An intelligently conceived novel, hampered by prose of uneven quality.
In Rivers’ final thriller of a trilogy, a psychologist takes on a sex trafficking ring in New Mexico that threatens her family.
Kate Medina is a professional therapist with a private practice in her hometown of Alamogordo, New Mexico. She also operates a safehouse for the victims of sex trafficking—a veritable fortress equipped with a panoptic home security system. For decades, a vast and complex sex-trafficking ring has been based in the small city, protected by such high-ranking officials as Bill Gunnison, Alamogordo’s chief of police. However, Medina’s investigations into this corruption, with the help of her fiance, FBI agent Roman Aguilar, have made very little progress. Then Sam Garrett, the city manager, contacts her with a promise of information; this could be a breakthrough, as Kate is certain that he’s a part of the criminal conspiracy. However, before she can speak to him, he’s killed by an unknown assailant. Soon afterward, someone abducts Kate’s sister, Tilly, who’s a nurse, and her teenage friend, Hannah Bross, and Kate fears the worst. Later, she finds out that someone close to her has run the illicit operation for many years and is locked in a power struggle with Gunnison over its leadership. Rivers portrays the harrowing machinations of the sex-trafficking industry with impressive meticulousness, and she sensitively depicts the trauma of sexual assault and its long-term effects on its victims. However, Rivers’ prose, while clear, is bland and prone to melodrama (“Would any of them ever be the same?”), which can be jarring, given the gravity of the subject matter. As a result, readers may find it difficult to become fully engaged in the action of the novel. Also, as this is the series’ final installment, newcomers won’t be able to fully appreciate it without reading its predecessors first.
An intelligently conceived novel, hampered by prose of uneven quality.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781734516081
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Compathy Press, LLC.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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
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