Readers who like their fiction with a strong dose of inspiration and morality will enjoy this outing.
A fledgling reporter works to uncover her father’s true identity in the second novel of Kaufman’s (The Collectibles, 2010, etc.) trilogy.
Katherine Kelly, enrolled in journalism school, is not one to let an interesting story slip away. So when she decides that she wants to know who her father is, her mother realizes that she cannot keep the secret any longer. When Katherine finally meets Preston Wilson, he seems to be all she could hope for: intelligent, kind, generous with his wealth and pleased to include his newfound daughter in his life. As she gets to know him, however, she learns that Preston may not be so perfect. He doesn’t give enough attention to his wife or young son, and he seems to be shirking his responsibilities to “The Collectibles,” a group of people whom he promised to help (in the first book of this series). Meanwhile, Katherine’s first reporting job leads her to a complex fraud investigation, to which some of Preston’s employees may be linked. As she digs further, she begins to wonder whether her father is also part of the scandal—and whether she should pursue the story. Since this is the second book in a trilogy, it asks more questions than it answers, leaving most resolutions for the last volume. Also, it may be difficult for some readers to become engaged in The Collectibles characters if they haven’t read the first book. Katherine, though, makes an appealing lead—ambitious and headstrong, with a kind heart and a desire to do the right thing. In this case, the “right” thing isn’t clear, making her storyline interestingly unpredictable. The author also deftly manages the large cast of characters, so it’s easy to keep track of who’s who.
Readers who like their fiction with a strong dose of inspiration and morality will enjoy this outing.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0982587362
Page Count: 404
Publisher: Downstream Publishing LLC.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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