A perceptive thriller set in an offbeat milieu.
In the third entry in Van Soest’s series, the son of an atomic-testing veteran discovers that the side effects of radiation poisoning can last for generations.
In 1984, anti-nuclear protester Sylvia Jensen meets Norton Cramer, an ex-serviceman who was exposed to the Operation Redwing nuclear tests that were carried out in the Pacific in the 1950s. She soon realizes that she’s found a kindred spirit, both ideologically and romantically. They’re arrested while demonstrating against a plutonium storage company and weapons manufacturer, and in an ensuing court hearing, Norton makes a very public and very dangerous announcement to the world about nuclear testing. By becoming a whistleblower, he knows he’s risking the wrath of the government, but his past exposure to high levels of radiation has left him with little to lose. In 2019, at the memorial service of a fellow activist, Sylvia meets Corey Cramer, Norton’s son, whom she’d last seen when he was a toddler. Their chance meeting leaves Sylvia with a deep sense of responsibility for Corey’s well-being. When his own 4-year-old son dies of cancer, he angrily sets out on a mission to find out the truth about what happened in the Pacific all those years ago—and he becomes involved with a militant anti-nuclear protest group that plans a terrible act of violence. In this latest series installment featuring Sylvia Jensen, Van Soest presents a well-researched, compassionate, and exciting blend of social commentary and political thriller. Along the way, she also manages to offer some sharp insights into the struggles of the anti-nuclear movement and its opponents. The interwoven plotlines, which bounce back and forth between the past and present, give readers a compelling view of three distinct eras of nuclear struggle—from the initial nuclear testing, through its horrible effects, to the stories of those who must deal with the consequences many years on. In the end, Sylvia is forced to act quickly in order to honor Corey’s father as his son goes down a dark path.
A perceptive thriller set in an offbeat milieu.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62720-291-6
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Apprentice House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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
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