The author ups the ante in this entertaining thriller series outing starring a troubled hero.
In this novel, a National Defense Agency operative races to pull the plug on a team of hackers extorting power plants.
“Computer geek” Ronny Wolstein is in deep debt to Presser, who finances his scams. That means he’s got a problem. But he also has a solution: installing ransomware in several hydroelectric power plants, which will cause catastrophic destruction until the powers that be meet his payment demands. He works with two former high school “besties” who are in as dire financial straits as he is. Engineering guru David Owens’ daughter requires expensive medical treatments. Shirley Chen, providing security, is a “horribly disfigured” veteran. The money from Wolstein’s plan will pay for her plastic surgery. The trio preys on unwilling accomplices who are as vulnerable as they are, such as Kenneth Cramer, a plant worker with a gambling problem that causes him to be delinquent on his child support payments, threatening his visitation privileges. After two devastating ransomware attacks, Capt. KD Thorne of the National Defense Agency and her partner, Warrant Officer Jeffrey Blunt, are brought in to stop the hackers. Thorne carries baggage of a different type, but it’s no less burdensome. She struggles to reconcile “the stupid things she’d done after her husband had left her.” Though the two appear to be in “a good place,” they are still divorced. This is the third Thorne procedural (as in the grand Columbo tradition, readers are clued in to Wolstein and company’s doings and follow anxiously as Thorne and Blunt get ever closer to him and Presser). Generic title aside, this novel is a briskly enjoyable read. Chen’s character is particularly well written and psychologically attuned. She is desperate to “fit in” and not be “a freak show who could only attract pervs who wanted to kiss her scars while they fucked her or take her from behind so they wouldn’t have to look at her.” Series fans invested in Thorne’s fraught relationship with her ex-husband will welcome progress on that front. In addition, King deftly builds anticipation for a fourth volume.
The author ups the ante in this entertaining thriller series outing starring a troubled hero.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781952711138
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Blurred Lines Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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