An intriguing political thriller that doesn’t shy away from difficult topics.
In Ried’s novel, a young lawyer’s flourishing career lobbying for fossil fuel companies is thrown into question after a climate change–induced flash flood.
Daniel Lazaro grew up in the shadow of environmental disaster after a local mine, where his father worked, tainted the local groundwater. His dad committed suicide after he was blamed for what happened and fired; his mother then “got kind of wacko over some religious leader” and cut Daniel off financially. A sympathetic old family friend, a politician, helped him attend law school, placing him on the path to be picked up by a powerful lobbying firm with conservative clients. Now Daniel spends his days blocking climate-conscious legislation and fighting for the interests of Big Oil. He cares only about providing a comfortable life for his wife, Bree, and young daughter. However, when a sudden flash flood causes the Guadalupe River to overflow its banks, an unthinkable tragedy occurs, and Jack must wrestle with his own culpability. Plagued by immense guilt and a crippling fear of water, Daniel is swayed by an environmental activist to use his political connections to enact positive change, instead of profitable destruction. Can Daniel rise to the challenge? A dark prologue, set one month into the future, effectively creates a sense of dread and begins a silent countdown to disaster. Ried manages to juggle multiple third-person perspectives throughout the novel, telling the story from points of view of Bree and various political players surrounding Daniel, including uncle-like figure Jack Wolford, a U.S. representative; Daniel’s boss, Mr. Pearce; Pearce’s shrewd aide, Haley Bourdain, and others; they all help to develop aspects of Daniel’s personal journey. However, the constant switching between them soon begins to wear thin; each change slows the narrative pace, and sometimes necessitates repeating details of events that readers have already seen. Some of the cast’s more political characters feel like caricatures, as well. Overall, though, the novel is earnest and ambitious in its espousal of climate justice and environmental stewardship.
An intriguing political thriller that doesn’t shy away from difficult topics.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2023
ISBN: 978-1949085884
Page Count: 332
Publisher: CKBooks Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
