A solid beginning to what could be a wildly entertaining and thematically powerful thriller saga.
A legal thriller chronicles one man’s search for his 15-year-old goddaughter in the sordid underworld of human trafficking.
Nick “Deke” Deketomis—who is a senior partner in one of the country’s largest plaintiff law firms—is working on a case involving a chain of truck stops supposedly involved in human trafficking throughout the Southeast United States. The case becomes even more significant when Deketomis discovers that his goddaughter, Lily Reyes, has disappeared. With his close-knit team helping him—which includes Air Force pararescueman–turned-lawyer Michael Carey and Carol Morris, one of the firm’s investigative experts—Deketomis begins investigating the dark netherworld of sex trafficking, where those unfortunate enough to be caught up in the vile criminal enterprise go from “slave to grave.” As Deketomis mentors Carey on how to be a successful and ethical lawyer, the two are faced with more than a few morally ambiguous situations during the course of their investigation. A group of Ukrainian women, for example, who were recruited to work hospitality jobs in America are now essentially slaves forced to clean hotel rooms during the day and become sex workers at night. Papantonio and Russell have created an utterly readable thriller. The series opener’s biggest strength is its deep character development. All of the major players—even criminals like sex trafficker Tio Leo and hotel owner Vicky Driscoll—are insightfully and realistically portrayed. Additionally, the dynamism and deep connections between many of the characters (for example, Deketomis and Lily; Carey and his wife) make for an emotionally compelling reading experience. As can be expected in any worthy thriller, the action sequences are impressive, and the pacing is relentless throughout. Another plus is the timeliness of the subject matter. (According to the book, every year at least a quarter of a million Americans under the age of 18 are lured into the commercial sex trade.) The one minor criticism is the predictability of the story’s conclusion.
A solid beginning to what could be a wildly entertaining and thematically powerful thriller saga.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5107-6887-1
Page Count: 312
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.
Character assassination reigns supreme, if not uncontested, in a Long Island suburb.
April Masterson loves her husband, corporate attorney Elliott; their 7-year-old, Bobby; and her YouTube channel, “April’s Sweet Secrets.” What she doesn’t love is whoever’s texting her warnings about how Bobby isn’t really in their backyard while she’s busy filming her videos or withering critiques of her baking show or veiled accusations about her past and threats about her present. Her best friend, former prosecutor Julie Bressler, may be bossy and opinionated, but surely she’d never turn on April this way. Who else might know enough to send April goodies like a picture of her kissing Mark Tanner, Bobby’s soccer coach? Though April struggles to get Elliot to take her ordeal seriously, even when she shows up at his office for a lunch date, he’s protected by his receptionist, Brianna Anderson, whose attachment to her boss goes far beyond loyalty. Then Julie turns on her; Maria Cooper, her friendly new next-door neighbor, turns on her; and in the most mind-boggling scene, Doris Kirkland, April’s mother, whose dementia has brought her to a nursing home, turns on her. McFadden releases an escalating series of toxins so deftly into the suburban atmosphere that it’s practically an anticlimax when someone gets killed and April instantly becomes the prime suspect. But that’s only a setup for the tale’s boldest move: switching its narrator from April to a fair-weather friend who frames the whole nightmare in dramatically different terms. As a special gift to her savviest fans, the author throws in an even more jolting epilogue that’s as hard to forget as it is to believe.
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249600
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.
An author is targeted by a fan who just can’t let her go.
Arden Bowie has had plenty of tragedy in her life, but now she’s finally on top. After her parents died when she was a teenager, she moved from Brooklyn to Ohio to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. She soon became part of their loving family and grew up to become a writer and bookseller. When her debut novel is published, she meets Dustin Dubecki at her first event. He showers her with praise, asks for writing advice, and wants to take her out for coffee. Arden tells herself he’s just a little awkward, but then he keeps showing up at her local events—and, even stranger, she’s sure she sees him lurking at her event in New York City. When he bursts into her apartment one night and assaults her, Arden’s calm life is shattered. Dustin gets a five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility; Arden spends most of that time rebuilding her sense of stability. Eventually, she moves to Oregon to start a new life where Dustin can never find her. But even though she has a beautiful home, a thriving career, a doting family, new friends, and even a potential love interest in a former cop named Gideon Riley, Arden can’t escape Dustin’s rage when his sentence is finally up. Roberts toggles between Arden’s point of view and Dustin’s, giving the reader occasional glimpses into his extremely twisted mindset. Although Arden’s attempts to escape Dustin are engrossing, the story stalls in the middle when far too many pages are dedicated to Arden purchasing and decorating a house. But the excitement picks back up when Dustin, a truly odious villain, re-enters the story. It’s also satisfying to see Arden grow into someone who refuses to be a victim, even as she deals with horrifying circumstances.
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250413581
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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