Evanovich fans may enjoy, but devotees of harder-edged thrillers will be disappointed.
Janet Evanovich meets Thomas Harris in Gagnon’s uneven fifth thriller.
Street-smart Amber Jamison is mortified when she finds herself “bound up like a sushi roll” in a van, potentially the next victim of a serial killer terrorizing Johnson City, Tennessee. Before the Pokémon-obsessed psycho can finish her off, she's rescued by a ski mask–wearing woman armed with a cattle prod who disappears before Amber can learn why this mysterious stranger is hunting serial murderers. Escaping the Pikachu Killer is just the start of our protagonist's misadventures. After an FBI agent calls to set up an interview, Amber, fearful that law enforcement may have uncovered her grifter past, flees her carefully built life as a college student and heads to Las Vegas, where she settles in at the seedy Getaway Motel. Her reprieve, though, is brief; Grace, Amber’s ski mask–wearing savior, arrives on her doorstep, warning that the killer she’s pursuing is stalking Amber, and is later attacked. Amber must rely on her best grifter skills and the support of noir-loving motel manager Dot, romantic interest and sex worker with a heart of gold Marcella, and the injured Grace to catch a monster. Mixing snarky humor that often falls flat and increasingly far-fetched situations with gruesome serial killings makes for a queasy read. Also suffering from queasiness is a lead character who constantly vomits to reveal her emotional turmoil, whether from fear, panic attack, drugs and booze, or revealing her innermost secrets. That’s just lazy writing. The switch from Amber’s sarcastic first-person narration to the solemn third person to reveal the serial killer’s backstory feels clunky and manipulative. Underneath this mess lie the bones of a good thriller about resourceful, empowered women who team up to fight back.
Evanovich fans may enjoy, but devotees of harder-edged thrillers will be disappointed.Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593540749
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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