Raises the stakes of the original novel, with the same focus on social commentary mixed lightly with the action of a...
A beleaguered journalist returns to investigate a worldwide conspiracy utilizing genetically modified organisms for population control.
Fancying itself the steward of humanity, a shadowy group of elites has built an impressive and abominable network of corporations. The GMO–producing company Naintosa manufactures genetically altered food that causes cancer, while its sister pharmaceutical company, Pharmalin, produces the drugs to treat it. Threatening this built-in bottom line are the investigative journalists of Verigin’s (Dark Seed, 2013) first novel, Nick Barnes and Sue Clark, backed by commando-esque retired oil tycoon Jack Carter, who, together with a regretful ex-employees are able to craft a scathing exposé that closes down the companies’ Bolivian branches. Fast-forward and Nick is living a sequestered, paranoid life, failing to write a novel while the media juggernaut that is Global Mark Communications suppresses the work he and Sue risked their lives to uncover. But as people begin dying around him again, Nick finds himself once more allied with Carter and his cadre of armed guards, investigating an overlooked side effect of Naintosa and Pharmalin meddling: human sterilization. This quiet genocide turns what was merely an inhumane moneymaking scheme into a horrific plan of population control, and if Nick and company wish to upend the dangerous cabal behind it, they will have to use every resource at their oilman’s disposal to stay alive. The potbellied Nick is a nontraditional but relatable hero. He panics, he cries, he checks out cleavage at every opportunity, but ultimately he remains brave and committed to the truth. The story is told largely in the first person from his point of view, the narration’s slight awkwardness reflecting Nick’s own gawkiness. There’s plenty of action, from woodland shootouts to ATV chases, even a deadly golf-balling, all necessary breaks from the book’s whole chapters of research and exposition. Curious readers should find many of the topics about GMOs particularly intriguing, with ties to real-world science. The ending leaves much still unanswered and Nick once more in jeopardy, an Empire Strikes Back moment no doubt prepping the continuation of the series.
Raises the stakes of the original novel, with the same focus on social commentary mixed lightly with the action of a globe-spanning spy thriller.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-987857-55-9
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Promontory Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Thin characters, fat plot-holes, sluggish pacing and Cussler’s signature clunky prose.
The smartest shamus on earth tracks the planet’s cleverest lowlife in the latest to roll from the Cussler assembly line (Polar Shift, 2005, etc.).
In 1906, they didn’t come any nastier than the Butcher Bandit, who, when the book opens, has already racked up 38 kills, a goodly number of them women and children. He robs banks, murdering—remorselessly—any unfortunate who happens to be on the premises at the time. So adept at the work is he, we’re told exhaustively, that he’s commonly believed to be uncatchable. Which is why Isaac (“He always gets his man”) Bell of the Van Dorn Detective Agency is assigned the case. But the Butcher Bandit is a slippery one indeed. Not only brilliant, audacious and cold-blooded beyond measure, he is also not the stuff of which bottom-feeders are usually made. For it turns out that the master criminal who has robbed banks all over the Southwest is actually a bank president himself. In San Francisco, the extremely solvent Cromwell Bank is a byword for respectability, its founder and chief executive a pillar of the community. That would be Jacob Cromwell, aka the much sought after Butcher Bandit. So how to explain Cromwell’s deep, dark plunge into criminality? He loves the challenge, he says. There’s also that new word, Bell explains to an understandably puzzled colleague, that psychology professionals are beginning to use: sociopath. At any rate, the game’s afoot, the antagonists perfectly matched, with Cromwell convinced he can rob, kill and elude capture, and Bell promising not to rest “until I capture the man responsible for these hideous crimes.”
Thin characters, fat plot-holes, sluggish pacing and Cussler’s signature clunky prose.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-399-15438-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007
The secrets of the past refuse to keep quiet in this disquieting, taut thriller.
Thirty years ago, Seattle Police Capt. Edward Shank put down a serial killer dubbed the Butcher. Edward’s bullet ended Rufus Wedge’s sorry life. But did the killings end?
Hillier’s (Freak, 2012, etc.) third thriller fairly shudders with tension. Edward is ready to retire to an assisted living facility and give his grandson, Matt, the family home, a beloved Victorian in a posh neighborhood. An up-and-coming chef, Matt has parlayed his successful food-truck business into Adobo, the hottest restaurant in town, and the reality show networks are calling. The only trouble is that his girlfriend, Samantha, can’t understand why Matt hasn’t invited her to move in, too. After all, they’ve been together for three years. Pressuring Matt, though, isn’t getting her anywhere, and even their friend—well, really Sam’s friend—Jason is a little mystified. Certainly, Matt’s history of anger management trouble gives Jason pause. While Matt renovates the house and works late, Sam turns back to researching her latest true-crime book. This time, she has a personal investment. She’s convinced that her mother was killed by the notorious Butcher. Bored at the retirement home, Edward has become an invaluable sounding board. Like the Butcher’s other victims, Sam’s mother was raped, strangled and left in a shallow grave. Unfortunately for Sam’s theory, her mother was killed two years after Rufus Wedge’s death. Meanwhile, Matt’s contractor has unearthed a crate filled with gruesome artifacts. As Matt investigates the crate’s contents and Sam questions a mysterious informant, their romance unravels and the body count begins to rise. Hillier sends her reader into a labyrinth of creepy twists and grotesque turns. There’s no escape from the brutal truths exposed.
The secrets of the past refuse to keep quiet in this disquieting, taut thriller.Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-3421-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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