A dynamic officer headlines this energetic thriller that will make readers eager for the sequel.
In this novel, a special military unit must quickly thwart terrorists in Greece cooking up a secret nuclear plot.
Col. Blake Hunter’s relaxing Santorini vacation takes a turn for the worse when armed men enter the picture. They threaten his wife, Mia, and their kids, coercing Blake, who heads the American military’s Nuclear Response Team, into aiding a scheme underway. Combat-trained Blake manages to save himself and his family, but now the United States ambassador wants to know what the baddies wanted him to do. This is especially crucial, as it definitely entails a classified “plasma sphere” and the likelihood that terrorists are planning to get “the biggest bomb in the history of the world,” a weapon that could blow an entire country off the map. Back in America, Lacey Brown and Jim Logan of the NRT look into cases of acute radiation syndrome. Their investigation sends them to Greece, where they team up with Blake. The NRT soon has eyes on a ship that the team will have to intercept if it wants any shot at preventing a nuclear catastrophe. In this series opener, Salter maintains a brisk pace with a kinetic plot unfolding on Greek islands and vessels at sea. Blake proves to be an engaging hero; for much of the story he’s fighting an undiagnosed ailment that’s gradually weakening him. Flashbacks also take readers to his youth and a scene with his grandfather that parallels Blake’s relationship with his twin son and daughter. Unfortunately, the supporting cast pales in comparison, as even Mia is little more than a woman in peril and an emblem of family life. Salter nevertheless outfits this thriller with action, as NRT members engage in fisticuffs and stealthily shadow dubious types. A highlight is Blake’s quiet pursuit of a would-be assassin as a musical rehearsal goes on.
A dynamic officer headlines this energetic thriller that will make readers eager for the sequel.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2022
ISBN: 9798363659188
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 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
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