A thrilling, potent sequel offering more of the same well-honed tension and revenge-fueled retribution.
A medical professional with a penchant for score settling discovers another opportunity for vengeance.
Veldt’s (Unfortunate Event, 2015) sophomore effort returns to the scene of his debut medical chiller and, again, centers around middle-aged anesthesiologist Dr. Jack Andrews, who had previously been the target of a medical malpractice and a homicide lawsuit. He’s also suffering the ire of an embittered ex-wife. Now, even after serving a three-year humanitarian medical missionary term in Africa, Andrews remains disillusioned and yearns to exist just under the radar of suspicious law enforcement and his ex. Back in Omaha, still craving freedom and detachment, he enrolls as a traveling anesthesiologist and is immediately assigned to a hospital in Alaska, where he bonds with co-workers in his ward through a masterfully detailed hunting trip. Meanwhile, Kevin “Kenai” Hartly, a local successful car dealer, finds himself in hot water after killing one driver and seriously injuring another in a hit-and-run drunken driving ordeal. Veldt’s tightly woven yarn shifts into high gear once Hartly begins to show his obnoxious true colors. Not willing to risk the imprisonment of his irresponsible, arrogant son on a vehicular homicide charge, the man’s high-powered father, together with a corrupt attorney, plots to manipulate the court system to clear the guilty party. Hartly’s ruthless intimidation of the grieving family in front of Andrews enrages him, and, under the guise of taking one final deer-hunting trip before departing Alaska permanently, he calculatedly takes matters into his own hands. Both installments of this continuing saga work well together, though readers may be left wanting more page length and plot. Still, for suspense fans looking for a breezy yet exhilarating slice of crime and punishment, Veldt keeps the action crackling and the narrative tight—with just enough heroes and villains to keep the embers smoldering.
A thrilling, potent sequel offering more of the same well-honed tension and revenge-fueled retribution.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5369-3113-6
Page Count: 152
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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