An elegant, if familiar, crime novel.
A retired FBI agent turned PI and a sinister murder-for-hire organization cross paths in Lazarus’ thriller.
Bryce Chandler is a Florida Keys–based private investigator whose most recent case is as simple as an unfaithful husband. Bryce’s legacy as an FBI agent has been besmirched by alcoholism and divorce, which leads him to taking on these unglamorous assignments. But his eye for detail and his investigative acumen remain sharp—he sees news of two seemingly disparate murder cases (the victims are a federal prosecutor and a correctional officer) and clocks them as professional hits; upon scrutiny, they connect back to one inmate at a maximum security prison. Further investigation reveals a third, unsuccessful hit; with the help of a close friend, Bryce uncovers the secret doings of a sinister group that calls itself the Network and discovers a fourth hit on the books. Lazarus uses classic tropes of crime thrillers in his novel, but he does so with competence from the beginning—the novel’s opening depicts a corrupt lawyer visiting a prisoner and outlines a string of deaths from the inmate’s past, effectively hooking readers on the mystery surrounding the nefarious Network. Bryce, as the retired FBI agent turned private investigator, adds the cliched yet compelling element of a seasoned, damaged protagonist navigating a dangerous world: “If a career as a criminal investigator had taught him anything, it was that the simplest and most logical answer was usually the correct one.” The dual storylines—one an ostensibly straightforward divorce case and the other an exploration of a dark web murder-for-hire organization—create engaging juxtapositions of seemingly unrelated events that cleverly intertwine as the plot thickens and reaches a crescendo in the well-paced narrative, with violent moments and gradual revelations along the way. As the stakes escalate, the narrative is further enriched by Bryce’s own tumultuous past. While the elements might be recognizable to fans of the genre, the author is an expert at the execution and interplay of these cliches, resulting in a satisfying thriller.
An elegant, if familiar, crime novel.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781633377547
Page Count: 376
Publisher: Boyle & Dalton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”
Idyllic Catalina Island turns out to be just as crime infested as the rest of Los Angeles County in the latest series launch by the creator of Harry Bosch, Renée Ballard, and the Lincoln Lawyer.
Det. Sgt. Stilwell has been bounced off the county homicide squad and rusticized to Catalina, where the exclusive Black Marlin Club won’t admit even four-term Avalon Mayor Doug Allen to full membership and the most serious infraction seems to be the killing and cutting up of a buffalo, presumably by Henry Gaston, who operates Island Mystery Tours when he’s not threatening endangered species. All that changes with the discovery of a body sunk in the surrounding waters. The corpse, most recognizable by its streak of purple hair, is that of Leigh-Anne Moss, a Black Marlin server recently fired for fraternizing with members and guests she sees as potential sugar daddies. Stilwell is sufficiently invested in her murder to compete vigorously over jurisdiction with Rex Ahearn, the LA County homicide detective who kept his job when Stilwell lost his. Their rivalry, fueled by mutual contempt, is only the first hint that Stilwell will end up fighting his counterparts in law enforcement and local government at least as hard as he fights crooks like hit man Merris Spivak and Oscar “Baby Head” Terranova, Henry’s boss, who comes under sharper scrutiny when Henry disappears and ends up dead himself. Connelly handles his hero’s obligatory romance with assistant harbormaster Tash Dano and his increasingly wary alliance with assistant D.A. Monika Juarez with equal professionalism, and if the wrap-up leaves some loose ends dangling, well, that’s what franchises are for.
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780316588485
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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