Target audience: readers interested in the differences between Pretty Ones, Servants, Breeders, and Pets.
The latest update from 2061 pits Lt. Eve Dallas against a crew of professional-grade child traffickers.
All too soon after Dorian Gregg is taken under the wing of Mina Cabot, another 13-year-old Pretty One who’s been snatched from the street and imprisoned in the malignant Academy, their friendship ends when Dorian hurts herself during their nocturnal escape attempt and Mina heroically sacrifices herself and ends up dead. Terrified of every stranger she meets, Dorian falls in with a bunch of street kids who show her more kindness than she’s seen in years. Meanwhile, Dallas and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, identify the dead girl as Mina, realize that she’s been held captive in luxurious servitude for months (who’d have the interest or the resources for that?), get wind of her vanished companion, and begin a frantic search that will harness the full resources of the NYPSD; Dallas’ billionaire husband, Roarke; and those street kids. Locating Dorian, who was criminally neglected by both her mother and the who-cares Child Services employee assigned to her case, turns out to be less trouble than returning her to something like a normal life, a transition for which Dallas draws freely on her own traumatic history. Robb strains to generate suspense from Dallas’ duel with an illegal organization as formidable in its way as her own legal one, and a good deal better organized. For better or worse, though, this is a full-throated but not especially original indictment of child trafficking wrapped up in a futuristic procedural.
Target audience: readers interested in the differences between Pretty Ones, Servants, Breeders, and Pets.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-2502-7823-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
This captivating, deeply emotional, and incredibly sexy romance is a balm for the soul.
A blossoming romance infringes on a successful businesswoman's professional aspirations, making her reevaluate her priorities.
At an exclusive party, talent manager Hendrix Barry has an instant connection with billionaire tech mogul Maverick Bell. When he learns that she’s navigating her mother’s Alzheimer's diagnosis, he relates to what she’s going through, having had similar experiences with his grandfather. Maverick makes Hendrix feel seen and understood like no one else, but he’s the recent ex-boyfriend of a woman Hendrix is going into business with as she works toward her goal of executive producing a television show. She tries to set boundaries that would keep him as a friend despite their obvious mutual attraction, but when he expresses interest in her venture capital fund focusing on Black women–led businesses, it leads to spending more time together, and the lines of friendship, business, and pleasure become tangled and blurred. Ryan excels at crafting thoughtful, mature characters who have to manage complicated situations with care and grace. Maverick’s dogged pursuit of Hendrix and the delicious ways he woos her using his wealth and persistence frame him as a determined, headstrong hero. Paired with a weaker heroine, he could have been overbearing, but Hendrix is his perfect match, equally as strong-willed and tenacious. They bring out each other’s softer, more vulnerable sides as well, and both have compassionate hearts. The spicy romance is the core of this satisfying story, but the novel doesn’t shy away from—and is made richer for the inclusion of—hardships like caring for an aging parent and confronting racism in the world of business. The tale also highlights the importance of community and the value of supportive, platonic love through the wonderful cast of side characters.
This captivating, deeply emotional, and incredibly sexy romance is a balm for the soul.Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781538706855
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
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