A treat for holiday story lovers, like a hot cup of cocoa.
In Hatfield’s novel, a fateful accident on Christmas Eve alters the lives of several people whose paths cross in unexpected ways.
On Christmas Eve morning, police sergeant Archer Raines is pulled away from his relaxing day off to deal with a crisis. A man named Leon Mumford, driving a pickup pulling a camper, pulled across four lanes of traffic on the St. Johns Bridge, causing a massive wreck. Leon then climbed onto the bridge railing and threatened to jump, claiming to be armed when police officers approached. Archer is the expert called in to talk Leon down. Heavily pregnant Rosalee is headed home to grab files for an important meeting when she’s stopped by the wreck. When she goes into labor (three weeks early), Nova, a nurse on her way home after a long shift, offers to take her to the hospital and stay with her until her husband arrives. Carter, the owner of a tow truck company, is called in to deal with the extensive damage from the wreck and hopes it won’t delay his evening plans with his family. Ian is running late for his dream-job interview when his car won’t start; his chaotic rideshare driver, Kate, ends up being the most memorable feature of his day after they narrowly avoid the obstruction on the bridge (“He wondered if the tough girl persona was part of a defense mechanism or if she really was into the whole dark and brooding scene”). These characters’ storylines converge for a heartwarming ending that underscores the role of chance in human connection. This story is well structured with brisk pacing. Hatfield expertly braids the various storylines together, though the means employed to conceal connections between some characters are unnecessary. The tone is light and (mostly) handles difficult subjects with ease. The Leon situation ends in a melodramatic and somewhat cliched manner, but the characters in the main cast are likeable and easy to root for. The conclusion perhaps drags on longer than necessary, but the happy endings are all earned.
A treat for holiday story lovers, like a hot cup of cocoa.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780998098869
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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