Largely unsympathetic characters populate this riveting but unrelentingly somber crime novel.
In Ali’s thriller, a number of individuals struggle to control the heroin trade in the Midwestern United States.
Juman Swift’s part in the “drug game” is selling the heroin that Julio Gomez supplies. But Juman, who’s based in Detroit, yearns for something more—he wants to do what Julio does, be the connection who distributes narcotics to dealers. But there’s a problem; while his crew, The Savage Clique, transports a van full of heroin, armed and masked men rob them. Now Juman is out hundreds of thousands of dollars. As he’s reluctant to increase his debt to Julio, he turns to a rival crew with the prospect of teaming up and becoming stronger. Meanwhile, Winter Swartz gets released from juvenile detention, having spent four years inside for killing the college student who drugged and raped her when she was barely a teen. She lands her dream job as a flight attendant and later reunites with Summer, one of her friends from juvie. The young women are soon horrified to learn they may not have completely escaped the predatory correctional officer who repeatedly assaulted and tormented them when they were still incarcerated. Juman and Winter ultimately cross paths in a chaotic world of unstable alliances and shocking betrayals.
The author skillfully builds tension in this grim tale, gradually assembling a cast that generates a string of absorbing, interlinked subplots as the characters make precarious side deals, plot coldblooded murder, and secretly harbor malevolence toward supposed friends. As distrust grows among so many people, it’s often difficult to predict who’s going to walk away from any encounter unscathed. The frequent depictions of violence are graphic, including more than one sexual assault scene, though they’re mercifully brief. Ali doesn’t glorify any of what unfolds but rather observes it with an unflinching eye. Many of the characters involved are distinctly unlikable or downright appalling (“He carefully looked into each cell, making a point to pause if something caught his eye. C.O. Wilding was not looking for contraband. He wanted to see which one of his favorite girls would flash him a peek at their perfectly well-kept, well-defined, perky breast”). Even Juman puts making money above everything else and gets worse in the novel’s latter half, growing more aloof and narcissistic. At the same time, Winter’s enthralling subplot fleshes out her character, but she, like the other women herein, endlessly suffers at the hands of men who treat her as little more than an object. Once again, the author isn’t championing this behavior; there’s no hero to be found in this dreary world of ruthless criminals and the horrid things they do. Dialogue comes loaded with slang and racial slurs, though only among people of color. It’s also snappy, and characters’ exchanges flow smoothly, further energizing a story that rarely slows down. Ali may have a sequel in mind; the book ends with a few knockout cliffhangers.
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 141
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
“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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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