Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT

Next book

THE LAST HEARTBEAT IS ETERNAL

Passion, art, assassins… Mahdavi’s tale has something for everyone.

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT

Two teens meet in a Viennese museum, reconnect years later, and share a secret on-again, off-again love affair in Mahdavi’s intercontinental thriller.

The novel opens with a bullet fired from a sniper’s gun, then flashes back several decades: In 1960s Austria, precocious 13-year-old Rachel leaves her school group at the Vienna Kunsthistorisches museum to talk to 18-year-old Cyrus about a painting. Cyrus, a surrealistic painter, is a student of the world. Although his parents are American, he was born in Mexico, raised in Spain, and schooled in Austria. Rachel and Cyrus run into each other years later in New York. They become secret lovers, parted by her arranged marriage in Vienna. Later still, after Cyrus moves to Paris, she comes into the bar where he works when not painting. They resume their relationship, but Cyrus questions things she says, as she can “weave the real and the lies into a choking yet smooth reality.” But there are questions about Cyrus, too. His boss calls him a nowhere man, saying, “Like quicksilver, you can’t be pinned down. How many passports you got anyway?” In a world of international intrigue, expert assassins, and moving targets, better questions might be: Who is the killer, and who is the victim? Rachel’s secrets come home to roost in a haunting, violent ending that provides the answers. The author’s prose can be lyrical, as when Cyrus says of the time he spent with Rachel in New York, “All my other times of sadness after that year were measured against the happiness of that year.” Descriptions of paintings, a signature perfume, and the like are sensual. The narrative’s pacing works well at the start and end of the book but tends to drag in the second half, as conversation overtakes the action. Mahdavi’s experience as an artist living in Europe who holds several passports adds authenticity to the characters and settings.

Passion, art, assassins… Mahdavi’s tale has something for everyone.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 303

Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing

Review Posted Online: March 7, 2023

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 10


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

Next book

NOW OR NEVER

As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 10


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

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

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 39


  • New York Times Bestseller


  • IndieBound Bestseller

Next book

THE SILENT PATIENT

Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 39


  • New York Times Bestseller


  • IndieBound Bestseller

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

Close Quickview