An action-packed but uneven thriller.
A lawyer rescues a victim in distress and gets drawn into the hunt for a serial rapist in this crime novel.
Attorney Jessie Martin pulls over to the side of the road while driving in Poughkeepsie, New York, when she spies a woman lying unconscious in the pouring rain. The woman, Lissie Sexton, survives—she’s a sex worker who was mercilessly beaten by a client she cannot adequately identify. Police detective Ebony Jones—a direct, “just the facts, ma’am” type of investigator—comes to believe that Lissie suffered at the hands of a dangerous serial rapist as similar victims are discovered. Unfortunately, Lissie disappears, and it turns out that she’s represented by Jeremy Kaplan, a shady lawyer, who insists on keeping her whereabouts unknown. Jessie has a tortured history with Jeremy, a despicable man who once tried to destroy her career. Yet she is now offered a job by him. A distraught Jessie mulls her thorny predicament: “Was she really considering crossing over to the dark side? To Jeremy Kaplan? The man who’d almost had her disbarred, who’d cost her the partnership at Curtis and McMann, her engagement to Kyle, and who’d threatened her life and Lily’s? Was she out of her freaking mind?” She ends up accepting the position against her better judgment. Now, Jones leans on Jessie to disclose Lissie’s whereabouts. But Jessie refuses, a decision that only increases the already existing tensions between her and Jones, her former best friend.
In this ambitious sequel, Millman certainly doesn’t skimp on the action—every page seems to reveal a new drama or explain an old one, and the tale’s pace never lags. The main plot is intelligently structured and entirely plausible. While it offers nothing literarily original, the story provides a thoughtful portrayal of the tension between the demands of defense attorneys and the needs of law enforcement. But the tale is written in such a hyperventilated style that it sometimes seems more comic than tragic. The backstory is so complex that it quickly becomes a burden—the book begins with an unwieldy freight of dramas that are difficult to unravel. Jessie is stalked by a psychotic killer; is in a state of perpetual struggle with her ex-fiance; and flounders in her current relationship with Hal Samuels, a district attorney, who has his own set of problems, both professional and personal. As the subplots multiply, the tale becomes increasingly overwrought. But the principal bar to readers’ enjoyment of what could be an entertaining crime drama is the author’s writing, which swings from melodramatic to bland. Consider this internal monologue by Jones: “This is why I became a public servant, she thought. Solving crimes and catching scumbags are cool, but saving a life’s the best.”
An action-packed but uneven thriller.Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68512-082-5
Page Count: 374
Publisher: Level Best Books
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
