by Michael Sears ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 5, 2015
The chase action is enough to make this an agreeable read, and the Kid scenes add depth, though the book never delivers on...
Sears’ (Black Fridays, 2012, etc.) sophisticated sleuth Jason Stafford returns in this odd hybrid of a high-finance mystery and a high-stakes chase thriller.
Stafford begins this adventure in a frazzled state, recovering from a two-year jail spell and the violent death of his ex-wife; he’s also coping with raising an autistic son, known only as the Kid. He thinks he has a simple case on his hands when millionaire engineer Philip Haley enlists his help. Haley is on the verge of a green-energy breakthrough but is about to be indicted for insider trading and claims he’s being set up. Suspects include the Chinese government and his estranged wife, Selena, until the latter is murdered on the way home from a meeting with Haley. Stafford enlists an expert hacker to investigate Haley’s financial trail but winds up receiving a note with just one word: “Run.” He then begins an elaborate flight up and down the East Coast that does little to get him out of trouble and even less to advance the plot. The book ends with a tense showdown in which Selena’s murderer, whose identity shouldn't be hard to figure out, overpowers Stafford but somehow neglects to kill him, then takes a motorboat into the East River intending to dump his body. During the ensuing confrontation Stafford demonstrates physical strength that seems quite impressive, even for a hero who works out at the gym. The flight and fight sequences are exciting if far-fetched; it reads as though Sears wrote these first and then built a story around them.
The chase action is enough to make this an agreeable read, and the Kid scenes add depth, though the book never delivers on the promise of well-turned financial intrigue.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-16671-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
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by Karin Slaughter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2015
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that...
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Twenty-four years after a traumatic disappearance tore a Georgia family apart, Slaughter’s scorching stand-alone picks them up and shreds them all over again.
The Carrolls have never been the same since 19-year-old Julia vanished. After years of fruitlessly pestering the police, her veterinarian father, Sam, killed himself; her librarian mother, Helen, still keeps the girl's bedroom untouched, just in case. Julia’s sisters have been equally scarred. Lydia Delgado has sold herself for drugs countless times, though she’s been clean for years now; Claire Scott has just been paroled after knee-capping her tennis partner for a thoughtless remark. The evening that Claire’s ankle bracelet comes off, her architect husband, Paul, is callously murdered before her eyes and, without a moment's letup, she stumbles on a mountainous cache of snuff porn. Paul’s business partner, Adam Quinn, demands information from Claire and threatens her with dire consequences if she doesn’t deliver. The Dunwoody police prove as ineffectual as ever. FBI agent Fred Nolan is more suavely menacing than helpful. So Lydia and Claire, who’ve grown so far apart that they’re virtual strangers, are unwillingly thrown back on each other for help. Once she’s plunged you into this maelstrom, Slaughter shreds your own nerves along with those of the sisters, not simply by a parade of gruesome revelations—though she supplies them in abundance—but by peeling back layer after layer from beloved family members Claire and Lydia thought they knew. The results are harrowing.
Slaughter (Cop Town, 2014, etc.) is so uncompromising in following her blood trails to the darkest places imaginable that she makes most of her high-wire competition look pallid, formulaic, or just plain fake.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-242905-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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by Sandie Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 21, 2018
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.
A woman meets her dream guy, but his mother is something out of a nightmare in Jones’ debut thriller.
Emily Havistock is immediately attracted to the handsome Adam Banks when they meet each other’s eyes across the room at a networking event for her London consulting firm, and even though she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, it doesn’t take long before they’re seeing each other every night. Emily’s last relationship ended in disaster, but she feels a true connection to Adam, although he’s not forthcoming about his past. A couple of months into the relationship, he invites her to meet his mother, Pammie, and assures Emily that Pammie will love her. On the way, when Emily makes a light joke about his mom’s taste in music, Adam snaps at her. One would think that Emily might have considered cutting her losses then and there. But, no, Emily is enamored with Adam, so she vows to make it work. What follows is a hellish sequence of passive aggressive nastiness on the part of Pammie that would bring any woman to her knees, begging for mercy. Emily doesn’t feel like she can confide in Adam since he treats his mother like a saint, but she does have the support of her flatmate, Pippa, and best friend Seb. It doesn’t help that Emily feels undeniable sparks with Adam’s younger, very attractive brother, James. Things with Pammie eventually come to a head in a spectacular way, and Emily begins to realize that Adam may not be as perfect as she thought. Emily, who narrates, is relatable even if readers will root for her to put the fiendish, and fiendishly clever, Pammie in her place and smack Adam for not sticking up for her. Jones ratchets up the tension to the breaking point and throws in a curveball that will make readers’ heads spin.
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-19198-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
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