An exciting, tightly written tale of magic.
In Hebert’s fantasy novel, a suburban sorcerer tries to reckon with his past and protect his family.
Daniel Ward is an accountant with a house in the suburbs, a wife, and two kids, but his perfectly crafted, white-picket-fence existence is a lie, concealing something much stranger and much more dangerous. Daniel is a magic-user who’s lived for several centuries as part of a mystical order known as the Arvynth. They’re dedicated to preserving the Silence—a force that’s opposed to any and all disorder. Daniel possesses the rare ability to affect time itself, which those in his circle see as taboo; however, he abandoned the Arvynth quite a while ago and chose to live in hiding as a mortal after growing disillusioned with the order’s beliefs. When his 10-year-old son is nearly hit by a truck, Daniel’s panic overtakes his caution and he does something he hasn’t done in decades—use his magic: “The years I’d spent pretending to be ordinary—gone, shattered like ice on pavement.” This moment of desperation leads to further danger and intrigue for Daniel and his family, which leads the sorcerer to use every tool at his disposal. This work will grab readers’ attention early as Hebert combines a diverse array of genres—fantasy, thriller, family road novel, and others—into a fast-paced, character-driven adventure. These eclectic influences lead to an exciting read that ultimately centers on a clear, simple, and familiar storyline. The book’s intense pacing, driving narrative, and occult worldbuilding work so well, in large part, because they remain so tightly anchored by the strong characterization and compelling relationships of David and his loved ones. The novel is helped along by the author’s tight, clear prose and strong instincts with action scenes.
An exciting, tightly written tale of magic.Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781970844009
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This thriller’s eerie mood is deflated by a plot with more holes than a Halloween sheet.
Could making a movie about the disappearance of five women from an island reawaken an evil presence there?
Five dresses hang from the topmost limbs of an oak on a remote island in a Vermont lake. That memorable image marks a mystery from a century ago, when five women believed to have been part of a commune vanished forever. As this novel opens, another group gathers on the island to make a movie based on that tale. Marin Keane, the narrator, is surprised but thrilled to find herself cast as one of the leads; she’s a struggling actor whose biggest part so far has been “Bridesmaid with Eczema” in a drug commercial, so playing Daisy Rue, whose haunting diary is the basis for the movie’s script, could be a career-making move. Ronan Peters, the writer-director, is talented and, Marin notes, hot. His reason for gathering the cast on the island is a kind of boot-camp rehearsal: They’ll spend a week living there, wearing period clothes, and managing without internet or phone service. Oh, and holding séances. What could go wrong? Marin quickly meets the other women in the cast: regal character actor Julianne Brown, cool and competent Heather Benchley, bratty former Disney star Susie Hutchinson, and, striking awe in all of them, Violet Wright, a much-awarded Meryl Streep-ish figure who will play the woman who brought the others to the island, which she owned. They get to work, but soon enough someone disappears. The book’s plot, like the movie’s script, largely follows Daisy’s journal, and since the reader is supplied with pages-long sections of that journal, there’s not much suspense about what will happen next. There are some effective set pieces, such as the group’s first séance. But in its last quarter, the plot collapses into a muddle of #MeToo vengeance, improbable secrets, and jarring character reveals that is, as Marin says, “the most Scooby-Doo thing I’ve ever heard.”
This thriller’s eerie mood is deflated by a plot with more holes than a Halloween sheet.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
ISBN: 9798217044092
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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