Calvin Bledsoe has never grown up. His mother, an internationally known theologian, was the dominant force in his life. Now she is gone, and at her funeral, Calvin meets an aunt he never knew existed, who immediately takes charge of his life and whisks him off to Europe for a grand adventure. As Calvin and his aunt traverse the continent, it becomes apparent that her clandestine behavior is leading him into danger. Facing a menagerie of antiquities thieves, secret agents and religious fanatics, as well as an ex-wife who is stalking him, Calvin begins to suspect there might be some meaning behind the madness. But there’s little time for soul-searching, as Calvin first has to figure out why he has been kidnapped, why his aunt has disappeared, and who the hell burned down his house in Maine.

The title story of acclaimed writer Brock Clarke’s new collection delivers a cringingly biting dissection of racial attitudes in contemporary America. Clarke also turns his eagle eye to subjects like PTSD, the fate of child actors, and, most especially, marital discord in stories like “Considering Lizzie Borden, Her Axe, My Wife” and “The Misunderstandings.” In “The Pity Palace,” a reclusive husband in Florence, Italy, who believes his wife has left him for a famous novelist, sells tickets to tourists anxious to meet someone more miserable than they.

Take the format of a spy thriller, shape it around real-life incidents involving international terrorism, leaven it with dark, dry humor, toss in a love rectangle, give everybody a gun, and let everything play out in the outer reaches of upstate New York. THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD is a darkly funny tale of paranoia and the all-American obsession with security and the conspiracies that threaten it, written in a tone that is simultaneously filled with wonder and anger in almost equal parts.

Part literary satire, part mystery, EXLEY unleashes the enormous talent of a writer whom critics have compared to Richard Ford and John Irving and whose work has been called “absurdly hilarious” (Entertainment Weekly) and “wildly entertaining” (Daily Candy).