A scary but sensitive story that never loses its compassion for real-life horrors.
A Native American paranormal investigator finds herself caught up in a series of hauntings that may include her dead sister.
One of the most refreshing things about this novel is Wurth’s refusal to waste time on extreme worldbuilding or overly complicated stage-setting. She jumps headfirst into the action involving paranormal investigator Olivia Becente, whose clients are being plagued by a series of hauntings. Yes, there is an afterlife, and from it arise spirits demanding the attention of the living. Are they angry? Vengeful? Trying to impart a vital message that shouldn’t be ignored? Olivia, who lives and works with Alejandro, her gay best friend, isn’t sure of their motives. But she quickly comes to understand that her sister, Naiche, who died under shocking circumstances in a Denver hotel room several years earlier, is somehow involved in the hauntings. A woman dies by suicide in that room every few years, and possibly involved in this mysterious, bloody manifestation are a suspicious cult, Olivia’s abusive ex, and a local journalist who seems determined to paint Olivia as a fraud. Wurth also weaves in the history of the Sand Creek Massacre, an 1864 atrocity in which U.S. troops murdered more than 200 Cheyenne and Arapahoe people, mostly women, children, and the elderly. She handles the memories of the massacre interspersed through Olivia’s narrative with great sensitivity, and her portrayal of Olivia’s grief, guilt, and regret over her sister’s death rings painfully true. The novel does grow slightly convoluted, and a few developments, like the sudden arrest of Olivia’s ghost-sleuthing partner, are more difficult to believe than the presence of the furious ghosts. But Wurth makes up for any missteps with her compassion and her insistence on the importance of families, whether they’re related by blood or not.
A scary but sensitive story that never loses its compassion for real-life horrors.Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781250908599
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.
A Christmas bout between Kay Scarpetta and the Phantom Slasher.
But first, Scarpetta, Virginia’s chief medical examiner, has to figure out how software designer Rowdy O’Leary died. Fished from the Potomac River on Christmas Eve six years after a hit-and-run driver left him permanently disabled and a week after he plunked down the cash for a pricey emerald ring, he fell off his fishing perch and drowned—or did he? Scarpetta’s examination of his body is cut short by two disturbing developments: the discovery of an unidentified woman’s remains buried on the grounds of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital, and celebrity TV reporter Dana Diletti’s report that the red-eyed ghost associated with the Slasher’s three murders has floated through the window of her home. She’s got video, too, and the apparition looks real and scary. The final blow to Scarpetta’s plans for a Christmas getaway with her husband, Secret Service forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, is an attack on an Alexandria home that kills Mercy psychiatrist Georgine Duvall, who used to treat Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy Farinelli, and nearly kills graduate student Zain Willard, White House intern and nephew of presidential candidate Sen. Calvin Willard. This time the Slasher’s ghost has been spotted on the scene by none other than Pete Marino, head of investigations for the medical examiner’s office and Scarpetta’s longtime sidekick. Cornwell’s use of Robbie, Zain’s robotic dog, and Janet, Lucy’s AI companion, integrates the futuristic elements she favors more successfully than in her recent outings. But the solutions to all these mysteries will leave fans of the venerable franchise pursing their lips rather than gasping in awe.
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781538773963
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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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