A simple but satisfying crime novel that will keep readers hooked.
Two down-on-their-luck entrepreneurs must chase down millions of dollars and a long-lost work of art to save their business and their own lives in Balter’s thriller.
Bo Bishop and Marty Schottare desperate for their latest pitch meeting to go well. They’re the owners of Paladin, a struggling online-retail startup based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, which is losing money fast. Their families are tired of the constant stress, long hours, and financial troubles; the pair hope that this will be the meeting that changes everything—and it does, but not in the way they hoped. It starts with a cryptic phone call from an anonymous investor promising a massive cash infusion if they meet him in his Mt. Hood cabin; there, Bo, Marty, and their silent partner, Nico, are threatened by a towering Russian thug, who holds them at gunpoint and demands $10 million and a missing painting. Bo and Marty don’t know what the man is talking about, but they do know that admitting ignorance will likely get them killed. They have four days to get their hands on the cash and a painting that’s been lost for years—one with a dark history and more than a few criminals itching to get their hands on it. This race takes Bo, Marty, and other colorful characters to strip clubs, sleazy motels (“No one stays in this dump, not even cockroaches”), and towering mansions—and scenes of total mayhem. Readers will find Balter’s novel to be a strong start for a debut author, as he very confidently moves his players around the plot’s chessboard, and each chapter is thoughtfully plotted and delightfully easy to follow. The characters are only sketchily developed, but they feel pleasantly familiar, and as such, the cast as a whole feels solid. Readers will enjoy hunting for clues right alongside the seemingly fearless Bo and Marty, and they’ll be entertained by all the dangerous, unexpected scenarios that they get themselves into along the way.
A simple but satisfying crime novel that will keep readers hooked.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.
Lt. Eve Dallas’ 63rd futuristic case is less a whodunit than a manhunt for an unusually sympathetic killer.
Thirteen years ago, way back in 2048, scientific genius Steve Redman—father of the Banner-Wyst corporation’s Rainmaker Project—narrowly escaped death in a gas explosion that killed his pregnant wife and infant son and 200 other residents of their New York City apartment building the night before he planned to report his suspicions about the company to the FBI. Now the bill is coming due for Banner-Wyst. The first death to be discovered is that of Lawrence Chu, Redman’s colleague and trusted friend, whose tenure as director of bioengineering science ends when he’s beaten to death. For quite a while, Dallas and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, know less about this mystery than their readers do. But when Ezra Dent, a consultant to Banner-Wyst who worked with Redman and Chu back in the day, is murdered in exactly the same ferocious way, Dallas and Peabody, with help from Roarke, Dallas’ tech-billionaire husband, promptly put the pieces together and determine who they’re looking for. The search for Redman, who went AWOL from his hospital bed without a trace six years ago, has its own challenges. So does Dallas’ attempt to get cooperation from partners Calvin Banner and Jacob Wyst, who are clearly in the crosshairs of a killer who seems a lot less monstrous than they are. If the breaks in the case are suspiciously convenient in arriving, readers can pride themselves on taking sides against a mega-corporation whose self-avowed ecological saintliness is undermined by its leaders’ underhanded dealing.
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414564
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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