A new year brings new stories, and 2026 is already shaping up to be an exciting season for Atlantic Canadian literature. From high-stakes thrillers to powerful histories and gripping true tales, this collection of newly released titles—featured in Atlantic Books Today Issue 102—showcases some of the most compelling voices and narratives emerging from our region.

Whether you’re setting reading goals, refreshing your bookshelf, or simply looking for your next unforgettable story, these five books are the perfect place to begin.

Breakaway:The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game

When the first puck dropped in the Professional Women’s Hockey League in January 2024, it had been a long time coming. Women have been playing hockey since at least 1890 and playing professionally for decades. But until 2024, even the highest-level female players had never been compensated as professionals: some paid for their own gear and worked second jobs, earning a pittance, if anything, from their chosen profession.

In Breakaway, Karissa Donkin tells the story of the players’ efforts to create the PWHL, long before the first full season in 2024. Following the unnamed 2024 Montreal PWHL team, with some of the best players in the sport, like Marie-Philip Poulin and Erin Ambrose, Donkin takes readers through the League’s founding, the draft process, the practices, and the dramatic arc of the first season. Defying all expectations, with larger crowds and higher revenues than anticipated, this first season was a gamechanger for professional women’s sports leagues.

Operation Betrayed

In 1996, a twenty-year-old woman was murdered and found mutilated in a most disturbing way. Her body was ritualistically laid out and left displayed on a walking trail. Twenty-seven years later, the crime repeats itself when another woman is murdered and found in the same way. Could the killer still be out there, or is it a copycat?

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Inspector Nick Myra puts together a task force that re-investigates historical files of missing and murdered women, only to discover a rape gang has been operating in downtown St. John’s for decades. When details only the killer would know are leaked to the media, Myra and his team question if the betrayal comes from within their force.

This psychological thriller cuts to the bone when Inspector Myra and the victims’ families realize the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies—it comes from those you trust the most.

Operation Betrayed is the sixth novel in the Operation series from Helen C. Escott. In this fast-paced crime thriller, she shines a glaring spotlight on how a woman’s home address, economic status, and even her clothes can affect the level of investigation and justice given to her… even when she is murdered.

The Undesirables

The Undesirables: A History of Rockhead Prison is the revealing story of Rockhead, an imposing structure that was located on Gottingen (now Novalea Drive) and Leeds Streets in Halifax. Nestled in with the industrial, working-class North End, for many residents, their backyards were adjacent to the prison.

With the words “City Prison” glaring down at whoever entered or walked by, the edifice stood as warning to those thinking of committing crimes. Many heeded that warning, but many did not, whether intentionally or unintentionally. People like Margaret Howard, Stanley Wambolt, John Zwicker, Ellen Reardon, Nellie Roy, Kathleen Singer, Frank Gilfoy, Rita Lantz, and John Mountain are few of the many whose stories and lives became intertwined with the jail, and only a few of the thousands who would become temporary (and sometimes repeat) residents.

Opening in the 1860s, Rockhead was built in response to the overcrowded and unsustainable Bridewell and served as a jail for ?lesser? crimes: larceny, vagrancy, theft, prostitution, public drunkenness, etc. Along with details about the prison itself and stories about inmates, The Undesirables looks at the creation of Rockhead, and how, despite all intentions and efforts, it systematically failed many of those it was trying to help. It doesn?t ignore, however, the many crimes that warranted incarceration. The story recounts the newsworthy cases, incidents at the jail, successful and unsuccessful escapees, and the lives of other notable temporary residents. It also looks at those who lived and worked there, including William Murray and the Grant family.

Lastly, the book examines the prison’s later years, the transfer of prisoners to a new facility in Lower Sackville in the late 1960s, and the question of what was done with the eventual vacant space and land.

Six for Saint-Pierre

Intrigue once again surrounds Sebastian Synard—this time just off the south coast of Newfoundland, in the colourful French island of Saint-Pierre. Sebastian is put to the test personally and professionally, thrust into an international investigation to find out just who is responsible for th… e death of a young man, his body found floating in the frigid tidewater of a deserted beach.

In the sixth instalment of the Sebastian Synard mystery series, Sebastian finds himself beyond the borders of his home in Newfoundland, where history blends with modern-day intrigue. Travelling with his partner Mae, Sebastian arrives in Saint-Pierre where his son, Nick, is spending a semester. However, his visit to this charming yet peculiar overseas territory of France quickly takes a turn.

In the two weeks since Nick has arrived in Saint-Pierre, he has become enamoured with more than the French language, but his budding relationship with his amiable classmate, Zach, is shattered when Zach disappears without warning. When Zach’s body is found washed up on a deserted shoreline, Sebastia… n finds himself entwined in the mystery, caught between the competing aims of the local Gendarmerie, the RCMP, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. His search for answers leads him to Martinique, another overseas territory of la France, where his relationships are tested to the extreme. Just what will it take for the trio of police units to come around to Sebastian’s perspective? What will it take to bring Mae back into his life? Nothing less than a violent assault on our PI, together with the threat of the very knife that was used against the innocent young gay man whose body washed up on the shoreline rocks of the island of Saint-Pierre.

The Hunt

A fast-paced thriller set in the vast and rugged Yukon wilderness. The Hunt follows an unlikely duo on an exhilarating journey as they battle the terrain and race against the clock to solve a murder – before they become victims themselves.

Ben Matthews is less than thrilled when he is posted to Canada from Washington, but he doesn’t have time to sit in his disappointment. His diplomatic credentials are still fresh when he is drawn into an urgent assignment: locating an American VIP who vanished on a Yukon hunting trip. Seeking help fr… om the local Mounties, he finds himself paired with Lee Sawchuk; an RCMP sergeant, she is at ease in the challenging terrain of the Yukon environment. Battling nature and their considerable differences, the impromptu team’s search takes them to Kluane National Park and beyond – but the missing person is no ordinary VIP, and this is no ordinary search. Faced with a cryptic warning found in the remote Yukon mountains, all Matthews and Sawchuk know for sure is that the clock is ticking – and they only have four days left.   

Ready to Start Your 2026 Reading Journey?

These new Atlantic releases offer a mix of suspense, history, sport, and storytelling rooted deeply in place. Together, they highlight the vibrancy of our region’s writers and the diversity of stories being told here.

Explore more Atlantic Canadian books, reviews, and features in the latest issue of Atlantic Books Today—and start your new year by reading local.