Even for fans, there’s not much here but stodgy writing, coupled with a tendency toward abrupt endings and characters as...
This ponderous collection of eight stories culled from other venues (1986–98) demonstrates that even a Grand Master of the genre can have her off days. Three of the inclusions throb with Catholic angst. In “The Scream,” a young man wrestles with the consequences of almost hitting a woman with his car and abandoning her to a later fate; in “Now and Forever,” a priest and a fervid parishioner violate moral vows, consummate an affair, and must deal with an all-too-watchful young troublemaker; and “Justina,” one of two cases featuring Davis’s series sleuth Julie Hayes, pits the amateur snoop against a cagey nun who turns out to be from a nonexistent religious order. Luckily for Hayes, she’s allowed an encore in the collection’s best-realized story, “The Puppet,” in which she rescues a child from porn merchants. “To Forget Mary Ellen” and “Till Death Do Us Part” follow twists and turns right out of Sleuth in tracing marital discord to predictably murderous results. And in “Miles To Go,” a criminally insane father-in-law hitches a ride with an unsuspecting relative—at least for a short while.
Even for fans, there’s not much here but stodgy writing, coupled with a tendency toward abrupt endings and characters as dull as an overused razor blade.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7862-3007-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Five Star/Gale Cengage
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
An amusingly complex con combines with little-known historical details to provide an enchanting read.
A determined woman seeks justice.
Elizabeth Miles had a disreputable past as a grifter, but a chance friendship with Mrs. Bates, a suffragette, introduced her into New York society, and now she’s engaged to her friend's son, Gideon Bates, a straight-arrow lawyer. While Gideon is waiting to be called up to serve in the Great War, Cpl. Thomas Preston asks him to draft a new will leaving Thomas’ money and his one-third share in Preston Shoe Manufacturing to his pregnant new wife, Rose O’Dell, instead of his older brother, Fred, who currently shares ownership of the company with Thomas and Delia, their young, widowed stepmother. Since Rose is not the sort the Preston family would approve of, Gideon writes the will in secret, naming himself executor, and Thomas leaves it with Rose. All too soon thereafter, an angry Fred Preston barges into Gideon’s office saying that his brother is dead and his brother's widow claims to be the heir. Refusing to reveal his client’s business, Gideon visits Rose’s apartment, where he runs into the bruiser who attempted to strangle her and stole the only signed copy of the will. It’s clear that neither Fred nor his stepmother will help Rose, whom Elizabeth moves to her aunt’s house, where she and several other progressive women live, knowing that she’ll be safe. When neither threats of court cases nor attempts to shame Fred work, Elizabeth turns to her brother and father, the Old Man, and their talented group of con men (City of Secrets, 2018, etc.) to find a way to raise money for Rose and the coming child. Disapproving of war profiteers and men who hurt women, the group comes up with a clever plan that will make Rose rich and pay them something for their efforts. They stumble into the American Protective League, a nest of German spies, and a still more dangerous enemy in the Spanish flu, which will kill vast numbers all over the globe.
An amusingly complex con combines with little-known historical details to provide an enchanting read.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0565-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
Koryta has never been better than with this knuckle-biting thriller.
Slowly emerging from the coma she's been in since a black cargo van rammed the car she was using to transport a visiting professor, killing him, Maine college senior Tara Beckley is targeted by a ruthless young hit man.
After the driver of the van admits his guilt, police rule the collision a simple wreck. But it doesn't take long for insurance investigator Abby Kaplan, a former racer and stunt driver who knows how cars behave at high speeds, to determine that this was no accident. She responds emotionally to Tara and her family; Abby's boyfriend in Los Angeles was left in a coma after a reckless joy ride she took him on ended badly. The bad news for the bad guys, who are desperate to get their hands on a device that was in the professor's possession, is that Tara is now conscious and alert and able to communicate by moving her eyes. Dax Blackwell, the boyish, creepily calm gunman (whose father, Jack, an Australian assassin, died in Koryta's Those Who Wish Me Dead), must not only get past Abby to get to Tara, he also has to contend with Tara's fiercely protective sister, Shannon. It's a measure of how good this book is that the chilling, masterfully sustained suspense is only one of its standout achievements. Koryta never brushes off anyone's death; he makes you feel for the victims. The relationship between Tara and her sibling is beautifully nuanced, full of revealing details going back to their childhood. And Koryta’s (How It Happened, 2018, etc.) fans will surely appreciate the suggestion of a sequel.
Koryta has never been better than with this knuckle-biting thriller.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-29400-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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