An action-packed tale of organized crime and familial ties.
A man allows his job as a bookie to affect the lives of his daughter and granddaughter in Harding’s novel.
Donnie “The Book” Chariot is a genius with numbers. His affinity for calculating probability has made him a legendary bookie covering the action on horse-race betting. Unfortunately, Donnie has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and he cannot determine the likelihood of a given outcome as easily as he once could. When his clients start complaining that they are losing money as a result of his bad picks, Donnie tries to enlist the help of his daughter, Donna—who shares a similar gift for mathematics—to help him in his work. Initially, due to their strained relationship, Donna refuses, only capitulating after her own daughter, Alexis, is kidnapped. Later, another pair of goons home in on Alexis’ kidnapping—this escalates the situation, leading to Donna's inadvertently teaming up with her father’s henchmen, Frank and Nicky, in a race to get her daughter back. Though the numbers and the degree of detail pertaining to gambling on horses may be a bit niche for some readers, the author’s tale has no shortage of thrills and drama to balance the more obscure material out. The strongest sections of the narrative are the rawer moments between characters, including Donna’s attempts to discuss her horrific childhood memories with her father (“You should have let all this lunacy go a long time ago. Tried being a husband or, I don’t know, maybe something real exotic, like a dad”). Similarly, Nicky’s feelings for Donna add depth to his character, elevating him above the level of some anonymous gangster underling. Harding’s prose is accessible and fast-paced though not particularly descriptive. There are a few too many characters, many of whom have very similar names, which can be confusing and make the story feel a bit cluttered at times. Aside from this minor flaw, the narrative is a well-crafted offering for lovers of crime thrillers and is a unique take on the typical gangster tale.
An action-packed tale of organized crime and familial ties.Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781685132927
Page Count: 316
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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