A surprisingly humane assemblage of unforgettable characters, a fun house plot, and sharply observed societal shortcomings.
Two detectives take on a bizarre case with suspicious origins and increasingly personal ramifications in Canning’s mystery novel.
This satiric, at times surreal mystery plunges two detectives into a case involving (but not limited to) experts in public manipulation, corrupt corporate moguls, anarchic artist and feminist groups, assorted crooks, a movie star with alleged cannibalistic tendencies, a search for a rumored-to-be-lethal stockpile of Vietnam War–era Agent Orange somewhere in Southern California, a secret organization with global reach…and a fictional cameo appearance by Tom Hanks. That this wild ride doesn’t spin out of control is down to the sure hand of the author, who balances the antic plot with unexpected heart. This element is personified by Teddy, one of the owners of the Lint Detective Agency, located in a Los Angeles strip mall. Teddy, a “Black Mr. Rogers in an eyepatch,” is a one-eyed, cardigan-wearing “believer in the direct application of compassion.” His protective brother, Ralph, of seeming Mediterranean heritage, is athletic and tough. They bonded as young children after being kidnapped by a twisted cult leader to whom Teddy lost his eye. (Ralph lost a less visible part of his anatomy.) Their reputation for investigative alacrity brings them a client who attempts to bolster his dubious claim of being a CIA agent by bringing actor Tom Hanks with him for a brief, paid appearance as his “legitimacy catalyst.” Canning weaves dark humor, occasional gritty violence, and barbed observations of societal ills into an odyssey of discovery that culminates in a riotous clash of gun-toting feminist “gynarchists”—artists who create public disruptions (“sonic incontinence,” anyone?)—and an “invisible government” of elite corporate manipulators whose mantra is to appeal “to emotion over intellect, bias over information.” A reunion with a sister cult survivor—a secret held by the East LA grocer who rescued and adopted the brothers—and a bittersweet choice facing Teddy provide additional enjoyable texture to the mix.
A surprisingly humane assemblage of unforgettable characters, a fun house plot, and sharply observed societal shortcomings.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9798323893928
Page Count: 261
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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
One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat.
A routine break-in at the home of Sûreté homicide chief Armand Gamache leads slowly but surely to the revelation of a potentially calamitous threat to all Québec.
At first it seems as if nothing at all triggered the burglar alarm at Gamache’s home in Three Pines; it was literally a false alarm. It’s not till he receives a package containing his summer jacket that Gamache realizes someone really did get into his house, choosing to steal exactly this one item and return it with a cryptic note referring to “some malady…water” and “Angelica stems.” Having already refused to meet with Jeanne Caron, chief of staff to Marcus Lauzon, a powerful politician who’s already taken vengeance on Gamache and his family for not expunging his child’s criminal record, Gamache now agrees to meet with Charles Langlois, a marine biologist with ties to Caron who confesses to a leading role in stealing Gamache’s jacket. Their meeting ends inconclusively for Gamache, who’s convinced that Langlois is hiding something weighty, and all too conclusively for Langlois, who’s killed by a hit-and-run driver as he leaves. The news that Langlois had been investigating a water supply near the abbey of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups sends Gamache scurrying off to the abbey, where the plot steadily thickens until he’s led to ask how “an old recipe for Chartreuse” can possibly be connected to “a terrorist plot to poison Québec’s drinking water.” That’s a great question, and answering it will take the second half of this story, which spins ever more intricate connections among leading players that become deeply unsettling.
One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250328137
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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