An intriguing, original tale for readers looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.
A psychological thriller in which a traveler receives the memories of every other person on his flight—and is unable to control who takes the lead in his mind.
When SF writer Brian Watson takes Flight 2164 from Philadelphia to Chicago, he doesn’t expect it to be eventful. But as all the passengers make their way to the baggage carousel, confusion sweeps through the crowd; suddenly, no one knows who they are or where they are. Everyone except Brian, that is, who now has the memories of all 110 passengers and members of the flight crew. However, he can’t control when these recollections will pop to the forefront of his brain—sometimes he wakes up unsure of his own name, what his interests are, or even what he was doing just a few moments before. Brian just wants to get rid of these excess memories and resume his normal, happy relationship with Brenda, to whom he’s engaged to be married. Doctors don’t know what to make of what’s happening to him, although one nurse, Marci, shows an unusual interest in him; she’s after very specific memories from Brian and even tries to overwhelm his senses with a makeout session that feels oddly familiar to him. Soon, Brian recalls talking to Marci about being able to transmit memories from one person to another—but whose memory is he experiencing? Debut author Austin delivers a psychological thriller novel with just enough science fiction mixed in to interest fans of either genre. The story can feel jarring and confusing at times, as Brian fades in and out of other people’s recollections and lives and the text occasionally falls into a stream-of-consciousness style. The tale is told from Brian’s point of view but also from the perspective of whomever’s in the lead in his head at a given time. However, the author makes sure that his protagonist floats in and out of memories seamlessly, giving the overall narrative a steady flow that makes for an easy read.
An intriguing, original tale for readers looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949398-49-6
Page Count: 406
Publisher: Rhetoric Askew, LLC
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.
The loss of her police officer father and the discovery of an abandoned car in a local lake raise chilling questions regarding a young woman’s family history.
When Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, for her father’s memorial, she and the other townspeople are confronted by a challenging double whammy: As they’re grieving the loss of beloved longtime police officer Detective Perry Holt, a disturbing sight appears in the lake, whose waterline is receding because of an ongoing drought—an old, unidentifiable car, which has likely been lurking there for years. Hazel temporarily leaves her Charlotte-based building-renovation business in the capable hands of her partners and reconnects with her brothers, Caden and Gage; her Uncle Roy; her old fling and neighbor, Nico; and her schoolfriend, Jamie, now a mother and married to Caden. Tiny, relentless suspicions rise to the metaphorical surface along with that waterlogged vehicle: There have been a slew of minor break-ins; two people go missing; and then, a second abandoned car is discovered. The novel digs deeper into Hazel’s family history—her father was a widow when he married Hazel’s mother, who later left the family, absconding with money and jewels—and Miranda, a consummate professional when it comes to exposing the small community tensions that naturally arise when people live in close proximity for generations, exposes revelation after twisty revelation: “Everything mattered disproportionately in a small town. Your success, but also your failure. Everyone knows might as well have been our town motto.”
Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781668010440
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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