Josh Silver

In his adult debut, Fruit Fly, author Josh Silver (previously known for HappyHead) brings a sharp, unsettling perspective to the contemporary thriller. The novel centers on Mallory Maddox, a once-lauded novelist paralyzed by protracted writer’s block, who resolves her creative deficit by co-opting the life of a young gay man navigating homelessness, addiction, and severe mental distress. What follows is an increasingly volatile descent into the ethics of exploitation and literary ownership. For readers who devoured R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface and found themselves hungry for another lacerating examination of modern cultural appropriation within the publishing ecosystem, Silver’s dark satire delivers with considerable bite.