A tough but familiar fictional retelling of a pivotal moment in United States history.
Carpenter offers a historical novel that surveys the year 1968 through accounts of the intersecting lives, careers, and deaths of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
As America reels with racial injustice, war, and political upheaval, the story alternates between snapshots of the two figures’ personal and political struggles. Kennedy—aka RFK, or, as some call his politically ruthless incarnation, “Bad Bobby”—is profoundly transformed by his brother John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He publicly pushes for civil rights reforms while also secretly investigating conspiracy theories about JFK’s death. RFK’s political aspirations overlap with the struggle for racial justice and lead to a tense but working relationship with King, who often finds Kennedy’s efforts on race insufficient. Meanwhile, King struggles to bear the burden of leading the civil rights movement. Threats loom on all sides, from violent white supremacists to conflicts among activists. Increasingly exhausted, King’s prophetic instincts foreshadow his own tragic killing. Kennedy’s presidential campaign makes groundbreaking efforts to connect with Black voters, even agreeing to a politically risky meeting with the Black Panthers. The novel culminates in his June assassination. Carpenter uses colloquial language and rich inner monologues to paint a detailed picture of two men with a shared vision of justice. Their struggles are effectively shown to be both personal and political: Kennedy yearns to move beyond his privileged detachment, and King finds the responsibility of being America’s moral conscience to be enormously heavy. The moral thrust of the novel takes a page from King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in its assertion that white moderates slowed progress on civil rights. Yet, despite the novel’s successful depiction of the era’s tense, sweat-drenched atmosphere of violence and political maneuvering, the novel may leave readers wondering whether it adds insight or merely revisits already well-documented events, especially as much of this historical ground was already covered in David Margolick’s 2018 nonfiction book The Promise and the Dream and elsewhere.
A tough but familiar fictional retelling of a pivotal moment in United States history.Pub Date: March 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781736615591
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Rmc Lit
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.
Following her father’s sudden death, Aisling Swann is secretly horrified when her mother begins to date again—and she quickly becomes suspicious of this new flame.
Four years ago: A mysterious male narrator reflects upon his relationship with his wife—along with a few pointed comments about how she is aging. It quickly becomes apparent that this self-proclaimed “very pleasant” man is not who he seems; he already has a girlfriend on the side, and he’s playing both women with sob stories about his job and his traumatic past while taking money from them. Even as they get more and more frustrated with his lack of communication during ever-lengthening absences, he still gives them what they want: “a top-notch husband.” In the present day, Ash Swann; her brother, Arlo; and their mother, Nina, mourn the loss of her charismatic father, Paddy, a successful chef with a chain of lucrative restaurants. Nina receives a sympathy note from a man who claims to have worked closely with Paddy in the industry, which leads to a robust online flirtation that moves into the real world about a year after her husband’s death. Ash is living at home, mired in grief as well as her own mental health struggles, and she’s none too happy to see her mom dating—but particularly this handsome, egregiously suave Nick Radcliffe. Ash begins to notice some inconsistencies with his stories and his past, so she enlists Paddy’s ex-girlfriend Jane to help her investigate. Meanwhile, Ash’s story continues to intercut that of the mysterious man who is now married to his former girlfriend—and still up to his old tricks. Jewell’s cutting between past and present certainly allows revelations to ooze out at a slow, controlled pace; even as the reader makes obvious connections, the full picture remains obscure. Jewell has written some incredibly engaging and strong female characters, Nina, Ash, and Jane foremost among them. What would it have been like to split the narrative between them instead of giving so much voice—and thus narrative power—to the male antagonist?
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781668033876
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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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