A treat for fans of crime fiction. Delaware and Sturgis are a durable duo.
Psychologist Alex Delaware and Lt. Milo Sturgis collaborate for the 40th time to solve a series of puzzling murders in the Los Angeles area.
Deep into a Saturday night, a car pulls up to a hospital and the driver dumps a body and speeds away. Despite first impressions, it’s not an overdose. But then the coroner finds no wounds on the body. Hmm, what’s going on? It’s the first in a cluster of killings that have the two friends working together again. The victim was a photogenic 25-year-old woman with images of herself posted online. It appears she may have hooked up with a fake movie producer. Then, a guy who is shot in the neck appears to have been responsible for the woman’s death. And then another, also shot with precision to hit the jugular and carotid artery at an exact angle. That victim may have been coming onto someone’s daughter a little too strongly. Perhaps these two separate victims were killed for two separate motives, “united in death by one hired killer.” Or “Mr. Sniper’s a knight-errant avenging victims of abuse.” Or he might be helping someone in a custody battle. In one case, a woman is shot in a rowboat in the middle of a lake, leaving her unharmed child wailing and helpless. Author Kellerman, a psychologist himself, applies his professional knowledge with a light touch, mixing in a generous helping of police procedure, so all the readers notice is that they’re being entertained. And speaking of helpings, Milo seems to enjoy helping himself to whatever is in the Delawares’ refrigerator. (What else would you expect? They’ve been friends since 1985.) The two men are the best at what they do and complement each other in cracking open difficult cases. Alex’s wife, Robin, helps him “zero in on a common theme” about the killings. What a great relationship: When she’s not pursuing her own interests, they’re either having thoughtful conversations or joyous sex. Meanwhile, Milo admires Alex for his intellect: “I go to sleep and produce night-music, you reinvent the wheel.” The story moves quickly and smoothly, with vivid descriptions such as a woman with “hoop earrings the size of drink coasters.”
A treat for fans of crime fiction. Delaware and Sturgis are a durable duo.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593497692
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
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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