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
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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