A wild and gripping occult adventure full of ancient knowledge and modern violence.
A debut crime novel focuses on a cult that seeks world domination.
An organization called the Ancient and Accepted Order of Light is not a group to be trifled with. This cult stole arcane knowledge from the ancient Egyptians—wisdom that is unlike anything else in the world. The material is so potent it “has the power to transmute the bearers into divine gods.” When in the wrong hands, it can keep most of the human population in either figurative or literal enslavement. In modern-day Houston, four people are murdered in a brutal fashion. A woman named Tina Johnson even has her tongue cut out. For police detective Trinidy, it all reminds him of the murder of his wife, Candice, five years ago. Candice’s killing was what inspired Trinidy to become a homicide detective. When he comes across a video made by Candice, he learns that the Order of Light has plans to release a virus to start a war. Unfortunately, the organization has members at all levels of government. Meanwhile, a man in prison named Amon undergoes esoteric training by utilizing a kind of transcendental meditation. While Amon, a man sentenced to life behind bars, may not appear to be a hero who will save the world, when one can access the soul plane, anything is possible. Seddique’s narrative incorporates the various characters and their different motivations very quickly. Soon after readers start following Trinidy and Amon, there are other cops and criminals and someone called the White Worshipful Master to contend with. Even Candice has an extensive backstory that relates to her father. Yet the horrific nature of the initial murders will keep readers intrigued. Why did Tina, a seemingly innocent food server, get her tongue cut out? Who among the many individuals in the narrative can actually be trusted? There are clearly some crazy developments in store. These twists, along with flying bullets and a runaway virus, will keep readers guessing about how the riveting tale will end.
A wild and gripping occult adventure full of ancient knowledge and modern violence.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 9798201863456
Page Count: 378
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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