This auspicious tale’s intriguing hero has the potential to shake up the techno-thriller genre.
In this novel, the daughter of a super-spy joins the Outfit, an elite clandestine organization, but it may not be a perfect fit.
Three months after leaving Princeton before completing her master’s degree in neuroscience, Alicia Yoder is immersed in training to be an agent in the Outfit, following in the footsteps of her adoptive father, Levi. He had rescued Alicia and her sisters from the streets and placed them with Grandma Yoder in a Philadelphia Amish farming community. She is at once plagued by self-doubts about her performance and haunted by a violent incident of which she has no memory. She is shocked to learn that she killed one of two intruders one night, an incident that the Outfit covered up: “If what she had seen of the Outfit was any indication, they were capable of far more than she had ever imagined.” She will find out just how much more when she is sent on a training mission with a senior agent to Taiwan. The assignment is to find out what is hidden at a secretive facility called New Arcadia and why the Chinese would risk destabilizing relations with America and starting World War III to obtain it. From The Manchurian Candidate–style memory implantation and cool mission names like Dragon’s Breath Protocol to self-destructing briefcases, this story skillfully evokes 007 and the Mission: Impossible franchise. Alicia makes a memorable first impression (she bests her fellow agents in a challenge involving a WALL-E–type robot), and between her abilities and self-doubts, she engenders a strong rooting interest. Her memory lapse is something of a nonstarter in the context of this tale (The protagonist was introduced in Rothman's 2022 book, Multiverse, which is excerpted at the end of this work, along with a preview of the next Alicia Yoder novel, Operation Thrall). And the writing could be sharper (the phrase “the world grew dark” is used twice to diminishing effect). But this Crichton-esque techno-thriller efficiently blends international intrigue and spy action with science elements.
This auspicious tale’s intriguing hero has the potential to shake up the techno-thriller genre.Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 978-1960244161
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Primordial Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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