A motley assortment of individuals truly ignites the plot in this whodunit.
Vacationers at an Arizona dude ranch become rattled by unsavory guests, including one who turns up dead, in this mystery.
Fay Merrill has an array of visitors at her five-star Borderland Ranch, from hedge fund manager Alexander J. Randolph III to fashion model Katlin Carmichael. But one guest has no interest in any of the ranch activities. As assistant director of Homeland Security, Bobby Reynolds is supervising an operation to intercept an al-Qaida bomb maker. There could be a connection to Syrian brothers Ahmed Al Diri and Toad (a nickname courtesy of wrangler Brooke Bennett), two other ranch guests who have a secret “mission.” The brothers are certainly peculiar (at the ranch to photograph horses, they tend to aim their cameras at Brooke instead), but surprisingly, Bobby stirs up the most trouble. Several people recognize him from previous encounters over the years that haven’t left them with fond memories of the assistant director. When Fay stumbles on a corpse in one of the cabins, it’s unquestionably murder, and soon FBI agents are knocking on the door. With all the bad blood at the ranch, there’s no shortage of suspects, particularly once a few people suddenly vanish. Though much of Merriman’s (Missing in Bocas, 2016, etc.) tale plays like a soap opera, a solid mystery is prevalent throughout. Many characters, for example, have intriguing and thorny backstories: Divorced Fay is estranged from her daughter, while Katlin, though only 25, is evidently not “edgy” enough for modeling gigs. The author deftly draws in readers further with curious plot turns not immediately clarified, such as why guest Reggie Van den Berg nearly assaults Bobby. But some elements of the characters are repetitious: Run-ins involving Bobby and alcohol are both a current and past problem. Nevertheless, the story’s consistent momentum is boosted by amusing snippets: A distressed Fay wonders if vodka will provide “magical insight.” Perhaps best of all, the book’s strongest, most remarkable characters are chiefly female.
A motley assortment of individuals truly ignites the plot in this whodunit.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 184
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Suspenseful, glamorous story of love, blackmail, and magic, set in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., about a family of high-class magicians practicing the time-honored profession of thievery. When magician Maxmillian Nouvelle adopts the 12-year-old runaway Luke Callahan, he gives him more than a family: He teaches him the secrets of blending what's real and what's not...giving people what they want—and also taking what they value. For the Great Nouvelle is a master jewel-thief; stealing from the undeserving rich warms his blood like the anticipation of good sex, a passion that both Luke and Max's bratty daughter Raxanne eventually share. Thirteen years pass: As Luke practices the fine arts of larceny and escapology, Roxanne grows into a flame-haired witch who turns bell, book, and candle into smoke onstage. Offstage, she trades in her David Cassidy poster for Luke; together, they set off sparks that could make an innocent bystander..go up in flames. But Luke's invincibility, like the Great Houdini's, is deceptive: Slimy Sam Wyatt—a former grifter now running for the Senate—slithers in from Luke's past, his frigid heart full of contempt for the family he once tried to seam. He threatens to frame Luke for murder and expose the Nouvelles' after-hours show unless he disappears. Five years later, a homesick Luke reappears, determined to show the disillusioned Roxanne that he's more than smoke and mirrors. Together, they set out to plot vengeance, staking everything on their most daring sting to date. True to the magician's oath, Roberts reveals no secrets, but the illusion works—in a compelling and detail-rich first hardcover. Good escape reading.
Pub Date: July 17, 1992
ISBN: 0-399-13761-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1992
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that...
Twenty-four years after a traumatic disappearance tore a Georgia family apart, Slaughter’s scorching stand-alone picks them up and shreds them all over again.
The Carrolls have never been the same since 19-year-old Julia vanished. After years of fruitlessly pestering the police, her veterinarian father, Sam, killed himself; her librarian mother, Helen, still keeps the girl's bedroom untouched, just in case. Julia’s sisters have been equally scarred. Lydia Delgado has sold herself for drugs countless times, though she’s been clean for years now; Claire Scott has just been paroled after knee-capping her tennis partner for a thoughtless remark. The evening that Claire’s ankle bracelet comes off, her architect husband, Paul, is callously murdered before her eyes and, without a moment's letup, she stumbles on a mountainous cache of snuff porn. Paul’s business partner, Adam Quinn, demands information from Claire and threatens her with dire consequences if she doesn’t deliver. The Dunwoody police prove as ineffectual as ever. FBI agent Fred Nolan is more suavely menacing than helpful. So Lydia and Claire, who’ve grown so far apart that they’re virtual strangers, are unwillingly thrown back on each other for help. Once she’s plunged you into this maelstrom, Slaughter shreds your own nerves along with those of the sisters, not simply by a parade of gruesome revelations—though she supplies them in abundance—but by peeling back layer after layer from beloved family members Claire and Lydia thought they knew. The results are harrowing.
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that she makes most of her high-wire competition look pallid, formulaic, or just plain fake.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-242905-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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