An SF novel with elaborate worldbuilding, a charismatic lead, and a befuddling plot.
Mendoza’s portal SF/fantasy novel explores themes of identity, betrayal, and corruption.
Mendoza’s story takes place in two parallel dimensions on Earth. In one, humanity is united under the rule of First Consul Gaius Octavius who has depleted the world’s resources and is seeking to create a Gateway to the other dimension to obtain their resources in the hopes of winning a war with an alien species called “Stone Tails.” In the other, Duster Raines, a hard-drinking LA investigator with a dark, military past, is the “Shade” (dimensional twin) to Octavius. Raines is solicited by Madison Andrews to find her husband, who she says was abducted by aliens. He’s hesitant but agrees and acquires a package containing a key to a deposit box. Despite being pursued by FBI agents, SWAT operatives, and robotic canines, he gains access to the box, which contains a green stone ring. He then takes refuge in the apartment of 15-year-old neighbor, Juan, but government operatives soon discover him. An escape attempt leaves him badly injured, and he’s nursed back to health by a mad scientist named Badger. Badger explains the ring can traverse dimensions, and he takes Raines to meet the War Council, a resistance formed against Octavius. When they arrive, they learn that Octavius is creating a Gateway not only to drain more resources from their dimension, but to unite the two realms, become the Eternal Watcher, and gain immense power. Raines agrees to help if they can confirm Juan’s safety, and the team develops a plan: Use Raines’ ring to open a portal to the other dimension and destroy the Gateway. But if they gain access to the alternate dimension, will they have enough firepower to save the multiverse?
Mendoza creates an interesting premise and entertainingly combines elements of SF with detective noir. The pacing, while initially steady, soon falters, however, and action sequences often muddle important plot points. Mendoza depicts a richly detailed world (“The sky above barely showed blue anymore, dominated by those magnificent ebony towers…old skyscraper fronts like you might see back on your own Earth had been repurposed into a marketplace…like some sort of ancient bazaar”) and poses interesting questions, like the nature of identity in a megaverse that contains multiple versions of people. The author also creates impressive depth in the reluctant hero, Raines, by weaving in traumatic dreams of his time in the military. Other cast members, however, don’t enjoy the same intricate portrayal. Juan, for example, is a technological prodigy and adept with alien technologies, all of which is justified only by his explanation: “I play a lot of video games.” Additionally, some aspects of the world remain unclear, such as who gets a dimensional counterpart. Similarly, the dynamic of the connection between Shades is inconsistent. Despite these missteps, the story succeeds in creating a dynamic world with high stakes and plenty of narrative twists.
An SF novel with elaborate worldbuilding, a charismatic lead, and a befuddling plot.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781950301775
Page Count: 325
Publisher: Inkshares
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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