A compelling political thriller with a loyal friendship and an intriguing love affair at its center.
A young political protégé is caught up in a web of murder and other intrigue.
Teddy Thompson is a wunderkind in the political world, the mentee of a congressman who becomes a senator and then aspires to the White House. The novel starts with Teddy’s childhood in Connecticut, where he strikes up a friendship with the then-congressman’s daughter, Charlotte Pennington. Though always skirting around romantic involvement, they are the best of friends, ending up at Georgetown together, where Teddy begins to intern with Charlotte’s father, Sen. Conrad Pennington. Teddy also makes fast friends with Braden Edwards, a charismatic soccer player who becomes Charlotte’s boyfriend. Her father’s run for the vice presidency will lead to Braden’s murder, and Teddy’s and Charlotte’s lives, of course, will be changed forever. McMahon’s novel is part political thriller but also, as the author is quick to point out, part romance. “This is a story of misconduct, of power, of senators and leaders and children,” he writes in the prologue. “But it is, above all else, a love story. You cannot doubt that. You must not.” And that it is, several love stories in fact: of Teddy and Charlotte, Teddy and Conrad Pennington, and Teddy and politics. McMahon has concocted a taut thriller with twists and turns that start from the very beginning and don’t let up. Most of all, he has created a memorable cast, none of whom is without flaws. They’re all likable in their ways, but they’re also despicable at times, which gives them real depth. In the tradition of Jeffrey Archer and John Grisham, McMahon manages to tell a complicated story in a straightforward manner. Something else he does well? He leaves us wanting more. Though the end of novel comes to a satisfying, if troubling, conclusion, it also signals the beginning of a new chapter in Teddy and Charlotte’s story. We can only hope the rest of their tale is forthcoming—and that it will be as good a read as this one.
A compelling political thriller with a loyal friendship and an intriguing love affair at its center.Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9798987918104
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Some Other Time Books
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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