An intricate thriller filled with suspense and family drama.
A woman unwillingly reunites with her mother in Royce’s thriller, the second in a series.
Skylar Van Ness has grown up in Amsterdam under the neglectful eye of her mother, Brit, a sex worker who often entertains clients in the room next door. Seeking an escape, Skylar turns to drugs and alcohol at a young age, becoming a sex worker herself until a traumatic incident occurs. Soon after, Skylar is sent to live with her father, DJ Keller, in Las Vegas. Fifteen years later, 27-year-old Skylar works as VP of marketing at Donovan Resort and Casino, where DJ serves as CEO. Despite her success in her professional life, Skylar struggles with persistent feelings that she’s an imposter benefitting from her nepo-baby status. Her troubled upbringing also leaves her feeling like an outsider within her own family, unsure as to what connects her to her father or the world he inhabits. While DJ is on his honeymoon with his new wife, Skylar sees an opportunity to prove that she can handle things on her own. That sense of control collapses when Brit suddenly reaches out, appearing in Las Vegas under the guise of reconnecting with her estranged daughter. After Skylar rejects her, Brit ingratiates herself with Sal Vincenzo, a wealthy and influential casino patron who holds enough sway with the VIPs to threaten the casino’s future. With Brit effectively untouchable, Skylar must figure out how to get rid of her without revealing her painful past. As threatening notes and photographs begin to appear in Skylar’s home, she’s forced to question who around her can truly be trusted.
The novel is gripping from the start, immersing readers in a bloody crime scene before jumping forward in time. The plot delivers a steady stream of twists and turns that will keep readers guessing. The casino setting adds to the high-stakes feeling of the narrative, providing an undercurrent of ritz and glamour tied to risk and power. The cast of characters is just as strong—Skylar is an engaging protagonist whose past continually shapes her decisions, leading to some questionable actions. The memorable supporting cast includes James Monarch, the condescending Irishman and Trinity graduate who may have humbler roots than he lets on at work; Clay Moresco, the casino’s catering director and Skylar’s loyal best friend; and DJ himself, whose occasional third-person-perspective chapters offer insight into the family dynamics at play. While these characters often make exasperating choices, readers will want to witness the consequences as they unfold. Fans of the series’ previous installment, Summer’s Blood(2024), will also appreciate the return of Craig Keller, Skylar’s uncle, whose presence effectively connects this book to the author’s larger universe without overshadowing this entry’s narrative. The novel will be accessible to newcomers, who will have little trouble jumping in without prior knowledge of the series. Stylistically, the prose leans heavily on description, which sometimes borders on excessive (“The cadence of my scouring became an impatient mantra, each swipe escorted by the angst of my own thoughts and thumping heartbeat”), though readers will easily overlook this as the story’s momentum takes hold.
An intricate thriller filled with suspense and family drama.Pub Date: March 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798990326941
Page Count: 424
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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