Readers should welcome this spy novel about a lawyer who prefers action over words, in both love and war.
First-time novelist Keller weaves the tale of a lawyer working for a company that may have shady Middle Eastern contacts and a willingness to resort to murder.
Thomas Quinter, a lawyer with a small firm in 1987 Cleveland, is offered a job by David Bordman, an old friend who was his commanding officer in the Navy. Bordman, VP for arms manufacturer Nortex, enlists Quinter to scout real estate in Spain while the company moves some of its business there. But a ransacking of his office and attack on Jennifer, his secretary and former lover, is only the start of his troubles. Soon, he’s noticing people watching and following him, and Quinter suspects an Iraqi connection to Nortex. The novel begins as noir, but ultimately, it’s a story of espionage and romance that gives equal air time to exposing Nortex’s deadly secrets and Quinter and Jennifer’s romance. The protagonist is shrouded in mystery, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Quinter’s time in Naval Intelligence may explain owning a gun but not why he has a silencer or an ability to pick locks. But enigma surrounding his background makes him a more curious character, particularly when he employs his skills as Jennifer and he evade scimitar-armed men. But not clarifying the “petty meanness” of Quinter’s divorce backfires when a flashback generates more sympathy for his ex-wife, who spies the lawyer getting cozy with his secretary. On occasion, descriptions of the scenery and sumptuous meals in Spain overtake progression of the plot—Quinter and Jennifer, knowing that the bad guys are in pursuit, stop at a cafe for a bite to eat. But overall, there’s a commendable fusion of a contemporary Middle Eastern conflict with old-school storytelling: Quinter twice uses the classic distraction of “Do you have a match?” and a kidnapped Jennifer seduces one of her captors. Not everything is explained, but the ending leaves just enough open to pave the way for a potential follow-up.
Readers should welcome this spy novel about a lawyer who prefers action over words, in both love and war.Pub Date: June 29, 2012
ISBN: 978-0984789801
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Quinter LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.
The loss of her police officer father and the discovery of an abandoned car in a local lake raise chilling questions regarding a young woman’s family history.
When Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, for her father’s memorial, she and the other townspeople are confronted by a challenging double whammy: As they’re grieving the loss of beloved longtime police officer Detective Perry Holt, a disturbing sight appears in the lake, whose waterline is receding because of an ongoing drought—an old, unidentifiable car, which has likely been lurking there for years. Hazel temporarily leaves her Charlotte-based building-renovation business in the capable hands of her partners and reconnects with her brothers, Caden and Gage; her Uncle Roy; her old fling and neighbor, Nico; and her schoolfriend, Jamie, now a mother and married to Caden. Tiny, relentless suspicions rise to the metaphorical surface along with that waterlogged vehicle: There have been a slew of minor break-ins; two people go missing; and then, a second abandoned car is discovered. The novel digs deeper into Hazel’s family history—her father was a widow when he married Hazel’s mother, who later left the family, absconding with money and jewels—and Miranda, a consummate professional when it comes to exposing the small community tensions that naturally arise when people live in close proximity for generations, exposes revelation after twisty revelation: “Everything mattered disproportionately in a small town. Your success, but also your failure. Everyone knows might as well have been our town motto.”
Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781668010440
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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