A well-paced and timely novel.
An international political thriller that successfully weaves together multiple storylines.
After leaving her position as a former special assistant to the White House chief of staff, Maggie Raster hopes to use her political experience as a consultant—a career that’s more in line with her deep ambitions. Then a celebratory night out ends in a sexual assault, and Maggie finds herself navigating an unexpected trauma. After an attempt to promote her new consulting career during a TV interview goes awry, she finds herself the focus of cable-news reports. Debut novelist Schorr deftly juggles multiple plotlines while anchoring the work in a fictional country known as the Kingdom, led by an ambitious crown prince who claims to be a progressive reformer. An acclaimed American journalist is murdered in the country, with all indications pointing to the prince’s involvement. The thinly veiled portrait of the real-life murder of Jamal Khashoggi may turn off some readers, but Schorr works hard to provide realistic stakes, and his depictions of social media and the cable news cycle add strong verisimilitude. The plot hinges on a controversial $20 million poker tournament that the crown prince is hosting in the hope of establishing international goodwill. The main character of the poker-related sections is former World Series of Poker champion Kyler Dawson, who, in spite of his success at the poker table, is mired in debt and divorce; in the tournament, he’s at odds with player Priya Varma, a courageous, beloved activist. Eventually, Kyler seeks out Maggie, seeing her as the only person with the skill to protect his reputation. Meanwhile, Maggie continues to handle the fallout of her assault. Much of the narrative centers on Kyler’s poker exploits, including lengthy flashbacks that will seem overlong for those not well versed in the game. Also, Kyler’s self-destructive tendencies aren’t contrasted with a deeper interiority; even when readers may wish to root for him, Kyler falls into self-pity. Nevertheless, the high stakes of a potential standoff between the United States and the Kingdom provide electrifying energy as the novel reaches its climax.
A well-paced and timely novel.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68-463107-0
Page Count: 344
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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