A taut, Germany-set addition to the vampire genre.
A young American woman discovers her vampiric heritage in Viola’s debut urban fantasy novel, the first in a series.
Ava Schmidt thought she knew who she was. But three years ago, she learned that the woman who raised her—whom Ava always believed to be her grandmother—was hiding the truth about her origins. The only clue about her birth mother is contained in a postcard sent from Berlin, Germany, so Ava packs up her life and moves from Long Island to the German city in the hope of discovering her real family. One night, after a post-work drink with colleagues, Ava is attacked while leaving the bar. She has a faint memory of a man and a woman, one telling the other to kill her. She wakes up the next morning alone in the woods, bleeding from the face and suffering from an urgent thirst—for blood. She’s approached by one of her attackers, a century-old vampire (or “Risen,” as they prefer) named Jae. Jae can finally provide Ava with information about her long-lost family, but it isn’t necessarily news she wants to hear. It turns out that Ava is the last surviving member of the Line, the ruling dynasty of the Risen in Europe known for their violence and cruelty. It’s hardly the sort of family Ava would have imagined for herself. But is a bad family better than no family at all? Viola’s urgent prose keeps the reader rooted in each wonderfully claustrophobic scene (even if she sometimes takes a bit too long to explain things). The premise is a familiar one at this point, a fact that the author winks at here when Jae is disappointed by Ava’s ability to self-diagnose her own vampirism. “I’m so surprised at humans these days,” he grumbles. “Television and film, not to mention the bestsellers, have desensitized them to the real horrors of the supernatural, making the reality of the situation far too easy to accept.” There isn’t much to Ava’s story that is new, but those who love vampire fiction will enjoy this new series.
A taut, Germany-set addition to the vampire genre.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9783757864965
Page Count: 292
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 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
Plenty of excitement for Clancy fans.
Chinese president Li Jian Jun plans a sneak attack on Taiwan, and it’s up to the Jack Ryan administration to stop him without going to war.
President Li announces a naval exercise, but his real plan is Operation Sea Serpent, the lightning reunification of Taiwan. His minister of defense, Admiral Qin Hâiyû, thinks the idea is crazy because a great number of people would die, but he can’t say so. Li is not a man to be challenged, and he’s already had one of his ministers executed. But Qin wants to stop the war before it begins. Perhaps he can get word to the Americans so they can cut off the mad scheme, and he’s troubled by whether his actions will make him a traitor or a patriot. A Western asset nicknamed the Spider helps facilitate his dangerous disappearance as he attempts to leave China, and authorities in Beijing don’t know if he’s been kidnapped or has defected. Meanwhile, the Ryan administration wants to get him safely extracted from mainland China. President Ryan orders that an American naval vessel will transit through the Strait of Taiwan, which the People’s Republic has blockaded. Will there be a bloody showdown that triggers a major war? So much can go wrong, and there are series regulars like John Clark and Ding Chavez at the tip of the spear. And there’s also Katie Ryan, a lieutenant commander with the Office of Naval Intelligence who’s deployed to Taiwan because she’s “one hell of an intelligence analyst” who “thinks outside the box.” She’s a “rising star” who refuses to trade on her relationship with her father, President Ryan. There’s not much violence, although there’s enough to call it a military thriller. One brave American is fading fast from a round to his chest, but he has time to smile about that “hot” Katie Ryan. (Yes, yes, we all like the Ryans.) The novel’s big question is not which nation wins, but whether they fight. Bravery and clear thinking will have to come from both sides. By the way, Jack Junior isn’t in this one—it’s Katie’s time to shine.
Plenty of excitement for Clancy fans.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593717974
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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