by Elizabeth Roderick ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2019
A rollicking caper with a smorgasbord of kooky characters.
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In this homage to the classic Robin Hood story, two contemporary, young female robbers acquire a cult following when the public learns their thefts are committed to fulfill good intentions.
In Roderick’s rom-com/heist novel, Robin Sherwood and Maryann Forrest meet-cute when they simultaneously stick up the same bank. Maryann robs the bank to finance a “farm-slash-cooking school” for disadvantaged teens, and Robin needs money to buy her parents’ foreclosed farm at auction. After college graduation, Robin thought she’d “marry some nice girl she met at a Pride rally, take up woodworking or league soft-ball, and buy a house in some progressive suburban enclave.” But now she’s tempted to continue robbing banks by a hottie who “could be sexy even while talking through a mouth full of hot dog.” Robin crushes on Maryann even though she thinks her partner in crime probably is “straighter than a ruler.” After Maryann stencils in spray paint “DEATH 2 WALL ST. LOVE THE HOODLUM ARMY” on the wall of their second bank job, the women become underground celebrities (and Robin admonishes Maryann for not including a comma after “LOVE”). Spurred on by a fan-started Hoodlum Army Twitter account that quickly garners over 10,000 followers, the two decide to grow “our brand” by stealing not from a bank, but from a person, the notoriously slimy billionaire Larry Lemon. But the FBI is on their trail, as is police detective David Martinez, Maryann’s ex-boyfriend. Pleasures include a fast pace, entertaining dialogue, social commentary, and a certain sweetness. Plus, there’s a merry band of nontraditional characters working with Robin and Maryann to fleece Lemon, a mean, corset-wearing “fan of novelty toilets.” Word choices pleasantly surprise: An agent wears a “happy-dog smile”; David can be “ferrety” in his compulsive gnawing. Roderick weaves multiple storylines into a crazy quilt of fun with an author’s note that states: “CONTENT NOTIFICATION: racism, misogyny, xenophobia, queer antagonism, fat antagonism, trans antagonism, and appearance shaming (there is pushback against all of these). There is also minor gun violence.” And all of it wildly entertains.
A rollicking caper with a smorgasbord of kooky characters.Pub Date: May 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73307-640-1
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Mary Kubica ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021
More like a con than a truly satisfying psychological mystery.
What should be a rare horror—a woman gone missing—becomes a pattern in Kubica's latest thriller.
One night, a young mother goes for a run. She never comes home. A few weeks later, the body of Meredith, another missing woman, is found with a self-inflicted knife wound; the only clue about the fate of her still-missing 6-year-old daughter, Delilah, is a note that reads, "You’ll never find her. Don’t even try." Eleven years later, a girl escapes from a basement where she’s been held captive and severely abused; she reports that she is Delilah. Kubica alternates between chapters in the present narrated by Delilah’s younger brother, Leo, now 15 and resentful of the hold Delilah’s disappearance and Meredith’s death have had on his father, and chapters from 11 years earlier, narrated by Meredith and her neighbor Kate. Meredith begins receiving texts that threaten to expose her and tear her life apart; she struggles to keep them, and her anxiety, from her family as she goes through the motions of teaching yoga and working as a doula. One client in particular worries her; Meredith fears her husband might be abusing her, and she's also unhappy with the way the woman’s obstetrician treats her. So this novel is both a mystery about what led to Meredith’s death and Delilah’s imprisonment and the story of what Delilah's return might mean to her family and all their well-meaning neighbors. Someone is not who they seem; someone has been keeping secrets for 11 long years. The chapters complement one another like a patchwork quilt, slowly revealing the rotten heart of a murderer amid a number of misdirections. The main problem: As it becomes clear whodunit, there’s no true groundwork laid for us to believe that this person would behave at all the way they do.
More like a con than a truly satisfying psychological mystery.Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-778-38944-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Park Row Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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by Nita Prose ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 4, 2022
A compelling take on the classic whodunit.
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The shocking murder of a public figure at a high-end hotel has everyone guessing who the culprit might be.
Twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray, an eccentric young woman who's obsessed with cleaning but doesn't quite have the same ability to navigate social cues as those around her, loves working as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. Raised by her old-fashioned grandmother, who loved nothing more than cleaning and watching Columbo reruns, Molly has an overly polite and straightforward manner that can make her seem odd and off-putting to her colleagues despite her being the hardest worker at the hotel. After her grandmother's death, Molly's rigid life begins to lose some of its long-held balance, and when the infamous Mr. Charles Black, a rich and powerful businessman suspected of various criminal enterprises, is found murdered in one of the rooms she cleans, her whole world gets turned upside down. Before Molly knows what's happening, her odd demeanor has the police convinced she's guilty of the crime, and certain people at the hotel are a little too pleased about it. With the help of a few new friends (and while fending off new foes), she must begin to untangle the mystery of who really killed Mr. Black to get herself off the hook once and for all. Though the unusual ending might frustrate some readers, this unique debut will keep them reading.
A compelling take on the classic whodunit.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35615-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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