An inventive, fast-paced reimagining of the infamous Whitechapel slayings.
Yu’s historical thriller follows two women on the hunt for a notorious serial killer.
The year is 1888, and London is rapt with fear and morbid curiosity over the brazen nighttime killings of several sex workers in the city’s notoriously seedy Whitechapel district. Finn Parker—an immortal human being “bound to eternity by a choice made in the distant past” who dates back to 2,600 B.C. and has witnessed four millennia of history—lives in town, where she poses as a successful painter (she’s taken on many identities throughout her life). Along with the enterprising young journalist Emily, an “unmarried woman” with whom Finn lives (scandalously, for the time), Finn sets out to track down and bring to justice the man who would become one of history’s best-known serial killers, a menace the papers have dubbed “Jack the Ripper.” Using the connections they’ve established in London high society, Finn, who has the collected wisdom and savvy of over 4,000 years of life at her disposal, works with Emily against the clock as the Ripper terrorizes London and makes headline after headline. As the women close in on the Ripper and the suspect pool begins to dwindle, Yu weaves an alternate-history ending to the legendarily unsolved case. The author moves quickly in this slim novel, and one comes to appreciate her inclination to brevity—since many readers will already know much of the Jack the Ripper story, Yu’s aversion to historical explication is appropriate here. The author vividly evokes the harsh realities of life in Victorian London: “The boy had been poor, sold newspapers, and ran errands for the slaughterhouse. His mother drank and beat him. A grocer’s young master bullied him and even broke his little finger. Later the boy pushed him down a stair. After the mother died the boy suddenly disappeared.” Finn’s extraordinary powers, accrued over her unnaturally long life, don’t always feel necessary to the proceedings, but Yu has brought fresh life to the oft-told Jack the Ripper story.
An inventive, fast-paced reimagining of the infamous Whitechapel slayings.Pub Date: April 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798995516101
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Grey Brume Press
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© 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.
