Surprises add to a strong, scary story filled with questionable characters.
A small-town West Virginia journalist gets mixed up with the wrong people and goes from writing obituaries to causing the need for them.
In Mallow’s thriller, news reporter Cabel Walsh says his mom meant to name him Caleb, but she was dyslexic. Yet she says her son “rebranded” himself as “Cabel” in grade school. Truth seems frequently fuzzy in this plot-driven tale about the week Cabel, roughly 10 years out of high school, reconnects with his childhood friend Troy Mason. Out of drug rehab and on the path to becoming an alcoholic, Troy vows revenge on nursing home director Adriane Knotts. She fired him for fighting with a resident. Cabel drives unemployed Troy to inquire about an “odd job” with El Oscuro—aka “The Recluse”—and his deadly associates. Rather than applying for a job, Troy offers to pay for one: the death of Mary Knotts, Adriane’s mother. Soon afterward, El Oscuro produces Mary’s obit. It’s two years old, but El Oscuro still demands payment. He says if Troy didn’t do due diligence to discover Mary was already dead, that’s his problem. It becomes Cabel’s problem, too, when Troy refuses to pay. Cabel, like Troy, becomes a target of El Oscuro and his associates. Surprisingly, the situation brings out killer instincts in once-bullied Cabel. When an injured victim curses at him, Cabel sets him on fire, saying, “Disappointing last words.” Unexpected humor punctuates this tense and often grisly series opener. Conversations are well crafted, especially those between Cabel and schoolteacher Miranda Murray, who meet frequently at a local bar. Although she refrains from drinking on a school night, when the conversation turns to political matters, she says: “Oy, now we’re into politics. I think I may go ahead and have a drink now.” A minus is that some sentences demand editing; for example: “The rugged Appalachian hills silhouetted against the darkening quintessence and soon it would dip into an unrelenting shade of black that only the unpopulated vacuum of the country could supply.”
Surprises add to a strong, scary story filled with questionable characters.Pub Date: July 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-940249-18-6
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Cressen Books LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
© 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.
