Field of Vision

Iain Reid’s novels fall into one of my favourite fiction categories: works of suspense that aren’t necessarily crime novels, but take the conventions and tropes necessary to inhabit a familiar genre skin. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2016), Reid’s first novel after several works of nonfiction, put the thriller through a philosophical blender, as the female narrator (“the girlfriend”) keeps grappling with the thought of the end of her life, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the many secrets he appears to be keeping from her. When they are finally revealed, they are less about external action—despite the bloody violence of it—and more about inner turmoil.

Reid began his career in nonfiction, with work in The New Yorker and a RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award win for his works, including his 2013 memoir, The Truth About Luck: What I Learned on My Road Trip with Grandma. As a novelist, he conveys much in a deceptively minimalist manner, one...