Indelible heroes electrify this sublimely bizarre detective story.
A god of death joins a mortal gumshoe investigating myth-related murders in Ebrahimi’s mystery/urban fantasy novel.
Zarik is a Persian god, or “daeva,” usually depicted as female but able to change forms; in this narrative, Zarik takes on a male persona. At the mercy of “the Pull” (the term for what happens when someone summons him), he is called to kill a man named Izak Cayne. Zarik doesn’t remember what led to him causing this mortal’s death and has a few questions, starting with the cryptic note and accompanying map Izak was carrying. These clues ultimately lead him to Scarlett Wolfe, a private eye of sorts, in a modern-day city that the daeva remembers as a village from millennia ago and now finds bafflingly mazelike. Scarlett tackles mysteries with “intuition and possibilities beyond the mundane.” She and Zarik investigate unorthodox murders and mingle with other gods, including one Zarik harbors ill feelings toward. The greatest mystery is Zarik himself; evidently, mortals’ beliefs create mythical beings, but can Zarik evolve beyond his purview to be more than a mere god of death and make his own choices? If so, what’s he going to do with this thing called free will? The author’s tale is a wonderful fusion of mythologies, from Persian and Greek pantheons to the Japanese yōkai. Scarlett makes for a whip-smart sleuth while Zarik puts his shape-shifting skills to good use, taking different forms of humans and animals, including a cat he once knew. While Ebrahimi constructs a solid mystery, the novel’s biggest draw is its cast—the dual protagonists in particular are exceedingly and delightfully complicated, burdened by guilt over certain deaths (whether or not they’re culpable) and prone to bouts of distrust. The author’s lyrical prose animates the narrative, even when relaying the weather: “sunny with the occasional wisp drifting in the blue spaces between buildings.”
Indelible heroes electrify this sublimely bizarre detective story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798986480138
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Mythical Bandit Books
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
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
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