Tag:

Thrillers

Review

The Hunter

by Henrietta Thornton

French made her name in crime fiction by exploring the underbelly of Irish life in her Dublin Murder Squad series, which blew the lid off any leprechauns in the mist-type views of Ireland. Here the little people are dragged back out, but for good reason: the locals in the west of Ireland mountain village of Ardnakelty lay the superstitions and rural naivete on thick when an Englishman comes to town and promises to make them rich. Meanwhile, their real game is, as the book says in a different context, “offensive and defensive weapons as well as broad-spectrum precautionary measures” (I’m from an Irish mountain area myself and French has us pinned to a board like a butterfly). Playing up the stereotypes is working great, with the Englishman, Mr. Rushborough, lapping up stories of his sainted ancestors while the locals plan to scam him. Come to find out, it’s not a one-sided game. There are three great characters here: Johnny Reddy, a local huckster who left his family for London and is now back expecting a hero’s welcome, with Rushborough in tow; Trey, his daughter, who has started to make an honest name for herself as a talented carpenter, and who is seething with rage against her father and the world; and Cal Hooper, a former Chicago cop who’s lived in Ardnakelty for a few years and is having none of Johnny’s bluster. French fans will love reacquainting themselves with these characters, whom they met in The Searcher (2020); newcomers to the author or this series will be glad they tried this emotional saga.

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Review

The Teacher

by Brian Kenney

Poor Addie. Her relationship with a teacher last year—when nothing even happened!—has made her the most loathed student at Caseham High. Now it’s September, and not a day goes by that she isn’t bullied by one of her fellow classmates. Thank goodness for Nate Bennett, her uber-handsome English teacher, who acts like she’s the next Sylvia Plath and invites her to join the poetry club, offers her lifts home, and arranges mini-conferences with her after class. But shouldn’t Nate be a little more careful? Poor Eve, Nate’s wife and a mathematics teacher at Caseham. The Bennett’s marriage has pretty much disintegrated—lovemaking is scheduled monthly, although excuses are readily produced. Her one pleasure? Fondling the Louboutin pumps (she’s a full-on fetishist) at the local mall while rolling around in the shoe boxes with the salesman. Secrets are everywhere in this sparkling narrative that moves like a Japanese bullet train, offering plenty of surprises along the way. For fans of B.A. Paris and Shanora Williams.

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When We Were Silent

by Chris Kahn

When Louise (Lou) Manson, a professor at Trinity College, Dublin, goes after a predator from her former school, there are serious repercussions…for her. Of course, says her boss, she must understand that she can’t work while this is going on. And it’s unthinkable, says her daughter’s swim coach, that the teen will be allowed at a swimming competition that meets at the school in question. Moving back in time, swimming plays a prominent role in this debut that mirrors the histories of sexual abuse of some athletes that have come out in recent years, this time focusing on the athletes themselves and their desire for justice. Lou, a great student but whose family is poor, was motivated to get a scholarship to Highfield Manor, the school where her friend killed herself as a result of abuse. As a student, Lou believes, she can catch the culprit red-handed and bring him to justice. But it’s a foolish plan, one that enmeshes her immediately and for years in mental and physical torture and that brings all involved to a courtroom nailbiter. That’s when we think it’s over, but McPhillips has twists in store in this absorbing psychological drama that examines the relative strengths of loyalty, revenge, and truth. A spot-on depiction of the maelstrom that is teenage friendship is a plus. Try this one if you like a story of a woman who’s had enough and isn’t afraid to show it anymore.

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Review

Baby X

by Jeff Ayers

Peikoff’s latest exploration into choice and free will takes the reader to a future in which families can choose their baby’s characteristics and genetic makeup before gestation and birth. It’s as simple as getting DNA, and clinics and pre-selection counseling have strict protocols to ensure the parents have the background necessary for a successful transaction. Celebrities need security to keep their DNA from inadvertently being left behind at places they frequent and then being stored in a black-market site called the Vault. For a fee, you can purchase a child that would be considered a legitimate son or daughter of that celebrity. A surrogate named Quinn starts to believe the source of the infant she’s carrying is not a widower’s dead husband’s DNA but a famous singer named Trace Thorne. A young journalist named Lily sees her older parents use unscrupulous methods to have another child. Peikoff does a terrific job of world-building a complex but realistic future full of jaw-dropping twists. Baby X is great sci-fi and reads like a terrifying episode of Black Mirror.

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Review

Bad Men

by Brian Kenney

This is the year in which British women are taking up arms—or knives, poisons, or other instruments—and knocking off the bad men in their lives, from abusive husbands to rapist uncles to misogynistic politicians. Saffy Huntley-Oliver—socialite, thrice an heiress, and a devoted serial killer—loves nothing more than eliminating such men. “Killing bad men is my private hobby, my passion project, the thing that makes me tick. It’s my own humble attempt at smashing the patriarchy.” She got her start early on by drowning her stepfather, who was abusing her and about to move on to her younger sister, and she hasn’t stopped since. Until she crosses paths with famed podcaster and big-time crush Jon Desrosiers, who has made a career out of tracking down serial killers, often aiding the police. Can opposites attract? It’s rough at first, as Jon is going through his own troubles—like a divorce—and is ready to give up his obsession with serial killers (is he glamorizing them?) in the hopes of winning his wife back. It’s one part rom-com and two parts crime fiction as the story expertly ricochets between Saffy and Jon. Every detail is absolutely perfect, from Saffy’s posh wardrobe and lavish apartment to Jon’s rescue dog, Girl, and the annoyance of fandom. Humorous? Totally. Dark? Absolutely. A debut? Impressive. For more feminist murderers, try How To Kill Men and Get Away With It, How to Kill Your Family, and The Best Way to Bury Your Husband.

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Review

Leave No Trace

by Henrietta Thornton

Authors Jeff Ayers and Jon Land, writing as A.J. Landau, start a new, contemporary series with a literal bang: an explosion that topples the Statue of Liberty. As Liberty Island is a National Park, a major crime there is investigated by the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch, and Special Agent Michael Walker soon finds himself leaving the tranquility of Shenandoah National Park for the chaos of a bombed island (as a foot amputee, Michael is a welcome disabled main character). Also sent to investigate is Gina Delgado of the FBI’s New York field office. Soon the political dance is on as the agencies clash in their fight for dominance and information. Further attacks aren’t far behind as a mysterious figure, who readers know only as Jeremiah, targets the federal government and bomb disposal skills are in high demand. Both thriller and history fans will watch the pages fly as the authors keep the hair-raising moments coming (a rattlesnake-vs.-bad-guy moment sticks out) and provide plenty of national park-related facts (did you know that construction of St. Louis’s Gateway Arch was estimated to require 5,000 workers but fewer than 100 were hired?). A breakneck-paced story with characters whom readers will be excited to see more of.

Leave No Trace author Jeff Ayers is a Contributing Editor to firstCLUE

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Review

Someone Saw Something

by Jeff Ayers

A parent’s worst nightmare comes true for news anchor Corina and her family in Mofina’s gripping thriller. Six-year-old Gabriel is playing in Central Park with his older sister when he vanishes after going after his model airplane. Initial searches show no evidence of how he disappeared, nor any witnesses to the abduction. With no ransom demand, the police and investigators are baffled. Since Corina is a celebrity, the case brings out some sympathetic thoughts, but those are few. Most of what Corina reads online are vicious attacks and conspiracy theories regarding Gabriel’s true origins that make her life, and that of her family, a living hell. It doesn’t help that her husband and daughter have secrets they don’t want the world to discover. Mofina intelligently crafts the story by never showing Gabriel’s whereabouts or who is responsible for his kidnapping, amping up the conspiracy and paranoia. Focusing on the family’s agony and quest for the truth puts the reader directly into the story, and the final payoff is terrific. Mofina is a number-one bestselling author in Canada—as he should be in many other countries.

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Review

Paper Cage

by Henrietta Thornton

Rural New Zealand police records clerk Lorraine (Lo) Henry isn’t supposed to get involved in cases. But when children in her town start to disappear, and it’s clear that she knows more than the officers about local families and goings on, and cares more than her colleagues do, the big-city cops who’ve been deployed ask her to step in. It’s not a popular move, but Lo is determined, especially after her nephew becomes one of the missing. Complicating the investigation is town politics that pits poorer Maori residents against white or “Pakeha” ones. Family histories, the drug trade, and gang activity also muddy the case and keep Lo busy (“everything feels pushed together like too much washing in the machine”) as she doggedly tries to find the children. Things move fast but reach calamitous speed in the last quarter of the book, a gripping showdown leading to a last line that won’t leave a dry eye. Baragwanath’s language throughout just won’t stop with a verisimilitude that deeply immerses readers in small-town life and this particular town’s warmth, sadness, and terror. Paper Cage won the Michael Gifkins Prize for best unpublished novel by a New Zealand author and has been shortlisted for both the Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction and the New Zealand Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. It’s no wonder.

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Review

Kill for Me, Kill for You

by Brian Kenney

Amanda and Wendy meet on Manhattan’s west side at a bereavement group for parents. They’ve both lost young daughters to horrific deaths, and believe that the cops, who have identified the perpetrators but lack the evidence to arrest them, are moving way too slowly. Primed for revenge—no mother should go through what they’ve experienced—they’re ready to take matters into their own hands. But if they kill their perps, they know the cops will be all over them, viewing them as prime suspects. What if they help each other out and switch murderers—I’ll kill yours, you kill mine—a plan that will provide them with air-tight alibis? Just as I was ready to sit back and enjoy a new take on Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train (and the subsequent Hitchcock film), the narrative suddenly veers off-road—way off-road—introducing another character whose story helps catapult the novel into something even darker, more terrifying, and totally gripping. Thriller fans will absolutely love being taken on this wild ride, where nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted. Brilliant and sharp, ingenious and disturbing. For fans of The Silent Patient and The Girl Who Was Taken.

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Review

Resurrection Walk

by Jeff Ayers

Connelly’s stellar effort, which brings together defense attorney Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer; and retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, explores a case of an incarcerated woman claiming innocence. She was coerced into a no-contest plea of a lesser sentence of manslaughter by her sleazy attorney, who told her if she didn’t agree to this deal, she would face life in prison for killing her sheriff’s-deputy husband. Every attempt by Haller and Bosch to find answers is met with either disdain or tainted evidence and testimonies. Connelly is a master of taking a straightforward case and compellingly revealing the details while throwing in a few twists and turns. Laws are questioned and Bosch and Haller soon determine they are David and this Goliath is too strong for them. Whether you are a fan of the books or the Netflix and Amazon Prime series, this latest entry is another gripping winner from the master of crime fiction, and with the great popularity of the TV series, expect huge interest in this title.

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