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
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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