Probably irresistible to faithful Templar fans. But it’s too talky, underimagined and much too heavy-gaited for mass...
From Khoury (The Sign, 2009, etc.), a sluggish sequel to his runaway biblical bestseller, The Last Templar (2005).
Revisited are beautiful, brainy Tess Chaykin and tougher-than-most Sean Reilly, whose adventures rocketed Templar to bestseller-dom. Three years have passed since last we saw them, but novelist Tess and FBI agent Sean remain undiminished superstars in their respective fields. Undiminished, too, is their love for each other though they’ve been apart for awhile. Having parked her 13-year-old daughter with relatives—Tess’s approach to parenting has always been casual—she is now on a desert dig, gathering material for her next blockbuster. It’s a plan interrupted by a mysterious Iranian, evil and unregenerate, who kidnaps her for reasons some readers may find unpersuasive. He wants her to lure Reilly to Rome where his famous resourcefulness will enable him to penetrate “the bowels of the Vatican,” emerging at length with certain long-hidden documents. In turn, this will lead to certain pre–New Testament texts, the dissemination of which will unsettle, even undermine Christianity throughout the world. The villainous Iranian sees that as a good thing. From contemporary Rome, flash back to 13th-century Constantinople, where the Templars, too, will be revisited. The Knights Templar (think specials-forces units with a religious bent) have been decimated by powerful enemies, but there are a handful of survivors. Among these is the righteous Conrad, who, aided by his lover, the brave and adorable Maysoon, enlists in the struggle against malicious obscurantism. Thus, as it is with Tess and Reilly, so it is with Maysoon and Conrad, all warring on the side of the angels, the devil take the hindmost.
Probably irresistible to faithful Templar fans. But it’s too talky, underimagined and much too heavy-gaited for mass conversions among the rest.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-95184-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.
A woman meets her dream guy, but his mother is something out of a nightmare in Jones’ debut thriller.
Emily Havistock is immediately attracted to the handsome Adam Banks when they meet each other’s eyes across the room at a networking event for her London consulting firm, and even though she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, it doesn’t take long before they’re seeing each other every night. Emily’s last relationship ended in disaster, but she feels a true connection to Adam, although he’s not forthcoming about his past. A couple of months into the relationship, he invites her to meet his mother, Pammie, and assures Emily that Pammie will love her. On the way, when Emily makes a light joke about his mom’s taste in music, Adam snaps at her. One would think that Emily might have considered cutting her losses then and there. But, no, Emily is enamored with Adam, so she vows to make it work. What follows is a hellish sequence of passive aggressive nastiness on the part of Pammie that would bring any woman to her knees, begging for mercy. Emily doesn’t feel like she can confide in Adam since he treats his mother like a saint, but she does have the support of her flatmate, Pippa, and best friend Seb. It doesn’t help that Emily feels undeniable sparks with Adam’s younger, very attractive brother, James. Things with Pammie eventually come to a head in a spectacular way, and Emily begins to realize that Adam may not be as perfect as she thought. Emily, who narrates, is relatable even if readers will root for her to put the fiendish, and fiendishly clever, Pammie in her place and smack Adam for not sticking up for her. Jones ratchets up the tension to the breaking point and throws in a curveball that will make readers’ heads spin.
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-19198-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An exciting, thought-provoking mind-bender.
In Crouch’s sci-fi–driven thriller, a machine designed to help people relive their memories creates apocalyptic consequences.
In 2018, NYPD Detective Barry Sutton unsuccessfully tries to talk Ann Voss Peters off the edge of the Poe Building. She claims to have False Memory Syndrome, a bewildering condition that seems to be spreading. People like Ann have detailed false memories of other lives lived, including marriages and children, but in “shades of gray, like film noir stills.” For some, like Ann, an overwhelming sense of loss leads to suicide. Barry knows loss: Eleven years ago, his 15-year-old daughter, Meghan, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Details from Ann’s story lead him to dig deeper, and his investigation leads him to a mysterious place called Hotel Memory, where he makes a life-altering discovery. In 2007, a ridiculously wealthy philanthropist and inventor named Marcus Slade offers neuroscientist Helena Smith the chance of a lifetime and an unlimited budget to build a machine that allows people to relive their memories. He says he wants to “change the world.” Helena hopes that her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, will benefit from her passion project. The opportunity for unfettered research is too tempting to turn down. However, when Slade takes the research in a controversial direction, Helena may have to destroy her dream to save the world. Returning to a few of the themes he explored in Dark Matter (2016), Crouch delivers a bullet-fast narrative and raises the stakes to a fever pitch. A poignant love story is woven in with much food for thought on grief and the nature of memories and how they shape us, rounding out this twisty and terrifying thrill ride.
An exciting, thought-provoking mind-bender.Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-5978-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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