by Tommy Wieringa & translated by Sam Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 5, 2021
A cinematic, edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Two Moroccan Dutch women are drawn into a deadly game when they engage the chaperoning services of a compatriot while on holiday in Rabat.
Tired of her monotonous life as a call-center worker in Rotterdam, Ilham Assouline decides a vacation in Morocco is just what she needs. Borrowing her sister’s passport since she doesn't have one of her own, Ilham convinces her friend Thouraya to come along. The two rent an Audi to get them around, but while the young women might have found Rotterdam stifling, the land of their ancestors provides no relief. Realizing that women in Morocco rarely travel alone, they engage the services of Saleh Benkassem, a fellow Moroccan Dutchman, to shield them from unsavory attention. Unfortunately, Saleh, who has made a life in the shadows, exploits the women’s vulnerability to his advantage. He introduces Ilham and Thouraya to a cripplingly poor family who want a better life for their son, Murat Idrissi. The women have a car, don’t they? Surely they can smuggle the young man through to Europe! Saleh assures Ilham and Thouraya that they will be paid for this service. Hesitant at first, Ilham is plagued by guilt over the family’s poverty. She and Thouraya eventually give in. But no good deed goes unpunished, and soon the women are in over their heads. Fluidly translated from Dutch and brilliantly paced, this slim novel delivers a high-voltage adrenaline rush while expertly weaving in commentary about displaced world citizens. The irony of their lives being circumscribed in different ways in both Rotterdam and Morocco is not lost on Ilham and Thouraya. In an expert twist, Thouraya uses precisely those constraints to the women’s advantage.
A cinematic, edge-of-your-seat thriller.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950354-36-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Scribe
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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More by Tommy Wieringa
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by Tommy Wieringa ; translated by Sam Garrett
BOOK REVIEW
by Tommy Wieringa ; translated by Sam Garrett
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New York Times Bestseller
by Nora Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2024
A touching story of love and grief ends in an epic battle of good versus evil.
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New York Times Bestseller
Roberts’ latest may move you to tears, or joy, or dread, or all three.
Every summer, John and Cora Fox visit Cora’s mother, Lucy Lannigan, in Redbud Hollow, Kentucky, leaving their children, 12-year-old Thea and 10-year-old Rem, for a two-week taste of heaven. The children love Grammie Lucy far more than John’s snooty family, which looks down on Cora. Lucy, a healer with deep Appalachian roots, loves animals, cooks the best meals, plays musical instruments, and makes soap and candles for her thriving business. Thea—who’s inherited the psychic abilities passed down through the women of Lucy’s family—has vivid magical dreams, one of which becomes a living nightmare when a psychopath robs and murders John and Cora as Thea watches helplessly. Thea’s description of the killer and her ability to see him in real time help the skeptical police catch Ray Riggs, who goes to prison for life. Although Thea and Rem go on to have a wonderful childhood with Grammie, Thea constantly wages a mental battle with Riggs, who tries to use his own psychic abilities to get into her mind. Over the years, Thea uses her imagination to become a game designer while the more business-minded Rem helps manage her career. Thea eventually builds a house near Lucy, where a newly arrived neighbor is her teen crush, singer-songwriter Tyler Brennan. Tyler has his own issues and is protective of his young son but slowly builds a loving relationship with Thea, whose silence about her abilities leads to a devastating misunderstanding. At first Thea tries to keep Riggs locked out of her mind. As her powers grow, she torments him. Finally, she realizes that she must win this battle and destroy him if she’s ever to have peace.
A touching story of love and grief ends in an epic battle of good versus evil.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781250289698
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
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by Nora Roberts
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by Nora Roberts
by Ruth Ware ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2024
The most cinematic Ruth Ware novel so far.
A reality TV paradise becomes a nightmare for the show’s unlucky contestants.
Lyla Santiago and Nico Reese have been dating for more than two years, and she’s beginning to feel like their relationship may be hitting a wall; she loves him, but his main focus at 28 is on his acting career, while, at 32, scientist Lyla is starting to dream about settling down. When Nico pleads with her to join him on a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, Lyla views it as an opportunity to see whether their relationship can go the distance—in reality as well as on TV. They arrive on a remote Indonesian island to find blue waters, white sands, romantic huts, and eight other contestants, all beautiful, glamorous, and clearly committed to bolstering their visibility by competing on the show. The director seems a bit shady; he insists (as their contract demands) that they turn in all electronics, plies them with booze, and then leaves with the crew—and the first ousted contestant. That night, a huge storm sweeps across the island. The next morning reveals a fatality among the wreckage: a hut and its inhabitant have been crushed by a tree, and the outbuildings have been destroyed. The remaining contestants are cut off from all communication, with the exception of one radio, and there is a very limited supply of food and water. So Love Island becomes Survivor, and one person in particular is set on being the last person standing. Ware offers another take on the locked-room mystery, but this time, her focus is less on creating a creepy atmosphere of dread, as she did in earlier novels, than on showing the absolute brutality of which some humans are capable. But she still has a good time herself: There’s a funny self-referential line to an earlier novel, plus some female characters MacGyver-ing a battery. The prolific Ware continues to stretch herself, taking on something new in each novel and writing strong—and increasingly kick-ass—female characters.
The most cinematic Ruth Ware novel so far.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668025598
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Scout Press/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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