An often-intriguing conspiracy thriller.
In Miller’s novel, a college student tries to uncover the mysteries surrounding a secret society.
Tressa Litton is a senior at Wyval University in Pennsylvania. As with many of Wyval’s matriculates, she’s intrigued by its secret Summit Society: “Allegedly, the invitation to the society…came with a sworn oath of secrecy, bizarre initiation rituals, and intense demands to prove loyalty.” Not much is known about it by those outside the loop, but rumor has it that membership guarantees job opportunities and subsequent lifelong success. Tressa doesn’t give it too much thought, though; instead, she focuses intently on her studies to the point that she lacks much of a social life, save for her friendship with her roommate, Alex. However, she eventually meets Mauri Pierce, an edgy, orphaned young woman in her art history class. To the surprise of both young women, the Summit Society tasks Tressa and Mauri with clue-based, scavenger-hunt-like missions that send them to various locales. They soon team up to solve the riddles, which leads to an invitation to join the society, However, after an initiation ritual results in a student being injured by a shock collar, Tressa questions the society’s true nature. As she and Mauri reap the benefits of Summit membership, Tressa finds herself driven to investigate, which ends up putting her and her friends in danger. Although the story can sometimes feel repetitive, particularly when it dwells on Tressa’s seemingly perpetual paranoia, it’s ultimately an engaging read. Miller’s prose feels most immersive when focused on settings: “Wyval’s location blended both remoteness and convenience. To the north…thick forests of oak and hickory trees interrupted by an occasional grassy field created a peaceful but secluded environment.” Many characters are divertingly shifty, as well, from a professor whose relationships with students may go beyond the bounds of propriety to a student who has an unexpected connection to one of Tressa’s loved ones.
An often-intriguing conspiracy thriller.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781960226242
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Brother Mockingbird
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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