An intricate drama offering a critical view of political self-interest.
A freshman U.S. senator contends with his former mentor’s plan to launch an alternative currency in this second installment of Spencer’s thriller series.
Ethan Scott, in his New York City office as a rising leader of the Citizens’ Mandamus Council, is surprised to get a visit from U.S. Sens. Hubert Riley and John Stanton. These men are the type of suspect power brokers that CMC seeks to expose, but Ethan ultimately decides to accept their offer to appoint him to a vacant Senate seat, musing to himself, “If I possessed their influence, I could do so much more.” He advances at a fast clip in the Senate and the “Bone Yard” of Washington, D.C., gaining majority leader status and the pro tempore post. These promotions are largely brought about via Riley’s evil maneuverings as he seeks to lure Ethan into the world of secret favors and corruption. Meanwhile, CMC founder David Samuel, disheartened and angry about a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against his organization, announces his intention to offer a new type of currency and force a special election to drive out the current Congress. Ethan also struggles with his love-hate relationship with opportunistic lobbyist Anne Preston, who works for one of two major oil barons funding terrorists as part of their domination of the energy market. News anchor Abigail Sanders also renews contact with Ethan, with whom she shares history and mutual attraction. By novel’s end, several players are dethroned, tortured, or die, and Ethan is mobilized to rejoin CMC in part by revelations by mysterious D.C. homeless man Seneca.
Spencer ambitiously weaves many threads into this multilayered tale of rampant, interconnected malfeasance. Some elements, such as a government bill connected to a space mission, are rather sketchy and digressive even if there will be more to come on such topics in future series installments. Seneca, a minor-character sage without a home, is rather surprisingly hurriedly hustled out of D.C. early on, and it’s left unclear when (or if) this eponymous character will return to this series. Most significantly, characters’ belief in CMC as a noble crusading force is a bit problematic given its huge endowment, its willingness to create havoc by manipulating the use of money, and David’s egotistical rage and despair. The most compelling and successful aspect of this novel is the depiction of Ethan’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington–like year as a senator. Here, Spencer provides plenty of sadly astute and sometimes-amusing commentary, including Ethan’s wry realization that politicians’ seeming inability to get anything done may be intentional. Ethan’s attraction to Anne, introduced in the previous book, continues to have a noirish appeal, with some intriguing new dimensions provided about her underlying pain. Spencer also sprinkles some metaphysical flavor into the mix, beginning and ending the book with key characters haunted by a menacing, armored figure—if only, perhaps, in their own minds. These existential elements will whet readers’ interest in what’s to come: an apparent apocalyptic showdown between good and evil. An intricate drama offering a critical view of political self-interest.Pub Date: March 1, 2023
ISBN: 9798985773507
Page Count: 426
Publisher: Spencer Publishing & Media
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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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