Survivalist what-if fiction that satisfyingly sets up a planned dystopian action-drama series.
In Adkins’ novel, a Texas husband, father, and outdoorsman goes on a quest to rescue his daughter from a locked-down university after a mysterious event renders electronics useless.
Middle-aged Rob Anderson is heading toward San Antonio, Texas, on his annual deer-hunting trip when a mysterious “event” causes all electronics, including most motor vehicles, to fail. Communities find themselves cut off from the rest of the world in what Rob correctly intuits is some kind of electromagnetic pulse attack. He quickly foresees supplies running out and society crumbling into violence, banditry, and factionalism; his priority becomes getting to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and retrieving Ann as soon as possible. Ann’s campus, meanwhile, has been occupied by Homeland Security forces, who restore some electricity via generators and promise a return to normality—if everyone obeys them. “For as long as I can remember, my family has always been very independent and taught me...to think things through and to not just go along with the crowd,” Ann narrates, and soon her dissent makes her a target as she rebels against the overnight takeover. Early on, Rob, who also narrates, denies that he’s a “prepper,” but his actions seem to prove otherwise; he soon turns lethal to defend himself and his loved ones, and although he finds allies with a similar grassroots ethos of family, God, guts, and ammo, he’s dismayed by the killer he becomes. Over the course of this dystopian thriller, Adkins effectively delivers a narrative that’s more akin to a Kevin Costner vehicle than something inspired by the machismo of Rambo: First Blood Part II or Soldier of Fortune magazine; as a result, this yarn is likely to play well for readers of most, if not all, political persuasions. The author’s pacing and handling of suspense is on-target throughout. By the time the open-ended finale rolls around, readers will find that some key questions remain unanswered, but it won’t stop them from waking up at reveille for likely sequels.
Survivalist what-if fiction that satisfyingly sets up a planned dystopian action-drama series.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2024
ISBN: 9798889826958
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Fulton Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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