An action-packed and surprisingly poignant yarn about a man’s search for himself as he enters his golden years.
A 70-year-old, recently retired business owner decides to liven up his boring existence by becoming a detective in Marks’ crime thriller.
Widower David Blazen was looking forward to retirement after 50 years of running his own company, which sold “impulse merchandise” of all kinds. He and his girlfriend, Mary, who is also retired, have grand plans for their newfound freedom and independence. But just a few months into his retirement, Blazen is already bored—so much so that he has already gotten in trouble at the health club he frequents every day for his “obsessive snooping” on the other patrons. Inquisitive by nature, Blazen has found entertainment in the health club regulars’ personal lives, and has become fixated on some things, like a mysterious staircase in the club. With Mary increasingly worried about her boyfriend’s state of mind, Blazen does some soul-searching, trying to figure out how he wants to spend the rest of his suddenly mind-numbingly mundane existence. He remembers his dreams as a boy: “I loved to watch Saturday morning television, where Superman stood for justice and Captain America defended our country from evil.” And so, with television icons like Columbo, Kojak, and Magnum PI as inspirations, Blazen decides to become a detective. Not wanting to waste time, he procures pamphlets from a potentially illegitimate institution offering some kind of certificate, has business cards printed up under the moniker “Blaze,” and begins his new adventure. When the nephew of a prominent crime boss is murdered—and the city braces for a potential war between organized crime factions—Blaze quickly finds himself entangled in a dangerous conflict that includes a ruthless crime lord who deifies Al Capone, a morally bankrupt mayoral candidate who would do anything to run Chicago, an undercover FBI investigation, and numerous secondary characters who would fit in well in a Coen Brothers movie, including a duo of Jewish assassins and some gas station attendants who are also cannibals.
The entire novel, in fact, has a decidedly Fargo-like vibe: “The soft powder blanketed the ground and nestled against the bare trees, making for a truly picturesque setting, momentarily distracting Hanford from what he thought he was about to see. He’d already glimpsed two freshly dead bodies and the horror that was inside the… gas station yesterday.” The endearing amateur sleuth, an impressively intricate plotline, and the laugh-out-loud humor in places (what action hero worries about their enlarged prostate?) easily make up for some sequences that stretch the bounds of believability. Also of note is the subtle social commentary; statements like this one will surely resonant with readers: “Society has become selfish. We don’t care about other people like we used to, and honestly, I don’t know that we even notice other people anymore. We’re all too obsessed with ourselves and specifically our smartphones.” But the real power here is in the relatability of Blaze; we’re all searching for purpose and fulfillment in our lives, and this crime fiction adventure is both heartwarming and inspiring.
An action-packed and surprisingly poignant yarn about a man’s search for himself as he enters his golden years.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9798887470801
Page Count: 535
Publisher: Wheatmark
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Brilliant, affecting work from one of contemporary literature’s masters.
A phone call from her past disrupts the tenuously reconstructed life of a concert pianist turned farmer’s wife.
We know from the beginning that Livia Cable is the battered survivor of her brother Cyrus’ death by suicide, a devastating romance, and a career-ending injury. Only 11 when Cyrus stepped in front of a train, she was already marked out as different in her rural Tennessee hometown by her extraordinary musical ability. The siblings had huddled together against their angry mother’s frequent beatings, and Livia still feels abandoned by Cyrus years later, when she picks up the phone to hear the voice of Sigurd, the fiery labor organizer she loved and lost to “the revolution” while on scholarship at the Indiana University School of Music. Now married to kind, steady childhood friend Charlie, Livia looks back on her affair with Sigurd as she struggles to deal with the recent death of her mother, a compulsive hoarder who left a house stuffed with junk to be disposed of and bitter memories that haven’t faded over time. Kingsolver skillfully juggles the two time frames to unravel Livia’s complicated feelings about the life she lost when her right hand was crushed and the life she has now as a country piano teacher. A partita, she explains to Sigurd early on, “is a composition made of a lot of parts with a lot of different moods…the artist’s work is to make them all add up to something that feels whole.” That’s precisely what Kingsolver does in this beautifully paced and judged narrative, which builds to revelations uncovered amid the piles of trash in Livia’s childhood home about the reasons for Cyrus’ suicide (clearly foreshadowed) and their mother’s rage (startling and heartbreaking). A fierce belief that great art is for everyone joins Kingsolver’s familiar preoccupations with class distinctions, social injustice, and the complex bonds of family and community in a tender denouement.
Brilliant, affecting work from one of contemporary literature’s masters.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9780063577541
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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