A brisk and highly entertaining technothriller with a diverse cast.
Brilliant young adults from around the world use their gear and abilities to thwart an international threat in this prospective New Adult series-starter.
Adam Eberhardt, a 20-something German chemistry researcher at a Swiss research university, clumsily knocks over a row of flasks while assisting with the presentation of 24-year-old fellow researcher Margot Czarnecki. That’s not so unusual, especially for him, but he’s alarmed when, shortly afterward, he spots some men abducting Margot. Then a U.S. Army general suddenly shows up and puts Adam on a jet, with little explanation. Adam soon meets six talented people around the same age as he is, including French fighter pilot Jacki Schulté; soccer player Hala El-Mallawany from Cairo; and skilled chess player Guowei Zhang from Shanghai. The group winds up in a training facility in an undisclosed location, where they meet a man they all know well: a former geneticist who’s now working with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Task Force. To Adam, he’s Baba, who’s like a surrogate father to him, but the others each know him “by a different name or in a different way.” Apparently, the young people are clones of notable historical figures; Adam, it’s revealed, is the clone of Albert Einstein (with a bit of genetic enhancement for increased muscle development, among other traits). The man Adam knows as Baba asks the group to use their skills to take down a terrorist organization called the Allied Rebel Koalition, which has recently been kidnapping nuclear scientists, including Margot. The seven new teammates start training in hand-to-hand combat and the use of weaponry, but it’s not long before ARK targets them; they’re also after a mysterious 4-year-old named Yusef. The seven aim to protect the boy and decipher ARK’s ultimate plan.
Clark’s tale moves at an impressive pace, quickly and skillfully introducing the immensely likable Adam, who’s admiration of Margot over the last three years gives him plenty of incentive to find her. Each of the seven cloned youngsters gets snippets of backstory, and their individual personalities shine. Computer-savvy American Brandon Freeman, for example, provides comic relief with his endearingly half-baked remarks (“Yeah, but it makes you think….And he who thinks is a penny earned,” he muses at one point). This opening series installment is loaded with mysteries, such as how all the lab-created characters ended up with their respective families, and why Yusef is an important part of ARK’s nefarious plan. The villains behind ARK are revealed early on, but even they have surprising secrets. There are copious action scenes throughout, featuring Adam and the others engaging in fisticuffs, gunfights, and car chases. Clark keeps the violence from getting too graphic and never lingers on its aftermath. The Task Force also uses an assortment of chic tech, including pliable boron carbide armor; lightning-rod tasers that cause temporary paralysis; and iGlasses, contact lenses that allow easy, hands-free internet access; various players employ these gadgets to great effect. The story ends with gratifying and welcome resolution, although a sequel is in the works.
A brisk and highly entertaining technothriller with a diverse cast.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 367
Publisher: Quark Legacy
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.
Following her father’s sudden death, Aisling Swann is secretly horrified when her mother begins to date again—and she quickly becomes suspicious of this new flame.
Four years ago: A mysterious male narrator reflects upon his relationship with his wife—along with a few pointed comments about how she is aging. It quickly becomes apparent that this self-proclaimed “very pleasant” man is not who he seems; he already has a girlfriend on the side, and he’s playing both women with sob stories about his job and his traumatic past while taking money from them. Even as they get more and more frustrated with his lack of communication during ever-lengthening absences, he still gives them what they want: “a top-notch husband.” In the present day, Ash Swann; her brother, Arlo; and their mother, Nina, mourn the loss of her charismatic father, Paddy, a successful chef with a chain of lucrative restaurants. Nina receives a sympathy note from a man who claims to have worked closely with Paddy in the industry, which leads to a robust online flirtation that moves into the real world about a year after her husband’s death. Ash is living at home, mired in grief as well as her own mental health struggles, and she’s none too happy to see her mom dating—but particularly this handsome, egregiously suave Nick Radcliffe. Ash begins to notice some inconsistencies with his stories and his past, so she enlists Paddy’s ex-girlfriend Jane to help her investigate. Meanwhile, Ash’s story continues to intercut that of the mysterious man who is now married to his former girlfriend—and still up to his old tricks. Jewell’s cutting between past and present certainly allows revelations to ooze out at a slow, controlled pace; even as the reader makes obvious connections, the full picture remains obscure. Jewell has written some incredibly engaging and strong female characters, Nina, Ash, and Jane foremost among them. What would it have been like to split the narrative between them instead of giving so much voice—and thus narrative power—to the male antagonist?
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781668033876
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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