An ambitious, if occasionally overcomplicated, novel that packs a punch.
In Maloof’s thriller, a Russian oligarch, a wealthy tech mogul, and two former MIT classmates storm databases and cross continents on a quest to unlock a power that the world has never seen.
The story opens with an eccentric genius sitting in front of a wall of computer monitor in an undisclosed location, tinkering with complex code. His moniker is Nomad, and his skills allow him to tap into the computer camera of a close friend, Francois LeGrande, at the precise moment a mysterious person enters his apartment. Before Nomad’s eyes, the intruder murders Francoisin cold blood and steals a project that he and Nomad were working on. His death kicks off an international hunt involving countless characters, some with suspect motives. As the chapters unfold, readers meet the thriller’s main character, Kate Preacher, who’s military trained and whose genius goes beyond tactical combat skills; she also has hacking expertise and the ability to navigate the rough waters of the darknet. Her unique talents come in handy after a terrorist attack in Paris leaves her on the run from a shady billionaire, Russian hitmen, and rogue freelance bounty hunters; all have plans that concern the NanoVault, which is said to contain world-changing information that remains a mystery to those who seek it. Each chapter of Maloof’s thriller complicates the plot while offering plenty of images of violence and bloodshed in fast-paced prose: “Kate’s mind filled with images. Automatic gunfire shattering the building’s glass doors. Bullets ripping through the security guard’s body.” There are some red herrings along the way, and intriguing, repeated motifs that the author ably employs throughout the narrative. A mystery this big requires a wealth of detail, and the complexity can make the work hard to follow at times; there are also a large number of characters, not all of whom seem entirely necessary to the plot. That said, it’s an engaging adventure that illuminates just how far some people will go in pursuit of a goal.
An ambitious, if occasionally overcomplicated, novel that packs a punch.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9798989365913
Page Count: 462
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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