An adventure featuring able characters immersed in full-tilt action, with an open ending that promises even more.
The U.S. president’s newly formed anti-terrorist group pits former Navy SEALs against South American cartels and assassins in Bunting’s (Maiyun, 2016, etc.) latest thriller.
Having thwarted an al-Qaida plot, Lt. Cmdr. Erin Ryan and Lt. Kevin Bond are primed to be recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence. But shockingly, the men are no-shows at the ceremony. The public is incensed by the apparent snub, but it turns out that their absence is because they’ve accepted the president’s offer to do some clandestine work for the White House. They become field operatives for the Department of Security, Analysis, and Logistics, with a man named Nigel Hamilton as director and Erin’s military dog, Striker, as the fourth member. DSEAL’s first assignment is to disrupt one of the Cali drug cartel’s operations in Colombia enough to upset the whole enterprise and catch local authorities’ attention. In the jungle, Erin and Kevin meet an unexpected ally: 14-year-old Sasha Carr, who was abducted more than two years ago but escaped her captors. The teenager points the SEALs to cocaine laboratories, and it turns out that she has a genius-level IQ and is highly adept at using a blowgun, her weapon of choice. She opts to stay with her new pals as DSEAL targets additional cartels and tries to prevent a possible attack on the president of the United States. This second novel featuring Erin and Kevin features wall-to-wall action but also a more personal touch. This time around, the protagonists forgo their SEAL handles (“Scratch” and “Roach,” respectively) in favor of civilian names, even during missions. They’re more like buddies than fellow soldiers, and this impression is furthered by the appearance of Sasha, who serves as a surrogate for a girl that Erin once lost. Their work’s not quite as covert as the president initially suggests; for example, they always have their DSEAL identification handy. But they’re unquestionably surrounded by peril, not only from terrorists and snipers’ bullets, but also boa constrictors and army ants in the jungle. The teen and the canine nearly outshine the leads: Sasha excels at strategy, much like a general, and Striker parachuting with Erin makes for an irresistible image.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4996-5202-4
Page Count: 318
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Part budding romance, part compelling backstory, part prescient tale of racism: provocative on all fronts without being...
In the wake of family tragedy, does an oldest sister’s disappearance point to something even more nefarious?
As a child in Bartonville, Oregon, Emily Mills saw something terrible that she hasn’t been able to forget for 20 years. Even worse than seeing the body of her father, who was white, hanging from a tree in the backyard was seeing her older sister, Tara, at the scene of the crime. Tara leaves town and isn’t heard from again, so Emily can’t ask what she was doing there the fateful night their father was murdered. When their mother takes her own life shortly afterward, Emily and her youngest sister, Madison, never recover from the multiple traumas. Although they do their best to go on running Barton Diner, the family restaurant, Emily fears that her questions may never be answered. Though Chet Carlson was caught and eventually confessed to the crime, he’s still in prison when history seems to repeat itself through a double murder of interracial couple Sean and Lindsay Fitch, with Emily once again cast as the person who finds the bodies. Sean has a KKK sign carved into his head, which reminds Emily of whisperings about her father's racist connections. How else might the crimes be related? Rightfully not trusting the police to do a thorough investigation, Emily calls the FBI, which dispatches agents Zander Wells and Ava McLane to investigate. Elliot (Bred in the Bone, 2019) seems less interested in setting Emily up as part of the crime than in pairing her romantically with Zander. That’s just as well, because the who and why of the crimes feels almost incidental rather than displaying a deeper connection to any larger theme.
Part budding romance, part compelling backstory, part prescient tale of racism: provocative on all fronts without being quite satisfying on any.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-0672-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Be warned: It's a stay-up-all-night kind of book. Compulsively readable.
Amy Whey’s sins come back to haunt her when she’s extorted for money by a beautiful stranger in Jackson’s (The Almost Sisters, 2017, etc.) first thriller.
It was supposed to be book club as usual: a group of suburban mothers gathering to talk over a glass of wine or two and then going home to bed. But when new neighbor Angelica Roux shows up at hostess Amy’s door, it doesn’t take long for all hell to break loose. The booze flows freely, and soon the women are engaged in a game: What is the worst thing you did today? This week? This month? In your life? There are many women in the gathering with secrets to protect, but none more than Amy, who, as a teenager, committed a terrible crime that almost destroyed her. Saved by her love for diving, and then by meeting her husband and stepdaughter, Amy has worked hard to build a normal, stable life; she even has a new baby. Angelica has come to threaten all of this; she clearly knows about Amy’s past and will expose her to her loved ones if Amy doesn’t pay her. As Amy tries desperately to outscheme Angelica, she also realizes just how much she has to fight for—and what she might be willing to do to keep her family safe and her secrets buried. Jackson’s novel is chock-full of dramatic reveals and twisty turns, but she paces them out well, dropping them like regularly spaced bombshells. Just when the reader thinks they know what might lie at the heart of the novel, the ground shifts seismically, and the truth removes again to a distance. It’s skillfully done. Amy herself is an openly flawed and relatable character fighting to keep sacred the one thing she values most: her normal, loving, messy life.
Be warned: It's a stay-up-all-night kind of book. Compulsively readable.Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-285531-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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