A superb hero hunts for answers in this sharply written, increasingly disturbing tale.
An American woman’s fate has ties to a dangerous, millennia-old secret society in this debut thriller.
After a public clash with her cheating boyfriend, 24-year-old Sophie Greer is positive she’ll lose her job in Paris. But Edward Hughes, CEO of the mergers and acquisitions firm that employs her, lends an unexpected helping hand. He also seems genuinely interested in Sophie, asking her to dinner and, later, a work-related meeting in Moscow. Sure, he’s handsome and charming, but Sophie is understandably wary. He knows maybe a bit too much about her, like her favorite dish (“The magret de canard is out of this world”). Things only get more unnerving from there, as Edward’s father and half brother have a bizarre fixation on Sophie as well. She winds up in a variety of places, including Los Angeles, and mingles (sometimes unwillingly) with the Hughes family and associates. But what exactly is going on? All anyone gives Sophie are “riddles” as she tries to figure out how she connects to The Order of Belial, some sort of secret organization. But the more she learns, the deeper she falls under the merciless spell of her apparent destiny. Juvenelle cloaks her series opener in a rich, brooding atmosphere. Most characters, for example, evade Sophie’s questions, and the quick-witted, cool-headed hero struggles with deciding which Hughes brother, if any, to trust. Details gradually come to light, especially for readers, as Sophie’s first-person narration periodically changes to Edward’s perspective and others’ viewpoints. The story grows darker as it becomes more apparent what The Order is, and some readers will have trouble sifting through the harsh content of myriad later scenes. The author’s prose is nevertheless crisp and often lyrical, especially when describing a Parisian daytime walk and the LA streets at night. As the novel inches closer to its ending, signs of a subgenre crop up and peak with an unforgettable cliffhanger.
A superb hero hunts for answers in this sharply written, increasingly disturbing tale.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986723129
Page Count: 542
Publisher: By the Pure Sea Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.
A frustrated advice columnist takes matters into her own hands.
Before dropping out of MIT during the second semester of her sophomore year, Debbie Mullen had designs on becoming the next Bill Gates. Now, almost 30 years later, the stay-at-home wife and mother of two uses her considerable genius to keep the Mullens’ Hingham, Massachusetts, household functioning “like a well-oiled machine.” In her spare time, Debbie also gardens and shares “the fruits of [her] wisdom” with neighbors via the weekly advice column she writes for Hingham Household, a local “family-oriented” newspaper. Though Debbie is proud of her husband and teen daughters’ accomplishments, her own life sometimes feels a bit empty. As such, she’s both honored and excited when Home Gardening magazine selects her backyard to feature in their next issue. Then, at the last minute, the publication decides to go in a different direction and instead spotlights the roses of her arch rival. Later that day, the editor-in-chief of Hingham Household axes her column because she’d counseled a reader to get a divorce. That evening, Debbie learns that her hard-working husband’s miserly boss refused his promotion request, her brilliant older daughter’s sketchy boyfriend broke her heart, and her athletically gifted younger daughter’s chauvinistic coach cut her from the soccer team for being “chubby.” Enough is enough. Debbie has always given great advice—everybody says so. If certain individuals don’t know what’s best for themselves, maybe it’s her obligation to help them see the light. Increasingly unhinged entries from a “Dear Debbie” drafts folder pepper the briskly paced, meticulously crafted tale, which unfolds courtesy of a pinwheeling first-person narrative. Some of the plot’s myriad twists are more impressive than others, but plucky, puckish Debbie is a nontraditional antihero for the ages.
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249624
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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