A worthy, gripping introduction to a chiseled hero who flaunts his strengths.
In this thriller, a Navy Special Forces veteran and ex-assassin helps his friends when gangsters become a threat.
Years ago, Cody Houston, just out of the Navy, was mourning the father he lost. He decided to tackle an unorthodox job. Cody became a contract killer for a corrupt syndicate based in Spain, assassinating “crime lords of one sort or another.” But he’s done with that now and ready to live a quiet life in Central Florida. Woodworking—once a cover job—is his full-time gig. But when his friends Tom and Jenny Jennings, who are siblings, run into financial trouble with their family-owned marina, Cody soon attributes it to a group of Russians in town. It seems that the Russians want that marina and are clearly up to no good; their misdeeds involve drug deals and counterfeit money. Cody devises a clever scheme to shake up the Russians’ entire organization. But he must keep himself and others safe; from his new romantic interest, Shirley, a pharmaceutical sales representative, to Jenny’s free-spirited niece, Karen. Stewart’s riveting series opener offers the quintessential rugged hero: Cody rides a Harley, smokes cigars, and washes down his brownies with cold beer. But he uses his wits much more than his bulky muscles, and to great effect. In one scene, Cody, to ensure no one gets the drop on him, enters his own home with such methodical skill that potential invaders won’t likely stand a chance. While it’s fun to watch Cody settle into his new life, his romance with Shirley lacks depth. On one of their dates, for example, Shirley’s mind is more on hopping into bed than engaging in any meaningful conversations. Cody also seems fixated on sex on a subsequent date. Regardless, Cody’s proficient ways of staying ahead of criminals (and maybe the authorities, if necessary) can easily fuel an engrossing series.
A worthy, gripping introduction to a chiseled hero who flaunts his strengths.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2024
ISBN: 9798882668470
Page Count: 317
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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