A fast-paced thriller with superb new and returning characters.
An investigative reporter and a forensic pathologist work together in this 1960s-set thriller.
A torso washes ashore on a California beach. Medical examiner Sara Poole connects this homicide with another recent murder. The victims, both male, died during sex and are covered in bites (evoking the title). Just weeks ago, Sara investigated a string of murders in Arizona, where she met reporter Deanne Mulhenney. The women, whose friendship might morph into romance, reunite to track the killer. The murders continue, and the clues get stranger. Sara believes the bites are human but the teeth aren’t real (dentures, perhaps). Meanwhile, a shocking headlining story—Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination—sidetracks Deanne, although she helps Sara as much as she can. The narrative gives readers an early introduction to Alena, who’s committing the murders while working for a crime family that may turn on her, worried that she’s “freelancing.” Regardless, Alena targets Deanne and Sara once Deanne’s articles link the killer’s various homicides. Zell’s energetic sequel to True Creature (2019) bounces among perspectives. Zell ably develops the heroes’ delightfully complicated relationship; there’s definitely love but not necessarily commitment. Alena, however, is this book’s most indelible character. A WWII experiment has twisted her family lineage, and she struggles with a condition that makes her both sympathetic and terrifying. She’s even involved in a too-brief subplot—dissension among the villains—that could fill a novel on its own. Alena’s murders are, of course, violent and, unsurprisingly, sometimes graphic. Her very presence generates suspense, particularly in the final act, when it’s clear she’s after Sara and/or Deanne.
A fast-paced thriller with superb new and returning characters.Pub Date: March 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9847468-9-7
Page Count: 205
Publisher: Tales From Zell, Inc.
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PROFILES
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
The heroine’s 62nd appearance is a hit-or-miss mystery best suited for readers already invested in her complicated life.
Lt. Eve Dallas is sucked into a murder that may well be overshadowed by another crime—and by the news that Roarke, her billionaire husband, is implicated in both felonies in an unexpected and troubling way.
Disturbed from her sleep, Aileen Carville arises to discover her wealthy husband, Nathan Barrister, coshed to death by a heavy amethyst from the collection of his late father, Zip Global founder Henry J. Barrister. His corpse is lying outside an open vault that everyone in the family insists they hadn’t known about until a couple of months ago, and it’s filled with priceless paintings and sculptures and jewels taken years ago from an A-list of museums, one of which—the Royal Suite, a legendary emerald setting—has evidently been stolen once again. The bombshell revelation that Henry must have commissioned the thefts himself leads to two questions—how did the thief who killed Nathan know about the vault and its contents, and what possessed Nathan’s wealthy father to steal and hide all these goodies in the first place?—that are much more interesting than whodunit, though only one of them will be satisfactorily answered. Another bombshell revelation follows: Roarke’s confession to Dallas that he stole the Royal Suite from London’s Tate Gallery when he was still a teenager, years before he turned away from a life of crime himself. Since Interpol is much more interested in the theft than the murder, there’s a real danger that they’ll decide Roarke was once again the thief. So, Dallas faces the double challenge of solving the crimes and keeping her beloved husband out of the frame.
The heroine’s 62nd appearance is a hit-or-miss mystery best suited for readers already invested in her complicated life.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414526
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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