An unforgiving past becomes a present-day menace in this gripping romantic thriller.
In Stanton’s thriller, an American falls for an Argentine woman whose dark family secrets may prove deadly.
In 1990, Los Angeles newspaper journalist Robert Wells catches a flight to Buenos Aires. On the day he lands, he meets Gabriela Roca Dafiume, a 20-something doctor who immediately helps him forget his recent divorce. She lives with her parents and her younger brother and is largely secretive; she doesn’t answer all of Robert’s questions and seems intent on keeping him away from her home. Things take a startling turn when Robert receives friendly warnings to avoid Gabriela’s family and full-on threats are left at his hotel. But the couple’s romance only deepens, both physically and emotionally. They can’t hide their relationship from her father, César Roca Steele, whom Gabriela describes as “possessive.” There’s a chance he already knows about them, as he likely has people following Robert and Gabriela. If it’s true César had something to do with one of Gabriela’s past lovers disappearing, then Robert is in serious danger. Stanton’s slow-burn story develops an absorbing romance. The couple’s shared scenes gradually intensify, and it’s easy to understand why Robert doesn’t hightail it back to L.A. A sinister tone pervades the narrative; César always seems to know where Robert is or what he’s up to, making Robert’s plan to unearth proof of wrongdoing all the more unnerving. Further reinforcing the novel’s suspense is a mystery surrounding the generally tight-lipped Roca family involving Gabriela and her brother, a priest. Throughout the narrative, the author aptly details Buenos Aires and its people. One passage memorably evoking life outside the lovers’ bedroom describes “aromas of coffee, tucos or tomato sauces, chitterlings and churrascos from the neighbors’ kitchens” and “windblown fig leaves rubbing like sandpaper against the balcony.”
An unforgiving past becomes a present-day menace in this gripping romantic thriller.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781962984492
Page Count: 343
Publisher: Waterside Productions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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