Despite frequently giving into thriller clichés, a story notable for the decline of its sinister, once-harmless villain.
Storm’s (Reaper’s Gate, 2013) novel traces the hunt to find an unlikely serial killer.
After FBI agent Melvin Gibson—“not a model agent by any measure”—crashes a boat in Florida while in hot pursuit of a suspect, he and his loyal partner, Khoren, are reassigned to Chicago. Though they’re highly disappointed by the move, little do they know that a terrifying criminal awaits in the Windy City. Mild-mannered Evan Felder may seem like a perfectly average citizen with his wife, kids and house in the suburbs, but when a series of headaches reveals a brain tumor, his life changes forever. As Evan becomes tormented with constant pain, he withdraws from the familiar world around him and focuses instead on committing grisly murders. Targeting homosexuals (for reasons explained later), once-harmless Evan not only kills but mutilates his victims. With his twisted audacity garnering media attention, the hunt is on for the killer known as the Mantis—“the body of the victim had appeared as though a giant Mantis had gotten hold of the body and feasted on the fleshy parts.” Embodying much of the standard rebel-cop fare, Gibson is an agent who gets results even if he has to ruffle a few feathers along the way: “Bullshit! Special Agent Gibson, must I remind you that you work for me and the Bureau?” While his pursuers don’t offer much in the way of novel police characters, what keeps the search for the Mantis lively is Evan’s descent into madness. Never one to settle, he searches for new victims and new ways to shock the public, calling for even more swiftness from the forces trying to stop him. Though Evan isn’t as clever as Hannibal Lecter, they share a sense of depravity and self-confidence, making Evan a memorable villain, especially since he appears to be “the poster-child for ‘Mr. Average America.’ ”
Despite frequently giving into thriller clichés, a story notable for the decline of its sinister, once-harmless villain.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0985122881
Page Count: -
Publisher: Second Chance Publications
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Thinness aside: riveting stuff, with language so frank it curls your hair.
Debut novel by hip-hop rap artist Sister Souljah, whose No Disrespect(1994), which mixes sexual history with political diatribe, is popular in schools countrywide.
In its way, this is a tour de force of black English and underworld slang, as finely tuned to its heroine’s voice as Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. The subject matter, though, has a certain flashiness, like a black Godfather family saga, and the heroine’s eventual fall develops only glancingly from her character. Born to a 14-year-old mother during one of New York’s worst snowstorms, Winter Santiaga is the teenaged daughter of Ricky Santiaga, Brooklyn’s top drug dealer, who lives like an Arab prince and treats his wife and four daughters like a queen and her princesses. Winter lost her virginity at 12 and now focuses unwaveringly on varieties of adolescent self-indulgence: sex and sugar-daddies, clothes, and getting her own way. She uses school only as a stepping-stone for getting out of the house—after all, nobody’s paying her to go there. But if there’s no money in it, why go? Meanwhile, Daddy decides it’s time to move out of Brooklyn to truly fancy digs on Long Island, though this places him in the discomfiting position of not being absolutely hands-on with his dealers; and sure enough the rise of some young Turks leads to his arrest. Then he does something really stupid: He murders his wife’s two weak brothers in jail with him on Riker’s Island and gets two consecutive life sentences. Winter’s then on her own, especially with Bullet, who may have replaced her dad as top hood, though when she selfishly fails to help her pregnant buddy Simone, there’s worse—much worse—to come.
Thinness aside: riveting stuff, with language so frank it curls your hair.Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-02578-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
The Yellow Wallpaper meets Rosemary’s Baby in a slim, wonderfully eerie novel.
In a decidedly creepy departure from her debut (Saturn’s Return to New York, 2001: a charmer about mothers and daughters in literary New York), Gran tells of a young woman possessed by a demon.
Amanda narrates as she describes her own frightening decline from a young, happily married architect to a woman she barely recognizes, possessed by the ancient demon Naamah. It begins imperceptibly at first—strange tapping sounds in her loft, increasing discord between her and husband Ed, her taking up cigarettes—but all these things are explained away by common sense: the loft is old and squeaks, she and Ed need more quality time together, stress at work has drawn her back to a bad habit. Perfectly reasonable, but in retrospect Amanda sees these inconsequential changes as signs of the demon taking hold of her. She dreams of Naamah: she and the demon wade in a sea of blood, Naamah, with beautiful black hair and pointy teeth, promises that she will always love Amanda and never leave. Early on, Amanda mail-orders a book on architecture, but instead she’s sent a volume on demon possession. As the months progress, she is able to answer yes to nearly all of the questions under the heading “Are You Possessed by a Demon?” She begins seducing rough men, stealing, lying, almost drowns a child while on holiday, and then commits murder. But instead of taking a more conventional route—like turning to the law—Gran smartly puts the focus inward. For Amanda, the loss of herself, in both body and mind, is far worse than the committing of these horrible crimes. She seeks help, but her doctor and psychiatrist seem to be demons themselves and Amanda begins to see demons everywhere. The tale, fast-paced and claustrophobic, raises a frightening question: Amanda could be going insane, but, in the final analysis, what’s the difference?
The Yellow Wallpaper meets Rosemary’s Baby in a slim, wonderfully eerie novel.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-56947-328-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Soho
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
