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Fajardo's impressive debut reimagines The Great Gatsby as a cyberpunk thriller. In 2075, Minnesota-raised Filipino Nick Caraway, a war veteran and "diver," someone trained to enter cyberspace to shore up security and patch breeches, takes a corporate espionage contract in New York. There, he meets up with his cousin, Daisy, once a star of immersive "Happy Sleep" films designed to lull audiences into dreamland, and her bigoted, abusive husband Tom Buchanan. They introduce him to heavily body modified athlete Jordan Baker, whom he crosses paths with again at a party hosted by his mysterious billionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby. Nick and Jordan later use a dangerous, improvised setup to delve into records of Gatsby's past, where they discover he was a poor paramour of Daisy's before her family forced her to marry into the wealthy Buchanan clan to save their flailing pharmaceutical company. As Nick gets drawn tighter into Gatsby orbit and fields mixed signals of desire from both Jordan and Gatsby, he contrives to reacquaint the star-crossed lovers. Their connection, however, has deadly consequences. While purists will balk, Fajardo expertly transfers the themes of exploitative capitalism, mysterious and possibly illegal wealth, and complicated desires haunted by loss and queerness to a dystopian setting. The result is an evocative and powerful reworking of an American classic. (Oct.)

DEBUT Nick Carraway gathers corporate intelligence by diving into cyberspace. He has come to New York to investigate Jay Gatsby at the behest of his cousin Daisy, who's considering a merger with Gatsby's company. Gatsby has constructed a glittering life to entice his lost love Daisy, and he hopes Nick is a way to reach her. But as the two men's friendship develops and Nick's investigation progresses, their growing mutual attraction might upend all their careful plans. Reminiscent of The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Fajardo's debut is a queer retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, rooted in the cyberpunk genre with hover cities, body mods, and immersive hacking. Nick's corporate mission (aided by athlete Jordan Baker) adds a new layer of tension and intrigue between him and Gatsby as they try to puncture each other's carefully crafted personas. After a somewhat slow start, Fajardo builds on Fitzgerald's story to end on a more hopeful note: maybe these characters aren't forever stuck in the past. VERDICT Coming out in time for the 100th anniversary of Fitzgerald's classic, Fajardo writes a solid Gatsby retelling that looks to the future.--Erin Niederberger