Well paced and creepy—especially if you’re alone in the house while you read.
A TikTok trend threatens a family’s sense of safety—and may be connected to a previous crime.
Most people are probably familiar with this urban legend: a babysitter receives creepy, threatening phone calls and later finds out they’re coming from inside the house. Mara offers a more complex, grown-up version of that legend here, updated to include TikTok and hidden cameras, but the sense of dread is similar: What would you do if someone seemed to be filming themselves inside your house? Julia has recently relocated with her family from California to Ireland to return to her roots and escape an unsavory incident involving her teenage daughter, Isla. She and her ex-husband, Gabe, are divorced but share custody and living space with the two kids in a luxurious gated community; when an anonymous user starts posting videos on TikTok that seem to show the inside of their house, Julia is spooked but figures it’s probably a really good fake. She’s got a lot on her mind, from Gabe’s secretive behavior to Isla’s teenage drama to the memories raised by her return. She and her three best friends grew up in this town, and it’s also where one of them, Donna, died tragically nearly 20 years ago. When another friend dies of what seems to be an accidental drowning just after Julia’s arrival in Ireland, Julia and her one remaining friend, Eleanor, are forced to confront the pain of the past as they look for clues to who is posting the increasingly alarming videos. Are the neighbors who they say they are? What happened to Donna’s socially awkward brother? Is Julia’s son telling the truth when he says there’s a man watching him at night? Mara skillfully layers red herrings and discoveries at a satisfying pace, sprinkled with a few flashbacks that lend even more insight into Julia as a tough and resilient character. The ending rushes a bit, offering a few too many neat bows to tie up all the threads, but it’s a minor complaint.
Well paced and creepy—especially if you’re alone in the house while you read.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593831434
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.
Following her father’s sudden death, Aisling Swann is secretly horrified when her mother begins to date again—and she quickly becomes suspicious of this new flame.
Four years ago: A mysterious male narrator reflects upon his relationship with his wife—along with a few pointed comments about how she is aging. It quickly becomes apparent that this self-proclaimed “very pleasant” man is not who he seems; he already has a girlfriend on the side, and he’s playing both women with sob stories about his job and his traumatic past while taking money from them. Even as they get more and more frustrated with his lack of communication during ever-lengthening absences, he still gives them what they want: “a top-notch husband.” In the present day, Ash Swann; her brother, Arlo; and their mother, Nina, mourn the loss of her charismatic father, Paddy, a successful chef with a chain of lucrative restaurants. Nina receives a sympathy note from a man who claims to have worked closely with Paddy in the industry, which leads to a robust online flirtation that moves into the real world about a year after her husband’s death. Ash is living at home, mired in grief as well as her own mental health struggles, and she’s none too happy to see her mom dating—but particularly this handsome, egregiously suave Nick Radcliffe. Ash begins to notice some inconsistencies with his stories and his past, so she enlists Paddy’s ex-girlfriend Jane to help her investigate. Meanwhile, Ash’s story continues to intercut that of the mysterious man who is now married to his former girlfriend—and still up to his old tricks. Jewell’s cutting between past and present certainly allows revelations to ooze out at a slow, controlled pace; even as the reader makes obvious connections, the full picture remains obscure. Jewell has written some incredibly engaging and strong female characters, Nina, Ash, and Jane foremost among them. What would it have been like to split the narrative between them instead of giving so much voice—and thus narrative power—to the male antagonist?
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781668033876
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
