Near the end, a villain exclaims, “Then bring me the head of Alexander Hawke!” Really, there’s no need. When we finish...
Bell’s Warriors is the eighth Alex Hawke thriller, and it’s fun in its own fast-moving, quirky way.
Lord Alexander Hawke is a stunningly handsome and rich Brit whose hobby seems to be saving the world. He's admired by the queen and presidents alike. So when U.S. President Tom McCloskey drops dead from a poisoned birthday cake, his funeral is attacked by drones, and a new Chinese regime rattles its sabers, who’re you gonna call? In fact, it’s a while before Hawke is fully woven into the plot, which bounces from the U.S. to Britain to China to North Korea and the oceans in between. His personal life figures into the story, including his sexual escapades, his love for his young son and the perils of giving the nanny the weekend off. Then the American scientist William Lincoln Chase is kidnapped by the North Koreans, since he's the only person in the world with the know-how to create a weapon that will change the global balance of power. The "Norks" know exactly how to force Chase to create that weapon, and they will waste no time bringing civilization (i.e. the U.S. and Britain) to its knees. Clearly, this is a job for Lord Hawke and his handpicked band of warriors. They are jaunty types who, as they land on a darkened beach for a risky exfiltration, manage time for humor. When a team member wonders if the mission will turn into a Chinese version of Little Big Horn, Hawke replies, “I ain’t no Custer, Stokely Jones.” Meanwhile, in England, the “world-famous criminalist” Ambrose Congreve defends Hawke’s son against beastly black birds with a James Bond–ian brolly worthy of MI6’s Q.
Near the end, a villain exclaims, “Then bring me the head of Alexander Hawke!” Really, there’s no need. When we finish enjoying Warriors, just bring us Hawke’s next lively adventure.Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-227938-5
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Cheap fun: a guilty pleasure few monster-addicts will be able to resist.
A witty, grisly debut about the secret adventures of a Florida sociopath who murders only bad guys.
Dexter Morgan makes his living off the blood of the dead—literally. A “blood-splatter analyst” for the Miami Police Department, Dexter works only on the messiest cases, nearly all homicides and quite a few the work of serial killers. It takes one to know one, too, for Dexter has a very deep and well-guarded secret: He’s been bumping people off for years. Dexter knew from an early age that he was somehow different, and his father, Detective Harry Morgan, had picked up enough abnormal psychology on the job to recognize the signs. Harry tried to help Dexter out by suggesting that the boy might want to make a virtue of necessity by concentrating his murderous energies on the truly wicked people of the world—and Dexter agreed, beginning with the hospice nurse who was systematically overdosing Harry with morphine. From that day forward, Dexter (and his ghostly imaginary friend, the Dark Passenger) have done well by doing bad, disposing of a long line of pedophiles, killers, sadists, and thugs. A consummate professional, Dexter has never left a shred of incriminating evidence behind, but lately he’s begun to worry. A copycat killer is on the loose, leaving a string of victims strewn about the dark byways of Miami bearing the trademarks of Dexter’s handiwork in an obvious attempt to lure him out of hiding. Dexter can play his hand close to his chest, but unfortunately for him one of the cops assigned to the new cases is his sister Deborah, who knows nothing of Dexter’s extracurricular activities. Part of Dexter wants to come of the cold and play with this new guy on the block, but he feels an obligation to keep his sister from being implicated. It’s not just thieves, after all: There’s honor among murderers, too.
Cheap fun: a guilty pleasure few monster-addicts will be able to resist.Pub Date: July 27, 2004
ISBN: 0-385-51123-X
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2004
A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.
A lonely British schoolteacher falls for an American man incarcerated for the murder of a young woman. What could possibly go wrong?
Samantha, 31, is still reeling from a bad breakup when she discovers Framing the Truth: The Murder of Holly Michaels, an 18-year-old true-crime documentary about the killing of a young girl by then-18-year-old Dennis Danson, aka the suspected Red River Killer, who’s still on death row in Florida’s Altoona Prison. Sam writes to Dennis, and soon they’re declaring their love for each other. Sam flies to the U.S. to meet him, and although they’re separated by plexiglass, she knows that she’s found the love of her life. The chirpy Carrie, who co-produced and directed the first documentary, is Sam’s guide while she’s there, and Sam accompanies her while they film a new series about Dennis, A Boy from Red River. Sam and Dennis quickly marry when new evidence comes to light and Dennis is exonerated and released. Amid a whirlwind of talk shows, celebrity attention, and the new series premiere, married life isn’t quite what Sam had hoped for: intimacy is nonexistent, the already self-loathing Sam feels unloved and unwanted, and the appearance of Dennis’ clingy childhood friend Lindsay Durst sends Sam into a jealous fit. After Dennis’ father dies, they move into Dennis’ childhood home, and Sam begins to suspect he may be hiding something. After all, what actually happened to all those other missing girls? Refreshingly, Lloyd seems absolutely unconcerned with whether or not her characters are likable, and although a few British sayings ("round," “in hospital”) make their way into the dialogue of the American characters, her research into the aftereffects of long incarceration is obvious, and her portrait of an emotionally damaged woman feels spot-on.
A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-95240-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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