EW Recommends

The 25th Hour David Benioff (Carroll & Graf, $24) Benioff, a first-time novelist, scores with this deceptively simple chronicle of one man’s last day of freedom before being sent to jail. A leap ahead of the standard thriller. A-

Speaking with the Angel Edited by Nick Hornby (Riverhead, $12) The literary hip, among them Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, and Roddy Doyle, convene in this breezy short-story collection. A

The Art of the Matrix Larry & Andy Wachowski (Newmarket, $60) This treasure trove of storyboards and cut scenes, plus the shooting script, from the cyber-sci-fi blockbuster should keep Matrix fans humming until the movie’s sequel. A-