A breezy romantic thriller with enough intriguing twists to satisfy fans of the genre.
In Tirado-Ryen’s novel, an amnesiac attempts to piece together her life and doesn’t like what she finds.
In New York City in 2013, a woman wakes up from a coma with no recollections of her past and no forms of identification. Vague memories make her believe that her name is Victoria “Vickie” Winslow, and that she enjoys exciting hobbies, such as skydiving. She was hit by a car driven by movie star Jack Post, and she takes up his offer to stay at his mansion until she figures out her next move. They have crackling romantic chemistry, but it’s interrupted when a private investigator discovers that Vickie’s real name is actually Anne Strafford—and that she’s married. Anne doesn’t get a warm welcome from her loved ones; instead, she discovers that her husband, Frederick, has had her served with divorce papers; apparently, incriminating emails prove that Anne has had multiple affairs. As Anne continues to delve into her previous life, she uncovers more details that seem inconsistent with what she remembers, as well as horrifying evidence of past misdeeds—including what led to her getting hit by a car. Anne sets out to make amends with her estranged spouse and twin sister, determined to right the wrongs she’s just starting to recall: “These moments came to her unexpectedly… Giant gaps between memories, flashes of insight that she could never be certain were true. But she had to trust herself, for she had no one else.” It’s a testament to Tirado-Ryen’s talent that readers will sympathize with Anne and her plight, even when she becomes easy to dislike as her former personality comes to light. Some minor inconsistencies (such as a reference to banana peppers that become bell peppers on the next page) may pull the reader out of the novel. Still, the naturalistic dialogue and brisk pace will keep readers engaged, as will the unpredictable plot.
A breezy romantic thriller with enough intriguing twists to satisfy fans of the genre.Pub Date: June 22, 2023
ISBN: 9798218334680
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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