A gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller that will make readers crave a sequel.
In Ray’s novel, a South Korean pop-idol-turned-aspiring-professor must confront his past as he investigates his fiancée’s untimely death.
As the author states in her preface, “This is a book about idols. / Also about those who love them. / The ones who lose them. / And the ones who can’t let go….” Park “Tae” Taejoon was once a child actor for one of the most beloved South Korean shows, Rainbow Family, and latera member of a wildly successful K-pop band, Orion. As he grew older, he became a magnet for fawning fangirls, but after the mysterious death of one his fellow band members, he completely disappeared from the entertainment world and moved to the Pittsburgh to pursue a doctorate in business. However, after he receives a text from his fiancée’s sister, his world turns upside down. He hadn’t heard from his fiancée, Sonia Moore, lately, and a news article explains why: She apparently took a secret trip to the South Korean island of Jeju, where she was found dead—evidently the victim of an accident. With the help of private investigator Yoon Hana, Tae looks into the circumstances of Sonia’s death and ultimately finds that there’s more to the tragedy than meets the eye. Interspersed with the story of Tae’s investigation is a story about a young South Korean girl named Nari and the many troubles she endures. As readers alternate between the two third-person perspectives, they learn that sometimes the answers to mysteries are hiding in plain sight.
Ray’s rich character development, engaging prose, and trendy milieu make for a thrilling read. The novel provides enough of Tae’s backstory to make readers sympathize with his desire to escape from his past life as an idol, and understand the difficulties that he faces when he moves back into the spotlight to find answers. Hana’s characterization is also a delight to read: She’s revealed to be a loving, honest person with obsessive-compulsive tendencies who made a major career move from policing to private investigation. A tidbit about her pet turtle, Einstein, is especially adorable and adds depth to the scene: “He shifted slightly, claws scratching lightly against the stone, and tilted his head, as if assessing her with quiet, ancient judgment.” Furthermore, the young girl’s story is intriguing; her backstory shows complexity and an understanding of the human psyche, especially when it comes to how trauma and fame can create ripple effects. In addition to character depth, Ray creates suspenseful, engaging prose that begs readers to find out more. Her writing is immersive throughout; it’s easy to feel the real world fade away while reading about the trauma and psychological motives that drive the plot. The pain that Nari’s family endured, due to poverty, is especially apparent in a scene about her mom’s jade necklace. Moreover, the inclusion of a “Novel Playlist” is a smart move; the songs match the text well and effectively add to the work as a whole.
A gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller that will make readers crave a sequel.Pub Date: June 30, 2025
ISBN: 9798985878226
Page Count: 228
Publisher: BMB Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.
Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.
A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice (The Bone Collection, 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.
When a man accused of rape turns up dead, an Early American town seeks justice amid rumors and controversy.
Lawhon’s fifth work of historical fiction is inspired by the true story and diaries of midwife Martha Ballard of Hallowell, Maine, a character she brings to life brilliantly here. As Martha tells her patient in an opening chapter set in 1789, “You need not fear….In all my years attending women in childbirth, I have never lost a mother.” This track record grows in numerous compelling scenes of labor and delivery, particularly one in which Martha has to clean up after the mistakes of a pompous doctor educated at Harvard, one of her nemeses in a town that roils with gossip and disrespect for women’s abilities. Supposedly, the only time a midwife can testify in court is regarding paternity when a woman gives birth out of wedlock—but Martha also takes the witness stand in the rape case against a dead man named Joshua Burgess and his living friend Col. Joseph North, whose role as judge in local court proceedings has made the victim, Rebecca Foster, reluctant to make her complaint public. Further complications are numerous: North has control over the Ballard family's lease on their property; Rebecca is carrying the child of one of her rapists; Martha’s son was seen fighting with Joshua Burgess on the day of his death. Lawhon weaves all this into a richly satisfying drama that moves suspensefully between childbed, courtroom, and the banks of the Kennebec River. The undimmed romance between 40-something Martha and her husband, Ephraim, adds a racy flair to the proceedings. Knowing how rare the quality of their relationship is sharpens the intensity of Martha’s gaze as she watches the romantic lives of her grown children unfold. As she did with Nancy Wake in Code Name Hélène (2020), Lawhon creates a stirring portrait of a real-life heroine and, as in all her books, includes an endnote with detailed background.
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780385546874
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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