Great atmospherics and intriguing ideas stretched too thin by an episodic, repetitive structure.
A man with psychic abilities can’t escape the grisly cases affecting his community in DiPego’s thriller.
Fifty-two-year-old Leonard Defore lives in a small Midwestern town and tries to lead a quiet life. When a young man disappears, the mother immediately seeks Leonard out, telling him, “I know about the… ‘remote viewing.’ I read all about that on the internet.” Leonard does indeed possess the inexplicable ability to sometimes see events far away from him, involving people he has never met, and he has helped the police in the past. But he’s reluctant to get involved, especially when the stern (yet also alluring) detective Betha Kane shows up at his door. “So, you had a dream and you called the police,” Betha tells him, trying to sniff out whatever con Leonard might be running. However, after Leonard successfully identifies key details from the disappearance and ends up helping Betha crack the case, she starts warming up to him. (“Oh, you’ll see me,” she tells him coyly. “In your dreams.”) With each chapter, DiPego jumps through time, showing us how Leonard and Betha’s relationship slowly blossoms into a full-fledged romance in between the various cases they take on together. These cases run the gamut of classic, spooky thriller scenarios: a series of stranglings; a disturbed young woman who may be trying to even a score against an elderly woman in town; a missing baby taken by someone confronting dark, deep traumas; random gunfire in a nearby town that may be just country kids playing—or could be something much more sinister. Throughout, the reluctant Leonard tries in vain to stay dreamless, but he’s powerless to resist the pull to help those in need, and he can’t deny the sway Betha holds over him with each new supernatural outing.
DiPego’s writing is immersive and impressive in the way it quickly establishes new stakes and characters. Each chapter functions essentially as a short story as the author deftly guides readers through the disappearances, serial killings, and various subplots that slowly flesh out Leonard’s chilly Midwestern world. (A troubled woman named Paula, in a chapter involving the kidnapping of an infant, stands out in particular for her dark past and disturbing visions of a metaphorical pit.) Betha is a formidable character, delivering some of the book’s best lines. Leonard’s struggle with what his powers mean hints at much deeper themes, like when he admits that he feels he “brings too much darkness” into his own daughter’s home. But the novel’s structure ultimately offers insufficient momentum to fully draw readers in; the series of miniature thrillers never feel connected as a satisfying narrative. Most of Leonard’s relationship with Betha evolves in between the chapters, only offering small asides to hint at what happened, and the rest of Leonard’s life remains a mystery. Without a broader narrative throughline, readers may feel as if they’re viewing Leonard only in fragments, the same way he sees terrible crimes with his strange power.
Great atmospherics and intriguing ideas stretched too thin by an episodic, repetitive structure.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798986224275
Page Count: 335
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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