A knockout that’s just what the doctor ordered for thriller enthusiasts.
In this novel, a medical resident is determined to go the distance to get the truth about a physician she suspects of consciously doing harm.
“What brings you to Titus McCall?” trauma surgeon Dr. Samuel Donovan asks new resident Liza Larkin. He does not suspect that it is he who brought her to the Massachusetts medical center. Months before, she spotted a stranger lurking in the background of photographs taken at the funeral of her father, who died of a heart attack. He popped up again in a previous photo taken when her father, who was near fatally shot at a political rally a few years ago, received an award for his legal service to Boston residents in need. When Larkin shows her institutionalized schizophrenic mother the photos to see if she recognizes the mystery man, she becomes extremely agitated. Descending into a Joan of Arc persona, she screams to Larkin: “He’ll burn me at the stake.” The resourceful Larkin is able to utilize online tools to identify him and at the deadline switches her residency preference from Massachusetts General in Boston to Titus McCall.Is Donovan a stalker or perhaps something more dangerous? Larkin herself has a schizoid personality. She has trouble in social situations and little desire to form relationships. It’s psychopath versus psychopath in a battle of wills and wits that Larkin compares to a boxing match (hence the witty, punning title). Physician-turned-author Rubin knows her way around a hospital and a literary thriller, setting up a bout that unfolds with scalpel-like precision, featuring seemingly mismatched opponents and escalating stakes (along with a high body count). The novel is not quite a whodunit; Donovan is clearly the perpetrator. It’s more of a whydunit; what drives him. Larkin is a sympathetic protagonist who struggles to control her anti-social personality disorder. Readers may wonder if a woman with this condition is the most reliable of narrators. But Larkin is exceedingly clever, setting in motion a “Rube Goldberg machine” that she hopes will lead to Donovan’s downfall.
A knockout that’s just what the doctor ordered for thriller enthusiasts.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-958160-00-8
Page Count: 290
Publisher: Indigo Dot Press
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.
A Christmas bout between Kay Scarpetta and the Phantom Slasher.
But first, Scarpetta, Virginia’s chief medical examiner, has to figure out how software designer Rowdy O’Leary died. Fished from the Potomac River on Christmas Eve six years after a hit-and-run driver left him permanently disabled and a week after he plunked down the cash for a pricey emerald ring, he fell off his fishing perch and drowned—or did he? Scarpetta’s examination of his body is cut short by two disturbing developments: the discovery of an unidentified woman’s remains buried on the grounds of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital, and celebrity TV reporter Dana Diletti’s report that the red-eyed ghost associated with the Slasher’s three murders has floated through the window of her home. She’s got video, too, and the apparition looks real and scary. The final blow to Scarpetta’s plans for a Christmas getaway with her husband, Secret Service forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, is an attack on an Alexandria home that kills Mercy psychiatrist Georgine Duvall, who used to treat Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy Farinelli, and nearly kills graduate student Zain Willard, White House intern and nephew of presidential candidate Sen. Calvin Willard. This time the Slasher’s ghost has been spotted on the scene by none other than Pete Marino, head of investigations for the medical examiner’s office and Scarpetta’s longtime sidekick. Cornwell’s use of Robbie, Zain’s robotic dog, and Janet, Lucy’s AI companion, integrates the futuristic elements she favors more successfully than in her recent outings. But the solutions to all these mysteries will leave fans of the venerable franchise pursing their lips rather than gasping in awe.
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781538773963
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
