Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!

Lozada-Oliva (Candelaria) shines in this scintillating collection of stories about young women navigating desperate situations. The layered title entry, set on the wedding day of narrator Andy’s friend Laura, kicks off when Andy hears the news that their third grade teacher, Mr. Greco, has been sentenced to a 30-year prison term for belonging to a child porn ring. As Laura puts on her wedding dress, Andy confesses that she recently had sex with Mr. Greco, expressing guilt and regret. Andy’s family was excommunicated from their church after her parents divorced, and she admits to Laura that Mr. Greco charmed her with his irreverent comments about an evangelical hotline advertised on a billboard. “Tails” centers on a young food service worker in a hospital, where she unexpectedly encounters her step-aunt, who was admitted after accidentally swallowing a pin, and who offers her a vial that will purportedly remove all her body hair and replace it with a tail. In “Heiress,” a wealthy Colombian student is targeted by kidnappers who mistakenly abduct her tutor instead. Lozada-Oliva effectively uses body horror and the uncanny to spotlight the monstrous forms her characters’ insecurities can take. Readers will be enthralled. (Sept.)