A slick and amiable thriller with a series of colorful backdrops.
The search for the perpetrators of a disturbing cybercrime uncovers a nefarious international network.
Retired FBI agent Brad Trasker, who now works as the head of security for the billion-dollar company Wind Aerospace, gets an unexpected call from a furious Colonel Melchor at the Pentagon about a damaging security breach. At length the crime is traced to Josiah Levenstein, a young man who works at a Panda Express in North Hollywood, not exactly the typical base of a master criminal. Trasker, who narrates in a puckish first person, decides to handle the matter himself, leaving Wind Aerospace CEO Kylie Connor in the dark—a decision he’ll come to regret. He confronts Josiah, a small and nervous young man, and convinces him to spill everything he knows and hand over his laptop. But the case isn’t exactly closed, for Josiah subsequently dies by suicide (or is it murder?). Enter the entire Wind Aerospace team, the discovery that hapless Josiah is just the tip of an international criminal iceberg, and a twisty pursuit to Guam, Costa Rica, and Thailand. A spy ring, internal betrayal, and “a weird little intelligence agency” figure prominently. Trasker’s lively second adventure mirrors his debut in Night Owl (2023) as it speeds through multiple locations and subsets of characters like a runaway train. The story is breezy but a bit head spinning, kept afloat by the charm and dependable wisecracks from the savvy Trasker.
A slick and amiable thriller with a series of colorful backdrops.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781662522222
Page Count: 315
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”
Idyllic Catalina Island turns out to be just as crime infested as the rest of Los Angeles County in the latest series launch by the creator of Harry Bosch, Renée Ballard, and the Lincoln Lawyer.
Det. Sgt. Stilwell has been bounced off the county homicide squad and rusticized to Catalina, where the exclusive Black Marlin Club won’t admit even four-term Avalon Mayor Doug Allen to full membership and the most serious infraction seems to be the killing and cutting up of a buffalo, presumably by Henry Gaston, who operates Island Mystery Tours when he’s not threatening endangered species. All that changes with the discovery of a body sunk in the surrounding waters. The corpse, most recognizable by its streak of purple hair, is that of Leigh-Anne Moss, a Black Marlin server recently fired for fraternizing with members and guests she sees as potential sugar daddies. Stilwell is sufficiently invested in her murder to compete vigorously over jurisdiction with Rex Ahearn, the LA County homicide detective who kept his job when Stilwell lost his. Their rivalry, fueled by mutual contempt, is only the first hint that Stilwell will end up fighting his counterparts in law enforcement and local government at least as hard as he fights crooks like hit man Merris Spivak and Oscar “Baby Head” Terranova, Henry’s boss, who comes under sharper scrutiny when Henry disappears and ends up dead himself. Connelly handles his hero’s obligatory romance with assistant harbormaster Tash Dano and his increasingly wary alliance with assistant D.A. Monika Juarez with equal professionalism, and if the wrap-up leaves some loose ends dangling, well, that’s what franchises are for.
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780316588485
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
Smart, edgy, and entertaining as heck.
Against her better judgment, Lucy Chase returns to her hometown of Plumpton, Texas, for her grandmother’s birthday, knowing full well that almost everyone in town still believes she murdered her best friend five years ago, when they were in their early 20s.
Coincidentally—or is it?—Ben Owens, a true-crime podcaster, is also in town, interviewing Lucy’s family and former friends about the murder of Savannah Harper, “just the sweetest girl you ever met,” who died from several violent blows to the head. Lucy was found hours later covered in blood, with no memory of what happened. She was—and is—a woman with secrets, which has not endeared her to the people of Plumpton; their narrative is that she was always violent, secretive, difficult. But Ben wants to tell Lucy’s story; attractive and relentless, he uncovers new evidence and coaxes new interviews, and people slowly begin to question whether Lucy is truly guilty. Lucy, meanwhile, lets down her guard, and as she and Ben draw closer together, she has to finally face the truth of her past and unmask the murderer of her complicated, gorgeous, protective friend. Most of the novel is told from Lucy’s point of view, which allows for a natural unspooling of the layers of her life and her story. She’s strong, she’s prickly, and we gradually begin to understand just how wronged she has been. The story is a striking commentary on the insular and harmful nature of small-town prejudice and how women who don’t fit a certain mold are often considered outliers, if not straight-up villains. Tintera is smart to capitalize on how the true-crime podcast boom informs and infuses the current fictional thriller scene; she’s also effective at writing action that transcends the podcast structure.
Smart, edgy, and entertaining as heck.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781250880314
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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