An often thrilling speculative tale that will keep readers engaged.
In Engstrom’s post-apocalyptic horror novel, a young teen tries to protect his sister in a dangerous world.
Parker Montrose has no one left but his sister, Sherilyn. A rapid, flulike pandemic swept through the world, and their parents were among the many millionsof victims. Unable to speak, due to a fever he had as a baby,Parker relies on his sister to be his voice, but as the older brother, he feels that it’s his job to keep her safe and make sure she has enough to eat. However, he doesn’t want to raid the houses of his dead and rotting neighbors for supplies, so he and his sibling take an offer of shelter from a stranger in their small community. Parker and Sherilyn’s hope for a new home turns out to be a place run by a dictator calling himself Reverend Elijah, a run-down used car salesman with a god complex. Parker’s unwillingness to follow Elijah’s rules leads to him and Sherilyn being banished from the group—but not before Parker hears about another community that actually takes care of its people. While searching for it, Parker learns about an ability he never knew he had, and one he doesn’t understand—it appears that when he’s in the presence of death, he’s able to speak. Engstrom offers an after-the-end tale that feels painfully relevant to today’s situation, and it’s one that’s unusually hopeful for the subgenre. The novel moves at a quick pace with no filler. Sections are clearly broken up into months, and, by the end, the many elements of the story come together as a cohesive whole. That said, the cast of characters eventually becomes numerous, requiring the reader pay close attention to the identities and community roles of minor players. This can get mildly overwhelming at times, but it does help to flesh out the novel and allows for fruitful comparisons. Despite the overall dark tone, the book does have an uplifting message that will leave readers feeling satisfied.
An often thrilling speculative tale that will keep readers engaged.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73429-789-8
Page Count: 236
Publisher: IFD Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.
A frustrated advice columnist takes matters into her own hands.
Before dropping out of MIT during the second semester of her sophomore year, Debbie Mullen had designs on becoming the next Bill Gates. Now, almost 30 years later, the stay-at-home wife and mother of two uses her considerable genius to keep the Mullens’ Hingham, Massachusetts, household functioning “like a well-oiled machine.” In her spare time, Debbie also gardens and shares “the fruits of [her] wisdom” with neighbors via the weekly advice column she writes for Hingham Household, a local “family-oriented” newspaper. Though Debbie is proud of her husband and teen daughters’ accomplishments, her own life sometimes feels a bit empty. As such, she’s both honored and excited when Home Gardening magazine selects her backyard to feature in their next issue. Then, at the last minute, the publication decides to go in a different direction and instead spotlights the roses of her arch rival. Later that day, the editor-in-chief of Hingham Household axes her column because she’d counseled a reader to get a divorce. That evening, Debbie learns that her hard-working husband’s miserly boss refused his promotion request, her brilliant older daughter’s sketchy boyfriend broke her heart, and her athletically gifted younger daughter’s chauvinistic coach cut her from the soccer team for being “chubby.” Enough is enough. Debbie has always given great advice—everybody says so. If certain individuals don’t know what’s best for themselves, maybe it’s her obligation to help them see the light. Increasingly unhinged entries from a “Dear Debbie” drafts folder pepper the briskly paced, meticulously crafted tale, which unfolds courtesy of a pinwheeling first-person narrative. Some of the plot’s myriad twists are more impressive than others, but plucky, puckish Debbie is a nontraditional antihero for the ages.
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249624
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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