A dark romance that will keep readers guessing.
Debut authors Christie Santo and Jeff Santo offer a noir love story full of suspicion, presumption, and skepticism.
The story begins in a busy Las Vegas casino, and the authors immediately set a dark tone as they introduce readers to Carney, the acne-scarred son of a Hollywood movie star, who’s living solo in Los Angeles and struggling to have his own screenwriting work recognized. At the blackjack table, he meets the devastatingly attractive Prudencia “Pru” Romidi, who’s an untidy arrangement of contradictions: She’s capable and naïve; forthright and deceptive; and both a force to be reckoned with and in desperate need of help. The two cagily begin a relationship despite Pru’s reluctance to reveal details of her past. She seems to live in her car, but she also stays at a mansion owned by the smarmy, unlikable Doug; later, she’s sourcing painkillers from new friend Mona, who has no fixed address. She’s also had a string of relationships in which her partner has ended up dead. Still, Carney is seized by a desire to “rescue” her, as she inspires him to write with renewed passion. After she has a motorcycle accident, she moves into Carney’s house and life, although what’s real and what’s a game in their relationship keeps the characters—and readers—second-guessing their motives and behaviors. The novel consistently explores themes often found in noir tales, contemplating such concepts as luck, gamesmanship, and performing to a type. It also addresses the question of whether love can thrive where moral ambiguity and flaws abound. Throughout, the characters are effectively shown to be pessimistic and uncertain about their own selves—and completely in the dark about everyone else. However, the tale has a tendency to flow from the perspective of one character to another too quickly.
A dark romance that will keep readers guessing.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-09-836967-5
Page Count: 258
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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
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