An unpredictable but overwrought thriller.
In this crime novel, the police ineptly attempt to track down an abducted woman while she struggles to escape from her captors.
Eddie Winston, the book’s protagonist, has achieved financial success but is still traumatized by the disappearance of his beloved girlfriend, Holly Austin. After three years with no trace of her, Winston has spiraled into abject loneliness and depression. His only companions are his intuitive dog, Bobo, and a constant supply of alcohol. Out drinking one night, he senses his romantic life may be taking a positive turn when he hooks up with Lori Pritchet, a much younger acquaintance. But after a few happy hours together, Lori leaves his house to retrieve her car and vanishes. Already suspected of having some involvement in Holly’s disappearance, Winston is immediately considered a person of interest when Lori goes missing. Winston’s good looks and charm predispose some to think the worst of him, particularly envious men. Meanwhile, Lori’s abductors are torturing her in the eponymous attic. Police detectives and partners Mike Johnson and Amy Foster are split over the case. Johnson believes in Winston’s guilt and stops at nothing to implicate and frame him. Foster includes Winston in the search, hoping to develop a personal relationship with him. Back in the attic, indefatigable Lori tries to MacGyver her way to freedom. With a slat broken off the bed frame, she smashes a mirror to create sharp weapons: “Now if I only had a scabbard to house this dagger looking thing, I could stash it on my person. Of course, I had to wear a blouse that doesn’t even cover my belly button.” In Wilson’s hodgepodge of a story, the N-word is tossed around by White men, misogynist descriptions are frequent and unwelcome, and several women are ruled by their libidos. Some women lose their abilities to reason around handsome Winston. When Foster contrives a reason to sleep at Winston’s house, she sighs: “Oh, and Eddie, for the record, I’m not wearing any panties either.” But the conclusion of this high-stakes tale comes with a surprising twist, illustrating a vivid imagination at work.
An unpredictable but overwrought thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9981651-0-3
Page Count: 437
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
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
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