An arresting conclusion to the Eve Duncan trilogy.
After an explosive showdown in Colorado among the CIA, Eve Duncan's loved ones and a furious Jim Doane, Eve is Doane’s captive again, but the stakes are higher than anyone imagined, and getting Eve to safety is shadowed by an even deadlier threat.
Renowned forensic sculptor Eve is captive again to evil Jim Doane. Doane set up an intricate escape amid a fiery explosion in a Colorado ghost town and is convinced he’s fooled everyone into thinking he and Eve are both dead. However, Eve’s loved ones—her lover, Joe Quinn, her adopted daughter, Jane, and an assorted group of smart, well-connected allies—have figured out they are alive. They are also suspicious of the CIA, whom Eve works for and yet who seem more concerned with taking Doane out than in rescuing Eve. Gathering clues while keeping under Doane’s radar screen, they are confronted with the horrifying reason the CIA—and their contact, Agent Venable—is less concerned with Eve’s welfare than they are: Doane’s deceased son, Kevin, left two armed nuclear weapons somewhere in the U.S., and the CIA believes Doane will set them off. Doane is out for revenge and has abducted Eve to recreate his son’s skull, believing that making that happen will bring Kevin back to life somehow. However, Eve also has a surprising connection to Zander, the man responsible for Kevin’s death, and Doane is using her as bait to draw the enigmatic assassin to her rescue. Meanwhile, Jane and her friends realize that Doane isn’t actually the person behind the destructive Grand Plan. They must race a ticking time bomb to discover the whereabouts of the detonator and the weapons and keep Eve and two major metropolitan areas safe. The novel offers a multilayered plot with a long cast of characters Johansen fans will recognize from the first two books in the trilogy as well as other series. The continued sexual tension between Jane and her two would-be lovers ratchets up to a surprising conclusion, and the intriguing hints at ghostly help and psychic talent to solve the many mysteries add texture, romance and enigma to a taut, compelling storyline.
An arresting conclusion to the Eve Duncan trilogy.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-250-02002-4
Page Count: 416
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
Chavez delivers a fraught if flawed page-turner that attempts too many twists.
A good Samaritan incurs a psychopath’s wrath in this debut thriller.
Veterinarian Cassie Larkin is heading home after a 12-hour shift when someone darts in front of her car, causing her to dump her energy drink. As she pulls over to mop up the mess, her headlights illuminate a couple having a physical altercation. Cassie calls 911, but before help arrives, the man tosses the woman down an embankment. Ignoring the dispatcher’s instructions, Cassie exits the vehicle and intervenes, preventing the now-unconscious woman’s murder. With sirens wailing in the distance, the man warns Cassie: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.” He then scrambles back to the road and flees in Cassie’s van. Using mug shots, Cassie identifies the thief and would-be killer as Carver Sweet, who is wanted for poisoning his wife. The Santa Rosa police assure Cassie of her safety, but the next evening, her husband, Sam, vanishes while trick-or-treating with their 6-year-old daughter, Audrey. Hours later, he sends texts apologizing and confessing to an affair, but although it’s true that Sam and Cassie have been fighting, she suspects foul play—particularly given the previous night’s events. Cassie files a report with the cops, but they dismiss her concerns, leaving Cassie to investigate on her own. After a convoluted start, Chavez embarks on a paranoia-fueled thrill ride, escalating the stakes while exploiting readers’ darkest domestic fears. The far-fetched plot lacks cohesion and relies too heavily on coincidence to be fully satisfying, but the reader will be invested in learning the Larkin family’s fate through to the too-pat conclusion.
Chavez delivers a fraught if flawed page-turner that attempts too many twists.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-293617-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Melodramatic and filled with a lot of pointless meanderings, but Jackson’s many fans will still enjoy it.
New York Times’ bestselling author Jackson puts her touch on this dark thriller and tale of forbidden romance.
Ava Church Garrison has it all. She’s beautiful, a near-genius and wealthy. Married to a handsome attorney and living in her family’s ancestral home on a small island off the coast of Washington, her future couldn’t be brighter, except for one small problem. It appears to everyone, including Ava, that she’s lost her mind. It all started when she lost her child. Two-year-old Noah wandered out of the house, and authorities believe he fell into the icy water and drowned. But Ava won’t accept this. She keeps searching for Noah, her searches prompted by sounds and visions she can’t control. No matter what she does, Ava keeps hearing Noah call for help and sees him toddling off toward the dock. To add to Ava’s issues, she has her loony-bin-worthy family living with her. Her cousin, Jewel-Anne, wheelchair-bound following an accident that killed Ava’s only brother, and the rest of her family treat her like she’s a basket case. Even her best friend (who's Jewel-Anne’s nurse) and the household help are creepy. In fact, everyone in the book qualifies as a character out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Plus, there’s also the little problem of the escaped madman, who may or may not still be hiding on the island, and Ava’s therapist, a woman she fears has grown too close to Ava’s husband, Wyatt. Soon, the landscape is littered with bodies, and Ava is rapidly finding herself the target of a police investigation. With only the help of a newly hired hand on the estate, she tries to prove she’s not crazy and find her son in the bargain. Jackson’s book is crammed with suspects and a palpable air of creepiness, but readers will spot a number of inconsistencies in the story and ultimately grow weary of the way she draws out the action with unnecessary dialogue and details.
Melodramatic and filled with a lot of pointless meanderings, but Jackson’s many fans will still enjoy it.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-5857-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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