A creatively inspired tale of revenge and redemption from a writer with panache and potential.
An abused man exacts revenge on his former high school tormentors in Cromwell’s techno-thriller.
Eight years after graduating from high school, Alfred, a man on the autism spectrum, still suffers after being relentlessly bullied by a group of cruel schoolmates. As an adult, he’s now bent on revenge, and he puts his technological prowess to work in a diabolical scheme to settle the score. Alfred virtually assembles six of the most savage, intimidating, and physically abusive schoolyard bullies from his teenaged years who “put me through terror on a daily basis,” including Steve; Steve’s buddies, Bill, Nate, and Juan; Steve’s girlfriend, Alexa; and, worst of all, the pretty, spiteful, double-crossing seductress, Jessica. After stalking them with a “brain wave pattern signal collection device” to scan their minds, Alfred forcibly controls their conscious thoughts and their perceptions. Before embarking on a “path to forgiveness for all the wrongs perpetrated against me and to develop my empathy,” Alfred revels in his role as a vengeful sadist, creating a hellish landscape in which his former tormentors suffer the agonizing (though illusory) pain of needle sticks, starvation, dental infections, suffocation, and dark re-creations of their most uncomfortable childhood memories. Alfred then creates a virtual boardroom scenario in which each classmate faces the others for a “group discussion” to systematically process their misconduct. When an unexpected nemesis surfaces to derail the entire project, Alfred must reconsider his objective. Cromwell does an effective job of combining SF elements and emotional trauma in a complex and harrowing tale of revenge somewhat akin to the Saw horror movie series. The author’s clever integration into the narrative of insights into how people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome can be victimized, disenfranchised, and rejected by society because of their behavioral anomalies adds an additional layer of interest. This suspenseful story will appeal to fans of thoughtful psychological thrillers.
A creatively inspired tale of revenge and redemption from a writer with panache and potential.Pub Date: March 15, 2023
ISBN: 9798887633176
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Newman Springs
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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