A woman’s dreadful, unpredictable love life proves riveting despite a largely unpleasant cast.
A divorced mother of three children finds herself accused of a crime she didn’t commit in this debut thriller.
Faith is still a teenager when she leaves her Georgia home and follows her older boyfriend to Austin, Texas. That romance doesn’t last, leaving Faith in a difficult situation: “I’m almost nineteen years old and I have nothing. I have a low paying job, no car, and an apartment I can’t afford.” Then she meets lawyer Ryan Brunick. The two marry and start a family. But sadly, they aren’t happy for long, with the subject of having more kids causing the most strife. Following a bitter divorce, Faith continues her cheerless existence until she meets a handsome businessman who’s CEO of his own company. They fall for each another, and Faith is the happiest she’s been in a long while. But everything changes when the couple take a “dream vacation” in Thailand. Authorities arrest her for a serious crime, despite her pleas of innocence, and threaten her with a severe punishment. Awaiting trial, Faith finds prison life harsh; she has trouble communicating, as few speak her language, and she can’t reach anyone, including her family, for help. When an unexpected person finally comes to her aid, she’s hopeful. But Faith’s trial brims with frustrating and surprising turns, signaling that freedom may be unattainable. Generally unlikable characters populate Holms’ tale. For example, none of Faith’s relationships end without lingering animosity. Even Faith, who narrates, implies she wants a third child with Ryan as a reason to continue staying home. As such, it’s hard to sympathize with anyone. Still, the smooth narrative meticulously follows Faith from her teens into her 30s. The author’s writing is at its strongest in describing the Thai prison. In one scene, Faith, despite her hunger, must force herself to eat the revolting prison food. While characters throughout are manipulative and deceitful, the gripping story effectively shows how damaging one apparently simple lie can be.
A woman’s dreadful, unpredictable love life proves riveting despite a largely unpleasant cast.Pub Date: Nov. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73619-081-4
Page Count: 341
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2020
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
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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