A dense, riveting tale starring a pair of private detectives who thrive in the murkiest circumstances.
In this thriller, two ex-feds hunt a serial killer with 12 mutilated victims in as many years, all within a small Alaskan town.
Happy with their quiet life together, Elijah Warren and Aurelia Blanc are reluctant to take a case for their old boss, FBI Director Clint Adams. Someone has been killing a person annually for the last 12 years, starting in 1986 in the town of Grizzly. But when the murderer breaks the pattern by killing two people in under a week, a victim’s mother calls Aurelia (her last case with Elijah was a newsworthy event last year). The private investigators leave their Minnesota cabin only for a storm to strand them—and Capt. Riff, the pilot of their plane—in Grizzly. Posing as Census Bureau agents, Elijah and Aurelia question residents, who seem generally indifferent. As the storm intensifies, the murders continue, and the PIs ultimately dig into Grizzly’s tangled history, which includes a violent individual who had inexplicably vanished more than a decade ago. Elijah speculates on the killer’s identity but will soon have to narrow down his choices once the murderer contacts him, implying that he has a captive who could become the next victim. Cady’s (A Solitary Awakening, 2016) bracing sequel centers on a realistically imprecise investigation. Theories, for example, keep changing as the private eyes gather more information. Likewise, at least one character points out their rather flimsy cover (would the Census Bureau really be interested in a town of fewer than 100 inhabitants?). Parts of the narrative are grim, though none more so than an unflinching eye on one of the killer’s assaults: “Blood ejected and splashed the dark.” Intriguing perspectives from various townspeople (or neighbors, such as medical examiner Kendrik Montrose of nearby Seward) don’t make determining the culprit any easier. It all leads to a labyrinthine final act rife with exposition and confession. Thankfully, the explanation, while convoluted, stays within the realm of logic and manages a few more unnerving moments.
A dense, riveting tale starring a pair of private detectives who thrive in the murkiest circumstances.Pub Date: July 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4834-7101-3
Page Count: 346
Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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