A timely and well-told legal mystery.
A cynical defense lawyer takes a case with the potential to alter his views of the justice system in Allan’s debut legal thriller.
Mason Mitchell has made peace with his livelihood. The criminal defense attorney represents Milwaukee’s worst: drunk drivers, drug dealers, armed robbers, and gang members (“The majority of Mason’s clients were guilty, the kind of people you would call criminals, and he was one hundred percent okay with that. It came with the territory, and he suffered no pangs of conscience”). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mason is divorced, increasingly estranged from his daughter, lives alone, works long hours, and drinks a lot of vodka. Not all of Mason’s clients are clear-cut villains, however; take Lori Wells, a steakhouse waitress charged with attempted homicide for stabbing her husband. Lori has no memory of doing it, nor can she imagine why she ever would. Then there’s the higher-profile case of Michael Key, a Black high school football coach accused of killing his white wife. The public has already made up its mind regarding Key’s guilt, but, for once, Mason believes his client is truly innocent. The question is whether Mason is a good enough lawyer to keep the justice system from ripping either client to shreds. Allan’s incisive prose adeptly threads the needle between sincerity and satire, as when Mason drunkenly complains about his job to a disinterested bartender: “ ‘Most of the lawyers you see in here don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone they represent. Guilty, innocent, they could care less. They aren’t in the law business, they’re in the processing business.’ Mason was rolling downhill, and didn’t notice his bartender glance around for a plausible excuse to walk away.” The characters are compelling and the cases are intricate, inviting readers to quickly lose themselves in the procedural details. One hopes there are further Mason Mitchell thrillers on the docket.
A timely and well-told legal mystery.Pub Date: May 20, 2023
ISBN: 9798988241003
Page Count: 387
Publisher: Stretched Studio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.
Lt. Eve Dallas’ 63rd futuristic case is less a whodunit than a manhunt for an unusually sympathetic killer.
Thirteen years ago, way back in 2048, scientific genius Steve Redman—father of the Banner-Wyst corporation’s Rainmaker Project—narrowly escaped death in a gas explosion that killed his pregnant wife and infant son and 200 other residents of their New York City apartment building the night before he planned to report his suspicions about the company to the FBI. Now the bill is coming due for Banner-Wyst. The first death to be discovered is that of Lawrence Chu, Redman’s colleague and trusted friend, whose tenure as director of bioengineering science ends when he’s beaten to death. For quite a while, Dallas and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, know less about this mystery than their readers do. But when Ezra Dent, a consultant to Banner-Wyst who worked with Redman and Chu back in the day, is murdered in exactly the same ferocious way, Dallas and Peabody, with help from Roarke, Dallas’ tech-billionaire husband, promptly put the pieces together and determine who they’re looking for. The search for Redman, who went AWOL from his hospital bed without a trace six years ago, has its own challenges. So does Dallas’ attempt to get cooperation from partners Calvin Banner and Jacob Wyst, who are clearly in the crosshairs of a killer who seems a lot less monstrous than they are. If the breaks in the case are suspiciously convenient in arriving, readers can pride themselves on taking sides against a mega-corporation whose self-avowed ecological saintliness is undermined by its leaders’ underhanded dealing.
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414564
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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