An intriguing and complex hero follows his gut in this engaging, inventive thriller.
An inquisitive Florida lawyer puts himself in danger after stumbling on an insurance scam in this debut novel.
Nick Sanchez, the protagonist of Vincenti’s series opener, doesn’t realize how good he has it until things abruptly change. As a very successful personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs at a stuffy Tampa firm, Nick is free to come and go as he pleases. That leaves him time for his true passion: sailing his boat, Laughing Gull. His problems start when he runs into ambulance chaser Seymour “Sledge” Maston in Key West. Sledge brags about settling a large case with Nick’s boss, “Bunky” Dandridge. Since the idea of Bunky’s collaborating with the sleazy Sledge shocks him, Nick continues to look into the case, poking around his boss’s office. Shortly after Nick mentions the case to Bunky, the protagonist determines that the boss and his college buddy Hollis Bradley are committing insurance fraud. For asking too many questions, Nick gets forced out during a “reorganization.” Sledge vanishes. Private eye Al Sambrano, whom Nick had seen at Sledge’s office, turns up at the attorney’s new private practice space to invite him to participate in Bunky’s scheme. So Nick; his girlfriend, Joulie Crane; and his friend Nate Briscoe continue to investigate this scam, remaining oblivious to the perils they face. This naturally leads to a showdown on the high seas. For his creative series, Vincenti, a sailor and retired lawyer, has crafted a multifaceted lead in Nick, who is too curious for his own good and not as devious as he thinks he is. The doggedness that serves him well as a lawyer gets him into trouble as an investigator. He attempts to juggle too many allies and foes and has to depend on luck to save him. He’s fortunate that the author gives him the hard-nosed Joulie and the savvy Nate. The villains are eminently hissable—both the entitled and the shady ones. The narrative is an enjoyable sail, gliding along smoothly with only occasional turbulence for Nick and company.
An intriguing and complex hero follows his gut in this engaging, inventive thriller.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2021
ISBN: 979-8-70-897718-2
Page Count: 374
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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