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THE THESEUS CONSPIRACY

In this frenetic conspiracy tale, characterization blends smoothly with action to produce a satisfying read.

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A tenacious Army agent tries to head off nuclear destruction in this thriller.

In this nerve-wracking second volume of Alvarez’s adventure series, Criminal Investigation Division special agent Jacqueline “Belle” Sinclair finds herself working without her partner. On a secret mission to Afghanistan, Defense Intelligence Agency operative Tom Price, Belle’s fiance, is badly injured after being the lone survivor of a Taliban attack. That same day, a Navy SEAL team rescues a captive from a Russian prison. That victory is short-lived, as a squad of Russian operatives attacks the German safe house where the prisoner is being held; he is one of two people to escape the massacre. That prisoner is Theseus, born Matthew Banks, a United States double agent who was disavowed by the Americans and captured by the Russians. Banks has collected seven nuclear suitcase bombs, which he plans to plant in the U.S. and Russia to gain his revenge. Belle gets involved with Banks’ scheme after her best friend, Maj. Jessica Alice Wayne, dies on her doorstep after delivering a hard drive to her. Belle has Richard Crenshaw, a friend of Tom’s, crack the drive, and she learns of Banks’ plot. Then Belle, aided by FBI agent Dan Russell and CIA agent Patricia Courtney, scrambles to stop Banks despite interference by Russian operatives. The Russians also want to seize Banks and the bombs. Alvarez’s hard-driving narrative runs over any nagging questions readers may have about the plot. For instance: After bruising encounters with Russian agents, why didn’t the Americans sweep their vehicles for surveillance devices? And why doesn’t Belle’s father, Provost Marshal Richard Longstreet Sinclair, act like he could be a target of those seeking to derail his daughter’s investigations? There is also a subplot about Russian officials’ using the bombs to stage a coup that adds little to the narrative. Nevertheless, the author’s characters shine. Belle proves a military wonder woman who is hell-bent on completing her mission despite her lingering concerns about Tom and her father. Russell is her dependable lieutenant in Tom’s stead while Courtney is a wild card. Even villain Banks is comprehensible despite his madness. What results is a complex character study among the flying bullets.

In this frenetic conspiracy tale, characterization blends smoothly with action to produce a satisfying read.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Manuscript

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2021

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DEVOLUTION

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

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THE CRASH

Soapy, suspenseful fun.

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A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.

Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.

Soapy, suspenseful fun.

Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025

ISBN: 9781464227325

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Poisoned Pen

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

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