A thoroughly enjoyable read that defies genre expectations.
In LeeAnn’s dark romantic comedy, a cybersecurity specialist finds romance when he begins to attend a support group for stalkers.
The narrative alternates between the first-person perspectives of Cole, a recovering stalker, and Hailey, an ER resident with a stalker of her own. Cybersecurity specialist Cole isn’t a stereotypical creep—he’s being forced to attend weekly meetings of the Interpersonal Boundaries Support Group after getting caught using company resources to track his sister’s physically abusive ex-boyfriend, who had beaten her within an inch of her life after violating a restraining order. At first, he believes his actions and his hypervigilance are justified, and he doesn’t think he belongs among the group’s colorful cast of fellow stalkers; he’s not entirely truthful with the group’s therapist, Tracey, or his designated support “buddy,” Tyler, a brewery owner who started making special batches of beer to match a specific customer’s schedule. However, when Cole begins dating Hailey after meeting her on a hiking trail, he soon finds himself crossing boundaries again. One of Hailey’s patients, an erratic opioid addict named Lars Winters, is stalking her. Even after Winters vandalizes her car and threatens her at the hospital, the police and Hailey’s employer do little to protect her. Reminded of the danger his sister faced, Cole begins tracking Lars without Hailey’s knowledge. Noticing some red flags, Hailey becomes suspicious of her new boyfriend, despite their undeniable chemistry. Cole starts skipping meetings as Lars’ behavior grows more frightening and violent. LeeAnn’s writing is skillful and often funny (“The community center basement smells like dust, stale coffee, and poor life choices. I arrive precisely on time for my third IBSG meeting, no longer bothering with the dilemma of being early or late”). The book succeeds on all fronts as a comedy, a suspenseful thriller, and a romance, despite Cole’s flaws; the author has pulled off a challenging and audacious balancing act. The characters are compelling and well developed, and the plot is refreshingly original.
A thoroughly enjoyable read that defies genre expectations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781682817025
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: today
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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