A memorable cast of mortals and ghosts complements this spooky thriller.
This fourth installment of Walters’ fantasy series pits a Des Moines detective and his spectral partner against a diabolical, supernaturally powerful woman.
Detective Brett O’Shea’s impressive track record includes taking down serial killers and monsters. But he can’t accept all the credit; he gets a lot of help from his late great-grandfather Michael—a natty, fedora-sporting ghost. When Chief Terry Anders sends him to check on a noise complaint, Brett tells local fortuneteller Simone Moreau to tone down her late-night drum music. Simone, who claims to be a descendant of famed Louisiana Voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau, becomes obsessed with the detective. She believes that Brett, like her, possesses magic, as she senses the invisible partner who often accompanies him. She vows to uncover his secrets and get him into her bed—whether he’s willing or not. Meanwhile, Brett believes that Shawn Carter, the new chief of detectives, has it out for him. Carter seemingly takes his aggression out on him, demoting him to patrol duty. This makes it all the more taxing for Brett to look into the inexplicable things happening in the city, especially the strange phenomenon of people (including Anders) wandering around as if lost. Simone is powerful enough to threaten Brett’s fellow cops as well as his girlfriend, Lisa Winslow, without being anywhere near them. But her magic could destroy all of Des Moines, and if Brett can’t stop her, he, his loved ones, and thousands of others will be in serious trouble.
There’s no investigation or murder mystery in Walters’ fourth outing with Brett O’Shea. It’s a supernatural thriller featuring villains who don’t bother hiding themselves. Carter makes his animosity for Brett obvious, and Simone blatantly tells him she’s coming for him. It certainly makes for a tense narrative—there’s perpetual menace ready to strike Brett, Lisa, Anders, and even Michael. They face evil that they can’t always see (such as a mysterious illness) as well as more tangible threats: Hordes of zombies rear their ugly heads, roaming the city, swarming buildings, and banging on doors. One mystery does unfold—the nature of Brett’s own supernatural ability, which may help in fighting Simone. The novel’s easygoing tone incorporates an understated religious theme, with Michael casually addressing God almost as if the two regularly converse: “You're the Big Guy, after all. You can do anything. Right?” This Judeo-Christian thread somewhat demonizes Voodooism, as Simone, an apparent priestess, is the antagonistic, evil “she-witch” who wields the dark arts. However, Walters smartly shrouds Simone and most of what she does in ambiguity without specifying the source of her malevolence. Overall, it’s a grim story occasionally alleviated by likable characters and humor. Brett and Lisa make an endearingly devoted couple, but the highlight is Brett’s relationship with his phantom relative. Michael tends to make his presence known without warning, suddenly speaking into Brett’s ear to ensure his great-grandson jumps in shock. Despite a solid resolution to this tale, the ending more than hints that another sequel will follow.
A memorable cast of mortals and ghosts complements this spooky thriller.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 260
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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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