A distinctive paranormal romance with a stellar cast and a vivid setting.
In this romantic thriller, a psychic and a police homicide detective battle a murderous supernatural entity in New Orleans.
Detective Luc Avery’s serial killer investigation has turned up nothing. The murderer, whom cops dub Cyclops, has left behind four victims, each missing one eye and the pineal gland. But Luc may catch a break with Casi Thomas; someone (likely the killer) abducted her and held her captive before she made a daring escape. Luc puts her in protective custody, convinced Cyclops is still after her. Casi, who makes a living as a quasi-psychic, doesn’t trust the police. When she was a social worker in California, cops arrested and charged her when two kids died under her care. Readers know Cyclops can control people by voice alone. Amazingly, Casi may have legitimate psychic abilities, as she’s apparently immune to the supernatural killer’s influence. This proves an asset once Casi and Luc realize they’re up against both a powerful being intent on ensnaring Casi as well as an otherworldly artifact. An unexpected supernatural ally lends a helping hand, but it’s up to the two humans to stop Cyclops’ homicidal spree. This stand-alone novel, the third installment of Bahr’s thematically linked series, begins as a supernatural suspense tale. For example, Cyclops is memorably ferocious and relentless in pursuing Casi. But the story gradually shifts its focus to romance, as Casi and Luc’s instant mutual attraction becomes love almost as quickly. The author deftly develops the two leads, particularly Luc; prolonged scenes of the detective attending a Cajun family dinner and performing with his younger brother’s band showcase his roots. But these also sideline the villainous threat before the climax, which, while exhilarating, is over too soon. Still, descriptions of the story’s Southern locale resonate: “The perfect sunny day with ocean breezes felt like magic next to the sweltering humid air of New Orleans.”
A distinctive paranormal romance with a stellar cast and a vivid setting.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5092-3840-8
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
At turns spooky and funny, with bits of inside baseball and a swimming pool’s worth of blood.
Hill, son of the master, turns in a near-perfect homage to Stephen King.
Arthur Oakes has problems. One is that his mom, a social justice warrior, has landed in the slammer for unintentional manslaughter. And he’s one of just three Black kids at an expensive college (in Maine, of course), an easy target. A local townie drug dealer extorts him into stealing rare books from the school’s library, including one bound in human skin. The unwilling donor of said skin turns up, and so do various sinister people, one reminiscent of Tolkien’s Gollum, another a hick who lives—well, sort of—to kill. Then there’s Colin Wren, whose grandfather collects things occult. As will happen, an excursion into that arcana conjures up the title character, a very evil dragon, who strikes an agreement with fine print requiring Arthur and his circle to provide him with a sacrifice every Easter. “It’s a bad idea to make a deal with them,” says Arthur, belatedly. “Language is one of their weapons…as much as the fire they breathe or the tail that can knock down a house.” King Sorrow roasts his first victims, and the years roll by, with Arthur becoming a medieval scholar (fittingly enough, with a critical scene set at King Arthur’s fortress at Tintagel), Colin a tech billionaire with Muskian undertones (“King Sorrow was a dragon, but Colin was some sort of dark sorcerer”), and others of their circle suffering from either messing with dragons or living in an America of despair. There’s never a dull moment, and though Hill’s yarn is very long, it’s full of twists and turns and, beg pardon, Easter eggs pointing to Kingly takes on politics, literature, and internet trolls (a meta MAGA remark comes from an online review of Arthur’s book on dragons: “i was up for a good book about finding magical sords and stabbing dragons and rescuing hot babes in chainmail panties but instead i got a lot of WOKE nonsense.…and UGH it just goes on and on, couldve been hundreds of pages shorter”).
At turns spooky and funny, with bits of inside baseball and a swimming pool’s worth of blood.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780062200600
Page Count: 896
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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