A high-octane military thriller sure to pound the pulses of even seasoned adventure seekers.
A novel focuses on covert military operations in the harsh terrain of the Darién Gap.
When readers first encounter Dirk Lasher, he’s in a bad way. Running a dive bar in Florida, the former operative is reeling from the recent death of his beloved wife. As if fated, a young soldier, Capt. Benjamin Blake, shows up at the bar, telling Lasher and his compatriot Jack Williams that they’re needed for a mission that has gone belly up in the brutal jungles between Panama and Colombia. Though reluctant, both men are soon roped into the action, with Williams a week ahead as Lasher grieves stateside. Once Lasher acquaints himself with the personalities of the new special ops unit he’s joining, they’re loaded onto a plane bound for the jungle. Before they can land, they’re attacked by the rogue unit they’ve come to root out, and their plane crashes, wiping out everyone on board except for Lasher and a radio specialist, a young woman called Bonsai. As Bonsai and Lasher flee the scene of the crash, they’re rescued by—who else?—Williams and Blake. Chaos quickly erupts: The group is attacked again; Blake is killed; and it’s only Lasher’s quick thinking and deadly work with a hunting knife that prevent the rest of them from being gunned down. As the three survivors attempt to navigate the terrain and unravel the mystery of the rogue unit, Bonsai begins to fall for the enigmatic Lasher. While certain genre conventions do abound in Edward’s military thriller, such as the way female characters are often described in broad, physical strokes (“Bonsai was a fit twenty-six-year-old. She was tall for a female, about average height for a male, still the shortest of the four. Her face was narrow and her chin came almost to a point”), there is more than enough action and suspense here to keep readers flipping pages. In addition, the author offers an intriguing knife-wielding hero who just wants to complete his mission so he can go home and grieve. In this gripping, fast-paced series opener, some of the violence—much of which comes at the business end of a hunting knife—is brutal to get through, but is never gratuitous.
A high-octane military thriller sure to pound the pulses of even seasoned adventure seekers.Pub Date: July 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798334323599
Page Count: 306
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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