The inconclusive ending validates our worst fears: There could be a sequel.
A serial killer arrives at the Cannes Film Festival, in New Age guru Coelho’s listless thriller (Brida, 2008, etc.).
Igor, the protagonist and villain, is a veteran of the Afghan wars, a post-Soviet mobile-phone mogul and a self-confessed workaholic. He has come to Cannes intent on winning back his ex-wife, Ewa, who’s now married to superstar designer Hamid Hussein. Ewa left Igor (he rationalizes) because as a power couple—she’s a successful fashionista—they had no private life. Knowing his ex and Hamid will attend Cannes with the other glitterati, Igor plans to convince Ewa of his ardor by “destroying universes,” aka killing people. The body count begins with Olivia, a beachside jewelry vendor, followed by Javits, a kingpin film distributor, then Maureen, an independent film director hoping to pitch Javits. As Igor dispatches his capriciously chosen targets throughout the day, he texts cryptic notes to Ewa. The de rigueur novelty murder methods are employed: martial arts, curare, an anatomically aimed stiletto, cyanide gas. Potential victims include Jasmine, a young model about to be discovered by Hamid, and Gabriela, an aspiring actress who’s plucked from wannabe ranks to costar in a new film venture bankrolled by Hamid. These vapid young lovelies, awed and humbled by their impending induction into the “Superclass,” never miss a chance to pontificate about the ultimate pointlessness of champagne-soaked soirees. Dead Olivia becomes a benevolent spirit guide for Igor, transforming his zeal to reclaim his ex into sanctimonious recriminations over having killed for Ewa, which then, through a leap of illogic, turn into self-righteous resistance to the “temptation” to stop killing for her. (Confusing? No, Coelho.) A promising antagonist, Morris, a retired Scotland Yard detective consulted by panicky Cannes gendarmes, is close to profiling the killer but then, inexplicably, gives up.
The inconclusive ending validates our worst fears: There could be a sequel.Pub Date: April 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-175044-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009
Bulky, balky, talky.
In an updated quest for the Holy Grail, the narrative pace remains stuck in slo-mo.
But is the Grail, in fact, holy? Turns out that’s a matter of perspective. If you’re a member of that most secret of clandestine societies, the Priory of Sion, you think yes. But if your heart belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, the Grail is more than just unholy, it’s downright subversive and terrifying. At least, so the story goes in this latest of Brown’s exhaustively researched, underimagined treatise-thrillers (Deception Point, 2001, etc.). When Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon—in Paris to deliver a lecture—has his sleep interrupted at two a.m., it’s to discover that the police suspect he’s a murderer, the victim none other than Jacques Saumière, esteemed curator of the Louvre. The evidence against Langdon could hardly be sketchier, but the cops feel huge pressure to make an arrest. And besides, they don’t particularly like Americans. Aided by the murdered man’s granddaughter, Langdon flees the flics to trudge the Grail-path along with pretty, persuasive Sophie, who’s driven by her own need to find answers. The game now afoot amounts to a scavenger hunt for the scholarly, clues supplied by the late curator, whose intent was to enlighten Sophie and bedevil her enemies. It’s not all that easy to identify these enemies. Are they emissaries from the Vatican, bent on foiling the Grail-seekers? From Opus Dei, the wayward, deeply conservative Catholic offshoot bent on foiling everybody? Or any one of a number of freelancers bent on a multifaceted array of private agendas? For that matter, what exactly is the Priory of Sion? What does it have to do with Leonardo? With Mary Magdalene? With (gulp) Walt Disney? By the time Sophie and Langdon reach home base, everything—well, at least more than enough—has been revealed.
Bulky, balky, talky.Pub Date: March 18, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-50420-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
Lacking in both thrills and chills.
Another homage to classic horror from a bestselling author.
Sager’s debut novel, Final Girls (2017), wasn’t so much a horror novel as a commentary about horror movies in novel form. It was clever but also very well-crafted. The author tried to do something similar with The Last Time I Lied (2018), with significantly less satisfying results. This new novel is another attempt to make the model work. Whether or not it does depends on how invested one is in formula for the sake of formula. Jules Larsen is getting over a breakup and the loss of her job when she finds a gig that seems too good to be true: The Bartholomew, a storied Manhattan building, wants to pay her thousands of dollars to simply occupy a vacant—and luxurious—apartment. Jules soon gets the feeling that all is not as it seems at the Bartholomew, which is, of course, a perfect setup for some psychological suspense, but the problem is that there is little in the way of narrative tension because Jules’ situation is so obviously not right from the very beginning. While interviewing for the job, she's asked about her health history. She's informed that she is not allowed to have guests in the apartment. She's warned that she must not interact with or talk to anyone else about the building’s wealthy and famous inhabitants. And she learns that she will be paid under the table. While this might not be enough to deter someone who is broke and desperate, it does mean that Jules should be a bit more concerned than she is when the really scary stuff starts happening. It’s possible to read this as a parody of the absurdly intrepid horror heroine, but, even as that, it’s not a particularly entertaining parody. Jules’ best friend makes a reference to American Horror Story, which feels less like a postmodern nod than a reminder that there are other, better examples of the genre that one could be enjoying instead.
Lacking in both thrills and chills.Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4514-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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