An engrossing novel filled with political and psychological insight.
In Wilson’s thriller, an American photographer travels to Central America and is drawn into the region’s violent internal conflicts.
Robert Ellis is only 28 years old but already exhausted by the pressures of life—he’s haunted by the death of his mother from cancer and dogged by the gruesome memories of the war he covered in Afghanistan. Moreover, he’s depleted from leading a nomadic life; his peripatetic wandering has taken its toll on the relationship with his girlfriend, Kara. The author sensitively captures Robert’s premature weltschmerz: “It dawned on him that he never actually knew what he wanted, other than to keep shooting, and to keep traveling, and to have his photos published. Maybe something had changed in Afghanistan, he thought.” He is presented with an unusual offer—someone impressed with his photography wishes to purchase some photos for a considerable sum of money. To close the transaction, he must fly to Nicoya, a war-torn city in Costa Rica. It is hard to understand why it is necessary for Robert to make such a journey in order to sell digital photographs; he makes the trip anyway, and meets the buyer, Janvion Garcia, a powerful jefe who presides over an army of rebels, apparently backed by the United States. Garcia intends to use Robert to demonstrate his brutality—he plans to murder him—but Robert escapes, doggedly pursued by Garcia’s henchmen, including an elite American agent, Hull. There are some minor narrative missteps on Wilson’s part—Robert takes a stray puppy he befriended with him as he goes on the run, a ridiculous decision that feels like a cloyingly manipulative authorial device. However, the plot is thrilling, and Robert’s improbable struggle to survive is artfully made to seem quite plausible. Also, Wilson constructs a fascinatingly complex portrait of the protagonist, disillusioned by life so early on and compellingly juxtaposes that discontent with the sordidness of political life.
An engrossing novel filled with political and psychological insight.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 979-8986946252
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Kelp Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
“Nasty little fellows…always get their comeuppance,” a movie character once said. Deeply satisfying.
Following the mysterious disappearance of his wife, a struggling London novelist journeys to a remote Scottish island to try to get his mojo back—but all, of course, is not what it seems.
Grady Green hits the pinnacle of his publishing career on the same night that his life goes off the rails—first his book lands on the New York Times bestseller list, and then his wife, Abby, goes missing on her way home. A year later, Grady is a mere shadow of his former self: out of money and out of ideas. So, when his agent, Abby’s godmother, suggests that he spend some time on the Isle of Amberly, in a log cabin left to her by one of her writers, it seems as good a plan as any. With free housing for himself and his dog and a beautiful, distraction-free environment, maybe he can finally complete the next novel. But from the very beginning, Grady’s experiences with Amberly seem weird, if not downright ominous: As a visitor, he’s not allowed to bring his car onto the island; the local businesses are only open for a few hours at a time; and there are no birds. At all. Not to mention the skeletal hand he finds buried under the floorboards of the cabin, the creepy harmonica music in the woods, and the occasional sighting of a woman in a red coat who’s a dead ringer for Abby. As Grady falls deeper and deeper into insomnia and alcoholism, he begins to realize his being on the island is no accident—and that should make him very afraid. Through occasional chapters from before Abby’s disappearance, told from her point of view, we learn that Grady is not necessarily a reliable narrator, and the book’s slow unfolding of dread, mystery, and then truth is both creative and well-paced. Every chapter heading is an oxymoron, like the title, reminding us of the contradictions at the heart of every story.
“Nasty little fellows…always get their comeuppance,” a movie character once said. Deeply satisfying.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781250337788
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
A potent and surprising novel by the ever-reliable Crais.
Hired to find the father of celebrity “muffin girl” Traci Beller 10 years after his disappearance, PI Elvis Cole uncovers a nefarious plot that puts his life and those he contacts at risk.
The sweetly likable Traci, now 23, has amassed a huge following with her website, The Baker Next Door, and on social media. Against the advice and self-interest of the people who over-manage her career, she decides to find out what happened to her father. Cole quickly determines that he was last seen at the SurfMutt hamburger stand, where he gave a ride to Anya Given, a troubled 15-year-old whose mother, Sadie, was late in picking her up from the skate park across the street. With the reluctant help of a scattered young woman who used to work at the burger joint, Cole tracks down Anya and Sadie, who is eventually revealed to have a criminal past. For his efforts, he’s jumped by a small gang of men who send him to the hospital with the worst beating of his life. (Asked by a nurse what his name is, the best he can guess is “Los Angeles.”) Still in recovery, Cole and Joe Pike, his ex-Marine partner, trace his attackers to Sadie, with unexpected results. As ever, Crais draws the reader in via his protagonist’s casual, dryly humorous manner and the book’s relaxed ties to classic noir. Slowly but surely, the plot gains intensity and deadly purpose. Just when you think the missing persons case is solved, Crais ratchets things up with a devastating follow-through. This is the L.A. novelist’s 20th Cole mystery, following such efforts as The Watchman (2007) and Racing the Light (2022). It may be his most powerful.
A potent and surprising novel by the ever-reliable Crais.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9780525535768
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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