A tale of espionage and political intrigue that invites incredulity and, finally, indifference.
After surviving an assassination attempt, an American senator investigates an imminent terrorist attack on the nation in Kent’s thriller.
Nate Tourneur, a senator representing Rhode Island, takes a much-needed break from his hectic schedule by going sailing in Martha’s Vineyard. While there, he’s enchanted by a beautiful stranger, Sarita Montoya, an entertainer from Puerto Rico, and their flirtatious conversation continues back at Nate’s hotel room. When he wakes, he finds her dead, and later her body simply vanishes; his situation shifts “from tragic to a miasma of intrigue.” When he finds a small microphone in his room, he anxiously frets that she was part of a blackmailing scheme. Later, while sailing, he’s attacked by a sniper in a helicopter. In a scene so ludicrously implausible it will elicit more guffaws than thrills, Nate manages to survive both gunfire and a launched rocket and successfully downs the helicopter. While discussing the incident with various intelligence agencies, he recalls a peculiar poem Sarita recited that emphasized the words “imposing encounter,” which turns out to be a code for an imminent attack against the United States, likely aided by Iran. Nate decides to conduct an investigation of his own, and, accompanied by FBI agent Pilar Cruz, he flies to Puerto Rico in search of information about Sarita. The duo discovers that Sarita had ties to the PDL, a shady outfit that specializes in organ donation run by David Rashidani, an Iranian who served in the Revolutionary Guard.
The author intelligently pieces together a complex plot against the U.S., one that possibly includes a devastating biochemical assault. The great virtue of the story is its impressive unpredictability, which allows Kent to build an atmosphere of suspense and chilling expectancy. But too much of the plot is entirely unbelievable, as is the novel’s protagonist, who seems like a pastiche of action-movie characters played by Harrison Ford. Nate is a 41-year-old former Naval intelligence officer and star athlete, perfectly capable of physically fending off assassins with cheerful aplomb. He relentlessly makes light of his terrible predicament by bombarding his interlocutors with clever quips—to his great fortune, they all respond in kind. When tackled to the ground by an FBI agent tasked with bringing him in—Nate didn’t realize his pursuers were FBI agents and was running away—this exchange occurs: “‘Are you a terrorist from Texas?’ I say. ‘San Antonio,’ says the leader of the pack. ‘You set me in a horn-tossing mood.’ … ‘I won’t apologize,’ I say. ‘You’re lucky to be alive, jumping through those trains.’ ‘When you’ve chased jackrabbits on the prairie, you don’t need breakfast to catch a man.’” No one talks like this, certainly not under conditions of such duress and fear. Unfortunately, this exchange is exemplary of all the dialogue in the novel. Readers will be entirely engrossed by the first 50 pages of Kent’s political thriller, but the remainder offers only diminishing returns.
A tale of espionage and political intrigue that invites incredulity and, finally, indifference.Pub Date: June 20, 2024
ISBN: 9798886795813
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Luminare Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A touching story of love and grief ends in an epic battle of good versus evil.
Roberts’ latest may move you to tears, or joy, or dread, or all three.
Every summer, John and Cora Fox visit Cora’s mother, Lucy Lannigan, in Redbud Hollow, Kentucky, leaving their children, 12-year-old Thea and 10-year-old Rem, for a two-week taste of heaven. The children love Grammie Lucy far more than John’s snooty family, which looks down on Cora. Lucy, a healer with deep Appalachian roots, loves animals, cooks the best meals, plays musical instruments, and makes soap and candles for her thriving business. Thea—who’s inherited the psychic abilities passed down through the women of Lucy’s family—has vivid magical dreams, one of which becomes a living nightmare when a psychopath robs and murders John and Cora as Thea watches helplessly. Thea’s description of the killer and her ability to see him in real time help the skeptical police catch Ray Riggs, who goes to prison for life. Although Thea and Rem go on to have a wonderful childhood with Grammie, Thea constantly wages a mental battle with Riggs, who tries to use his own psychic abilities to get into her mind. Over the years, Thea uses her imagination to become a game designer while the more business-minded Rem helps manage her career. Thea eventually builds a house near Lucy, where a newly arrived neighbor is her teen crush, singer-songwriter Tyler Brennan. Tyler has his own issues and is protective of his young son but slowly builds a loving relationship with Thea, whose silence about her abilities leads to a devastating misunderstanding. At first Thea tries to keep Riggs locked out of her mind. As her powers grow, she torments him. Finally, she realizes that she must win this battle and destroy him if she’s ever to have peace.
A touching story of love and grief ends in an epic battle of good versus evil.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781250289698
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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