Barrett’s first-person narrative has a music of its own, and his alcoholic hero, just two drinks away from seeking his next...
Olympic swimmer Barrett’s debut stars—wait for it—a disgraced former swimmer hired to find, um, a missing swimmer.
Duck Darley used to be a contender. When they were in school together, he beat his teammate Charlie McKay in every heat. Now things have changed. Charlie’s won four Olympic medals; Duck, stung by his late father’s conviction for fraud, has taken up drinking, drugs, and prison. Even now that he’s out of jail, his record keeps him from getting a private eye’s license and allows him to call himself only a “Finder and Consultant.” Duck’s life becomes a lot more interesting when Charlie’s mother, imperishable MILF Margaret McKay, asks him to find her missing daughter. Though Madeline McKay is as talented as her brother, she isn’t nearly as disciplined, and she’s left behind a trail as garishly cluttered as that of any other overprivileged wild child. That trail is lit up even more starkly by the death of her boyfriend, NYU student filmmaker James Fealy, who gets comprehensively slashed before Duck has a chance to talk to him. Instead he talks to Angela Jones, the madam and porn producer who owns Fallen Angels, where Maddie’s rumored to have sought work; Teddy Marks, the legendary swimming coach he and Charlie used to swim for, who acts as if he’s being seriously blackmailed; and Anna Lisko, one of Teddy’s assistants. (All right, he does more than talk to Anna.) For his pains, Duck gets beaten up by a thug with a foreign accent, attacked by a duo who nearly stab and bite him to death, and imprisoned in a deceptively stylish Greenwich Village dungeon.
Barrett’s first-person narrative has a music of its own, and his alcoholic hero, just two drinks away from seeking his next fix, is appealingly vulnerable even if the improbable pile of unspeakable felonies here will mainly bring to mind your mother’s admonition: don’t go near the water.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4967-0968-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A mind-bending mystery, an insightful exploration of parent-child relationships, and a cautionary tale about bitterness and...
A young man seeking catharsis probes old wounds and unleashes fresh pain in this expertly crafted stand-alone from Edgar finalist Gaylin (If I Die Tonight, 2018, etc.).
Quentin Garrison is an accomplished true-crime podcaster, but it’s not until his troubled mother, Kate, fatally overdoses that he tackles the case that destroyed his family. In 1976, teenagers Gabriel LeRoy and April Cooper murdered 12 people in Southern California—Kate’s little sister included—before dying in a fire. Kate’s mother committed suicide, and her father withdrew, neglecting Kate, who in turn neglected Quentin. Quentin intends for Closure to examine the killings’ ripple effects, but after an interview with his estranged grandfather ends in a fight, he resolves to find a different angle. When a source alleges that April is alive and living in New York as Renee Bloom, Quentin is dubious, but efforts to debunk the claim only uncover more supporting evidence, so he flies east to investigate. Renee’s daughter, online film columnist Robin Diamond, is preoccupied with Twitter trolls and marital strife when Quentin calls to inquire about her mom’s connection to April Cooper. Robin initially dismisses Quentin but, upon reflection, realizes she knows nothing of Renee’s past. Before she can ask, a violent home invasion hospitalizes her parents and leaves Robin wondering whom she can trust. Artfully strewn red herrings and a kaleidoscopic narrative heighten tension while sowing seeds of distrust concerning the characters’ honesty and intentions. Letters from April to her future daughter written mid–crime spree punctuate chapters from Quentin's and Robin’s perspectives, humanizing her and Gabriel in contrast with sensationalized accounts from Hollywood and the media.
A mind-bending mystery, an insightful exploration of parent-child relationships, and a cautionary tale about bitterness and blame.Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-284454-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like a popcorn action flick: fun but lacking in substance.
Two wolf shifters must catch a criminal in the midst of hazardous winter weather: Action, adventure, and romance kick off a new series by Spear (Falling for the Cougar, 2019, etc.).
Private Investigator Nicole Grayson has an edge that some of her colleagues don’t. She’s a gray wolf shifter, and her heightened sense of smell makes for excellent tracking abilities. When her latest assignment, investigating a fraudulent life insurance claim, leads her to an isolated ski lodge inhabited by a group of shifter brothers, Nicole realizes that this particular mission is different. Blake Wolff has finally found peace and quiet, as he and his brothers have turned their land into a sanctuary for wolf shifters like themselves. When Nicole turns up at the lodge, sniffing around and looking for answers, Blake volunteers to help. The sooner she wraps up her investigation, the sooner Blake can return to maintaining the calm community the Wolff siblings have built. The suspense never fully delivers despite the setup of dangerous situations and the characters’ ability to shift into wolves. Of course, the bad guys get caught and the good guys prevail, but the stakes never seem terribly high. With corny, on-the-nose details such as having Wolff and Grayson as surnames for gray wolf shifters, it's hard to tell if Spear is in on the joke or if some things sounded better in theory than reality. The brightest spot here, as in most of Spears’ books, is her dedication to writing strong heroines with interesting professions, and Nicole fits perfectly into that box. She’s capable, competent, and a force to be reckoned with in a difficult situation. Blake is happy to let her take the lead without any egos getting in the way, which is something all readers will appreciate.
Like a popcorn action flick: fun but lacking in substance.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-9775-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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