Baby Genius

This fascinating new novel from the author of Atonement and The

Children Act is written from the point of view of a hyperintelligent fetus who, on the cusp of birth, overhears his mother’s schemes to commit murder. It’s subtly hilarious (the fetus’s voice is endearingly akin to that of a pedantic professor) and a little slapstick in its absurdity. Guaranteed, it’s like nothing you’ve ever read. — AK Nutshell (Knopf Canada) by Ian Mcewan, $30.