An exhilarating sophomore installment in an engrossing series.
In Goldberg’s thriller sequel, a proficient killer goes to great lengths to escape his powerful former employers.
U.S. Army sniper J.D. Storm seems lost after an injury led to his honorable discharge. He finds himself recruited into a secret organization in New York called the Desire Card, in which leading operatives wear masks that resemble famous people; they promise to fulfill any paying client’s wish. Apparently, most of these wishes are assassinations, and J.D.’s special set of skills makes him useful to the Card. When he’s finally fed up with the group’s lack of morals, he quits and flees to the West Coast. He hides out in the small town of Killenroy, Washington, and, in no time, hits it off with a local woman. He’s hard up for cash and agrees to pull a heist with dull-witted and untrustworthy criminals. All the while, J.D. anticipates that the Card will find him and send killers who can hide in plain sight, as he won’t be able to recognize them unmasked. The best option may be to take the fight to the Card’s leader, “Clark Gable,” and take out his entire lethal team. This follow-up to Immoral Origins (2022) retains its predecessor’s edge, but features much more action, as J.D. faces off against several operatives, some to the death, in blistering sequences throughout. The story is fraught with tension, as well, as readers can never be certain when a double cross or a Card operative will pop up. Goldberg’s razor-sharp dialogue keeps the story moving and entertaining: “Hell, J.D., trouble’s all I know. What’s a little more?” Although the cast is largely enigmatic, J.D., whom this sequel introduces, is a sharply developed protagonist. Flashbacks to his Army days and his growing ire toward the Card, reveal a believable, sympathetic, and appealing figure who just wants a “real life” all his own.
An exhilarating sophomore installment in an engrossing series.Pub Date: July 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68549-091-1
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Rough Edges Press
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Expert, but unsurprising.
The death of an old friend who was more than a friend sends Dr. Kay Scarpetta down her latest rabbit hole.
If every body tells a story, the corpse of 7-year-old Luna Briley sings the blues. On top of the many signs of ongoing physical abuse, there’s the fatal gunshot wound to her head. Ryder and Piper Briley, the wealthy and powerful parents who didn’t call the police until after their daughter died, insist that Luna’s death was an accident, or maybe a suicide. Scarpetta doesn’t think so, and her refusal to release the body to the Brileys’ hand-picked mortician moves them to legal action against her as Virginia’s chief medical examiner. You’d think it would be a relief to put this case aside for another when Scarpetta’s niece, Secret Service agent Lucy Farinelli, calls her and ferries her by helicopter to an abandoned Oz theme park owned by Ryder Briley, but this one’s even more heartbreaking. Scarpetta is there to examine the body of astrophysicist Sal Giordano, her close friend and former lover, who was evidently kidnapped, held in captivity for several hours, and tossed out of an unidentified aircraft. The leading suspects are the Brileys; Carrie Grethen, Lucy’s sociopathic ex-lover, with whom Scarpetta has repeatedly tangled in the past; and the UFO that dumped Giordano’s body without leaving the usual traces for air-traffic technologies to pick up. The multiple rounds of physical examinations Scarpetta conducts on both victims are every bit as meticulous and gripping as fans would expect; the killer’s identity is neither surprising nor interesting, but Cornwell juggles her trademark forensics, and the paranormal hints she’s become increasingly invested in, more dexterously than usual.
Expert, but unsurprising.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781538770382
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK TO SCREEN
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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