A readable social novel that effectively examines the consequences of conservative media.
A crusading lawyer attempts to bring down a conservative-radio juggernaut in Elzey’s political novel.
After five decades as a lawyer, Harry Chalberg is about to take on the most important case of his career. The 79-year-old came out of retirement after his son and daughter-in-law were murdered by a White nationalist, and Harry has searched for a way to hold the propagandists that inspired that killer accountable. He finally has the opportunity in Morton v. New Signal News, a lawsuit against the media company that broadcasts programs like the right-wing Cal Brown Show. It’s a long-shot case, but with the help of his longtime assistant, Mariam Katz, Harry hopes to slow the creep of extremism in U.S. politics. However, he’s going up against some powerful people, including the billionaire Austin brothers—who built an international corporate empire out of their father’s Fresno, California–based tractor supply company—and Cal Brown himself, a bombastic radio host who rose from humble origins to the top of the Chicago radio world. He later conquered America with a TV show aimed at people who feel the country’s conservative values are in danger. Can Harry prove that Cal and his backers are contributing to the political violence ripping through America? Elzey’s prose is breezy and smooth, and he proves to be adept at replicating the cadences and arguments of talk-radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh: “Ladies and gentlemen out there in Radioland….Here we go again the snowflakes won’t shut up about socialized medicine and the creation of a Nanny state. Do we want a system like Canada, the UK or France?” The novel effectively manages to dramatize not only the current state of conservative media, but also the ways in which it rose to its current heights of popularity; it does so mainly by relating the backstories of various players. There are elements of the novel that feel a bit too pat, and the characters sometimes come off as stereotypical. Overall, though, the book is a persuasive piece of political fiction.
A readable social novel that effectively examines the consequences of conservative media.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73405-460-6
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Little House Press
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
