Driven by an honest, authentic main character who is imperfect and damaged.
A friendship is exposed as toxic during a luxury trip that ends in violence.
Growing up, Liv had few friends, a fact that upset her mother, whose advice to her daughter was to “eat the fucking cake” and stop being so sensitive. So when she meets fellow mothers Binnie and Beth, she’s thrilled to finally be inducted into the seemingly mythic world of female friendship. Through play dates and book clubs, dinners and the occasional trip, the three are supportive of each other’s highs and lows as only true friends can be. When Beth introduces Ange to the group, she immediately finds a core role as listener and organizer. When Ange wants to plan a trip for all four of them and their families to Corfu, everything seems perfect. They can lounge and drink, get dressed up for dinner and comment cattily on the other guests. An accidental revelation about another trip that didn’t include Liv leads her to realize that Ange, who once seemed like the glue of the foursome, has actually wormed her way into their group in service of her own narcissistic personality. Estranged from the other women, Liv strikes up a friendship with a wealthy socialite who has a wicked sense of humor—and the willingness to help Liv rid herself of Ange once and for all. Mayhew explores both the affirming side of female friendships and the darker currents of judgmental talk, financial peer pressure, and neediness. The most interesting part of the book is Liv, who’s the narrator, for she is often not a terribly sympathetic character. Yet there is something admirable in how she fights to recognize and celebrate her true, autonomous self, even if that person is inherently selfish and grudging.
Driven by an honest, authentic main character who is imperfect and damaged.Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-52660-634-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 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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