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THE MAN FROM GRIFFINTOWN

Name: THE MAN FROM GRIFFINTOWN
Author: Markus

by Markus ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A protagonist’s invisibility ignites a distinctive thriller jampacked with plot.

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A Canadian man’s sudden, unexplained invisibility makes him a target for countries determined to abuse his new powers of stealth in this debut thriller.

Georges Delson wakes up one morning to realize that he’s invisible. The Montreal native at first takes advantage of others’ inability to see him by stealing valuables. But when he humiliates despised former employers—called X , Y, and Z—he catches unwanted attention. His ex-bosses and the authorities pinpoint Georges as the possible culprit. He nonetheless finds an empathetic soul in Stéphane Laroche, a “good-looking” single female police captain who investigates cases involving unseen assailants (and whom he meets when he slips into her home one night while she’s drinking Grand Marnier). Others are less friendly: X, along with CIA and Russian agents, want Georges’ presumed technology or “formula” that makes him invisible. Georges soon learns that he had been an unwitting participant in an experiment, and one particular country later turns him into a type of covert agent primarily used for assassinations. As years pass, a sinister project creates Georges clones to carry out terrorist acts. Stéphane, whose feelings for Georges gradually deepen, searches for this elusive man whose life may be in danger. She also dodges attempts on her life, as she’s aware of Georges’ invisibility, and joins others in hunting whoever is behind the terrorist strikes. Markus’ book collects a trilogy, originally published in French, and the overall story is seamless and sharply paced, though generally somber. Book 1 is the strongest, as it focuses on Georges and learning the perks—and pitfalls—of his initially mysterious condition. The narrative becomes much denser by Book 2, as it expands to additional countries beyond Canada and to global concerns such as climate change. The final book organically shifts further toward SF, including a significant time jump and advanced artificial intelligence. The ending, however, introduces startling new elements that suggest a sequel more than they offer resolution.

A protagonist’s invisibility ignites a distinctive thriller jampacked with plot.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 425

Publisher: Manuscript

Review Posted Online: March 26, 2020

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

THRILLER | POLITICAL, MILITARY & TERRORISM

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YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST

by Joanna Wallace ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2024

Squeamish readers will find this isn’t their cup of tea.

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Dexter meets Killing Eve in Wallace’s dark comic thriller debut.

While accepting condolences following her father’s funeral, 30-something narrator Claire receives an email saying that one of her paintings is a finalist for a prize. But her joy is short-circuited the next morning when she learns in a second apologetic note that the initial email had been sent to the wrong Claire. The sender, Lucas Kane, is “terribly, terribly sorry” for his mistake. Claire, torn between her anger and suicidal thoughts, has doubts about his sincerity and stalks him to a London pub, where his fate is sealed: “I stare at Lucas Kane in real life, and within moments I know. He doesn’t look sorry.” She dispatches and buries Lucas in her back garden, but this crime does not go unnoticed. Proud of her meticulous standards as a serial killer, Claire wonders if her grief for her father is making her reckless as she seeks to identify the blackmailer among the members of her weekly bereavement support group. The female serial killer as antihero is a growing subgenre (see Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, 2018), and Wallace’s sociopathic protagonist is a mordantly amusing addition; the tool she uses to interact with ordinary people while hiding her homicidal nature is especially sardonic: “Whenever I’m unsure of how I’m expected to respond, I use a cliché. Even if I’m not sure what it means, even if I use it incorrectly, no one ever seems to mind.” The well-written storyline tackles some tough subjects—dementia, elder abuse, and parental cruelty—but the convoluted plot starts to drag at the halfway point. Given the lack of empathy in Claire’s narration, most of the characters come across as not very likable, and the reader tires of her sneering contempt.

Squeamish readers will find this isn’t their cup of tea.

Pub Date: April 16, 2024

ISBN: 9780143136170

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

Categories:

GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER | THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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DAUGHTER OF MINE

by Megan Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2024

Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.

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The loss of her police officer father and the discovery of an abandoned car in a local lake raise chilling questions regarding a young woman’s family history.

When Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, for her father’s memorial, she and the other townspeople are confronted by a challenging double whammy: As they’re grieving the loss of beloved longtime police officer Detective Perry Holt, a disturbing sight appears in the lake, whose waterline is receding because of an ongoing drought—an old, unidentifiable car, which has likely been lurking there for years. Hazel temporarily leaves her Charlotte-based building-renovation business in the capable hands of her partners and reconnects with her brothers, Caden and Gage; her Uncle Roy; her old fling and neighbor, Nico; and her schoolfriend, Jamie, now a mother and married to Caden. Tiny, relentless suspicions rise to the metaphorical surface along with that waterlogged vehicle: There have been a slew of minor break-ins; two people go missing; and then, a second abandoned car is discovered. The novel digs deeper into Hazel’s family history—her father was a widow when he married Hazel’s mother, who later left the family, absconding with money and jewels—and Miranda, a consummate professional when it comes to exposing the small community tensions that naturally arise when people live in close proximity for generations, exposes revelation after twisty revelation: “Everything mattered disproportionately in a small town. Your success, but also your failure. Everyone knows might as well have been our town motto.”

Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.