A timely mystery-thriller that will keep readers guessing as to the why, how, and surprising who.
In Steward’s meta-novel, what begins as a puff-piece documenting a young and ambitious executive becomes a dangerous story threatening the powerful…and the author herself.
Like found-footage films, this work of fiction presents itself as nonfiction. The author introduces herself as a freelance journalist: “This is the first book I’ve written,” she states as prologue. “It will also be my last.” This purported piece of investigative journalism, “taken from hundreds of hours of interviews, thousands of pages of HUB documents, and terabytes of internal media files,” documents “the death of Hendricks United Bank, an institution that, with more than twenty billion dollars in assets and headquartered in downtown Indianapolis, was one of the largest privately-owned banks in the country until it vanished in 2022.” Steward brands this “one of the biggest scandals in financial services history…how one hundred million dollars was stolen from HUB in a matter of seconds on New Year’s Eve 2021.” It all begins with Steward, a self-described “eager young journalist,” profiling Steve Clemens, HUB’s chief lending officer and the first in a proposed “Young Leaders of Indianapolis” series. Her “harmless, feel-good story” becomes anything but when she becomes entangled in the audacious robbery, an inside job with roots in the cancellation of the devastating debt plaguing a cancer-stricken single mother whose “sonofabitch” husband abandoned her and her teenage daughter. A quote from Oliver Stone’s film JFK serves the author (and readers) well: “That’s the real question, isn’t it? Why? The ‘How’ and the ‘Who’ is just scenery for the public.” The author deftly teases all this out, employing convincing “documentation” and artful misdirection. (“I stand behind every word in this story,” she cheekily proclaims.) Steward cannily taps into dissatisfaction with Big Banks and all corporations whose corrupt cultures are a violation of their clients’ trust. The characterizations are strong and nuanced, eschewing cartoon villainy, and effective foreshadowing fuels anticipation to see how things unfold.
A timely mystery-thriller that will keep readers guessing as to the why, how, and surprising who.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798218482640
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Burning Secrets
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.
A Christmas bout between Kay Scarpetta and the Phantom Slasher.
But first, Scarpetta, Virginia’s chief medical examiner, has to figure out how software designer Rowdy O’Leary died. Fished from the Potomac River on Christmas Eve six years after a hit-and-run driver left him permanently disabled and a week after he plunked down the cash for a pricey emerald ring, he fell off his fishing perch and drowned—or did he? Scarpetta’s examination of his body is cut short by two disturbing developments: the discovery of an unidentified woman’s remains buried on the grounds of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital, and celebrity TV reporter Dana Diletti’s report that the red-eyed ghost associated with the Slasher’s three murders has floated through the window of her home. She’s got video, too, and the apparition looks real and scary. The final blow to Scarpetta’s plans for a Christmas getaway with her husband, Secret Service forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, is an attack on an Alexandria home that kills Mercy psychiatrist Georgine Duvall, who used to treat Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy Farinelli, and nearly kills graduate student Zain Willard, White House intern and nephew of presidential candidate Sen. Calvin Willard. This time the Slasher’s ghost has been spotted on the scene by none other than Pete Marino, head of investigations for the medical examiner’s office and Scarpetta’s longtime sidekick. Cornwell’s use of Robbie, Zain’s robotic dog, and Janet, Lucy’s AI companion, integrates the futuristic elements she favors more successfully than in her recent outings. But the solutions to all these mysteries will leave fans of the venerable franchise pursing their lips rather than gasping in awe.
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781538773963
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2025 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.
