A gritty, action-packed thriller anchored by a heroic duo worth cheering for.
Manhattan becomes the arena for an epic, drug-tinged battle in Miller’s suspense horror novel.
In 1992, Raven and Keith are former drug addicts who maintain their sobriety with steely resolve. Both have successfully weathered the crack-addled streets of New York for years, but the city has become increasingly brutal. Raven, five years clean and studying law while working with drug treatment placements for street criminals, has begun experiencing vivid nightmares. Upon learning that other Narcotics Anonymous members have been experiencing the same dreams, she panics. Harlem-born former addict Keith meets Raven at the gym and joins forces with her to investigate the source of the dreams and uncover the reason Manhattan has become awash in violence. In a dilapidated building on 117th Street, aggressive drug kingpin “BG” (“Big Guy”) is taking full advantage of the current crack epidemic, pushing an instantly addictive cocaine variant capable of invading dreams. Teenage sex worker Gina, the daughter of junkies, finds herself in over her head after hooking up with one of BG’s henchmen. Coming to her rescue is news reporter Juan Miranda, who’s busy looking into the recent spate of deranged murders and mass shootings. Consistently thrilling and immersive, the novel’s action plays out over the span of several weeks as elements of danger, horror, and drug-fueled violence keep things moving at a frenetic pace. The story also incorporates underlying themes of abuse, addiction, recovery, relapse, and the nuances of sobriety; all are dealt with directly and realistically. The novel’s drug-addicted “zombies,” bedeviled by the “thick, sweet smell of crack,” convincingly occupy Miller’s meticulous, gruesomely detailed, and impeccably drawn setting. Dingy, burnt-out 1990s New York City comes to slimy life, populated by legions of BG’s wild-eyed, ultra-violent, cocaine-fueled “wet-brain” zombies. The author evens the playing field by introducing two seemingly indestructible protagonists to fend off the evil hordes, leaving room for more adventures after an exhilarating, open-ended cliffhanger.
A gritty, action-packed thriller anchored by a heroic duo worth cheering for.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: HOW Club Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
