Guaranteed to satisfy old fans of the franchise without necessarily building new ones.
After the death of Ann Vanderlaan, Jen J. Danna, the surviving partner behind the Driscoll pseudonym, shoulders their dog-heavy franchise on her own in this ripped-from-the-headlines tale.
In the week before Christmas, Meg Jennings, a civilian consultant to the FBI’s Forensic Canine Unit, is shocked to hear from her brother-in-law, Washington Post investigative reporter Clay McCord, that Talbot Terraces, an upscale 12-story structure combining retail stores and condos only a few blocks from the White House, has partly collapsed. But she’s not too shocked to spring into action with Hawk, her canine partner on the Human Scent Evidence Team. Along with other team members including D.C. firefighter/paramedic Todd Webb, her fiance, she and Hawk begin an agonizing search of the pancaked ruins for survivors. The descriptions of both the catastrophic destruction and the laborious, dangerous process of searching are so meticulous that readers will cheer every one of the few successful rescues. Why did the relatively new building collapse? It would seem impervious to natural disasters, and any sabotage would have had to be too carefully planned and extensive to justify a vengeful strike against one of its residents. No sooner has the rest of Talbot Terraces come down, however, than Todd gets word that the Brotherhood of Libertas may have attacked the building and may be eyeing other targets, motivated by a conspiracy theory as outlandish as it is lethal. The shift from a premise inspired by the 2021 collapse of Florida’s Champlain Towers South to a search for possible saboteurs makes the story considerably less suspenseful, especially given its paper-thin characters, but gives its real heroes, those highly trained dogs, another chance to shine before Christmas dawns.
Guaranteed to satisfy old fans of the franchise without necessarily building new ones.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781496743985
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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
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