A taut and exhilarating techno-thriller.
In Hancock’s thriller, a covert, military-trained American team fights to shut down an AI-related project brewing in Central Asia.
War veteran and widower “Voodoo” leads a group of hackers and “wrench-turners” for the United States Naval Special Warfareunit at the Directorate in San Diego. His skills earned him a spot in a rescue operation the previous year in Japan; now, the CIA station chief in Japan wants the same team for a mission in Central Asia, which, like the previous op, has ties to an escalating artificial intelligence Cold War. That’s not the only connection—the God Algorithm, a powerful AI that Voodoo and the others learned about last year, may still be trouble. For their newest assignment, the team must first recover an asset named Kobra Siddik, who, after escaping a reeducation camp in China, rushes to make it across the border to Kazakhstan. She has intel Voodoo’s team needs, but she will only supply it if the team helps her get someone else out of the camp. Do the Chinese have the God Algorithm? And for what diabolical purpose will they use the AI? In any case, soldiers (courtesy of China’s Ministry of State Security) are gunning for Kobra as well as Voodoo, and such team members as the burly, taciturn Stu Slater and Voodoo’s redheaded directorate co-worker Sparks. The team’s ultimate goal is thwarting “this AI network” that seems to be gathering force. But that’s easier planned than done, as protests devolve into riots that upset the Kazakh city of Almaty, surprising villains crop up, and double-crossings throw everything into disarray.
Hancock packs this brisk thriller with rousing action scenes and intriguing ideas (a scientist makes a specific type of diamond whose value isn’t monetary; China uses a “predictive algorithm” that warns officials of the enigmatic “Sentinel” that will trigger insurgency). The narrative’s complex concepts are made abundantly clear via the action or characters’ discourse. That’s also true for the military and tech terminology, in addition to a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms for various organizations and shorthand communications (RTB: Return To Base). The novel delivers action in an entertaining fashion as the team skydives, goes undercover, and finds itself engaged in frenzied gunfights and pursuits. They also employ impressive technology, the highlight being four-legged, heavily-armed robotic machines that the team can access remotely. Best of all, the author meticulously develops the cast: Voodoo shares a tension with team member Mason Gallegos that harkens back to their tour in Afghanistan, and there are memorable individuals throughout, including the resilient Kobra, who comes with a tragic backstory; the ever-inquisitive Inspector Chen Wei; and the highly-skilled CIA operative Sasha Zhakupova. This sophomore series installment seamlessly connects to the preceding book—new readers will easily follow along, but may want to check out the series opener to avoid spoilers.
A taut and exhilarating techno-thriller.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781640621718
Page Count: -
Publisher: Braveship Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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