A well-paced and creepy novel with a strong message.
A taut psychological thriller set in the eerie remnants of an abandoned asylum.
In 2012,Kyle Hampton leads a happy life with his wife and young daughter, but he’s plagued by memories of his childhood in Rose Hill Asylum, where he was born. There, abuse was rampant, and scores of children died over the years before it was shut down 28 years ago. Many years later, he and his best friend, Randy, a fellow former asylum resident, still find themselves drawn back to the closed-down building, which retains its sinister atmosphere. Lawrence paints these visits vividly, and the asylum itself becomes the work’s most fully realized locale as the friends’ visits become increasingly unsettling. Throughout, the author also successfully intersperses this story with Kyle’s troubling recollections—particularly of his encounters with bullies and of the fact that his younger brother, Roy, was not adopted with him; Kyle escaped the brutal asylum, but his sibling didn’t, leaving him guilt-ridden. There’s an underdeveloped plotline involving Kyle’s difficult relationship with his wife, as well. However, Lawrence also takes readers into the mind of a serial killer known as Stitches—a man who haunts the asylum, dressed as a clown, and currently preys upon local women; as the killer slowly makes his existence known to Kyle, a tense cat-and-mouse game plays out. The author manages to keep the villain shrouded in mystery by carefully unveiling his connections to the asylum over the course of the story. Throughout the novel, including in Stitches’ horrific monologues, the author presents a searing indictment of the mental health and asylum system in the United States over several decades. Action scenes dominate the work’s latter sections, but the novel’s strongest aspects are its forbidding atmosphere and its damning depiction of what happens to kids who fall through cracks in the system.
A well-paced and creepy novel with a strong message.Pub Date: March 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-50-923522-3
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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