A steamy and action-packed, albeit flawed, thriller featuring a memorable hero.
This blend of espionage thriller, romance, and erotica chronicles the globe-trotting adventures of a beautiful Mossad agent and contract killer.
As Wladowsky’s debut novel begins, Leda—a “Jewess from Israel” and former Russian agent who is now working as an operative for the Israeli army—embarks on a treacherous mission to rescue her husband, Caleb, from a Russian prison. Caleb has been missing for six years, and Leda believes that the Russians abducted him in retaliation for her betrayal years earlier. Leaving her two sons behind, Leda uses her extensive network of contacts (many of whom are hopelessly in love with her) to gather information on Caleb’s whereabouts. Her travels take her from Venice to Switzerland to the Kamchatka Peninsula, and during her journey, she must remain vigilant of the countless Russian operatives sent to kill her. But her dangerous rescue mission leads her to an unforeseen discovery: love. She falls in love with a Croatian NATO general named Drazen and even has a marriage ceremony with him. Shortly after leaving Drazen, she sees her adoptive father, a billionaire named John Doe, and—inexplicably—begins a wildly hedonistic relationship with the much older man. This series opener’s pacing is brisk; the numerous action sequences are gripping; and the striking protagonist is indelible. But the novel has several flaws. The narrative loses momentum in the book’s second half, as the author focuses too much on personal minutiae (such as Drazen’s obsessively doubting his relationship with Leda) and the overtly sexual nature of the protagonist’s liaison with Doe, which becomes gratuitous in places. Additionally, some readers may find certain sexual scenes verging on repugnant, like Leda’s graphic relationship with her adoptive father. Lastly, the main plot thread—Leda’s attempt to save her husband—is all but forgotten by the story’s end. This will presumably be revisited in the sequel.
A steamy and action-packed, albeit flawed, thriller featuring a memorable hero.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A propulsive thriller with heart that will keep readers guessing.
A husband learns his wife is hiding a secret life.
Emma and Leo have been happily married for seven years, although they’ve weathered their share of struggles (such as infertility and Emma’s cancer diagnosis). Emma’s a marine ecologist and erstwhile TV presenter whose bubbly personality is loved by all, while Leo is an obituary writer and his wife’s No. 1 fan. Both are head over heels for their young daughter, Ruby. Although Emma’s currently doing well, Leo is given the job of prewriting her obituary, a common strategy with people who are in the public eye. In his quest to write the perfect tribute to his wife, he starts looking into her past and discovers a few inconsistencies he can’t explain. Why did Emma lie about her university degree? Why is she so cagey about her life before Leo? How is she connected to a famous actress who just went missing? And, most importantly, is her name even Emma? As Emma attempts to cover up her secrets, Leo digs through their house for clues and tracks down people from her past in an attempt to figure out why she’s lying and what she’s hiding from him. The old life Emma tried so carefully to hide threatens to destroy the new life she’s built with Leo. Walsh masterfully shows both Emma’s and Leo’s points of view while maintaining an intoxicating air of mystery. As readers get to know them both, it seems unbelievable that lovable Emma could be deceiving Leo…but how else to explain the secrets he’s uncovering? The big reveal about Emma’s life manages to be both surprising and heartbreaking, with many twists and turns along the way.
A propulsive thriller with heart that will keep readers guessing.Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-59-329699-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.
Two struggling authors spend the summer writing and falling in love in a quaint beach town.
January Andrews has just arrived in the small town of North Bear Shores with some serious baggage. Her father has been dead for a year, but she still hasn’t come to terms with what she found out at his funeral—he had been cheating on her mother for years. January plans to spend the summer cleaning out and selling the house her father and “That Woman” lived in together. But she’s also a down-on-her-luck author facing writer’s block, and she no longer believes in the happily-ever-after she’s made the benchmark of her work. Her steadily dwindling bank account, though, is a daily reminder that she must sell her next book, and fast. Serendipitously, she discovers that her new next-door neighbor is Augustus Everett, the darling of the literary fiction set and her former college rival/crush. Gus also happens to be struggling with his next book (and some serious trauma that unfolds throughout the novel). Though the two get off to a rocky start, they soon make a bet: Gus will try to write a romance novel, and January will attempt “bleak literary fiction.” They spend the summer teaching each other the art of their own genres—January takes Gus on a romantic outing to the local carnival; Gus takes January to the burned-down remains of a former cult—and they both process their own grief, loss, and trauma through this experiment. There are more than enough steamy scenes to sustain the slow-burn romance, and smart commentary on the placement and purpose of “women’s fiction” joins with crucial conversations about mental health to add multiple intriguing layers to the plot.
A heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0673-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK TO SCREEN
PERSPECTIVES
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