An exhilarating, realistic political tale with shades of SF.
Devastated nations maneuver to regain power and fight over advanced technology in Kanati’s future-set thriller.
Chaos ensues on a global scale in the mid-21st century: For starters, a second American Civil War looms as states secede and the president is assassinated. Not long after POTUS wrote off America’s multitrillion-dollar debt, China’s economy collapsed and Russia’s troubled government followed suit. In the United States, Max Doss, working for a covert agency, searches for the person or persons behind the president’s assassination, but an even more essential mission involves tracking down a Vietnamese scientist who may be the key to unlocking the alien tech that more than one country has long harbored. With world-power status up for grabs, a handful of nations embark on an “alien space race” to gain access to extraterrestrial technology. Meanwhile, the world has its collective eyes on two extraordinarily influential men: Temüjin (the reputed direct descendent of Genghis Khan) and Kurt Stromquist, who each strive to establish a “single world order.” Kanati’s riveting story moves Doss all over the globe, from Seattle and New Orleans to Pakistan and the Caribbean. The military-trained agent often finds himself in brief but memorable action scenes, like a car chase that ends in a gunfight and a worthy display of his fisticuffs. However, what really drives the narrative is the characters’ political maneuvering; countries are rarely certain what rivals are planning or already have in motion, and Temüjin and Stromquist’s agendas are shrouded in mystery, which stokes everyone’s anxiety. Other wild card factors include the mysterious entity “Mother” (who works with Doss) and “the Council,” a clandestine organization that likely participated in the president’s assassination. The author’s concise, unadorned prose delivers keen dialogue and clear descriptions, and the seamless blend of real-world history and fiction gives this novel a welcome touch of plausibility.
An exhilarating, realistic political tale with shades of SF.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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