A fresh mystery with solid storytelling.
A formerly Amish young woman investigates mysterious deaths in her old community in Qnert’s mystery novel.
Sadie Beiler has made an authentic life for herself outside of her family’s Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As Sadie states, “I only have a handful of friends. I struggle to afford basic necessities. I’m floundering to find a faith that feels right. And I only have myself to rely upon. But I am free.” She lives next to her fellow ex-community member and best friend, Eli, with whom she often commiserates about their strict upbringing. Though Sadie now lives in the “English” world, she still keeps in touch with her family. Following a recent spate of perplexing deaths among her family and friends, Sadie notes how many Amish residents of Lancaster County are ill. She goes into overdrive investigating what could be plaguing her former community. Eli begins acting strangely and acquires large quantities of rat poison; Sadie suspects her friend may be contaminating Amish farm goods. Additionally, her friend’s younger sister Leah goes missing, and Sadie promises to search for her; she also meets Miriam, another ex-Amish girl, whom she takes in and helps ease into secular life. Meanwhile, Sadie’s mother is sick and has growths on her arm where a local doctor has been administering “vitamin elixirs.” Told mostly through Sadie’s point of view, the narrative is periodically relayed from the perspective of “the captive,” a mysterious character who has been shackled and imprisoned by an unnamed jailor. In these chapters and others, Qnert does not shy away from tackling tough subjects (including sexual assault), particularly as they relate to the cultural customs and beliefs of the Amish. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the story is the focus on the predisposition of the Amish to “various genetic disorders” and their subsequent immunity to cancer, known as the “founder effect.” The prose is sometimes repetitive, but the story, with its unique premise, is engaging overall.
A fresh mystery with solid storytelling.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2024
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
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
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