An intriguing but meandering tale of global espionage and illicit affairs.
In Layton’s series-starting near-future thriller, a government agent leads an investigation into the opera-house assassination of the Kuwaiti oil minister.
In October 2031, Elliot Jones, a senior Diplomatic Security Service agent, is visiting his college-aged daughter, Rachel, in Seattle, when he witnesses a man abandon his van on a ferry. He alerts ferry security and, after a quick investigation, they discover that the van is filled with C-4 explosives, fertilizer, diesel fuel, and a timer. Together, they manage to push the van into the water right before the bombs go off, saving the passengers and crew. That same day, Mohammad Al-Mutairi, the oil minister of Kuwait, attends the opening night of the Washington Opera Company’s production of Otello in Washington, D.C., as the guest of U.S. Secretary of State Lynne Farnsworth. Shortly after intermission, he’s assassinated—poisoned and shot. Upon returning home to Virginia, Elliot is put in charge of the case. Meanwhile, various dignitaries and business strategists around the world discuss and refine their agendas, especially when it comes to oil, and it turns out that Secretary Fansworth has some secrets of her own. Layton’s novel delves into the perspectives of multiple characters, most prominently Elliot and Secretary Farnsworth, in a story of murder, political intrigue, and unseemly relationships. The central plot is intriguing, and the book offers plenty of vibrant descriptions of its many international settings, such as Geneva: “The sky was clear and brilliant. The sun sparkled off the lake. Were it summer this part of the lake would be full of boats by noon. Not today.” However, frequent information dumps and tangents about historical events, buildings, or characters’ backstories slow the pace and make the narrative feel disjointed and unfocused. The dialogue is often clunky, due to small talk and minutiae that add little to either the plot or character development. It also becomes repetitive when multiple characters report the news of the assassination. In addition, readers may find that Elliot lacks a sense of complexity that might have made his character more compelling.
An intriguing but meandering tale of global espionage and illicit affairs.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9798350954302
Page Count: 344
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best news of all: The climax leaves the door open to further reports from the hilariously misnamed British Intelligence.
A series of mounting complications leads to yet another fight to the death between the discarded intelligence agents of Slough House and the morally bankrupt head of MI5.
As Jackson Lamb’s motley crew on Aldersgate Street struggles to cope with the deaths of River Cartwright’s grandfather and mentor, intelligence veteran David Cartwright, and their dim, beloved colleague Min Harper, new troubles are brewing. Diana Taverner, who runs the British Intelligence Service from Regent’s Park, is being blackmailed by former MP Peter Judd to do his bidding. Nothing untoward about that, of course, but this time, Judd’s demands, backed by a compromising tape recording, are more pressing than usual. So Diana reconvenes the Brains Trust—Al Hawke, Avril Potts, Daisy Wessex, and their ex-boss Charles Cornell Stamoran—whose last assignment was to serve as the contact for psychopathic IRA informant Dougie Malone while turning a blind eye to his multiple rapes and murders, which were really none of the Crown’s business. Taverner’s new assignment for the Brains Trust is the assassination of Judd. Since all these developments are filtered through the riotously cynical lens of Herron’s imagination, nothing goes as planned, and when the smoke clears, the fatalities don’t include Judd. Now that Judd knows he has as much reason to fear Taverner as she does to fear him, Lamb offers to broker a peace meeting between them which Slough House computer geek Roddy Ho will keep secret by knocking out 37 security cameras around Taverner’s dwelling. What could possibly go wrong?
The best news of all: The climax leaves the door open to further reports from the hilariously misnamed British Intelligence.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781641297264
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Soho Crime
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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
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