A diligent and appealing detective enhances this tense mystery.
A private eye’s investigation into the assault of a 70-year-old woman leads to murder and a political conspiracy in this thriller sequel.
Boston entrepreneur Ben Johnson is shaken by the news that Acadia LaFleur is comatose following an attack. He’s had business dealings with the LaFleurs, an affluent Louisiana family that Acadia married into. As Ben has loved her since the two had an affair decades ago, he asks his private investigator friend Dimase Augustin to find out what happened. Dimase makes little headway until he learns of a striking similarity between Acadia and an escort who recently turned up as a homicide victim in a nearby Louisiana town. They both have the same name. Not only are the crimes likely connected, but there’s another potential link to a political power move that involves an imminent assassination. Since the culprits are desperate to cover their tracks, they target others for murder as well, including Acadia, who may eventually be able to identify her assailant. A vague clue points Dimase and Ben to an unknown senator’s nickname. They’ll need to identify this senator to unravel a growing conspiracy while ensuring Acadia—and the two friends themselves—stays safe. Bruneau’s novel is concise and absorbing. The mystery is relatively simple, and most readers will have worked it out well before the ending. But suspense is ample in the latter half, particularly as escalating distrust among the villains makes them more unpredictable and dangerous. The story offers minimal insights into Dimase aside from his brief personal history beginning in Haiti. He’s generally by the book, even respectfully coordinating with authorities in the two places in which he operates. Still, his professional nature underscores his intelligence and tenacity while Ben and Acadia’s convincing love story provides the bulk of the tale’s strong emotional context.
A diligent and appealing detective enhances this tense mystery. (dedication)Pub Date: May 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-66320-200-0
Page Count: 244
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An unforgettable story of survival and the power of friendship—nothing short of a science-fiction masterwork.
Weir’s latest is a page-turning interstellar thrill ride that follows a junior high school teacher–turned–reluctant astronaut at the center of a desperate mission to save humankind from a looming extinction event.
Ryland Grace was a once-promising molecular biologist who wrote a controversial academic paper contesting the assumption that life requires liquid water. Now disgraced, he works as a junior high science teacher in San Francisco. His previous theories, however, make him the perfect researcher for a multinational task force that's trying to understand how and why the sun is suddenly dimming at an alarming rate. A barely detectable line of light that rises from the sun’s north pole and curves toward Venus is inexplicably draining the star of power. According to scientists, an “instant ice age” is all but inevitable within a few decades. All the other stars in proximity to the sun seem to be suffering with the same affliction—except Tau Ceti. An unwilling last-minute replacement as part of a three-person mission heading to Tau Ceti in hopes of finding an answer, Ryland finds himself awakening from an induced coma on the spaceship with two dead crewmates and a spotty memory. With time running out for humankind, he discovers an alien spacecraft in the vicinity of his ship with a strange traveler on a similar quest. Although hard scientific speculation fuels the storyline, the real power lies in the many jaw-dropping plot twists, the relentless tension, and the extraordinary dynamic between Ryland and the alien (whom he nicknames Rocky because of its carapace of oxidized minerals and metallic alloy bones). Readers may find themselves consuming this emotionally intense and thematically profound novel in one stay-up-all-night-until-your-eyes-bleed sitting.
An unforgettable story of survival and the power of friendship—nothing short of a science-fiction masterwork.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-13520-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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