A riveting, energetic sequel with lead characters worth rooting for.
A U.S. agent takes on a dangerous undercover assignment to dismantle a neo-Nazi group in this third installment of a thriller series.
Kolya Petrov suffers from PTSD after the torture he endured just a year ago. But he’s more than ready when the Executive Covert Agency hands him his latest mission. Kolya, a Russian Jewish immigrant, may even have a personal reason to take down German-based white supremacists. He heads overseas and cozies up to their apparent leader, Frederick Bauer, who’s got his sights set on the Jewish director of an organization outing local Nazis. Kolya, struggling to maintain his covert identity, also faces an unforeseen threat. Bauer’s girlfriend, Lisette Vogel, has her own lethal agenda. She’s secretly hunting the wolf-tattooed neo-Nazi who killed her beloved father. She’s dispatched murderous men along the way, and as she suspects Kolya to be another killer Nazi, he may soon wind up on her hit list. But with Bauer suspecting a traitor to the “cause,” neither Kolya nor Lisette is safe, and both are determined to expose the diabolical plan Bauer’s group has brewing in Manning’s (Nerve Attack, 2021, etc.) tale in which the action rarely lets up. Kolya and Lisette face relentless peril, as naturally distrustful Bauer questions any number of things they do or say. While the neo-Nazis are indisputable villains, other characters have layered personalities; Lisette has flashes of guilt, even when knocking off killers, and Kolya’s cherished fiancee takes up residence in his mind. The author sets an impressive pace, driving the plot forward while slyly reminding readers of Kolya’s rotating identities and dropping subtle nods to earlier series events. In the end, this narrative makes it clear that Nazis, not Germans, are evil. Certain members of that hateful batch, for one, hail from other countries, while Manning showcases the beauty of Germany by often lingering on its historically rich cities and towns.
A riveting, energetic sequel with lead characters worth rooting for.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64599-404-6
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Encircle Publications, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2022
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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