Deftly mines monstrous thrills.
In Lappi’s horror thriller, a former iron ore mine turned popular tourist attraction becomes the hunting ground for a deadly subterranean creature.
Descending deeply into a former mine is a popular tourist activity in Angora Township, Minnesota. About 60 years ago, something happened at Level 43, and explosives were used to seal the entrance to levels below 32, and the mine was closed down. After tour guide John Lukkinen notices a large crack in the stone wall on Level 32, likely the result of explosions set off at another nearby mine, it’s decided to finish the day’s tours and then close down for inspection. Unknown to Lukkinen, Minnesota senator Ronald Young had recently sent two teams down to investigate possible damage to Levels 33 through 43, and neither crew returned. The senator contacts the rescue group SafeWell to perform an investigatory mission to locate the teams. Former Navy SEAL Morgan Fischer leads the mission. When a power outage occurs, Lukkinen’s group of tourists and Fischer’s team [need to come up with a contingency plan, which is tremendously complicated by the appearance of Bauwen, a “bogey of unknown origin” with four legs and a long tail. Further complications include a second, worse monster—the Vorgroth—that attacks and eats people who enter its space. The story shares similarities with the Godzilla narrative (about a monstrous reptile awakened in the water off Japan after years by nuclear testing) and Jules Verne’s classic subterranean novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, in which underground travelers encounter prehistoric creatures and other dangers. An abundance of characters overcomplicates the early part of tale, but the population soon dwindles due to the monsters’ destruction and appetites. In this thrilling read, Lappi features strong female characters, a variety of ethnicities, and a wide range of ages, from an eager teenage tourist with two dads to a spry nonagenarian couple.
Deftly mines monstrous thrills.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780989172684
Page Count: 422
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 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.
