This riveting series installment continues to ask if eternal life is worthwhile after all.
A virtual computer whiz hopes that the third time’s a charm as he again faces a vicious family of terrorists in this techno-thriller.
In this third installment of his Sam Sunborn series, Levin has the hero making more hard choices. As the first chapter opens, Sam is pining to his virtual partner, genius Frank Einstein, about needing a physical body again. They had developed “re-instantiation,” which allowed virtual identities to be injected into physical bodies. That technology was stolen by a terrorist called The Leopard, who is also virtual. He may be running a “bodyjacking” operation in Paris. But events dictate that Frank return Sam to a physical form. Rich Little, Michelle Hadar, and Renata Fermi, Sam’s allies at the Department of Homeland Security, need his help in solving a mass attack on the Congressional Black Caucus and a poisoning of everyone at an Indiana grocery store. To solve these crimes, they need to track down The Leopard; his sister, Ashaki; and a cell of White nationalists. Meanwhile, Sam’s wife, Monica, leaves him. Complicating matters for Sam is that parts of the body Frank created for him using quantum objective reduction keep fading in and out. So Sam is greatly challenged while attempting to save both his country and his marriage. Levin certainly wants to create a stir, jamming all sorts of characters and action into this book. He presciently includes a pandemic and updated his manuscript after Covid-19 hit. It’s not essential to have read the previous two entries, Not So Dead (2017) and Not So Gone (2018), but it helps, as many characters in those novels make appearances here. The quick-paced narrative of this installment is primarily a battle of wits between Sam and Ashaki, with The Leopard causing chaos as well. The author’s battle with cancer while writing this thriller informs Sam’s thoughts on his mortality. Sam is forced throughout to choose between personal aims and the public good, and the question is whether he can have it all. The conclusion leaves that answer in doubt, with an opportunity for the series to continue should Levin decide to do so.
This riveting series installment continues to ask if eternal life is worthwhile after all.Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73521-080-3
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Nail-biting and pressure-packed.
Jack Ryan Jr. and company race to stop a killer wave in this Tom Clancy thriller.
The ship Meridian Star departs eastern Russia unknowingly carrying a pair of containers with radioactive cesium chloride. The vessel is hijacked and scuttled in Micronesia near the Mariana Trench, and the crew is murdered. A huge insurance claim results, and Jack, an accomplished deep-sea diver who works for Hendley Associates, is there to investigate. The hostile Chinese learn it’s there and want that illicit cargo. Meanwhile, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center discovers a huge, mysterious object in 600 feet of water. At that depth, the pressure is unsurvivable without complex special equipment, which is vintage Tom Clancy. Whatever the strange object is, it’s “not a ship…not a submarine…not an aircraft.” On the side is a faded hammer and sickle and Cyrillic letters that spell Siren. Ryan teams up with Navy divers, and they look for a way to safely enter and explore the object. They discover that the underwater contraption has thermonuclear warheads attached, left and long forgotten by the USSR. If the warheads explode, they could still achieve their apparent purpose—to trigger a tsunami and destroy Guam, which is strategically important to the U.S. The Chinese know it too, and the race is on to take control. The result is plenty of high-stakes undersea action, where death can come from a bullet, a knife, or a sliced air hose. But there’s action on land, too. Navy master diver Carla Bennett and Jack take on a surprise assault in a hotel where Carla shows off stellar fighting skills—better than Jack’s. These two aren’t the only heroes here, as there’s a well-balanced cast of characters, all brave and likable. And of course—of course—where there’s a bomb, there’s a ticking clock.
Nail-biting and pressure-packed.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217183166
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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