A thrilling ride that hits a few speed bumps along the way.
An Arizona dust storm hides an evil secret in this roadside horror novel.
A highway—a stretch of road between Tucson and Phoenix—becomes the epicenter of a treacherous dust storm in the Sonoran Desert. As the wind picks up sand, pebbles, and small rocks, highway patrolman Richard Hickman works to maintain traffic safety. In a dust storm, there’s poor visibility, “causing a lot of accidents,” Richard warns as he encourages travelers to exit the highway or pull over before the tempest arrives. But this storm harbors a nasty secret: Hiding in the fine particles whipping through the air is a malevolent presence that leaves in its wake untold chaos and destruction. When travelers start dying or disappearing in the clouds of dust, the rumors and legends of evil spirits that possess sandstorms begin to hold more credence. Are there devils in the dust? This question hovers over each of the characters trapped on the highway in Dean’s engaging tale. The story follows a vast array of players, with each chapter focusing on one group, describing how the characters got to the highway and providing a little context to their relationships before disaster strikes. There are Mike and Ruth, a couple on a date in his stylish Firebird Formula. There’s also the Lopez household, traveling on the highway for a close-to-home family outing. Though these characters and chapters seem disparate, when the storm comes, the book’s stories suddenly start overlapping in a gripping multicar pileup. Unfortunately, the novel’s developments before the tempest mute some of the tension. Readers always know where the characters are going to end up (on the freeway, possibly battling sandstorm ghouls). The mundane details of the players’ lives (chats between Ruth and her roommate; 10 pages of a family staycation that involves visiting a restaurant and caverns) do little to actually flesh out their personalities. Instead, they serve as digressions for readers to navigate until the excitement kicks in. When the storm hits, the tale is fun and campy—it just takes some detours to get there.
A thrilling ride that hits a few speed bumps along the way.Pub Date: March 28, 2022
ISBN: 979-8439881369
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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