A detective story that’s quirky, snarky, fun, and romantic.
A cast of scrappy characters indulges in criminal, political, and romantic antics in Webster’s mystery novel.
From its sardonic opening line (“Clem Dudas learned the hard way that any of God’s glorious days can explode into a shit storm”) to its heartwarming conclusion, the pace of this irreverent novel never slows down. Clem is about to lead his snake-handling fundamentalist Christian group’s revival meeting, but his wife Arlene has disappeared, along with a male parishioner and—worst of all—his two favorite rattlers, Maynard and Dobie. Meanwhile, Bud Randolph is returning from his sister’s wedding to Los Angeles, where he works with his best friend, Stan, and Stan’s fiancé, Mel, in a small private investigation firm. (Bud and Stan’s detecting prowess and conflicting political views were first depicted in Webster’s 2022 novel, American Nonsensical.) Elsewhere, in a small town in Russia, a woman named Sveta hates Putin and yearns for a better life, and somewhere in the United States, an unnamed man is trapped in the trunk of a car with a couple of poisonous snakes. Between his sister’s joy, his partners’ lovey-dovey routine, and the 2020 presidential election, Bud feels angry and lonely. These seemingly unrelated threads begin to come together when Bud responds to a magazine ad headlined “BEAUTIFUL RUSSIAN WOMEN WANT TO MEET YOU,” Clem hires the firm to locate his beloved Maynard and Dobie, and a seemingly simple surveillance job unexpectedly lands Stan in hot water with the feds. Toss in a generous helping of domestic and international political shenanigans and the suspense ratchets up even more. Webster keeps the story lively by bouncing around the distinct points of view of Clem, Bud, Stan, Mel, and Sveta (plus, in a couple of chapters, the man in the trunk). Seeing each of the characters chase their dreams from both their own and each other’s perspective rounds out their warm, humorous, and plucky personalities. The intertwining threads of their wild personal and professional adventures add up to madcap fun.
A detective story that’s quirky, snarky, fun, and romantic.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780997032093
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Casa de Los Suenos Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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