by Marvin J. Wolf ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 21, 2019
Strange circumstances throw together a detective duo in this riveting, complex tale.
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Two unlikely partners find themselves in the crosshairs of a ruthless international gang in this thriller.
Veteran author Wolf has created an intriguing odd couple in this first volume of his new series. Wily detective Rudy Chelmin joined the Army Criminal Investigation Division after losing his leg in action in 1991. He discovers a new partner in recruit Will Spaulding, who finds a woman’s naked body in a boxcar full of Army boots. Will enlisted in the Army after getting run out of Barstow, California, after daring to arrest a guilty but privileged scion. The two pair up to solve the murder of Kendra Farrell, the naked woman who died from hypothermia. But their efforts attract the attention of M-9, a dangerous Salvadoran gang, which blows up Will’s Camaro with an RPG. Kendra worked at a base that was the Marine equivalent of Amazon, handling orders for all sorts of items. So first the investigators have to determine whether Kendra was involved in or stumbled onto something shady. Next, they have to figure out which of the police with whom they have been working may be in league with M-9, striving to block their investigation. Finally, Rudy disappears and Will has to locate him before he ends up exactly like Kendra. Wolf, who was an Army combat photographer in Vietnam, draws on his experiences to lend authenticity to his descriptions of the military and its infrastructure. But he also shines at research, painting a vivid picture of M-9 and its associates. Between his knowledge and his inquiries, the author has fashioned a well-woven tapestry that Rudy and Will must unravel in order to solve their case. The well-drawn Rudy and Will are the winning foundation on which this intricate thriller is built. Rudy is set in his ways, drawing on his instincts as an investigator. He’s a widower who lost his wife in a suspicious tank accident, but he starts to find love again in this story. Will is more of an inexperienced plodder but he still manages to intellectually challenge Rudy. They are an enjoyable team that readers will want to visit with again.
Strange circumstances throw together a detective duo in this riveting, complex tale.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68774-225-4
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Amy Tintera ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Smart, edgy, and entertaining as heck.
Against her better judgment, Lucy Chase returns to her hometown of Plumpton, Texas, for her grandmother’s birthday, knowing full well that almost everyone in town still believes she murdered her best friend five years ago, when they were in their early 20s.
Coincidentally—or is it?—Ben Owens, a true-crime podcaster, is also in town, interviewing Lucy’s family and former friends about the murder of Savannah Harper, “just the sweetest girl you ever met,” who died from several violent blows to the head. Lucy was found hours later covered in blood, with no memory of what happened. She was—and is—a woman with secrets, which has not endeared her to the people of Plumpton; their narrative is that she was always violent, secretive, difficult. But Ben wants to tell Lucy’s story; attractive and relentless, he uncovers new evidence and coaxes new interviews, and people slowly begin to question whether Lucy is truly guilty. Lucy, meanwhile, lets down her guard, and as she and Ben draw closer together, she has to finally face the truth of her past and unmask the murderer of her complicated, gorgeous, protective friend. Most of the novel is told from Lucy’s point of view, which allows for a natural unspooling of the layers of her life and her story. She’s strong, she’s prickly, and we gradually begin to understand just how wronged she has been. The story is a striking commentary on the insular and harmful nature of small-town prejudice and how women who don’t fit a certain mold are often considered outliers, if not straight-up villains. Tintera is smart to capitalize on how the true-crime podcast boom informs and infuses the current fictional thriller scene; she’s also effective at writing action that transcends the podcast structure.
Smart, edgy, and entertaining as heck.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781250880314
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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SEEN & HEARD
by Stacy Willingham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 11, 2022
The story is sadly familiar, the treatment claustrophobically intense.
Twenty years after Chloe Davis’ father was convicted of killing half a dozen young women, someone seems to be celebrating the anniversary by extending the list.
No one in little Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, was left untouched by Richard Davis’ confession, least of all his family members. His wife, Mona, tried to kill herself and has been incapacitated ever since. His son, Cooper, became so suspicious that even now it’s hard for him to accept pharmaceutical salesman Daniel Briggs, whose sister, Sophie, also vanished 20 years ago, as Chloe’s fiance. And Chloe’s own nightmares, which lead her to rebuff New York Times reporter Aaron Jansen, who wants to interview her for an anniversary story, are redoubled when her newest psychiatric patient, Lacey Deckler, follows the path of high school student Aubrey Gravino by disappearing and then turning up dead. The good news is that Dick Davis, whom Chloe has had no contact with ever since he was imprisoned after his confession, obviously didn’t commit these new crimes. The bad news is that someone else did, someone who knows a great deal about the earlier cases, someone who could be very close to Chloe indeed. First-timer Willingham laces her first-person narrative with a stifling sense of victimhood that extends even to the survivors and a series of climactic revelations, at least some of which are guaranteed to surprise the most hard-bitten readers.
The story is sadly familiar, the treatment claustrophobically intense.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-2508-0382-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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