A dark, suspenseful legal tale with a remarkable coda.
In McKee’s debut thriller, an Atlanta lawyer sets about clearing his name after he becomes a murder suspect.
After successfully defending a patent case for the Milano Corporation, Paul McDaniel is ready for a weekend at the beach. But his victory quickly sours when Paul suspects that Anthony Milano used the case as a way to get his hands on brother Placido’s stocks in the family business after the two inherited a controlling share of it. Despite news that Placido has been missing since the trial ended, his daughter, Melissa Milano, tells Paul that her father is hiding, as he’s convinced Anthony is trying to kill him. Paul agrees to help Melissa—whom he dated in the past—track down Placido. But a coverup is already underway, and Paul is soon a suspect in not one but three homicides. He goes on the run but grows determined to prove his innocence. At the same time, he learns that Anthony is holding Melissa captive to draw out Placido. Fortunately, Paul has a few allies, from recently befriended, retired Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Bill Grey to Placido’s artificial intelligence “assistant,” Ariel. As they concoct a plan to rescue Melissa, Paul struggles to avoid authorities so he’ll have time to vindicate himself. McKee’s novel is grim throughout. Paul, for example, distrusts even some of the people he works with and has a strained relationship with his mother, a homeless alcoholic who sees him only when she wants money. As for Ariel, she’s a savvy AI—she can access ATMs—but her “moral limitations” make Paul understandably wary. Although numerous characters die, McKee avoids excessive depictions of violence. Instead, he showcases notable scenes of suspense, as when a group sneaks onto an island to find Melissa and when a police officer stops Paul, who’s on the lam and carrying someone else’s ID. The ending takes a bit of a turn, though it’s not wholly unexpected and is certainly memorable.
A dark, suspenseful legal tale with a remarkable coda.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Southern Fried Karma, LLC
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fine Grisham storytelling that his fans will enjoy.
A descendant of enslaved people fights a Florida developer over the future of a small island.
In 1760, the slave ship Venus breaks apart in a storm on its way to Savannah, and only a few survivors, all Africans, find their way safely to a tiny barrier island between Florida and Georgia. For two centuries, only formerly enslaved people and their descendants live there. A curse on white people hangs over the island, and none who ever set foot on it survive. Its last resident was Lovely Jackson, who departed as a teen in 1955. Today—well, in 2020—a developer called Tidal Breeze wants Florida’s permission to “develop” Dark Isle, which sits within bridge-building distance from the well-established Camino Island. The plot is an easy setup for Grisham, big people vs. little people. Lovely’s revered ancestors are buried on Dark Isle, which Hurricane Leo devastated from end to end. Lovely claims the islet’s ownership despite not having formal title, and she wants white folks to leave the place alone. But apparently Florida doesn’t have enough casinos and golf courses to suit some people. Surely developers can buy off that little old Black lady with a half million bucks. No? How about a million? “I wish they’d stop offering money,” Lovely complains. “I ain’t for sale.” Thus a non-jury court trial begins to establish ownership. The story has no legal fireworks, just ordinary maneuvering. The real fun is in the backstory, in the portrayal of the aptly named Lovely, and the skittishness of white people to step on the island as long as the ancient curse remains. Lovely has self-published a history of the island, and a sympathetic white woman named Mercer Mann decides to write a nonfiction account as well. When that book ultimately comes out, reviewers for Kirkus (and others) “raved on and on.” Don’t expect stunning twists, though early on Dark Isle gives four white guys a stark message. The tension ends with the judge’s verdict, but the remaining 30 pages bring the story to a satisfying conclusion.
Fine Grisham storytelling that his fans will enjoy.Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9780385545990
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
More like a con than a truly satisfying psychological mystery.
What should be a rare horror—a woman gone missing—becomes a pattern in Kubica's latest thriller.
One night, a young mother goes for a run. She never comes home. A few weeks later, the body of Meredith, another missing woman, is found with a self-inflicted knife wound; the only clue about the fate of her still-missing 6-year-old daughter, Delilah, is a note that reads, "You’ll never find her. Don’t even try." Eleven years later, a girl escapes from a basement where she’s been held captive and severely abused; she reports that she is Delilah. Kubica alternates between chapters in the present narrated by Delilah’s younger brother, Leo, now 15 and resentful of the hold Delilah’s disappearance and Meredith’s death have had on his father, and chapters from 11 years earlier, narrated by Meredith and her neighbor Kate. Meredith begins receiving texts that threaten to expose her and tear her life apart; she struggles to keep them, and her anxiety, from her family as she goes through the motions of teaching yoga and working as a doula. One client in particular worries her; Meredith fears her husband might be abusing her, and she's also unhappy with the way the woman’s obstetrician treats her. So this novel is both a mystery about what led to Meredith’s death and Delilah’s imprisonment and the story of what Delilah's return might mean to her family and all their well-meaning neighbors. Someone is not who they seem; someone has been keeping secrets for 11 long years. The chapters complement one another like a patchwork quilt, slowly revealing the rotten heart of a murderer amid a number of misdirections. The main problem: As it becomes clear whodunit, there’s no true groundwork laid for us to believe that this person would behave at all the way they do.
More like a con than a truly satisfying psychological mystery.Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-778-38944-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Park Row Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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