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FIGHT

Triumphs as a thriller but at its best as a story about what it truly means to be a father.

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Coffey’s debut thriller follows the Boston district attorney, who hopes to adopt a troubled boy and seems to be getting help from a gangster—the same man he’s been trying to put in prison.

After failing to convict notorious mobster Gabriel Adelaide of protection racketeering, Bruce Hudson directs his energy to 5-year-old August, whom Bruce and his wife, Martha, want to adopt. But Bruce’s colitis has disqualified him as a foster parent for the boy. He suspects ulterior motives when Gabe apparently pushes the adoption process along by strong-arming August’s social worker and paying for Bruce’s costly surgery. Gabe, however, has personal reasons for helping—reasons his gangster father, Victor, would rather keep quiet. The well-written novel gradually and skillfully changes protagonists: Gabe begins as Bruce’s antagonist when he initially threatens Sara, the social worker, but Gabe’s tactics improve, and he instead offers Sara money; by the time he takes August away from his uncaring foster parents, Gabe has also taken the novel’s focus. The story’s strongest point is its depiction of fathers: Both Gabe and Bruce may be only surrogate dads, but they clearly care for August—Gabe orders one of his goons to buy whatever toys the boy asks for—and they’re in sharp contrast to August’s biological father, a drunk who raped, beat and strangled the boy’s mother to death and then committed suicide. Coffey amps up the tension by throwing another mob family into the mix: the Filippos, who are trying to elbow their way onto the Adelaides’ turf (mostly drugs and prostitutes). Victor, meanwhile, pulls Bruce even deeper into his family’s troubles when he tries convincing the Filippo boss that he has the DA in his pocket. There are a few plot twists, though most are revealed early in the book, and some well-crafted, subtle touches, as with a caustic portrayal of the press, who adores Gabe and willfully lets him hog their cameras despite the fact that he’s been accused of sanctioning the murders of men who were set to testify in his trial.

Triumphs as a thriller but at its best as a story about what it truly means to be a father.

Pub Date: Dec. 22, 2013

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 212

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: March 18, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014

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DEVOLUTION

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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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

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REGRETTING YOU

The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.

When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.

Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.

The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.

Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019

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