This novelette is a slow-burn UFO mystery set in the 1950s in Iowa with a story with existential dread and Simak-like atmosphere.

Asimovs September/October 2026

We follow Ezra who works as a night DJ for a local radio station. He recently lost his wife to what he claims was an alien abduction. He absorbs himself in his work, but then he starts to receive strange distant phone calls during his night shift on the radio station, sounding like his wife calling for help.

The setting has the vibes of a Roswell-era UFO story, but it is really mostly a character study on grief, desperation and loneliness. I really felt sorry for Ezra and his situation, and sort of nostalgic science fiction setting made it a little bit cozy contrasting the tragic narrative.

Read in Asimov’s September/October 2026
Rating: 4