A solid but unexceptional mystery/thriller with high stakes and nonstop action throughout.
The second installment of Stoler’s mystery series featuring Nick Donahue pits the professional gambler against jihadists bent on world domination.
When Marina DiPietro—a former MI6 operative who owns an investigation firm based in London—accepts a new client who happens to be one of the richest men in the world, she and her partner (in love and espionage), Nick Donahue, come to learn that their assignment is much more complicated and dangerous than it initially appeared. The client, Adnan bin Haddad, owns a stable of racehorses, one of which is scheduled to run in the upcoming Kentucky Derby in just a few weeks’ time. But someone has threatened to maim all of his horses—including the pride of bin Haddad’s stable, Devil Wind—if he doesn’t cough up $100 million. As DiPietro and Donahue begin investigating, they discover that their billionaire client may be withholding information and soon uncover troubling connections between bin Haddad’s many businesses and radicalized Islamist terrorists targeting groundbreaking technology being developed at one of his companies that, if used by unscrupulous individuals, could affect every country on the planet. Complicating matters is a New York City mobster who wants to even an old score with Donahue and his partner. The novel has plenty for suspense fans to sink their teeth into, including relentless pacing, globe-hopping adventure, and a knotty storyline. Stoler’s flair for describing the various locales is an undeniable strength: Churchill Downs, on the day of the Kentucky Derby, was “a madhouse…a riot of color, of wall-to-wall people, over one hundred thousand strong. Champagne, mint juleps, and Bourbon were flowing.” The characters, unfortunately, are a bit two-dimensional; readers don’t know Donahue and DiPietro any better by novel’s end, and the secondary characters, particularly the villains, are cardboard stereotypes.
A solid but unexceptional mystery/thriller with high stakes and nonstop action throughout.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2019
ISBN: 9781644371930
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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