A focused, impressively nuanced tale about teenagers, drugs, lies, and the terror of hidden enemies.
A queer high school student ponders the tragedies engulfing his young life and small town.
Lincoln, Arizona, is the setting for Wolfe’s contemporary slice of LGBTQ+ suspense fiction. “Token gay” Tyler Tuckerman struggles to survive beneath the weight of bullying from football jocks, the pressure of being young and out in high school, and a rash of teen suicides. September is sweltering in the gossipy town, which only makes things more dramatic at a funeral for the latest teen suicide, a tragic death following on the heels of those of two other kids who killed themselves on graduation night months earlier. Meanwhile, new student Nicole Clark arrives and immediately gravitates toward Tyler, who appreciates her friendship. Though a fresh face in town, Nicole is still traumatized by her mother’s death from cancer and the fact that her father is the new county sheriff. An avid photographer, Tyler regularly records the Lincoln High football games but must ride the bus to the events with the hypermasculine jocks, an activity he finds “kind of hot. Almost like being in a locker room, but the harassing side is a bitch.” What saves his sanity are memories of a forbidden love with William Ackhurst at summer camp, but he remains obsessed with the boy’s devastating suicide. Narrative duties are split between Tyler and mental health counselor Jennifer Hall, newly arrived from Phoenix and commissioned by the town to assess the serial teen suicides at Lincoln High. She instantly gels with Nicole’s father, and the two band together to look into the particulars of Lincoln’s sudden young deaths. She begins with online investigations and student interviews to forge partnerships between herself and the most at-risk school kids to gauge which students could be next to inexplicably lose hope and want to end their lives.
In this potent tale, vivid details emerge about online chat room participants who target gay students and encourage violent behavior against them at the school—along with specifics about a sinister drug cult. Jennifer also discovers the last boy to die was using mood-altering drugs and tranquilizers that match the toxicology scans of the other victims. When Tyler and Nicole are exposed to heavy drugs at a party and another student winds up dead, Jennifer must spring into action to apprehend the killer. The culprit may be much closer to Tyler than the young protagonist ever imagined. While the plot is drawn from relevant headlines and speeds along with a snappy momentum, Wolfe’s talent is in his crisp characterizations that pepper the story, from the lunch lady with a penchant for sneaking an afternoon cocktail to bullies like Jason Brophy who foment aggression and trouble at school. Gay readers will find Tyler’s openness about his sexuality refreshing, but a plot twist in the book’s final third turns the tables on everyone involved. In an economy of pages, this story manages to skillfully reflect on high school identity and self-discovery in the midst of bullying, confusing sexual awakenings, temptation, and angst from all directions. But the intricate novel is also about suicide and murder in their cruelest forms.
A focused, impressively nuanced tale about teenagers, drugs, lies, and the terror of hidden enemies.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-75048-4
Page Count: 187
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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