A keen examination of an intriguing and disturbing murderer.
A meticulous serial killer in Napa Valley runs the risk of capture when her homicides become too personal in this thriller.
Right now, Vanessa Flynn needs a “normal life” with her college professor husband, Hunter. That way, she steers clear of any suspicion, as she’s murdered four men in as many years. Most of the victims had been sex offenders, but the fourth was someone she knew, leading the cops right to her front door. Vanessa kills primarily for revenge, having lost her mother decades earlier to a rapist/killer whom authorities never caught. But that familiar homicidal urge crops up again when she surmises Hunter is having an affair. Though she plots a frame-up, it still involves deaths. Meanwhile, Detective Candice Blake has been working the case of the Napa Valley Killer with little to show for it. She finally gets a break when she hears of a murder from 30 years ago—the same M.O. except that the victim was a woman. If Candice ties that homicide to Vanessa, the serial killer will be under even further scrutiny, and her careful planning may not be enough to keep her out of prison. Laningham molds a wonderfully complex killer. For example, Vanessa considers herself a professional on a “mission” of justice. But her urges are also psychological, as a particular material seemingly triggers them. Hunter and Candice are likewise well developed. Hunter obsesses over the goddess Venus, whose likeness in Botticelli’s celebrated painting Vanessa resembles, while Candice faces constant undermining in a male-dominated field, especially by her partner and her boss. The author’s concise, lucid writing style makes for a quick read. But the investigation is sparse; readers may wonder why Candice—or the FBI—didn’t connect the decades-old murder sooner. Still, it’s exhilarating to watch Candice inch closer to the dangerously talented culprit.
A keen examination of an intriguing and disturbing murderer. (author bio)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-974435-10-4
Page Count: 155
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A weird, wild ride.
Celebrity scandal and a haunted lake drive the narrative in this bestselling author’s latest serving of subtly ironic suspense.
Sager’s debut, Final Girls (2017), was fun and beautifully crafted. His most recent novels—Home Before Dark (2020) and Survive the Night (2021) —have been fun and a bit rickety. His new novel fits that mold. Narrator Casey Fletcher grew up watching her mother dazzle audiences, and then she became an actor herself. While she never achieves the “America’s sweetheart” status her mother enjoyed, Casey makes a career out of bit parts in movies and on TV and meatier parts onstage. Then the death of her husband sends her into an alcoholic spiral that ends with her getting fired from a Broadway play. When paparazzi document her substance abuse, her mother exiles her to the family retreat in Vermont. Casey has a dry, droll perspective that persists until circumstances overwhelm her, and if you’re getting a Carrie Fisher vibe from Casey Fletcher, that is almost certainly not an accident. Once in Vermont, she passes the time drinking bourbon and watching the former supermodel and the tech mogul who live across the lake through a pair of binoculars. Casey befriends Katherine Royce after rescuing her when she almost drowns and soon concludes that all is not well in Katherine and Tom’s marriage. Then Katherine disappears….It would be unfair to say too much about what happens next, but creepy coincidences start piling up, and eventually, Casey has to face the possibility that maybe some of the eerie legends about Lake Greene might have some truth to them. Sager certainly delivers a lot of twists, and he ventures into what is, for him, new territory. Are there some things that don’t quite add up at the end? Maybe, but asking that question does nothing but spoil a highly entertaining read.
A weird, wild ride.Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-18319-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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