Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale.
An idyllic small American town may hide a seedy underbelly in this thriller.
Scott Casey and his parents have lived in Ridgeport, Illinois, since 1986. It’s a veritable utopia, crime-free and abundant in neighbors who greet folks with a smile. That’s not by accident; residents must abide by copious rules lest they suffer fines or lose their “residency cards” that give them discounts at local stores. Scott is a mere 10 years old in ’96 when he first gets an inkling that Ridgeport isn’t so squeaky clean. While the town hasn’t seen any murders, a few people have mysteriously disappeared. When someone Scott knows vanishes years later, he and his best friend, Matt Norris, focus their suspicions on Matt’s mom, Sue Ellen. She created and heads the Neighborhood Watch Committee but may not be as stable as she appears in public. The boys desperately want to know what’s in her secret room in the basement—one so secure they’ll need to manipulate a fingerprint scanner to get inside. But neither friend can anticipate what lies beyond that door. Kenealy gradually builds suspense in a story that spans a couple of decades. The tale begins in the ’80s as Scott’s mother, Loretta, seems to fall under Sue Ellen’s spell. But the narrative teases the 2004 date of Ridgeport’s first homicide and works its way to that fateful year. The author’s largely unadorned prose aptly details the town’s centurylong history as well as its fat “residency book” (required reading for newcomers). Kenealy also wisely focuses on the cast. Young Scott’s rebellious acts form an enjoyable coming-of-age subplot that includes an episode in which he and his friends sneak alcoholic drinks at a wedding. But no character outshines Sue Ellen; even readers can’t be sure what the dubious woman has actually done. The revealing final act drops more than one surprise as it deftly cranks up the tension.
Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-98520-980-8
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Bowker
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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