An often engaging novel with a perceptive protagonist but uneven characterization.
After witnessing a stabbing at a carnival, a man goes to great lengths to protect his sister, who knew the victim, in this thriller sequel.
Twenty-six-year-old Zane Clearwater isn’t having an easy time raising his 15-year-old sister, Lettie. He works a maintenance job at the zoo as well as a summer job at the carnival to be able to afford the rent for their two-bedroom apartment. A fight breaks out between two inebriated men at the carnival, resulting in one of them getting stabbed; the perpetrator flees, and as the victim lies bleeding, he calls out Lettie’s name. She tries to comfort him, but he dies in an ambulance. Later, when Zane asks his sister about the dead man, it’s clear that she’s hiding something that truly scares her. When the killer pays a visit to their home, Zane understands that his sibling could be the next to die. He pulls her from her class at school and takes her to their grandmother’s place, but before long, the girl goes missing, and Zane must work together with Lettie’s boyfriend, Angel, to find her and bring her home. Lipinski, who wrote Bloodlines(2015), returns with a gripping and well-paced follow-up. The novel offers action from the get-go and then paints a vivid picture of the relationship between Zane and his sister. He’s clearly shown to be traumatized by his past, in which his father killed his mother, but he cares deeply for his similarly scarred sibling and does everything he can to provide for her; he lacks a support system but does his best with what he’s given. But although his perspective is clear, readers may wish that the novel offered more of Lettie’s side of the story and provided more insight into the siblings’ relationship. Indeed, readers only get glimpses of Lettie’s personality, which keeps her from truly coming alive on the page.
An often engaging novel with a perceptive protagonist but uneven characterization.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9964676-8-1
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Majestic Content Los Angeles
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pulpy, entertaining throwback about bad men and real monsters.
The unlikeliest of monster hunters teams up with her uncle, a burned-out Vietnam vet, seeking revenge.
Feeling his oats after the knockout twofer of Fever House (2023) and its sequel, The Devil by Name (2024), Rosson returns with an even grungier throwback, dressed up as a vampire-infested road novel. In December 1975, just outside Portland, Oregon, roughneck bartender Duane Minor knows he’s on thin ice. His wife, Heidi, a college student who dreams of becoming a writer, is none too pleased with his PTSD and burgeoning drinking problem. Duane is managing to just hold down his in-laws’ bar, the Last Call Tavern, but he knows something funny is going on with the business. Meanwhile, Heidi and Duane are both trying to connect with Heidi’s 13-year-old niece, Julia, who was reluctantly sent to them after her mother murdered her stepfather. It’s a rough scene made worse when Duane has a bad run-in at the bar one night with a bunch of bikers led by one John Varley. After the century-old Varley viciously dismembers both Heidi and her parents, Duane and Julia hit the road seeking vengeance. For horror fans, this is closer to crime fiction than loftier vampire fare—think Richard Lange’s terrific outlier Rovers (2021) or From Dusk Till Dawn in lieu of tortured immortals in velvet capes. Julia’s character takes a dramatic turn after they encounter a sanctuary dubbed the Children’s Museum, led by an ancient, lonely creature called Adeline. Even as he and Julia navigate this bizarre subculture, Duane’s defining characteristic remains the conflict between his inner demons and his outer ones. “You want that man to come forward, that killer I was, but I’ll drown if I do it. I’ll die,” he swears. Meanwhile, John Varley and his psychotic “thrall” leave a bloody trail across the country, chased by one broken man and a little girl with nothing but half a dozen silver bullets to their names.
A pulpy, entertaining throwback about bad men and real monsters.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733400
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.
When a devoted husband and father disappears, his wife and daughter set out to find him.
Hannah Hall is deeply in love with her husband of one year, Owen Michaels. She’s also determined to win over his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey, who has made it very clear that she’s not thrilled with her new stepmother. Despite the drama, the family is mostly a happy one. They live in a lovely houseboat in Sausalito; Hannah is a woodturner whose handmade furniture brings in high-dollar clientele; and Owen works for The Shop, a successful tech firm. Their lives are shattered, however, when Hannah receives a note saying “Protect her” and can’t reach Owen by phone. Then there’s the bag full of cash Bailey finds in her school locker and the shocking news that The Shop’s CEO has been taken into custody. Hannah learns that the FBI has been investigating the firm for about a year regarding some hot new software they took to market before it was fully functional, falsifying their financial statements. Hannah refuses to believe her husband is involved in the fraud, and a U.S. marshal assigned to the case claims Owen isn’t a suspect. Hannah doesn’t know whom to trust, though, and she and Bailey resolve to root out the clues that might lead to Owen. They must also learn to trust one another. Hannah’s narrative alternates past and present, detailing her early days with Owen alongside her current hunt for him, and author Dave throws in a touch of danger and a few surprises. But what really drives the story is the evolving nature of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship, which is by turns poignant and frustrating but always realistic.
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5011-7134-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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