by Ivy Keating ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2022
A fast-paced but somewhat familiar tale about prehistoric predators.
In this novel, a small-town police chief becomes torn between preserving prehistoric creatures that lurk in a park and protecting the locals.
Jason Kenner, a popular high school basketball coach in Wilton, Connecticut, mysteriously vanishes, and his childhood friend Vanessa Strauss reports his disappearance to the police. Sean Dermott, the chief of police, is immediately smitten with Vanessa and takes a personal interest in the case as a result. He and his team visit Quarry Head Park, Jason’s last known location. There, Sean is suddenly attacked by what appears to be some sort of massive reptile, an assault that leaves Det. Ethan Roberts, the police chief’s best friend, in critical condition. A grief-stricken Sean fervently hopes that he will survive: “He’s going to be okay. Damn it! He has to be okay.” Sean recruits Dr. Greg Mitchell, an expert on reptiles at the University of Connecticut, to determine the nature of the towering animal, and his speculations prove extraordinary. Greg comes to believe that the colossal creature is a Plesiosaur, a marine reptile that dates back to the Jurassic period. Moreover, there turns out to be more than one. Greg wants to help safely steward the giant reptiles back to their natural environment—they seem to hail from an underground lake. But Col. Frank Gunner, the head of the state police, would rather summarily destroy them. The pace of Keating’s compact book is relentlessly brisk, and the atmospheric story will appeal to fans of the Jurassic Park film series and readers intrigued by huge prehistoric reptiles. In addition, the author provides some rich, informative tidbits about Plesiosaurs and dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the tale offers some familiar elements and tropes, including the preservation debate involving the creatures. Moreover, the prose, while always lucid, is sometimes bland and earnest, traits evident in the interior monologues. At one point, Sean reassures himself when confronted with a romantic opportunity: “Hmm. She’s inviting me back to her place. Keep your cool.”
A fast-paced but somewhat familiar tale about prehistoric predators.Pub Date: April 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-957228-81-5
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Jeneva Rose ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.
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New York Times Bestseller
Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets.
Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth’s long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn’t been home since their father’s disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he’s outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth’s disgust. Though their mother’s death marks an ending for the family, it’s also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents’ belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father’s disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they’ve all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family’s first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace.
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798212182843
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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by Nora Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2023
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.
After escaping from a serial killer, a woman tries to reclaim her life.
After a childhood as an Army brat, Morgan Albright is determined to put down roots. She bought a small house in the perfect neighborhood outside of Baltimore, living with a friend and working two jobs to make ends meet. Morgan’s life is happy and fulfilling, and she is making progress on her financial and career goals. Her perfect world is shattered when someone breaks into her home and murders her roommate. At first, the police assume it was a random act of violence, but after discovering the killer stole Morgan’s identity and her entire savings, they realize the crime fits the profile of a serial killer named Gavin Rozwell. The police inform Morgan that her roommate was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the real intended target. Morgan’s grief, coupled with the financial devastation from the identity theft, leaves her no choice but to return home to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. Morgan reconnects with her family and rebuilds her life, including landing the perfect job and falling in love. The police and FBI pursue Gavin, who continues to stalk and kill women, each time leaving a reminder at the crime scene that shows he’s fixated on Morgan as the one who got away. Roberts shows Gavin’s slow descent into obsession and madness as the inverse of Morgan’s healing journey back to herself and her community. The novel highlights Morgan’s preparations for the inevitable final countdown with Gavin, but the lack of immediacy and urgency of the threat makes for a subdued, restrained thriller.
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284112
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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