A solid beginning to what could be a wildly entertaining and thematically powerful thriller saga.
A legal thriller chronicles one man’s search for his 15-year-old goddaughter in the sordid underworld of human trafficking.
Nick “Deke” Deketomis—who is a senior partner in one of the country’s largest plaintiff law firms—is working on a case involving a chain of truck stops supposedly involved in human trafficking throughout the Southeast United States. The case becomes even more significant when Deketomis discovers that his goddaughter, Lily Reyes, has disappeared. With his close-knit team helping him—which includes Air Force pararescueman–turned-lawyer Michael Carey and Carol Morris, one of the firm’s investigative experts—Deketomis begins investigating the dark netherworld of sex trafficking, where those unfortunate enough to be caught up in the vile criminal enterprise go from “slave to grave.” As Deketomis mentors Carey on how to be a successful and ethical lawyer, the two are faced with more than a few morally ambiguous situations during the course of their investigation. A group of Ukrainian women, for example, who were recruited to work hospitality jobs in America are now essentially slaves forced to clean hotel rooms during the day and become sex workers at night. Papantonio and Russell have created an utterly readable thriller. The series opener’s biggest strength is its deep character development. All of the major players—even criminals like sex trafficker Tio Leo and hotel owner Vicky Driscoll—are insightfully and realistically portrayed. Additionally, the dynamism and deep connections between many of the characters (for example, Deketomis and Lily; Carey and his wife) make for an emotionally compelling reading experience. As can be expected in any worthy thriller, the action sequences are impressive, and the pacing is relentless throughout. Another plus is the timeliness of the subject matter. (According to the book, every year at least a quarter of a million Americans under the age of 18 are lured into the commercial sex trade.) The one minor criticism is the predictability of the story’s conclusion.
A solid beginning to what could be a wildly entertaining and thematically powerful thriller saga.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5107-6887-1
Page Count: 312
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
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
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
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