Factually dense but light on action sequences.
A government agent is dispatched to deal with traitorous Naval brass in Ortiz’s thriller, one in a series.
At the turn of the 21st century, three United States Navy nuclear submarines vanished, and only two were recovered by Naval Intelligence. The third, a massive Ohio-class sub, finally turned up in Barranquilla, Colombia, stashed inside a grotto in the Magdalena River. It appeared that some Navy admirals, possibly with Russian collusion, planned to sell the subs to cartels, facilitating the movement of tons of illegal drugs. CI5 agent Pat Coonan (also known as Agent Delta) is given orders to “discreetly eliminate” the traitors. His boss, Col. Marlon Berkowitz, presents the job as simple: Dispense with the treasonous Admiral Fullerton, as well as the Russian mercenaries guarding the sub. But Pat’s old nemesis is involved, the guards might be undercover agents of the Russian intelligence agency GRU, and even Putin himself may be embroiled. Pat’s further distracted by his new partner; Karina Reyes, head of the Triple K group, is contracted to send a message of deterrence by blowing up the sub, but Pat can’t keep his eyes off of her legs. Once onboard, a shocking discovery is made—the sub is loaded with ICBMs. Ortiz’s book works best in the context of its series; events from other installments are alluded to but not explained, such as a “waggish incident between the blonde-haired Jessica and the Triple K group’s gay operator back in Aruba.” (Asterisks also repeatedly direct readers to Ortiz’ different works.) This story doesn’t have a high quotient of suspense or action as Pat encounters surprisingly few obstacles. Ruthless killer Nina Tetriak merely hands him a note, and only a U.S. government agent points a gun at Pat—in error. Pat’s narrative musings are the main focus, so readers’ engagement with his persona (jaded, computer-illiterate, “phallocratic”) will likely determine their overall enjoyment. Ortiz does provide intriguing information on many subjects, including the “one hundred and seventy meters long by thirteen meters wide” Ohio-class submarines, pencil detonators “color-coded to indicate their delay time,” and even algae (“more than thirty thousand known species”).
Factually dense but light on action sequences.Pub Date: March 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781804246061
Page Count: 142
Publisher: Mx Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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