A clear-cut, concise thriller about an ordinary woman with a special gift.
An accountant with a paranormal intuitive ability is invited to join a research project at a mysterious company in Johnson’s debut novel.
Linda Russell, a middle-aged CPA, is living comfortably and dreaming of retiring to the Caribbean. There is something unique about her: Linda has the ability to sense whether another person is in trouble, and if so, she knows it before they do. (She once had an ambulance called for her boss moments before it became clear that it was necessary, saving his life.) Lately, she has been having chance encounters with a man named John Bates. At first, he was a stranger talking to her at the mall—then he appeared at her daughter’s card game. The meetings are too dubiously coincidental, so he comes clean. Bates works for Genesis, a think tank that is a part of a data collection corporation. He says they work on research projects, but Linda isn’t sure why Bates is so interested in her, a seemingly typical middle-aged Black female. Bates wants Linda to be a data analyst, revealing that he is aware of her intuition and that Genesis wants to study her. (They are also interested in her granddaughter, who has the same gift.) Linda agrees to join Genesis, though the transition is a bit rocky (“Whenever there is change, it seems chaos occurs all around you”). Another, racist organization is also aware of Linda’s unique talent, and only Genesis can keep her and her granddaughter safe. Johnson’s novel creates a sharply drawn portrait of a mild-mannered accountant who only wants a comfortable life and a happy family but is drawn into something extraordinary. The characters are easy to picture and relate to; something initially intriguingly mysterious about Genesis builds some tension. The novel is fairly short, and, as the title suggests, just scratches the surface of the narrative’s potential. Here’s hoping a sequel will expand the plot to fully develop the many good ideas introduced in this offering.
A clear-cut, concise thriller about an ordinary woman with a special gift.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9798876763600
Page Count: 143
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 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
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