An up-to-the-minute thriller that ably tackles contemporary politics.
An investigator takes on a group of right-wing grifters and domestic terrorists in Moore’s political thriller.
Private eye Nick Crane is spending time in a Pacific Northwest cabin one evening when a mysterious man named Mars throws a brick through his window. Mars informs Crane that he’ll be driven to Vail, Colorado, to meet Willem Spahn, a financier with a relationship to a high-profile group of hard-right reactionaries. Crane has dealt with associates of the group, including Desmond Cole and Marguerite Ferguson, before—he knows they shoot to kill. Marguerite’s latest scheme is to back legislation that calls for the imprisonment of undocumented Latine people and Muslims, plus a plan to build for-profit private jails. Crane soon arrives in Vail, where Spahn explains that Cole is trying to save him from Ferguson, who wants to kill him. Crane is suspicious of his Spahn’s motives, but he’s soon crisscrossing the country trying to figure out what Marguerite is up to; in Wisconsin, she’s planning alt-right Make America Safe Again rallies. In the meantime, Nick’s business partner Bobby is taken hostage, drugged, and made to speak at a rally. With the help of FBI agent Carrie North, Nick puts himself in serious danger to save his friend and partner’s life. Moore’s fast-paced, exciting political thriller is full of action and intrigue. However, it’s also rather crowded, with a few too many extraneous characters. That said, it offers deliciously wicked villains—particularly the sly Ferguson—who are shown to be tough as nails (“I knew they didn’t want to kill me. Orders were to take me alive. So that Marguerite could deliver the coup de grâce personally”). Crane, meanwhile, always has right on his side. The timely plot will resonate with many readers as it digs deep into a depraved, shadowy underworld of manipulation and greed.
An up-to-the-minute thriller that ably tackles contemporary politics.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781643962986
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Down & Out Books
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.
Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets.
Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth’s long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn’t been home since their father’s disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he’s outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth’s disgust. Though their mother’s death marks an ending for the family, it’s also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents’ belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father’s disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they’ve all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family’s first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace.
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798212182843
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.
After escaping from a serial killer, a woman tries to reclaim her life.
After a childhood as an Army brat, Morgan Albright is determined to put down roots. She bought a small house in the perfect neighborhood outside of Baltimore, living with a friend and working two jobs to make ends meet. Morgan’s life is happy and fulfilling, and she is making progress on her financial and career goals. Her perfect world is shattered when someone breaks into her home and murders her roommate. At first, the police assume it was a random act of violence, but after discovering the killer stole Morgan’s identity and her entire savings, they realize the crime fits the profile of a serial killer named Gavin Rozwell. The police inform Morgan that her roommate was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the real intended target. Morgan’s grief, coupled with the financial devastation from the identity theft, leaves her no choice but to return home to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. Morgan reconnects with her family and rebuilds her life, including landing the perfect job and falling in love. The police and FBI pursue Gavin, who continues to stalk and kill women, each time leaving a reminder at the crime scene that shows he’s fixated on Morgan as the one who got away. Roberts shows Gavin’s slow descent into obsession and madness as the inverse of Morgan’s healing journey back to herself and her community. The novel highlights Morgan’s preparations for the inevitable final countdown with Gavin, but the lack of immediacy and urgency of the threat makes for a subdued, restrained thriller.
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284112
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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