A complex but somewhat clumsy caper novel.
A reporter works to uncover the misdeeds of a federal agency and a threat to global commerce in this spy novel.
The evil Singapore Group oversees organized crime activity throughout the world, and at the opening of Camelback’s debut novel, they’re planning to hijack the passenger ship Queen en route from Southampton to Sydney. The author provides backstory for some of the group’s members, including Somalian warlord Ali Mohmaad and Russian general managerVassily Kusnecko, who both figure prominently in the hijacking plot. The FBI’s Las Vegas bureau chief, David Massey, works to infiltrate the group through DEF CON, a software/hacker convention held in the city, and Brandon Lancy and Matt Dolan go undercover in the group’s Russian membership. Dolan soon realizes that the FBI is illegally entrapping the Singapore Group with the Queen heist, so he blows the whistle on the agency. Former Washington Post journalist Prometheus Foster—now an IT analyst—works feverishly alongside current reporter Smarty Jason to ensure that Dolan remains a free man, untangling the threads of the Singapore Group’s activities and using the Freedom of Information Act to suss out the FBI’s involvement and the details of the Queen’s hijacking. The novel follows Foster’s diligent work as he tries to keep Dolan out of prison and free from surveillance—and it all ends with a wedding, of all things. Camelback presents an ambitious and intriguing plot over the course of this novel. However, it’s often obscured by unrealistic dialogue (“I might as well be honest, pursuing redemption without an epiphany is a constant challenge”) and stilted prose. It also often relies on clichés and stereotypes rather than nuanced research into the cultures it portrays. Early in the narrative, for instance, Kusnecko “offer[s] Lancy an enticement, ‘I want to take you and your friend on a Russian adventure to the former city of Leningrad in my custom made sports car.…I sense that you like to drive fast cars with perfect precision.’ ” The novel is full of similarly clunky moments, which sacrifice depth for easy signposting.
A complex but somewhat clumsy caper novel.Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 207
Publisher: Daccord Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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