Read @ Joe’s

Title: The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek (2026) Author: David Liss Publisher: Tachyon Publications Book jacket: A young man with a tragic past finds an unlikely protector in a strangely altered enforcer of his backwater town.  Joe says: Fast, unsettling, and hard to pin down, this is a genre-blender with real bite. David Liss turns discomfort into momentum and delivers a story that sticks.

What begins with the strange hum of speculative sci-fi, steadily morphs into something darker and, appreciatively, more human. David Liss builds a narrative that pivots from a Terminator-tinged premise into a propulsive crime story about wrong turns, broken lives, and the long shadow of loss. As a result, The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek is a genre-blending mystery that occasionally leans on convenient mechanics, but redeems itself with a surprisingly strong friendship and finale that is shaped more by an emotional victory than an action-packed wallop.

Within, Liss crafts Dan Gibson as a modern echo of Frank Bigelow, the doomed everyman from D.O.A.. Like Bigelow, Dan is marked and blamed; a poisoned pariah meeking out survival at a Florida gas station. Branded an outcast after the death of a classmate, he spirals through a society that has already judged him guilty and a family that has disowned him. Liss renders Dan with a sharp psychological edge, his internal monologue flickering between self-depreciation and self-destruction. His neuroticism is captivating. This characterization pays off in tension and authenticity.

As does Iliana Marek herself, the novel’s most intriguing variable. Initially an antagonist, she evolves into something far less definable, drawing Dan into a widening conspiracy that touches on immense wealth, systemic corruption, and buried treasure (albeit digital). Even when the plot straddles Iliana’s opportune deus ex machina setup, her stranger-in-a-strange-land mystery builds with Dan, bubbling them into a bourbon cocktail of a concoction that is sweet, strong, and hangover-inducing.

What distinguishes The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek from any preset bracketing is its openness with discomfort. Liss does not shy away from pain or moral ambiguity; instead, he integrates them into the narrative’s thrust. Feelings of doubt, guilt, and trust change as quickly as the chapters. And as for those chapters? You don’t want them to stop. 

This is less a story about technology or conspiracy than it is about reclaiming identity, finding connections, and gaining the strength to face overwhelming odds. This is a bold, genre-shifting novel that challenges expectations while delivering a gripping, character-driven ride.

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Thanks to Kasey Lansdale at Tachyon Publications for this super-early look at David Liss’s latest.