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
Don’t feel that your current news feed is disturbing enough? Penny has just what you need.
A sequel to The Grey Wolf (2024) that begins with the earlier novel’s last line: “We have a problem.” And what a problem it is.
Now that Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his allies in and out of the Sûreté du Québec have saved Canada’s water supply from poisoning on a grand scale, you might think they were entitled to some rest and relaxation in Three Pines. No such luck. Don Joseph Moretti, the Sixth Family head who ordered the hit-and-run on biologist Charles Langlois that nearly killed Gamache as well, is plotting still more criminal enterprises, and Gamache can’t be sure that Chief Inspector Evelyn Tardiff, who’s been cozying up to Moretti in order to get the goods on him, hasn’t gone over to the dark side herself. In fact, Gamache’s uncertainty about Evelyn sets the pattern for much of what follows, for another review of one of Langlois’ notebooks reveals a plot so monstrous that it’s impossible to be sure who’s not in on it. Is it really true, as paranoid online rumors have it, that “Canada is about to attack the U.S.”? Or is it really the other way around, as the discovery of War Plan Red would have it? As the threats loom larger and larger, they raise questions as to whether the Black Wolf, the evil power behind them, is Moretti, disgraced former Deputy Prime Minister Marcus Lauzon, whom Gamache has arranged to have released from prison, or someone even more highly placed. A brief introductory note dating Penny’s delivery of the uncannily prophetic manuscript to September 2024 will do little to assuage the anxieties of concerned readers.
Don’t feel that your current news feed is disturbing enough? Penny has just what you need.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328175
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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
© Copyright 2025 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.
