Strains credulity but offers pure escapism to fans of “U.S. of A. ass kicking.”
In this third installment of a thriller series, the intrepid men and women of an international group become targets of the head of a notorious Mexican gang as well as Iraqi terrorists.
After inventing passive tracking and listening devices, Dr. Reginald Nelson is ready to take a more active assault on terrorism around the world on behalf of the International Citizens for a Safe Society Organization, or I.N.C.I.S.O.R. He has determined that a proper radio wave frequency can excite butane and set off C4 as if a detonator had been used, meaning that piles of explosives sitting in developing countries can be set off remotely. “That will set the terrorist trade back several decades!” declares Reggie’s partner, Ash Black. It also sets off Iraqi terrorist Achmed, who, after the civilians he has been using as human shields rebel, turns to the Russians to help him exact revenge. On a parallel front, a branch of I.N.C.I.S.O.R. steps in when Melania Cruz, who heads the most famous Mexican gang in Denver, is freed enroute to “the highest security prison in the country.” When most of her gang is wiped out by members of the branch, she declares: “I want them dead!” Meanwhile, in Italy, the organization steps in to rescue Marta Fascina (jarringly, an actual person), the domestic partner of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is among the top 200 richest people in the world. There is a whole lot to unpack in this latest installment of Nelson’s series. The location jumps—Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands; Denver; Dubai; Washington, D.C.; Frankfurt, Germany; Langley; Moscow; and Syria, among others—suggest a frantic pace. But many stops are unnecessary digressions that only bring the proceedings to a halt, as when, early on in Saipan, Reggie and Ash agree to spend the rest of their day going for a jog on the beach and then dining on sushi. Soon after, Reggie repeatedly teases vital information as to his and Ash’s real mission in Saipan, but he frustratingly keeps putting off relaying it (“Let’s eat and then we can talk”). Still, the author does keep readers off balance by being willing to kill off leading characters, lending a real sense of danger to the proceedings.
Strains credulity but offers pure escapism to fans of “U.S. of A. ass kicking.”Pub Date: March 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68486-147-7
Page Count: 468
Publisher: Urlink Print & Media, LLC
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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