This briskly paced story boasts intrigue, suspense, and series potential.
In Staley’s thriller, groups from around the globe are willing to kill to get their hands on a mysterious DNA code.
Renowned geneticist Dr. Alex Bishop’s newest project at a Washington, D.C., lab is top secret: The military is technologically capable of rewriting DNA to change human behavior, and it wants him to perfect it, allowing the tech to make these changes instantaneous. One night, while alone in the lab, Alex makes a startling discovery—a specific genetic code that could shake the entire world. He confides in FBI Special Agent Gabby Morgane, a loyal friend. That doesn’t stop a rival geneticist from attacking him to get the code, which he’s stored on a flash drive in his pocket. Meanwhile, Karesh Harrison, a former Royal Marine Commando, accompanies a man named Aaron Bashir to the United States to deliver an ancient book. Mercenaries and assassins, all tied to a millennia-old prophecy, enter the mix, though only a few fully understand what’s going on. The narrative thrives on ambiguity. Though the code on Alex’s flash drive provides some illumination, the story is largely puzzling—even to many of the characters—until late in the story. Still, it’s engrossing throughout. The author introduces riveting characters like the capable and resilient Gabby and Alex, whose vivid dreams feature silhouetted creatures and bloody assaults. Tension builds as killers strike and the prophesied “greatest evil ever to walk the earth” gradually comes to light. Not all of the groups involved are after the same thing, a fact that ignites a handful of exhilarating action sequences featuring explosions, bullets zipping past, and flying bodies. This novel reads like a series opener, leaving myriad questions unanswered, from certain characters’ true identities to mysterious objects that remain enigmas.
This briskly paced story boasts intrigue, suspense, and series potential.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2023
ISBN: 9798218100742
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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