A searing, curious look at ritualistic homicides boosts this striking thriller.
In this mystery, a researcher and a police deputy have inexplicable ties to a serial killer in New York state.
Sage Stevenson had been a cutter when she was a teen. But she hasn’t harmed herself in over a decade and is now busy with her postdoctoral research in paleography. That’s why she can’t explain the scars on her skin—brand new ones she’s never seen before. In Sage’s city, Savanaugh, New York, Deputy Marquis Marchant is just one of the cops at a brutal murder scene. The killer had severed the victim’s limbs, sewn them together, and carved unknown symbols into the skin (“Some of the markings—especially in the middle of the man’s back—looked like crude video game icons. Space Invaders or something like that”). Marq wants to investigate but finds himself sidelined courtesy of his right arm’s bizarre numbness, rendering the limb virtually useless. After the killer strikes again, Sage calls the police; she reputedly has had a vision of the murderer and is certain the “unique markings” on the victim’s skin are identical to hers. Only Marq, it seems, believes her, and the two soon learn they have a shocking connection to the killer as well as to a mysterious woman named Artemesia Burton. In this grim and engrossing tale, Mallery centers on three laudable characters—Sage, Marq, and the killer. Sage fears that she’s schizophrenic, while Marq’s co-workers deride him for his book smarts. The murderer, too, proves surprisingly engaging; he’s frighteningly meticulous but vulnerable, as when a not-so-simple body dump shows how easily he could get caught. Notwithstanding severed limbs, a meat cleaver, and blood galore, the novel somewhat mitigates the violence with a taut narrative that deftly highlights both the cast’s external and internal pain. A relatively early flashback pulls readers into the killer’s past, a darkly intriguing turn that, while quite revealing, stirs up further questions. The story’s latter half, in particular, hints at supernatural elements, but the author coats them in ambiguity until the sensational denouement.
A searing, curious look at ritualistic homicides boosts this striking thriller.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2022
ISBN: 9781735338644
Page Count: 316
Publisher: TESSELESSET BOOKS
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.
Who was Shakespeare?
Move over, Earl of Oxford and Francis Bacon: There’s another contender for the true author of plays attributed to the bard of Stratford—Emilia Bassano, a clever, outspoken, educated woman who takes center stage in Picoult’s spirited novel. Of Italian heritage, from a family of court musicians, Emilia was a hidden Jew and the courtesan of a much older nobleman who vetted plays to be performed for Queen Elizabeth. She was well traveled—unlike Shakespeare, she visited Italy and Denmark, where, Picoult imagines, she may have met Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—and was familiar with court intrigue and English law. “Every gap in Shakespeare’s life or knowledge that has had to be explained away by scholars, she somehow fills,” Picoult writes. Encouraged by her lover, Emilia wrote plays and poetry, but 16th-century England was not ready for a female writer. Picoult interweaves Emilia’s story with that of her descendant Melina Green, an aspiring playwright, who encounters the same sexist barriers to making herself heard that Emilia faced. In alternating chapters, Picoult follows Melina’s frustrated efforts to get a play produced—a play about Emilia, who Melina is certain sold her work to Shakespeare. Melina’s play, By Any Other Name, “wasn’t meant to be a fiction; it was meant to be the resurrection of an erasure.” Picoult creates a richly detailed portrait of daily life in Elizabethan England, from sumptuous castles to seedy hovels. Melina’s story is less vivid: Where Emilia found support from the witty Christopher Marlowe, Melina has a fashion-loving gay roommate; where Emilia faces the ravages of repeated outbreaks of plague, for Melina, Covid-19 occurs largely offstage; where Emilia has a passionate affair with the adoring Earl of Southampton, Melina’s lover is an awkward New York Times theater critic. It’s Emilia’s story, and Picoult lovingly brings her to life.
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593497210
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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