Identity

December 1, 2022

In The Lock-Up, Booker Prize winner Banville returns to 1950s Dublin, where pathologist Dr. Quirke and DI St. John Strafford are investigating the murder of a young history scholar when her sister points them to a powerful German family newly arrived in town after World War II (100,000-copy first printing). In Barclay's The Lie Maker, struggling author Jack is offered big money to write false histories for people in the witness protection program and now has the means to find his father, who vanished into the program when Jack was just a child (100,000-copy first printing). Bentley's Tom Clancy Flash Point gives Jack Ryan Jr. a terrorist plot to crack, but it turns out to be part of a larger, grimmer scheme. On the island paradise of Prospera, residents live contentedly until they're warned by a monitor embedded in their forearms that it's time for renewal and board the ferry for the Nursery, but The Ferryman (and some island resisters) begin to suspect that all is not as benevolent as it seems; a stand-alone from Cronin, seven years after he wrapped up his "Passage" series. With Bad, Bad Seymour Brown, New York Times best-selling author Isaacs brings back former FBI agent Corie Geller and her father, a retired NYPD cop, who must solve a cold case to prevent the murder of the crime's only survivor--unassuming professor April Brown, whose father laundered money for the Russian mob. Lawton's Moscow Exile moves from 1950s Washington, DC, where British-born socialite Charlotte has a pack of secrets to pass on to old flame Charlie Leigh Hunt at the British embassy, and 1969, with Joe Wilderness trapped behind the Iron Curtain and the stories converging in Berlin. Maden's Untitled new Cussler adventure brings back Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon for more fun and games. In Nakamura's latest, two detectives investigate the murder of The Rope Artist--an instructor in kinbaku, a form of rope bondage with both spiritual and sexual overtones--with Togashi finding himself pulled toward his own unorthodox desires and straight-arrow colleague Hayama seeking the truth in a case that's getting out of control. In The 23rd Midnight, Patterson and Paetro team up for another visit with the Women's Murder Club, as someone copycats the methods of a serial killer jailed by Det. Lindsay Boxer and profiled in a best seller by reporter Cindy Thomas, both women's murder clubbers. In multi-award-finalist Pochada's Sing Her Down, the imprisoned Diosmary Sandoval suspects that cellmate Florence "Florida" Baum isn't the innocent victim she claims to be and hounds her relentlessly when both are unexpectedly released (100,000-copy first printing). National Book Award finalist Powers (The Yellow Birds) draws A Line in the Sand with his first thriller, about former Iraqi interpreter Arman Bajalan, working at the Sea Breeze Motel in Norfolk, VA, after having barely survived the assassination attempt that killed his wife and child, who discovers a dead body on the beach (60,000-copy first printing). When her roommate is killed at the first party they throw at their Baltimore-area apartment, Morgan learns that she was the intended victim of the assailant, who steals each target's Identity and then kills her; a million-copy first printing for Roberts. After more than four decades of thrillers reflecting Soviet/Russian events, Smith drops longtime protagonist Arkady Renko in Independence Square in Kyiv, where Renko has gone to find the anti-Putin daughter of an acquaintance. Meanwhile, Renko discovers that he has Parkinson's Disease, as does Smith.

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April 3, 2023
Bestseller Roberts (Nightwork) gives readers another strong protagonist to root for in this otherwise rote standalone thriller. After a peripatetic childhood, 25-year-old Morgan Albright has finally made a home for herself in a quiet suburb of Baltimore. To help with her mortgage, she takes in her friend Nina Ramos as a housemate. Shortly after Morgan begins dating a charming patron at the bar where she works, she returns home one day to find Nina’s battered, lifeless body. Over the following weeks, Morgan discovers that her boyfriend is actually a serial killer and identity thief—and that she, not Nina, was his intended target. On the advice of the FBI, Morgan flees to the home of her mother and grandmother in Westridge, Vt., to begin her life anew. But can she, with a killer on her trail? Roberts switches between Morgan’s point of view and those of the killer and his FBI pursuers to successful enough effect, but there’s a whole lot of narrative bloat in the form of inconsequential dialogue and plot repetition. Roberts devotees will fall in love with Morgan, but this is unlikely to become a fan favorite. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House.

April 1, 2023
After traveling the world as a military brat, all Morgan Albright wants is a place to call home. Morgan thinks she has finally found exactly that when she settles down outside of Baltimore in a fixer-up house with two jobs to pay the bills. Then one evening a charming stranger walks into the bar where Morgan works, and within a few weeks, he has taken all her money, her good name, and the life of her best friend. Seeking refuge with her mother and grandmother in Vermont, Morgan slowly begins rebuilding her life and her dreams. But what Morgan doesn't realize is that, because she thwarted the expectations of a deceptively charming psychopath, he still has a score to settle with her. Roberts effectively enhances the plot of her latest stellar, perfectly paced novel of suspense and romance with a superbly realized cast of characters that underscores the importance in life of family and friends.

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April 15, 2023
After escaping from a serial killer, a woman tries to reclaim her life. After a childhood as an Army brat, Morgan Albright is determined to put down roots. She bought a small house in the perfect neighborhood outside of Baltimore, living with a friend and working two jobs to make ends meet. Morgan's life is happy and fulfilling, and she is making progress on her financial and career goals. Her perfect world is shattered when someone breaks into her home and murders her roommate. At first, the police assume it was a random act of violence, but after discovering the killer stole Morgan's identity and her entire savings, they realize the crime fits the profile of a serial killer named Gavin Rozwell. The police inform Morgan that her roommate was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the real intended target. Morgan's grief, coupled with the financial devastation from the identity theft, leaves her no choice but to return home to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. Morgan reconnects with her family and rebuilds her life, including landing the perfect job and falling in love. The police and FBI pursue Gavin, who continues to stalk and kill women, each time leaving a reminder at the crime scene that shows he's fixated on Morgan as the one who got away. Roberts shows Gavin's slow descent into obsession and madness as the inverse of Morgan's healing journey back to herself and her community. The novel highlights Morgan's preparations for the inevitable final countdown with Gavin, but the lack of immediacy and urgency of the threat makes for a subdued, restrained thriller. Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.