A plausibly chilling what-if tale with a smart, sensitive hero.
A young woman whose body contains a cancer-curing enzyme becomes the target of a ruthless conspiracy in this debut thriller.
Last year, Megan Bishop’s mother died of cancer and her distraught father killed himself. Megan left Seattle for her parents’ isolated cabin in Stillanomish Valley, where she tries to work on her master’s degree coding project—but her peace is interrupted by an avalanche of strangers begging for help. Doxxers have invaded confidential medical records to publicly identify those belonging to a rare group of people whose livers contain a biomaterial that prevents and cures cancer called Carcinoma Immune Factor 117—or Raether’s enzyme, after a study subject. Megan is one, and the gold rush for her biomaterial soon goes beyond cancer patients. Some R-positives like Megan have disappeared, perhaps kidnapped by cartels, and now violent criminals are after her at the behest of a wealthy, power-seeking, and malignantly bitter man. Their first attempt fails, and Megan goes into hiding with the help of her Seattle friends, but the bounty hunters are well funded and determined to get their payoff. Megan soon faces an ordeal that will test her intelligence, problem-solving skills, and courage to the utmost. In his book, Flynn goes to some very dark places with his intriguing scenario. Innocents die; authority figures offer dubious protection; and Megan gets caught in a hideous nightmare. Some R-positives are turned into lobotomized organ donors. The author nicely captures the atmosphere in Megan’s circle of brainy, nerdy, sweet friends, making good use of the hero’s admirably analytical mind in the final showdown. The pace lags in the middle section as the specifics of Megan’s flight and identity change are worked out in careful detail, but the ending is taut and rivetingly suspenseful.
A plausibly chilling what-if tale with a smart, sensitive hero.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73518-390-9
Page Count: 442
Publisher: Tensile Press
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More than any of his earlier cases, the comatose hero’s 26th adventure bears the hallmarks of a formal detective story.
Wyoming Game and Fish Warden Joe Pickett has been shot plenty of times before. But this time may be the last.
As Joe hovers between life and death in a Billings hospital, Box indicates that Dorn Peddy and James Dale O’Bryan are the two men who ambushed him, shot him, and left him for dead. But he doesn’t reveal who hired them or why. That’s left up to Joe’s three daughters: bird-abatement firm chief executive Sheridan, Bozeman private eye April, and University of Wyoming undergrad Lucy. Since the man who reported the incident to the Twelve Sleep County Sheriff’s Department has disappeared, the most that newly appointed Sheriff Steve Sondergard can do is to warn Sheridan and her sisters away from the case. But the fact that both the shooters and the witness seem to have come from one of exactly three places presents an obvious appeal to the younger Picketts, who plan to each visit one place and question the owners simultaneously before they can warn each other that anyone’s coming. The only problem is that all the possible suspects—billionaire Michael Thompson and his wife, Brandy, of the Double Diamond Ranch; ranchers John and Shelby Bucholz, of the Bucholz Cattle Company; and secretive sisters Lisa and Lainie McElwee, of McElwee Land and Cattle Ranch—act equally guilty. As Box unspools a series of flashbacks showing what Joe was up to in the weeks before the ambush, one question assumes paramount importance: Can Joe’s daughters identify which of them is behind the plot to murder their father before the hired gunmen visit the hospital and try again?
More than any of his earlier cases, the comatose hero’s 26th adventure bears the hallmarks of a formal detective story.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780593851098
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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
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