The gritty Vietnam section constitutes a rewarding novella itself, and King’s shrewd use of it as the seminal period in the...
A gripping, intricately plotted psychological thriller, full of subtle twists.
Allen Carmichael (a minor character from King’s Folly, 2001) works outside the law as a “kidnapper,” abducting abused children and, with the help of an underground network run by an enigmatic woman named Alice, placing them with complicit foster families. Just as you’re absorbing this scenario, the story flashes back to Allen’s harrowing tenure in Vietnam. During his yearlong hitch, he witnesses the brutal killing or maiming of all his buddies. After discharge, there’s a period of homelessness, a failed marriage, and a series of unsuccessful jobs before he finds salvation helping at-risk kids. He also reunites with brother Jerry (a sheriff) and builds a romantic relationship with a sea-loving woman named Rae (a central figure in Folly), aboard her boat, the Orca Queen. On the brink of retirement, Allen is drawn into one last case, a sensitive and dangerous one. Twelve-year-old Jamie O’Connell, a computer fanatic, suffers physical and emotional torture at the hands of his charismatic father Mark, a high-powered southern California entrepreneur. Jamie’s early years were studded with tragedy: the suicide of his mother, the drowning of a friend, a raging fire at his school. He escapes to the Internet, where his handle is Deadboy. Allen abducts Jamie with nary a hitch, taking him to Montana and the farm of Peter and Rachel Johnson. Jamie’s progress with the Johnsons is slow but steady, and Allen, meanwhile, digs into Jamie’s early years and Mark’s elusive business: and uncovers myriad disturbing facts that force him to postpone his retirement and return to Montana—before it’s too late.
The gritty Vietnam section constitutes a rewarding novella itself, and King’s shrewd use of it as the seminal period in the hero’s life gives a devastating and surprising spin to a familiar genre. And there’s more: multidimensional characters at every level and complex plotting earn the true application of that overused tag psychological thriller.Pub Date: March 4, 2003
ISBN: 0-553-80191-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The setup is so patient and the logistics so matter-of-fact that even the savviest readers will be caught in the story’s...
The FBI hires an aging child actor to go undercover in a West Virginia prison to extract vital information from a convicted money launderer who’d rather keep his head down.
Tommy Jump’s best days onstage are probably behind him. At 27, he’s too old to play children or even teenagers. But as his old schoolmate Danny Ruiz, who’s now with the FBI, assures him, he’s not too old to earn a fat paycheck by playing the role of Peter Lenfest Goodrich, the high school history teacher who reacted to a bank’s plans to foreclose on his mortgage by robbing the bank and then getting caught. Danny is convinced that Tommy’s just the person to worm himself into the confidence of Mitchell Dupree, whose job as an executive in the Latin American division at Union South Bank was seriously compromised when he laundered millions for El Vio, the fearsome, half-blind boss of the New Colima Cartel. Mitch has a wife and two children just beginning the long wait outside for him to serve his time, and although he’s arranged for the documentary evidence he assembled against El Vio to be turned over to the authorities if anything untoward happens to him, he’s not about to upset the apple cart by talking out of turn—unless of course it’s to innocuous Pete Goodrich, who’ll be serving time alongside him in the minimum security Morgantown Prison as soon as he pleads guilty and bids a tearful farewell to Amanda Porter, Tommy’s actual fiancee, who’s just found out she’s pregnant. After all, Tommy’s been acting professionally for most of his life, and the FBI will spring him on a moment’s notice if he gets into trouble, so what could possibly go wrong? Fans of Parks’ well-oiled thrillers (Closer than You Know, 2018, etc.) won’t even bother to ask; they’ll be too busy licking their chops anticipating the twists that are bound to come.
The setup is so patient and the logistics so matter-of-fact that even the savviest readers will be caught in the story’s expertly laid traps before they know what’s happening.Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4353-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
A methodical bomber gives Virgil Flowers a welcome chance to recover from his atypically bombastic last outing (Bad Blood, 2010, etc.).
Three days before his 70th birthday, billionaire Willard Pye and his board of directors are one room away from an explosion that rocks his boardroom outside Grand Rapids and kills Angela (Jelly) Brown, his executive assistant. Another blast follows with indecent haste, killing a construction superintendent at the site planned for a new PyeMart in Butternut Falls, Minn. The second bombing brings out the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in the person of Virgil Flowers, who assures the disgruntled Pye that he expects to clear the case within a week. “One week and I kiss his ass,” Pye tells Marie Chapman, his high-priced amanuensis. But a week doesn’t look like nearly long enough for a case this complex. Lots of townsfolk in Butternut Falls are against the new megastore. The Cold Stream Fishers, fearing that a pristine trout stream will be fouled, are especially militant. And Despite Pye’s denials, it looks as if a PyeMart expediter has bribed Mayor Geraldine Gore and at least three city councilmen into supporting the highly divisive project. Virgil networks, invites more than 100 locals to make up lists of potential bombers and wonders whether his faltering long-distance relationship with Warren Count Sheriff Lee Coakley is strong enough to keep him safe from Marie Chapman and other indigenous temptresses. The bomber, meanwhile, is moving ahead with a deep-laid plan, setting off one explosive device after another in order to make some kind of statement, mislead Virgil and cover his tracks. The tale drags at times, but the mystification and detection are authentic and the solution surprisingly clever. Virgil fully deserves to have Willard Pye kiss his ass.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-15769-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
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