The Next World is Ursula Steck’s first American novel (although she has published several in Germany) and it was a Debut Author finalist for a 2006 Golden Crown Literary Society award. Steck has several novels published in her native Germany and this is her first American novel. Her turns of phrases are sometimes foreign and, in another novel, they might seem strange, but put into the mouth and thoughts of Anna Spring, a woman of Chinese and Caucasian decent who has lived most of her life in Germany, they seem to add to the character’s persona. In addition to these speech mannerisms, this quirky character has a glass eye that she frequently changes out to different colored prostheses, while at other times, she chooses to wear an eye patch.

The story has a somber tone—first Anna’s good friend Jeff is hit by a car and within minutes of it happening, Anna realizes that he has been murdered. Anna is attracted to Midori James who works for the same ad agency as her friend Jeff, and Anna is convinced that Mido is also in trouble. This is confirmed when Anna realizes that Mido has disappeared.

In an effort to find Mido, Anna searches for the mysterious “John” and “Kelly” who were involved with a surrogate program in the Nevada desert. When Anna realizes that the her friend has links to this program and that the surrogate program might be some sort of scam at the Green Desert Reproductive Clinic, Anna does some daring undercover work in order to get to the truth about what is really going on at the clinic in an effort to find the missing Mido.

When a dark, curly-headed man tries to kill Anna in the Silver Legacy, the reality of the danger that she and Mido are in begins to hit home for Anna and she becomes much more stealthy in her search. When Anna finally gets to the bottom of the mystery, it is truly a surprise. Steck has given us a suspenseful story that keeps us guessing until she finally chooses to reveal the truth.