Animal Control

@jonathanrmiller.com spent a decade writing in stolen moments—early mornings, lunch breaks, even at red lights.

His 8th book, Animal Control, just made Kirkus' Best Indie Books of 2025.

The cover that helped it stand out? A collaboration with designer Mark K., found on Reedsy. Full story below 👇

Animal Control was featured on the Reedsy success stories blog, as well as in the cover highlight section!

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List of best indie books of 2025, showing Animal Control

Really happy that Animal Control was named one of the best indie books of 2025 by Kirkus.

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Review from BookTrib - "A bold, cerebral, and unnervingly intimate exploration of what happens when the need to make the world better collides with the corruptive pull of control. Miller balances cerebral depth with raw emotion, crafting a story that lingers long after the final page."

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Quote from Animal Control from Kirkus: "The protagonist's story feels light-years from the typical hero's journey, consistently focusing on more existential themes--and the result is something unusually unsettling and unforgettable. A strange, inventive tale that evolves into a challenging and rewarding odyssey."

Excerpt from Animal Control's starred review from Kirkus. The book is on sale now!

A golden honeycomb-like pattern overlaid with the words, "Mother Marrow."

Deep in the cavern, the hive writes futures in wax and wing.

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A rusted metal post with an eyelet at the top; a frayed rope is running through it. In the background, there is the ocean blurred. The Animal Control logo is at the bottom.

What she tethered that day was never just the boat.

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Monkey with a stick from an ice cream treat. Text reads, "Available for general mischief on June 18."

Animal Control is officially on the loose.

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Animal Control is out in the wild today.

For anyone interested in reading an unusual little science-fiction tale about trying to make positive change in the world, you can find more information at www.jonathanrmiller.com. Feel free to email me as well: jonathanrmiller@icloud.com

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Pink bird (a crane?) from a underneath view, inside of a cage. The words Animal Control are written in the lower-right corner.

06.18.25

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A background image showing a dilapidated campsite, overlaid with this excerpt from Animal Control, a novel: "The man’s skull is wrapped tightly with a black cloth dressing from brow to chin, leaving his face as shapeless and blank as a mannequin’s. Where his eyes might be found, there are goggles with darkened lenses, what a welder wears, and a black vinyl respirator with twin filter cartridges covers his nose and mouth. Perched on his head is a silk top hat with a silver coin embedded in the brim."

The forest shelters him without question. But she carries more than a few.

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A jumbled, abstract illustrated image showing animals and eyes, rendered in purple, under a moon. Text reads, "Animal Control, a novel"

Some creatures arrive fully formed, while others are assembled in the dark.

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A stenciled image on the wall depicting a rhino patterned like a zebra. The date 6/18 is written at the top, which is the date that the novel Animal Control is released. The bottom reads www.faunamation.com.

She doesn't choose between forms. She blurs them.

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A mural of a baboons face painted over a set of metal doors. The words "Animal Control, a novel" are overlaid on the left.

Instinct can be painted over, but not erased.

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Image of a figure wearing goggles and a respirator. The text reads, "Behind the midnight lenses, every plan starts flutter-quiet and lands talon-sure." Underneath, it reads, "Animal Control: the cage door lifts on 18 June" www.faunamation.com

Not every watcher is passive. Some are geometry in motion.

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A quote from Animal Control, a novel, overlaid over an image of a forest path. "Over the weeks and months, she learns to access the urges of a creature. To infiltrate the primal space. She discovers the place in the thicket of the mind where desire lives, where want is born, screaming, into life. She learns to wander there, to build shelter, and to form her own creations like a potter spinning raw clay. To develop a drive. To shape, put to fire, and glaze a new craving. And then to leave it there, durable and still warm, on a shelf to be found and noticed. Taken down, examined lovingly and taken forth, carried and held close."

Some cravings are handmade.

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Animal Control - 06.18.25

What lives in her now doesn't sleep.

A young woman in California inherits a power that begins in the body and echoes out to the edges of the world.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

#BookSky #LitFic #SpecFic #NewNovel #AnimalFiction
#Fiction #Author

Cover for a novel called Animal Control, white background with blue text, overlaid with an earthworm bent into a heart shape. Author name is Jonathan R. Miller. Review text at the top reads, "A strange, inventive tale that evolves into a challenging and rewarding odyssey." - Kirkus Reviews

Animal Control - 6.18.25

"The protagonist's story feels light-years from the typical hero's journey, consistently focusing on more existential themes—and the result is something unusually unsettling and unforgettable." - Kirkus

#BookSky #LitFic #SpecFic #NewNovel #AnimalFiction #Fiction