A provocative, timely, urgently told thrill ride sure to resonate with suspense and romance fans.
A threat to national security spurs an intuitive, quick-thinking Seattle couple into action to save the world.
Holt’s fourth novel seems ripped from contemporary headlines: It is set nearly a year after a shocking presidential election unmoors America. As racial unrest, political opportunism, and the infectious Covid-19 virus aggressively spread fear and panic across the country, in the eyes of 6-foot-4 ex–Army intelligence officer–turned–lawyer and blogger Pete, “civil society is tipping toward a permanent chasm.” Adding to this overwhelming state of affairs is the rumor that a Luddite-minded group called NuLud has engineered a subatomic particle with the potential to block electrons and permanently disable the global internet. On a desperate hunt for answers, Pete joins forces with his attractive Jamaican friend, downstairs neighbor, and secret love, Sophie, who happens to be a university quantum physicist. Together, the intrepid millennials embark on an international mission to first find the scientist who leaked the rumor and then join the race against Russian Federal Security counteroperatives to thwart the global catastrophe of a cyberterrorism weapon. Written as chronological blog posts that often address readers directly, the novel delivers a deliberate initial setup that belies the rousing chapters that whisk readers through a rapid succession of locations like South America and France. Romantically, the duo’s physical attraction is mutual and undeniable, and Sophie, whose real name is Lani, introduces a religious and emotional element into the budding relationship. Pete reliably and charmingly narrates the action from his perspective as a science-loving nerd hot on the trail of a big conspiracy who is hoping to get the girl of his dreams along the way. Holt has created an endearing character in Pete and adds brief perspectives on race, national security, and technological omnipresence to a thriller that is as introspective, thought-provoking, and socially conscious as it is suspenseful, particularly in the book’s final third. Employing a smooth mixture of action and intrigue with a large dose of self-aggrandizing good humor, the author will capture readers’ attention with two winning heroes.
A provocative, timely, urgently told thrill ride sure to resonate with suspense and romance fans.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2020
ISBN: 979-8-66-853478-4
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.
Character assassination reigns supreme, if not uncontested, in a Long Island suburb.
April Masterson loves her husband, corporate attorney Elliott; their 7-year-old, Bobby; and her YouTube channel, “April’s Sweet Secrets.” What she doesn’t love is whoever’s texting her warnings about how Bobby isn’t really in their backyard while she’s busy filming her videos or withering critiques of her baking show or veiled accusations about her past and threats about her present. Her best friend, former prosecutor Julie Bressler, may be bossy and opinionated, but surely she’d never turn on April this way. Who else might know enough to send April goodies like a picture of her kissing Mark Tanner, Bobby’s soccer coach? Though April struggles to get Elliot to take her ordeal seriously, even when she shows up at his office for a lunch date, he’s protected by his receptionist, Brianna Anderson, whose attachment to her boss goes far beyond loyalty. Then Julie turns on her; Maria Cooper, her friendly new next-door neighbor, turns on her; and in the most mind-boggling scene, Doris Kirkland, April’s mother, whose dementia has brought her to a nursing home, turns on her. McFadden releases an escalating series of toxins so deftly into the suburban atmosphere that it’s practically an anticlimax when someone gets killed and April instantly becomes the prime suspect. But that’s only a setup for the tale’s boldest move: switching its narrator from April to a fair-weather friend who frames the whole nightmare in dramatically different terms. As a special gift to her savviest fans, the author throws in an even more jolting epilogue that’s as hard to forget as it is to believe.
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249600
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.
Second of the Walter Nash thrillers—following Nash Falls (2025)—in which the remade hero seeks vengeance.
Due to urgent circumstances, Nash has bulked himself up to become the “muscled and tatted fighting machine” now known as Dillon Hope. His antagonist is Victoria Steers, a global drug dealer who wants him dead. Not realizing his new identity, she enlists Hope to free her mother, Masuyo, from a prison in Myanmar. As an incentive, she shoots one of her associates and threatens to frame Hope for the murder unless he complies. She also wants him to find Nash. He in turn wants to kill Victoria to avenge the death of his innocent daughter, Maggie. “If I go down,” he muses, “I’m taking others with me. Starting with Victoria Steers.” He learns that Victoria had killed all her siblings to eliminate business competition. But as heartless as Victoria is, her mother, Masuyo, is even worse. In league with the Chinese government in a perverse plan to kill as many Americans as possible through fentanyl overdose, she shows contempt for Victoria for her perceived weaknesses. Readers won’t find many happy family relationships here: mother-daughter, father-son, husband-wife—all fraught. Hope’s employer, who accompanies him to Myanmar, is a billionaire chief executive with a dodgy past (i.e., probably killed his father). And there’s a mega-billionaire with an astronomical IQ and ditch-deep morals who, putting it mildly, does not have America’s best interests at heart. As a teenager, he’d defeated two world chess champions; as an adult, he regards his dealings with the world in terms of master chess moves. Only one character seems truly decent and credible—Hiroko, Victoria’s former nanny and lifelong companion, who provides Hope with valuable insights into the Steers’ background, which is partly Chinese. Searing grudges, simple evil, and not-so-simple misunderstandings carry the cast through this complex, action-packed plot. This sequel ties out the loose ends dangling in Nash Falls, which would be helpful to read first. To get to the requisite ending, though, Baldacci takes pains to surprise the reader. It works but often feels forced.
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781538758021
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
