A pulpy, entertaining throwback about bad men and real monsters.
The unlikeliest of monster hunters teams up with her uncle, a burned-out Vietnam vet, seeking revenge.
Feeling his oats after the knockout twofer of Fever House (2023) and its sequel, The Devil by Name (2024), Rosson returns with an even grungier throwback, dressed up as a vampire-infested road novel. In December 1975, just outside Portland, Oregon, roughneck bartender Duane Minor knows he’s on thin ice. His wife, Heidi, a college student who dreams of becoming a writer, is none too pleased with his PTSD and burgeoning drinking problem. Duane is managing to just hold down his in-laws’ bar, the Last Call Tavern, but he knows something funny is going on with the business. Meanwhile, Heidi and Duane are both trying to connect with Heidi’s 13-year-old niece, Julia, who was reluctantly sent to them after her mother murdered her stepfather. It’s a rough scene made worse when Duane has a bad run-in at the bar one night with a bunch of bikers led by one John Varley. After the century-old Varley viciously dismembers both Heidi and her parents, Duane and Julia hit the road seeking vengeance. For horror fans, this is closer to crime fiction than loftier vampire fare—think Richard Lange’s terrific outlier Rovers (2021) or From Dusk Till Dawn in lieu of tortured immortals in velvet capes. Julia’s character takes a dramatic turn after they encounter a sanctuary dubbed the Children’s Museum, led by an ancient, lonely creature called Adeline. Even as he and Julia navigate this bizarre subculture, Duane’s defining characteristic remains the conflict between his inner demons and his outer ones. “You want that man to come forward, that killer I was, but I’ll drown if I do it. I’ll die,” he swears. Meanwhile, John Varley and his psychotic “thrall” leave a bloody trail across the country, chased by one broken man and a little girl with nothing but half a dozen silver bullets to their names.
A pulpy, entertaining throwback about bad men and real monsters.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733400
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 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.
