A seriously fun ecoterrorism thriller.
In Boito’s novel, a scientist and a cop team up to investigate an unusual bee-related death that turns out to be connected to a much larger scheme.
Special Agent Kelso Bagley is an entomologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who’s recently been disciplined for his unorthodox arrest of an Arizona butterfly thief. Det. John Alan “Duke” Wayne is a middle-aged Los Angeles police detective on administrative leave after stepping out of a bar and pursuing a criminal in a high-speed chase. Kelso’s fastidious and naïve, and Duke’s flighty and worldly. They get called to a scene where Howard Skulberry, a UCLA entomologist, died after honeybees stung him hundreds of times. Duke’s just happy to be out in the field again, even if this death is obviously accidental. Kelso, however, suspects foul play, and he’s right: It’s connected to villainous Sage Chemical CEO Gordon Lund’s diabolical plan. A missing piece of technology holds the key to his scheme, and as Lund’s henchman Albert Fossil tries to track it down, he leaves bodies in his wake. Meanwhile, more angry bees are loosed upon the city. In cinematic fashion, Boito adds helicopter battles, a pit of squirming deadly insects, and many, many more agitated bees, which throw the city into panic. When the going gets rough, will Kelso and Duke have learned enough from each other to save the day? This thriller’s narrative is not especially deep, but neither is a bee sting, and both are certainly efficient and effective. Boito’s writing is quick and agile throughout, and Kelso’s object lessons in using nature to solve nature’s problems creates moments that are both comical and moving, as when he uses his expertise to solve a problem that Duke’s 31-year-old daughter, Beryl, is having with her rose bushes: “Kelso, just because I’m interested in what you do doesn’t mean I share your enthusiasm for flies,” Beryl says, before grinning broadly at his solution. The author conjures up a fine supporting cast, as well, including bee venom cosmetologist Alora Maxwell, an indecisive mayor, and a police detective who’s grateful that Kelso stopped him from eating even more bug-infested cereal.
A seriously fun ecoterrorism thriller.Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2023
ISBN: 9798215437209
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Ideafeast Books
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.
A widowed and disgraced plastic surgeon is drawn into a Russian oligarch’s evil schemes.
Witherspoon’s adult fiction debut, co-authored with thrillermeister Coben, opens as heart surgery performed by Dr. Marc Adams in a North African refugee camp is interrupted by the explosive invasion of armed militants. It's the last we will see of Marc in this dimension. The next chapter jumps ahead one year to a ceremony at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where his widow, Maggie McCabe, is supposed to be presenting an award in honor of her mother. Miserable and anxious about appearing in public after having lost her medical license, she consults with her late husband on her phone—not via supernatural means, but using a "griefbot," an amazingly lifelike and functional AI app created by her genius sister, Sharon. Once the griefbot coaxes her to brave the sneering masses, she learns she’s been replaced on the podium anyway. But she runs into a former professor, a celebrity plastic surgeon, who requests a meeting with her at his office in New York and won’t take no for an answer. Next thing she knows, there’s $10 million in her bank account and she’s on a private plane heading to a palace outside Moscow where she’s been engaged to perform off-the-record surgery on billionaire Oleg Ragoravich (new face) and his girlfriend, Nadia (new boobs). And…we’re off. A whirl of surgeries, chases, and escapes ensues as Maggie gradually comes to understand who these people are and what they have in mind for her, and how it connects to Marc and their missing friend and business partner, Trace Packer. She is aided by her delightful father-in-law, Porkchop, owner of a biker bar in New York City and a very handy guy to have on your team if you've run afoul of an international criminal organization. From the palace in Rublevka the action moves to Dubai and then Bordeaux, climaxing in a high-stakes illegal heart transplant. But wait—is Marc really dead? What happened to Trace? Who is Nadia really? Though these smoldering questions don’t quite catch fire, it's a good first try for Witherspoon.
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781538774700
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Fast-moving and disturbingly plausible.
Robots may be the future of warfare in this final father-son DeMille collaboration.
In Camp Hayden, Army Maj. Roger Ames is found dead, his skull crushed. Chief Warrant Officers Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor, special agents of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, are sent to the Mojave Desert, “a.k.a. in the middle of nowhere,” to investigate. In this fictional military installation, Army Rangers conduct field training exercises with lethal autonomous weapons. These “dangerous new toys,” nicknamed “tin men,” may become the future of warfare if they can be programmed to distinguish between friend and foe. Anyway, the Rangers’ job is to train the tin men, not the other way around. They are AI-driven robotic prototypes called D-17s, but even prototypes can kill. Did a bot kill the major? And was there criminal liability or intent, or was it a tragic accident? Brodie and Taylor discover that not everyone loves these beasts, and they must find out if humans are programming them for mischief or even trying to set up the program for failure. Meanwhile, the bots have nicknames. Bot number 20 is Bucky, seen on a video as a “seven-foot-tall titanium machine with hands covered in blood and brain matter” that has “a face but no eyes, with hands but no skin, with a body but no soul.” As scary as these beasties are, Brodie and Taylor must also look at the humans at Camp Hayden, because they learn that the “machines don’t have motives….They have inputs and outputs,” which naturally come from human programmers. They have neither brains nor courage nor honor; they do have brute force, speed, and agility. Obviously, plenty goes haywire in this enjoyable yarn. It feels a bit too believable for comfort, and that’s to the DeMilles’ credit as storytellers. Nelson DeMille had begun this project with his son Alex, who had to finish it alone after his father’s death.
Fast-moving and disturbingly plausible.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781501101878
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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