An exhilarating espionage tale coupled with a nimble exploration of the forces of radicalization.
An FBI agent tracks a terrorist planning a massive assault on American soil in this novel.
A school is attacked in Rockford, Illinois, the third instance of violent terrorist extremism in the United States in six weeks. FBI analyst Hector Aguilar, assigned to the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, has a hunch, what he calls a “tingle,” that the strikes are somehow related. He asks his boss, Mark Pravance, for the time and resources to investigate. Hector is skeptically granted a week. But when he digs deeper, he discovers that the three assailants all came to the U.S. from the Middle East in the last four years, spent time in London before arriving, and communicated with sources in Saudi Arabia; even more ominously, all referred to a “vizier,” an ancient term for a “high-ranking minister.” Meek (Triumphus Plebis, 2017, etc.) follows Hector’s attempt to further connect the blood-stained dots as well as identify the mastermind behind the attacks—James Bithingham, whose cover is a mathematician with a winning academic career—who tries to outwit him. The author also paints an intriguing picture of the process of radicalization—in one subplot, an American teenager raised by less than observant Muslims becomes involved with an extremist ideologue obsessed with punishing infidels. James’ ultimate goal—referred to somewhat melodramatically as the “Grand Plan”—is of breathtaking proportions, forcing Hector to move quickly to prevent imminent disaster. The plot hurtles forward at a frenetic pace relentlessly maintained by the author. Meek’s knowledge of American intelligence services, including the intramural territorial battles that can undermine their success, is impressive, as is his eye-opening portrayal of the different avenues of radicalization. James is the least nuanced character in the book, something of a Bond villain, and the author’s prose, especially when portraying the antagonist, can be comic-book theatrical: “The labors of James Allen Bithingham over the past twelve years were coming to fruition. Only one issue remained. Could he avoid detection as the architect of disasters?” But this is an otherwise engrossing blend of action-packed thrills and a sensitive rendering of an explosive issue.
An exhilarating espionage tale coupled with a nimble exploration of the forces of radicalization.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 395
Publisher: Kurti Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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