Review by New York Times Review
THERE'S NO mistaking a John Connolly novel, with its singular characters, eerie subject matter and socko style. All these flags are flying in the woman in the WOODS (Emily Bestler/Atria, $26.99), which finds Charlie Parker, the oddball private detective in this quirky series, thwarted by the broken link in a chain of safe havens for battered women. Normally, "they go in one end of the tunnel and come out the other, far away." Except when one of them is caught - someone like Karis Lamb, whose body is found in a shallow grave in the woods shortly after giving birth. There's no sign of her newborn child. A man named Quayle, who may very well be "the devil himself," and his "creature," creepy Pallida Mors, commit some vividly depicted atrocities in their fevered hunt for a powerful ancient book, which they believe to be in Karis's possession. Parker himself is no saint ("If there's trouble, he'll find it. If there isn't trouble, he'll make some"), and it's best to stay away from him whenever he's visited by the "black dog" of depression. But he's a savior in a world that can be merciless to those without a champion. All the kinky people in this novel, killers included, are readers. Parker's pal, Louis, who has eclectic tastes, is currently juggling Montaigne and Hemingway, and "when he wasn't reading, he was contemplating what he'd just read." Dobey, of Dobey's Diner in Cadillac, Ind., is also a rare-book dealer who subscribes to The New York Times, The New Republic, National Review and The New Yorker. What makes this dedicated reader a mensch, however, is his covert work as a principal in the underground railroad for "frightened and abused women." Connolly creates a world, somewhat real but emphatically unnatural, in which the dead commune with the living in mysterious ways. Five-year-old Daniel, for one, is no longer answering his toy telephone; after receiving frequent calls from Karis's uneasy ghost, "Daniel didn't want to talk to dead people" anymore. Well, he can always talk to us. We're right here by the phone, waiting. "GET me out of here!" Haven't we all, at one time or another, wanted to escape into a brand-new, unencumbered existence? Better keep that cri de coeur to yourself, Charlton Pettus warns in EXIT STRATEGY (Hanover Square, $26.99), or somebody could whisk you off to a new life that might not be entirely to your liking. That's what happens to Jordan Parrish, founder of a medical technology company, when his business and his marriage hit the rocks. As Jordan sees it, he can either swallow a stash of pills or call a service that will scrub away his old existence and relocate him to some not-too-hard-to-take destination like Tokyo or Paris. While Pettus captures the excitement of waking up in a strange country with a lot of money in your pocket, the thrills are largely lost on Jordan, who could use a more unequivocal love of adventure, not to mention a keener sense of humor. you CAN'T blame Charlie Donlea if the ending of his novel makes your jaw drop. The title alone - DON'T BELIEVE IT (Kensington, $26) - is fair warning that his characters are no more to be trusted than are our initial impressions of them. This much we do know: In 2007, a vacationing medical student named Julian Crist was pushed to his death from the top of Gros Piton on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Julian's girlfriend, Grace Sebold, has spent 10 years in prison for the murder when Sidney Ryan gets the green light to make a TV series about her called "The Girl of Sugar Beach." Now here comes the twist: Sidney's documentary will follow in real time her personal investigation of the murder and will end, she hopes, in Grace's exoneration. But by the eighth installment of the show, which has been wildly successful, Sidney is beginning to suspect she's been deceived, and that her great coup was actually a con job. On the one hand, her career could be mud; on the other hand, you can't argue with those ratings. uh-??. Baseball players with the Boston Red Sox are coming to no good in Pamela Wechsler's new Abby Endicott mystery, THE FENS (Minotaur, $27.99), and while a missing ballplayer isn't as serious a matter as losing the pennant to the Yankees, it still means war. Endicott, Boston's chief homicide prosecutor and the novel's narrator, is out and about in Back Bay with her boyfriend, ??, when they're accosted by a stranger toting a Glock and demanding drugs. Turns out, he's an overzealous cop, which has Abby mentally writing an outraged newspaper headline: "African-American Male Attacked by Rogue Brookline Police Officer While Walking With Assistant District Attorney." That's the sort of thing Abby has to contend with in the "enlightened" metropolis she so diligently serves. But it's nothing compared with the old-fashioned fury that sweeps through the city when Rudy Maddox, the starting catcher for the Red Sox, fails to show up at Fenway Park for opening day. Abby has tackled other touchy cases in this lively series, but the Red Sox? Come on! Marilyn STASIO has covered crime fiction for the Book Review since 1988. Her column appears twice a month.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 17, 2018]
Review by Booklist Review
Jordan Parrish thought that his bad decisions had ruined his bioresearch company and would bankrupt his family. It turns out, though, that the real bad decision was in phoning Exit Strategy, a company that promised to make all of Jordan's problems disappear. Next thing you know, Jordan's wife, Stephanie, is told that her husband and a fictitious mistress died in a car crash. Meanwhile, Jordan is undergoing plastic surgery to make himself unrecognizable. Jordan is warned not to try to reclaim his former identity or contact anyone from his old life. But one small mistake shows him just how far the company will go to maintain the illusion of his death. No longer trusting the motives of the company or the circumstances leading to that fateful call, Parrish plots his escape from anonymity, which jump-starts a continent-hopping game of cat and mouse. This fast-paced debut thriller will appeal to fans of Christopher Reich and Harlan Coben. An L.A. songwriter and music producer, Pettus has been a member of the band Tears for Fears since 2000.--Keefe, Karen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brilliant scientist and biotech startup founder Jordan Parrish, the hero of songwriter and producer Pettus's terrific first novel, is in despair. His marriage to Stephanie, his Harvard professor wife, is falling apart after the recent death of their baby, and his company is failing. Jordan decides it's in the best interest of Stephanie and his two surviving children to call on Exit Strategy, a service that helps wealthy people in trouble disappear. When he steps out of his Boston office, he's immediately spirited away to a new life under a different name. Jordan comes to regret his choice to separate permanently from his loved ones, and, with a single "like" of Stephanie's Instagram photo, sets in motion a cascade of events that he can barely control. By violating Exit Strategy's no-contact rule, he puts his own life at risk, as well as those of his wife and kids. Jordan is no trained assassin like Bourne or Bond, but he does push his body and mind to the limit in his attempt to return to his family. Cerebral and visceral, this is a top-notch thriller. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Singer/songwriter Pettus (Tears for Fears), debuts with an original and fast-paced technothriller about a secretive -organization that helps the desperate, damaged, and despondent literally get a new life. Jordan Parrish led his Cambridge-based biotech firm Genometry into financial ruin. His marriage to Stephanie, a longstanding member of Harvard's physics department, had fallen apart after she learned of his affair. Rather than overdose on Seconal, Jordan follows his counselor's urgings and contacts Exit Strategy, which arranges his "demise" under the guise of a car accident. But now he wants to return to his old life after realizing that his friend and business partner might have provoked the circumstances in which he imploded. Unfortunately, if Jordan tries to connect with anyone from his former life, both he and his contact will be killed. Nevertheless, he attempts to return. VERDICT This impressively intricate and well-crafted debut builds to a stunning climax, creatively incorporating surreal images and settings into the spellbinding narrative. [See Prepub Alert, 11/21/17.]-Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
