A suspenseful yarn that will satisfy readers’ desire for excitement as well as a thirst for knowledge.
Two lawyers stand up to a big bank and try to find justice for those killed by terrorists in Papantonio and Paulos’ legal thriller.
Joel Hartbeck has had a tough life. In 2008, after surviving an encounter with an Explosively Formed Penetrator, a rumor spread that he was at fault for the deaths of many fellow soldiers because he did not find the device in time. Suffering from PTSD, he fell into a life of addiction and failed relationships. Even after becoming sober and getting his life on track, Joel feels angry at the world, primarily at the government, for what happened to him and so many others. Joel gets a job at Bank Antriol. At first, he’s happy with the good salary and comfortable office work, but soon he discovers something sinister: The bank has been funding terrorists overseas. Meanwhile, Joel starts dating Janet, another employee at the bank, who’s also found concerning transactions. While Joel doesn’t want to lose his job, Janet wants justice and plans to go to the FBI if need be. After Janet is fired for asking too many questions and then found murdered in her home, Joel decides to take action. Joel’s friend from the service, Michael Carey, now works for Nicholas “Deke” Deketomis as a lawyer; the two aid Joel in finding justice. Papantonio and Paulos showcase their immense knowledge of American business’ intersection with terrorism, and the harm such a nexus causes innocent people. While the narrative can sometimes be overburdened with exposition, the characters effectively support the theme of justice. Michael and Deke are worthy heroes who propel the fast-paced story. Similarly, Joel is an excellent character to begin the story with, as he lays the emotional foundation for the significance of the legal battle (“He awoke in a panic. Once again, he was in a cold sweat and his heart was pumping like a jackhammer. After a few anxious seconds, Joel realized where he was and what had happened”).
A suspenseful yarn that will satisfy readers’ desire for excitement as well as a thirst for knowledge.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781956763898
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Arcade
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 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.
