Fans of lethal soap operas will be happy to know that a third season is on the way.
After their impossibly rocky maiden voyage (Beneath the Surface, 2023), could anything else go wrong with the ultrarich, ultracorrupt Kingsley family? Yes. Absolutely.
“It’s always about succession,” muses much-married patriarch Richard Kingsley as he gathers his offspring and their spouses at Laguna Beach’s Twin Palms Resort for a business retreat, where it’s hard to tell whose TV-ready guilt is most pervasive. His son John—who forced Richard’s brother, Walter, out of the company at his father’s behest—pushed his wife off a yacht. His son Ted has taken to drink since his estrangement from his wife, Paige, whom he seriously shafted after Richard anointed her president of Kingsley Global Enterprises. Paige is plotting to take over the whole company, and John and Ted have maneuvered her into appointing a new assistant, Justin Robinson, whose real job is to spy on her. Serena Kingsley, whose marriage to Richard ended when con man Roman Marino got her pregnant, has come back to beg for his forgiveness and a place in his bed. Sibley Kingsley, the ostracized daughter who calls Serena “hooker,” is back looking for her share of the action. Krystle Carrington, who sued the company unsuccessfully after her brother died on a Kingsley job site, has set her eye on seducing John into marriage. As a fire bears down on Laguna Beach, it would seem obvious that Richard would be killed—except that every other character in attendance is an equally likely murder victim. Rouda keeps the complications coming, but the double-dealing is so unremitting that eventually it all seems weightless and even a little ho-hum.
Fans of lethal soap operas will be happy to know that a third season is on the way.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781662511936
Page Count: 269
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that...
Twenty-four years after a traumatic disappearance tore a Georgia family apart, Slaughter’s scorching stand-alone picks them up and shreds them all over again.
The Carrolls have never been the same since 19-year-old Julia vanished. After years of fruitlessly pestering the police, her veterinarian father, Sam, killed himself; her librarian mother, Helen, still keeps the girl's bedroom untouched, just in case. Julia’s sisters have been equally scarred. Lydia Delgado has sold herself for drugs countless times, though she’s been clean for years now; Claire Scott has just been paroled after knee-capping her tennis partner for a thoughtless remark. The evening that Claire’s ankle bracelet comes off, her architect husband, Paul, is callously murdered before her eyes and, without a moment's letup, she stumbles on a mountainous cache of snuff porn. Paul’s business partner, Adam Quinn, demands information from Claire and threatens her with dire consequences if she doesn’t deliver. The Dunwoody police prove as ineffectual as ever. FBI agent Fred Nolan is more suavely menacing than helpful. So Lydia and Claire, who’ve grown so far apart that they’re virtual strangers, are unwillingly thrown back on each other for help. Once she’s plunged you into this maelstrom, Slaughter shreds your own nerves along with those of the sisters, not simply by a parade of gruesome revelations—though she supplies them in abundance—but by peeling back layer after layer from beloved family members Claire and Lydia thought they knew. The results are harrowing.
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that she makes most of her high-wire competition look pallid, formulaic, or just plain fake.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-242905-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
A unique story of transcendent love.
An aimless young musician meets the girl of his dreams only to have his newfound happiness threatened by several inexplicable—and possibly supernatural—events.
The story opens as Leeds Gabriel meets with a detective while his girlfriend, Layla, is restrained in a room one flight above them. Through the interview, readers learn that Leeds was wasting both his time and his musical talent playing backup for a small-town wedding troupe called Garrett’s Band when he spied Layla dancing her heart out to their mediocre music at a wedding. When Leeds approaches Layla, their connection is both instant and intense. A blissful courtship follows, but then Leeds makes the mistake of posting a picture of himself with Layla on social media. A former girlfriend–turned-stalker wastes no time in finding and attacking Layla. Layla spends months recovering in a hospital, and it seems the girl Leeds fell for might be forever changed. Gone is her special spark, her quirkiness, and the connection that had entranced Leeds months before. In a last-ditch effort to save their relationship, he brings Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. When they get there, though, Leeds meets Willow, another guest, and finds himself drawn to her in spite of himself. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Willow will either be the key to saving Leeds’ relationship with Layla or the catalyst that finally extinguishes the last shreds of their epic romance. Told entirely from Leeds’ point of view, the author’s first foray into paranormal romance does not disappoint. Peppered with elements of mystery, psychological thriller, and contemporary romance, the novel explores questions about how quickly true love can develop, as well as the conflicts that can imperil even the strongest connections. Despite a limited cast of characters and very few setting changes, the narrative manages to remain both fast-paced and engaging. The conclusion leaves a few too many loose ends, but the chemistry between the characters and unexpected twists throughout make for a satisfying read.
A unique story of transcendent love.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-0017-8
Page Count: 301
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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