A brisk and realistic crime story strengthened by thoughtful characterization.
A turf war between gangs drives one man to the edge to survive in Dault’s thriller.
In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Cy Ford is a conservation officer for the Department of Natural Resources (a fictional U.S. government agency) with a fake name and a hidden, tortured past. His closest friends are fellow officers Jett Prevo, who’s as extroverted and friendly as they come, and sharp Avery Kinnomen. During the winter, the three smuggle drugs into Canada across ice and snow for significant cash. The trio are well on their way to wealth when a war suddenly erupts between two crime families. Oscar Easter, the head of one, is keen for his son, Ray, to take over the family business, but his offspring is failing to live up to his standards; on the other side, Niko Krowchuck wants to uphold his own family’s storied criminal legacy. Cy, Jett, and Avery work for Niko’s gang, and when one of the three becomes a casualty of the conflict, the remaining friends have an opportunity to change sides. Both gangs want Cy to complete impossible tasks, and he’d much rather run away, as he has no roots in the community; however, his partner in crime must decide what really matters to them and what they’ll do to survive. Over the course of this fine thriller, Dault lays out a fast-paced and consistently exciting plot with a grounded prose style that yields some electrifying scenes. He also skillfully details his major characters’ complex and morally gray natures in a manner that always feels natural and realistic. Cy is revealed to be conflicted by opposing wants and needs, and Dault does not shy away from showing his unsavory characteristics. Similarly, Niko and Ray are portrayed as truly multidimensional antagonists.
A brisk and realistic crime story strengthened by thoughtful characterization.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-952439-19-3
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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