A satisfying historical thriller.
Omar Zagouri must delve into a mystery dating back to the 16th century when he’s targeted by murderous conspirators in Moore’s (Exodus, 2016, etc.) sequel.
Omar, an Israel-based special agent, frequently looks into situations involving long-lost archaeological treasures. The prize at the center of this novel is a trove of letters from the Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent to his favorite wife, Roxelane. Disgruntled antiques shop owner Baris Uzuner hopes to use these letters to prove that Roxelane plotted the death of Suleiman’s eldest son, Mustafa, in order to elevate her own son to the throne. Baris hopes to kill the descendants of Roxelane and restore a monarchy—with himself at the helm as Mustafa’s heir. When Omar, who’s related to Roxelane, is targeted and his mother gravely injured, he sets himself on a mission to thwart Baris’ plans. He soon discovers that Baris isn’t the only person with designs on the letters. With the help of his partner/girlfriend, Mia Golding, linguistics expert Leyla Kaplan, and smuggler Naim Bata, Omar must figure out who’s bankrolling Baris and stop him before it’s too late. Moore does an excellent job of setting the scene of international intrigue, and although this novel is part of a series, it also works well as a stand-alone. The story jumps back and forth between the present and the past as Moore tells the story of Roxelane’s capture by the Turkish army and her subsequent love affair with Suleiman. The past sections are often more compelling than those set in the present, which are a bit predictable but still entertaining. Roxelane is an excellent, strong female character, and Moore brings some obscure players from the Ottoman Empire vividly to life. She even quotes from Suleiman’s actual poetry, using lines such as “My springtime, my merry-faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart” to conjure a complex portrait of this larger-than-life figure.
A satisfying historical thriller.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5039-3883-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Gardner (The Killing Hour, 2003, etc.) tends to overplot, but as always the strength of her characters keeps the pages...
A straight-arrow cop gets entangled with a crooked lady and—surprise!—rues the day.
Bobby Dodge likes his job as a sniper with the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactics squad, a SWAT unit. He likes his girlfriend Susan, a beautiful and talented musician. In short, Bobby likes his life until the night Catherine Gagnon drops into it. What appears at first not much more than a run-of-the-mill domestic disturbance—husband screaming at cowering wife—suddenly escalates when the screaming husband has a gun and the cowering wife is wrapped protectively around a terrified child. There’s no time for anything but trained instinct when Bobby, watching through the scope of his rifle, sees Jimmy Gagnon’s finger tightening on the trigger. It’s a righteous shot, an act that saved the lives of Catherine and her young son, Bobby insists. Most agree at first. In the days that follow, however, minds change. Catherine, it seems, has a past; she also has the kind of beauty that unsettles as readily as it attracts. She’s a dangerous woman, Bobby is warned. Before long, he realizes that as a manipulator she can take her place with the best of history’s dark ladies. And that maybe the shooting wasn’t so righteous after all.
Gardner (The Killing Hour, 2003, etc.) tends to overplot, but as always the strength of her characters keeps the pages turning.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2005
ISBN: 0-553-80253-4
Page Count: 346
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2004
A Gone Girl–esque confection with villainy and melodrama galore.
A wealthy woman with a handsome husband is preyed on by a ruthless con artist.
One day at the gym, Amber Patterson drops the magazine she’s reading between her exercise bike and that of the woman who happens to be beside her, Daphne Parrish. As she bends to pick it up, Daphne notices that it’s the publication of a cystic fibrosis foundation. What a coincidence—Daphne’s sister died of cystic fibrosis, and, why, so did Amber’s! “Slowing her pace, Amber wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. It took a lot of acting skills to cry about a sister who never existed.” Step one complete. “All she needed from Daphne was everything.” Everything, in this case, consists of Daphne’s outlandishly wealthy and blisteringly hot husband, Jackson, and all the real estate that comes with him; Daphne can definitely keep her two whiny brats. Amber hates children. But once she finds out that Daphne’s failure to give Jackson a male heir is the main source of tension in the marriage, she sees exactly how to make this work. Amber’s constant, spiteful inner monologue as she plays up to Daphne is the best thing about this book. For example, as Daphne talks about the many miseries her sister Julie went through before her death, Amber is thinking, “At least Julie had grown up in a nice house with money and parents who cared about her. Okay, she was sick and then she died. So what? A lot of people were sick. A lot of people died.…How about Amber and what she’d gone through?” Meanwhile, poor, stupid Daphne is so caught up in the joy of finally having a friend, she seems to be handing Jackson to her on a platter. Constantine’s debut novel is the work of two sisters in collaboration, and these ladies definitely know the formula.
A Gone Girl–esque confection with villainy and melodrama galore.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-266757-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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