This brisk, thoroughly entertaining, action-packed thriller will surely generate new series fans.
A former Delta Force operator protects scientists from nefarious agencies in Milam’s thriller, the 10th in a series.
Case Lee’s latest contract from the enigmatic Swiss-based outfit Global Resolutions is simple: Find Ruth Hall. She’s a missing professor from Stanford University. But Case, who brings along fellow Delta Force retiree Bo Dickerson, quickly realizes that the gig is decidedly more complex than it seems. Ruth’s professor husband, Bart, has also disappeared. And Case and Bo keep bumping into people from other agencies from around the globe, including Mossad, Russia’s SVR, and various domestic groups. After a vague clue leads Case and Bo to Idaho, Global Resolutions suddenly and inexplicably cancels the contract. The two friends continue searching anyway only to discover other parties are gunning for the couple, for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. But Case is determined to help, a valiant decision that directs him to South America, where gunfights and high-speed pursuits await. This novel, like each of the Case Lee series’ entries, is a stand-alone story—readers can hop right into this sequel, which expeditiously (re)introduces its recurring hero and his newest job (“I seldom knew their client’s identity, and on the flip side my identity remained undisclosed. Unless spookville entered the picture, which pushed all bets off the table”). The author establishes indelible settings, particularly a mountainous region of Idaho that Case and Bo set foot in just as a winter storm hits. The story eventually illuminates what the Halls have done to pique everyone’s interest, but it’s a quintessential MacGuffin; the narrative focus is on espionage and action, as when Case and Bo stealthily comb through the Halls’ house and offices while trying to evade individuals shadowing them. The prolonged sequence in South America thrums with flying bullets, breathless chases, and the ever present tension of not knowing whom to trust. It all leads to a predictable, albeit satisfying, conclusion.
This brisk, thoroughly entertaining, action-packed thriller will surely generate new series fans.Pub Date: April 21, 2022
ISBN: 9798807096487
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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