Appealing characters energize this well-written detective tale.
In this sequel, private eye Jack Fox juggles new fatherhood with chasing organ harvesters.
Jack learned he was a dad only six months ago when Enid Iglowski showed up at his door. Both he and his 17-year-old daughter struggle settling into their new, shared life. This may explain Enid’s anger issues, like clocking a bully at her Arizona school. While dealing with his daughter’s troubles, Jack takes on a missing person case. His new client, Layla Orlov, hasn’t seen her Russian mail-order-bride sister in nearly a month. In a concurrent plot, local police detective Bud Orlean gets a phone call on one of his “restricted work days,” as his heart disease has relegated him to part-time. He works a gang-style shooting, a crime scene trumped by what fills the victim’s car’s trunk—assorted organs, most likely for the black market. Bud soon realizes this organ-harvesting investigation has ties to Jack’s case. It’s hardly surprising that those behind these macabre crimes are dangerous, and they soon set their eyes on Enid. As if this weren’t enough for Jack to handle, his former lover and alleged serial killer Eve Hargrove hits him with a bit of blackmail. Evidently, she’s pregnant with their child while still behind bars and awaiting trial. If he doesn’t marry her, Eve vows to kill the unborn baby. Jack has a mind-boggling decision to make, all while trying to close his case and keep his teen daughter safe.
This follow-up to Gunning for Angels(2014) stars an indelible cast whose assumptions advance the plot. For example, Enid spots insurance forms on Jack’s desk and becomes convinced her dad has plans to kill her. It’s a humorously absurd claim that adults, especially her school counselor, take seriously. But it’s also indicative of the girl’s understandable fear of abandonment; she’s certain Jack will leave her. The father-daughter relationship is authentic, portraying challenging and endearing moments; Jack’s simple compliments (“You’re better than that”) have more impact on Enid than he knows or she’s willing to admit. Each character likewise has their share of strengths and weaknesses. Enid runs away from her problems but not when others need help, and hotheaded, promiscuous Jack proves a tenacious investigator. This melodrama-infused story isn’t a typical mystery; pieces of what Jack, Bud, and even Enid discover mostly fall into place without too much effort. Nevertheless, the trio of atypical detectives unquestionably faces cruel, frightening villains. Lewis builds nerve-wracking set pieces, and uses razor-sharp prose: “Behind the pretty brown eyes was a shade of cold calculation that Jack recognized all too well from the plethora of not-so-young-anymore moms looking for a bankroll.” In the same vein, the author doesn’t shy away from violent, sometimes grotesque imagery.
Appealing characters energize this well-written detective tale.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2017
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Cathleen A. McCarthy
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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
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