusades and Arabian Nights. The dueling POV narrators spend most of the novel on opposite sides of the conflict before colliding. If you told me it was written by Clive Barker under a pseudonym, I’d believe you. It’s a good start to a series I look forward to continuing.

* “Cop Hater,” by Ed McBain. The first book in the long-running 87th Precinct series of police procedurals. A cop is murdered on the street, touching off an investigation that follows detectives all over the city. This was my first Ed McBain book and won’t be the last.

* “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker. It’s a classic Victorian horror yarn about a vampire who leaves his castle to try his luck conquering England. The novel is told in epistolary format, comprised entirely of newspaper clippings, letters and journal entries of the people teaming up to stop Dracula. I read this every year.

* “A is for Alibi,” by Sue Grafton. Upon release from prison for the murder of her husband, Nikki Fife hires private investigator Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed him. Millhone is one of my favorite fictional detectives. This will be my second run through Grafton’s Alphabet mystery series. Sadly, she died before the final Z volume could be written.

Terry L. Estep can be reached at testep@newsandsentinel.com