An often-lively actioner that presents a portrait of a modern-day West that will appeal to fans of Yellowstone.
Texas Ranger Doc Gunther becomes the target of a secessionist in King’s political thriller sequel.
As this novel begins, it’s the six-month anniversary of the establishment of the Revolutionary Republic of Yucatec del Norte, formerly known as White Oak County, Texas, on the Mexico–U.S. border, which has seceded from both the state and the country. The leader of this project is Gloria Luna, who’s rebranded herself as “Chimalmat,” a Mayan name that means “Mother of Giants”—and, as it turns out, she’s one bad mother, indeed. She and her minions have displaced hundreds of people from their homes, and she’s arranged multiple kidnappings and assassinations. She also has it in for Doc, whom she believes is out to destroy her, and she brings the fight right up to the Texas Ranger’s doorstep in Laredo. However, even megalomaniacs should know better than to mess with Texas—and Doc is a laconic, old-school lawman in the grand Western tradition. Another standout character is local landowner Charlie Barcelona, who may appear to simply be a retired financier from New York, but Doc knows better. Barcelona is, in fact, the source of the money behind an organization on a mission to push back against Chimalmat’s reign of terror. King’s story is certainly a timely one in a political climate in which talk of secession is not unheard of. Overall, it’s a densely populated book with a lot of characters and job titles to keep straight, and there’s some distracting repetition on occasion. Readers learn multiple times, for instance, that Doc has an estranged sibling named Jeremiah, whose law firm has ties to the Mother of Giants; intriguingly, the siblings can only communicate by using their own mother as an intermediary. Still, King writes taut, tense action scenes, as in the book’s opener, which details a botched kidnapping, and the sudden, shocking bursts of violence will keep readers on edge throughout.
An often-lively actioner that presents a portrait of a modern-day West that will appeal to fans of Yellowstone.Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2023
ISBN: 9798865143499
Page Count: 347
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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