Fans of Star Trek, dime-store detective novels, or behind-the-scenes Hollywood tales will enjoy this quick read.
Spiner combines his life as an actor on Star Trek: The Next Generation with the tale of a murderously obsessive fan.
In the early 1990s, when The Next Generation is at its peak, Brent Spiner is living the life he’d always dreamed of. He plays Cmdr. Data, and aside from having to use kerosene to remove the gold makeup that turns him into his android character every day, things are going great. Then he gets a severed pig penis in the mail. The delusional fan continues to send disturbing gifts and threatens to kill Brent and other cast members. At first, Brent is wary, but he's more concerned with the show, his relationships, and the odd detective assigned to his case (who has a TNG script to plug. Hey, this is Hollywood, baby!). Then razor blades and bullets get involved, and so does the FBI. Brent soon is tangled up with a sexy FBI agent and her identical twin sister, who’s also his bodyguard; has run-ins with fans ranging from sincere to downright bizarre; and has to worry about making one of the most beloved shows on television while not actually dying. Panic attacks, nightmares, and sometimes hilarity ensue. Author Spiner calls his debut a “mem-noir,” because he weaves together Hollywood and Trekkie trivia, his experiences with real-life TNG cast and crew, his own traumatic childhood with an abusive stepfather, and an obsessive fan scenario that's not entirely made up, either. The story is quite accessible to non-Trekkies while never being overexplainy in ways fans would find tedious. Because it’s all told in a campy, dime-store–noir voice, one can never be sure what’s true and what’s fiction. Because Spiner is the victim, not the detective, he doesn’t get to break down doors or solve the crime, which makes the book less satisfying than it might have been. Spiner also sticks with the noir penchant for defining female characters by their looks, which is unfortunate. Though the writing is pithy and humorous, the book feels like it's directed at the stereotypical middle-aged, cis, male fans of the show even though TNG itself appeals to a much wider audience.
Fans of Star Trek, dime-store detective novels, or behind-the-scenes Hollywood tales will enjoy this quick read.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-2502-7436-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.
Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.
A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice (The Bone Collection, 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
A unique story of transcendent love.
An aimless young musician meets the girl of his dreams only to have his newfound happiness threatened by several inexplicable—and possibly supernatural—events.
The story opens as Leeds Gabriel meets with a detective while his girlfriend, Layla, is restrained in a room one flight above them. Through the interview, readers learn that Leeds was wasting both his time and his musical talent playing backup for a small-town wedding troupe called Garrett’s Band when he spied Layla dancing her heart out to their mediocre music at a wedding. When Leeds approaches Layla, their connection is both instant and intense. A blissful courtship follows, but then Leeds makes the mistake of posting a picture of himself with Layla on social media. A former girlfriend–turned-stalker wastes no time in finding and attacking Layla. Layla spends months recovering in a hospital, and it seems the girl Leeds fell for might be forever changed. Gone is her special spark, her quirkiness, and the connection that had entranced Leeds months before. In a last-ditch effort to save their relationship, he brings Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. When they get there, though, Leeds meets Willow, another guest, and finds himself drawn to her in spite of himself. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Willow will either be the key to saving Leeds’ relationship with Layla or the catalyst that finally extinguishes the last shreds of their epic romance. Told entirely from Leeds’ point of view, the author’s first foray into paranormal romance does not disappoint. Peppered with elements of mystery, psychological thriller, and contemporary romance, the novel explores questions about how quickly true love can develop, as well as the conflicts that can imperil even the strongest connections. Despite a limited cast of characters and very few setting changes, the narrative manages to remain both fast-paced and engaging. The conclusion leaves a few too many loose ends, but the chemistry between the characters and unexpected twists throughout make for a satisfying read.
A unique story of transcendent love.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-0017-8
Page Count: 301
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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