An intriguing mystery novel that explores crime near the border and the implications of greed.
In this sixth installment of King’s thriller series, FBI Special Agent Pete Cortez delves into the knotty case of an abduction in Texas involving a Mexican diplomat.
This isn’t the first time Pepe Alonso has been kidnapped. As a junior official with the Mexican consulate in Houston and the son of a wealthy, powerful family, he isn’t exactly low-profile. When he goes missing on a Friday afternoon from outside a pharmacy, the case instantly becomes top priority for law enforcement. Cortez, a high-profile agent, initially believes that the abduction is just a ploy for ransom. However, as the FBI, local police, family members, and elected officials pass around scattered information about the case, it quickly becomes clear that this crime is unusual, and it soon spirals into shocking violence. It turns out that some people plan to use the crime for their own personal or political gain. Cortez works with and against those who are supposed to be on his side as he navigates complicated border dynamics that influence his detective work. But although Cortez is the protagonist, he sometimes feels a bit distant due to King’s frequent shifts in perspective. The tale introduces numerous characters who somehow tie into the crime, directly or not, including several cops, consular officials, cartel members, and a militialike group called the Sabine Copperheads. Occasional glimpses into Alonso’s viewpoint add emotional appeal (“Pepe Alonso was beginning to doubt that anyone was coming to rescue him”), but a more intimate focus on Cortez might have allowed readers to forge a stronger connection to the material. Nevertheless, the story presents an intriguing mystery that clearly introduces its various twists and theories, and realistic, easy-to-follow dialogue keeps the plot consistently moving forward. Even if readers struggle to keep track of who’s who, mystery fans will find plenty of interest in this tale of crime, power, and the pursuit of justice.
An intriguing mystery novel that explores crime near the border and the implications of greed.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 339
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.
Character assassination reigns supreme, if not uncontested, in a Long Island suburb.
April Masterson loves her husband, corporate attorney Elliott; their 7-year-old, Bobby; and her YouTube channel, “April’s Sweet Secrets.” What she doesn’t love is whoever’s texting her warnings about how Bobby isn’t really in their backyard while she’s busy filming her videos or withering critiques of her baking show or veiled accusations about her past and threats about her present. Her best friend, former prosecutor Julie Bressler, may be bossy and opinionated, but surely she’d never turn on April this way. Who else might know enough to send April goodies like a picture of her kissing Mark Tanner, Bobby’s soccer coach? Though April struggles to get Elliot to take her ordeal seriously, even when she shows up at his office for a lunch date, he’s protected by his receptionist, Brianna Anderson, whose attachment to her boss goes far beyond loyalty. Then Julie turns on her; Maria Cooper, her friendly new next-door neighbor, turns on her; and in the most mind-boggling scene, Doris Kirkland, April’s mother, whose dementia has brought her to a nursing home, turns on her. McFadden releases an escalating series of toxins so deftly into the suburban atmosphere that it’s practically an anticlimax when someone gets killed and April instantly becomes the prime suspect. But that’s only a setup for the tale’s boldest move: switching its narrator from April to a fair-weather friend who frames the whole nightmare in dramatically different terms. As a special gift to her savviest fans, the author throws in an even more jolting epilogue that’s as hard to forget as it is to believe.
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249600
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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