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ALPHA MALE

A brisk, enthralling story of power struggles, loyalty, and oodles of werewolves.

In Allen’s novel, the second in a series, a werewolf reluctantly takes on a leadership role and faces resistance from an especially malicious rival.

Caleb Jacobsen loves teaching history at a community college in Washington state. He also just happens to be a 184-year-old werewolf who lives peacefully among the humans. In fact, the only reason he killed a fellow lycanthrope a few years ago was to help them, including his fiancée, Marla Moreno. But that was the Global Alpha, and now a small group of werewolves insist that Caleb claim the throne, as the Global Pack is in disarray. He does so, quickly implementing new rules and canceling his predecessor’s plans for world domination (“I will not tolerate the indiscriminate slaughtering of billions of humans who have caused us no harm”). An infuriated German werewolf named Logan Olivier believes he should be Global Alpha. Logan and his minion, Jacques LaFleur, consider tarnishing Caleb’s name among packs around the world—but simply killing Caleb, or possibly someone he loves, may be an even easier route to securing Logan that throne. Allen’s tautly written follow-up to Blood Red Moon (2021) satisfyingly continues the series while aptly catering to new readers as well. This book has a story all its own, even as it stems from Caleb’s (succinctly recapped) previous ordeals. The primary cast is refreshingly multilayered. Logan and Jacques are indisputably villains—they hunt humans for sport—but some readers may find it hard to outright denounce Jacques for his WWII-era Nazi-killing spree, which doesn’t differ much from recurring hero Caleb killing a human for being a bully and a thief. Despite the prominence of the vicious baddies, the book has relatively few werewolf clashes, and Caleb, as the Global Alpha, doesn’t encounter many challenges to overcome. Still, violence permeates this tale, with spurting blood and bodies left in pieces. This installment culminates in an ending that’s both a solid wrap-up and a subtle tease for a third series entry.

A brisk, enthralling story of power struggles, loyalty, and oodles of werewolves.

Pub Date: April 15, 2025

ISBN: 9798313931272

Page Count: 354

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: April 18, 2025

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THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11

An enjoyable visit with an old character, but not one of Ware’s strongest.

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Travel writer Lo Blacklock is back. Ten years after the events of The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), she's attending the opening of a lavish Swiss hotel when, once again, a mystery intervenes.

A decade after she almost died on a luxury cruise and ended up exposing a murder plot, travel journalist Laura “Lo” Blacklock is trying to get back into the business post-Covid-19 and post–maternity leave. When she's invited to an exclusive hotel launch by the Leidmann Group on the shores of Switzerland’s gorgeous Lake Geneva, her supportive husband, Judah, insists that she should go, and her old boss, Rowan, says that if Lo can score an interview with the reclusive Marcus Leidmann, she’ll publish it in the Financial Times. Leaving Judah and the kids at home in New York, Lo is surprised by a last-minute upgrade to first class, which kicks off her trip in style. The hotel is appropriately awe-inspiring in both scenic location and effortless luxury, and Lo starts to put the memories of last trip’s trauma behind her, thinking that maybe she can just enjoy the experience this time. But then, at dinner, she's surprised to see at least three guests who were also on that original cruise, and when she finds a mysterious note in her room saying "Please come to suite 11 as soon as possible," she gets another shock. To quote William Faulkner, she realizes that “the past is never dead,” and soon Lo is careening across Europe on her way to England, only to find herself embroiled in another murder. The back half of the novel offers her the opportunity to continue her amateur sleuthing, and while she avoids much of the physical danger that plagued her on the cruise a decade ago, she is in very real legal trouble. This is the prolific Ware’s first sequel, and it's fun to spend time with Lo again, as she's both savvy and kindhearted. Unfortunately, the mystery is not as atmospheric and gripping as usual for Ware, though even a lesser Ruth Ware thriller is still worth reading.

An enjoyable visit with an old character, but not one of Ware’s strongest.

Pub Date: July 8, 2025

ISBN: 9781668025628

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Scout Press/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025

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NEVER FLINCH

Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.

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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

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