An often compelling spy tale with plenty of twists and turns.
In Levin’s thriller, a Soviet espionage project reemerges decades after the end of the Cold War.
In the 1970s, hundreds of highly trained operatives of the U.S.S.R. infiltrated the United States, posing as ordinary U.S. citizens and integrating themselves into American society. In 2011, Lisa Jones, a 28-year-old genetic researcher, receives a strange call, consisting of random Russian words spoken over the 18th-century musical arrangement “La Voltaire et La Franklein,” and goes into a trance. A week later, her 30-year-old boyfriend, Stephan Beck, who interprets intercepted Russian messages for the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, translates one that’s partially concealed by a series of noises; he later discovers that the same sequence—hidden under “La Voltaire et La Franklein”—is on a recording he made at Lisa’s class reunion months before. It’s revealed that Lisa’s parents, Roxanne and Peter, were among the aforementioned Soviet agents, and that Lisa’s school was teaching more than the usual subjects. As Stephan tries to figure out what’s going on, Lisa continues to receive trance-inducing phone calls; soon, she is roped into a clandestine project with dangerous implications. Levin delivers an action-packed novel with a fresh, engaging plot and memorable characters; in some ways, it feels like a love letter to classic spy tales, such as Walter Wager’s Telefon (1975). The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, although all but one of them—Stephan’s—are written in the third person, which some readers may find distancing. Additionally, the narrative reveals some major plot points very early, including Lisa’s parents’ past and the truth about the school, which takes away much of the element of mystery. Still, it’s an entertaining read that explores rivalries, secrets, and vestiges of Cold War tension. There’s also some metafictional humor: “Turning back to the work waiting on her computer, she thought, ‘You know, I’d make a really excellent spy, just like in those old Cold War novels.’”
An often compelling spy tale with plenty of twists and turns.Pub Date: June 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781685134365
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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