An action-filled take on Armageddon but one hampered by a lack of suspense.
An end-times thriller from debut author Leonard.
Tracy Pimbridge, alias Sublime, is a woman who’s seen her share of violence. Her resume boasts participation in some elite military units. She also speaks several languages, and, for six years, she worked all over the world as a professional assassin. Then she gave up killing professionally and became a Christian. It is this mix of experience and faith that caused her to be summoned to a remote compound in Vermont. The group she will join, which will eventually expand to seven members, has a simple mission: identify the Antichrist and then look to the Holy Scriptures for guidance on what to do next. It turns out that the end of days is just around the corner, and a treacherous, all-powerful organization known as the Apollyon stands in the way of Sublime’s group. As Mr. Zinkes, director of the compound, describes the Apollyon: “I am sure you have heard of the Illuminati. Well, the Illuminati has nothing on them.” Tracy and her team are well trained, committed to the Word of God, and ready for action; their mission will take them from Cairo to California, and they’ll see plenty of action along the way. This tale of pre-apocalyptic events combines a fine blend of combat and Christian thought. Helicopters are shot out of the sky, bad guys get dispatched with ease, and roundhouse kicks fly whenever the need arises. Occasional illustrations by Johnson add additional clarity to characters and events. Biblical passages also abound during thoughtful moments, and the main characters take time to fast and read the book of Jude. However, the team is so righteous that their missions lack suspense and often prove to be pretty one-sided; for instance, the group manages to dupe a secret society without much struggle at all. The dialogue tends to be unimaginative, as well, with such exclamations as “How exciting!” That said, the narrative never stands still, and it goes to unpredictable places.
An action-filled take on Armageddon but one hampered by a lack of suspense.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-329-89771-7
Page Count: 306
Publisher: Lulu.com
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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