An audacious, apocalyptic tale that will electrify SF, horror, and thriller fans alike.
Blending elements from three genres, this sequel pits a physician and amateur sleuth against a viral-like illness that, if left unchecked, could annihilate the human race within a matter of days.
As the novel begins, Hope Allerd—the chief of the Infectious Diseases Division in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University Medical School in Birmingham, Alabama—finds herself suspended from her position. She faces potential prison time for malfeasance involving a foundation she began to provide care for indigent people in the Caribbean. But as she attempts to extract herself from her legal entanglements, she becomes aware of a bizarre outbreak spreading across the globe that seems to have its epicenter in Birmingham. Most victims have fevers, respiratory ailments, and a penchant for chewing other people’s faces off before they die. But others seem to have supernaturally enhanced cognition, strength, and agility—and have bodies that slowly transform into nightmarish monstrosities. As Allerd races to uncover the truth and a cure for the horror-inducing plague with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, journalist Clive Andrew, and courageous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigator Connie Wu, she realizes that humankind’s time as the dominant race on the planet may have already come to an end. The seamless fusion of SF, horror, and medical thriller storylines makes this a virtually un-put-down-able read. At one point, Allerd encounters one of the plague’s grotesque survivors: “The form, an inky homunculus shape with arched back, head turned full round toward her, coal-black eyes, and quiet as a whisper, perched on the ceiling. A living breathing fun-house gargoyle.” Thornton obviously knows what powers a superb thriller—relentless pacing, nonstop action, an impressive amount of bombshell plot twists, and an emotionally connective main character that readers can identify with and root for.
An audacious, apocalyptic tale that will electrify SF, horror, and thriller fans alike.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2021
ISBN: 979-8491897872
Page Count: 327
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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