Tense, smart, fast-moving action starring the future father of Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger.
Earl Swagger’s heroics are let loose in the deadly fields of World War II France.
After D-Day, Allied forces take heavy casualties from snipers in France’s rolling hills and farmland checkered with mazes of hedgerows and brush fences. The French call the area the bocage, but the troops know it as “the bullet garden.” One relatively lucky soldier takes a shot in the hip: “Man, did he go down, full of spangles and fire flashes and lightning bugs and flies’ wings.” Worse, as many as 1,500 men take slugs right beneath the helmet and behind the ear, ripping through the brain. The enemy has a marksman who is so good that it doesn't matter what you're doing: “If he fires you're dead.” The Allied army and the Office of Strategic Services decide to find their own best sharpshooter to hunt the sniper down. They pick Marine Gunnery Sgt. Earl Swagger, already a veteran of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Tarawa, with a hard-earned reputation as a war god, of always being right, knowing everything, fearing nothing, and having been “born so brave bullets were afraid of him.” So he becomes an army major for his stint in Europe, and he begins his hunt. At the site of one killing, a soldier sneezes, and that of all things gives Swagger a clue on the road to finding his prey. The author offers up great descriptions that invite the reader to fill in the blanks: “No one would call him handsome; no one would call him ugly. He was simply a Marine.” The hero isn’t given to chitchat or emotion, and there isn’t a maudlin molecule in his body. That’s all to the good for a man of the gun. The villain gets to show his personality, showing a flicker of humanity as he remembers a lost love—but he’s a killer at his core. If he isn’t killing, he isn’t living. Meanwhile, there’s a spy plot set in London, where the slimy Mr. Raven lurks in the nighttime with a scarf covering his deviated septum. The story is loaded with colorful characters, crisp dialogue, bullets, and blood.
Tense, smart, fast-moving action starring the future father of Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-982-16976-3
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Emily Bestler/Atria
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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