Poor character development and a convoluted plot hurt what might have been an interesting story.
A mysterious manuscript sends a young journalist on a collision course with an ancient and deadly secret society.
Buried in Shockey’s thriller is a potentially interesting story about a preternaturally gifted child, a murderous secret society, a race for priceless art, and a young journalist on the verge of bringing a 250-year mystery to light. But getting past the roadblocks Shockey erects in order to find the good stuff is harder than it should be. The story begins when journalist Nyala finds a manuscript left at her door, written by a mysterious author who calls himself Tsau-z. He writes of a boy named Hunter who possesses a unique supernatural talent: He can immediately tell the value of antique objects. Animals defer to him: Dogs “seemed to nod” at him and “birds never flew away” from him. Nyala shares that gift: “Deer didn’t run from her. Neither did rabbits hop away as she walked by.” She’s fascinated and sets out to verify the story. But Shockey seems to have a muddled understanding of how journalism works, and Nyala herself smacks of wishful thinking, the result of the cultural and political agenda of the author rather than an actual person. She’s a beautiful but virginal 20-something with “exotic” looks and “coppery skin.” She disdains other journalists as fake news and thinks guys with man buns are “gender-confused.” She admires Hemingway, John Wayne, and the Guess Who, and loves to watch the hunting channel. This is convenient: The villain using Hunter for nefarious purposes is an animal rights activist who dreams of banning hunting altogether. The plot grows increasingly convoluted, making it frustrating to follow, and Shockey’s inability to flesh out characters in any meaningful way robs the narrative of urgency. Add long search descriptions from Wikipedia and Google, and your interest in Tsau-z’s tale wanes long before his secrets are revealed.
Poor character development and a convoluted plot hurt what might have been an interesting story.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781668010358
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Emily Bestler/Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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
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