A sharp, sexy high-tech adventure about two lovers working within easily corrupted systems.
In James’ sequel to Ethos of Cain (2023), set in the future, a former mercenary and a strong-willed diplomat work to protect coastal Europeans while also keeping each other safe from harm.
Cainhas been engineering off-the-books heists his whole life, but he’s lately settled into a new, more reputable occupation in Brussels. He’s the chief of security for Francesca Pieralisi, the former mayor of Venice who’s now the director of implementation for the European Seawall Foundation; she and Cain also happen to be lovers. His new job allows them the luxury of living together for the first time, and it also gives him access to the full gamut of European intelligence technology. Among them is Serval, artificial-intelligence surveillance that should be able to recognize someone who’s been stalking Francesca lately; however, for some reason, the tech can’t even detect the interloper’s presence. Meanwhile, Francesca feels the limits of diplomacy as Black Horizon—a commercial entity that’s been legally recognized as a sovereign state—and other companies attempt to seize votes in the ESF to control the factories that will construct the seawalls. All eyes are on Francesca as she attempts to navigate growing threats to the ESF’s best interests, as well as to her political reputation and safety. In this series installment, James’ already expansive world grows, juxtaposing the backdrop of real-life Brussels (and its Berlaymont building) with new, fictional locations, including lush resorts in outer space and abandoned shipyards on Earth. New technology, such as Serval and weapon-heavy NMX-23 exoskeleton suits, heighten the tension of the ESF politics and add interest to the thrilling action sequences: “Four men in NMX-23 assault exoskeletons jumped down, shattering the flagstones beneath them, before the less-armored team members fast-roped down.” Despite some drawn-out platitudes about abuses of economic and political power, Cain and Francesca’s dialogue crackles with chemistry, whether they’re bantering over a candlelit dinner or planning a quick escape from rogue military operatives gunning for their lives.
A sharp, sexy high-tech adventure about two lovers working within easily corrupted systems.Pub Date: June 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798322482734
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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