Author: Civilian Reader

Quick Review: CORMORANT HUNT by Michael Idov (Scribner)

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A renegade CIA officer must infiltrate an extremist group in the heart of Europe…

Ari Falk has just blown the lid off a massive conspiracy at the highest level within the CIA. While some hail him as a hero for exposing government corruption, others brand him as a dangerous traitor to his country. His quiet exile in the Republic of Georgia is shattered when a new mission arises—one perfectly suited for someone as jaded and unpredictable as him.

A hot war in Europe and shadowy political schemes set the stage for danger at every turn. Enter Asha Tamaskar, a brilliant, neurodivergent CIA officer with her own secrets, and Felix Burnham, a chilling antagonist with radical alliances that could change the global balance of power. From Tbilisi to Prague and Andorra to Bethesda, Falk’s quest for justice takes him on a high-stakes journey around the world.

The Cormorant Hunt explores geopolitics with grit and authenticity, weaving together a narrative that is both urgent and unforgettable. Razor-sharp dialogue, heart-pounding twists, and complex characters abound—blending suspense, wit, and brilliant storytelling, this is a must-read for fans of political intrigue, espionage, and thrillers that don’t play by the rules.

This is Michael Idov’s second, fast-paced and gripping spy novel starring Ari Falk. It picks up soon after the end of the first book in the series, and offers another contemporary, well-written story, populated by engaging characters. After enjoying the first novel in the series (with just a few minor reservations), I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed this as well, and it does mark an improvement in Idov’s writing. Continue reading →

New Books (July-August)

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Featuring: David Baldacci, Jonathan D. Beer, Janice Hallett, Mike Lawson, Lauren Nossett, K.J. Parker, Iain Reid & Ellie Foumbi, Joe Manganiello, Amy Rossi, Richard Russo, Hans van de Ven, Kevin Wade

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Upcoming: THE HOLLOW by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown/ Orion)

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It’s almost that time of year again: new Michael Connelly! I recognize that I have become something of a broken record here on CR, when it comes to Connelly’s novels. He is quite probably my favourite author. Despite being a relative late-comer to his Bosch-verse, I have actually now read all of his books (including short stories and non-fiction). He is one of the rare authors who manages to publish multiple books a year with no drop-off in quality. I can’t recommend his work highly enough.

Which brings me to The Hollow, Connelly’s next novel: the latest novel in his Harry Bosch series, also featuring his half-brother, Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer). It’s due to be published in October (North America) and November (UK), and here’s the synopsis:

Retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch delves into the darkest chapter of his past…

When Harry Bosch was eleven years old, his mother was murdered and he became a ward of the state, housed in MacLaren Children’s Center, a notorious facility where abuse was rampant. Decades after its closure, a massive class action lawsuit has resulted in a multibillion-dollar settlement for former residents. But when Bosch’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, brings him word that Harry is entitled to $400,000, Bosch says he doesn’t want the money. He wants justice.

News of the settlement awakens his memories of a place he had hoped never to revisit, and a boy named Chops, a fellow inmate who wound up dead. Chops’s body was found in a hidden space under a staircase that the staff used to discipline their charges. The kids knew it only as “the hollow.” But Chops’s death was covered up and never solved. Now Bosch knows he must reopen the investigation and learn the truth, even if the killer is long dead.

As Bosch digs into the files, he picks up the trail of a predator who not only survived, but went on to a life of vicious crime. Forced to face a history that both scarred him and launched him on his mission as a cop, Bosch must bring down a sadistic criminal and finally put to rest the demons of his past.

Michael Connelly’s The Hollow is due to be published by Little, Brown in North America (October 27th) and Orion Books in the UK (November).

Also on CR: Reviews of The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, The Last Coyote, The Overlook, The Wrong Side of Goodbye, Two Kinds of Truth, Blood Work, A Darkness More than Night, The Narrows, The Late Show, Dark Sacred Night, Fair Warning, and The Law of Innocence

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

Excerpt: MAYBE IT’S ME by Adrian Michael Kelly (ECW Press)

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Today, ECW Press publishes Maybe It’s Me, the new memoir by Adrian Michael Kelly; who is also the author of the story collection Ambassador Of What. It the raw story of someone navigating in a world marked by frustration, unrealized dreams, of getting in one’s own way, and finding a way through.

Here’s the synopsis:

A raw and riveting memoir of collapse, recovery, and reinvention

For most of his adult life, Adrian Michael Kelly specialized in failure — serial, sometimes comic, but also epic failure. Born to a gambling-addicted, compulsively spending mother who left when he was five, and raised by his dad, a haunted and often violent hard-drinking Scot, Kelly learned failure early and learned it remarkably well: how to be small, how to be safe, how to be self-defeating. By the age of 30, he was larking around abroad, trying (and failing) to write like his literary heroes while mired in bad relationships and dead-end work.

On a gray October morning in 1999, thunderously hungover and sick to death of himself, he boarded a train in Zurich bound for Bergamo and entered the initial, terrifying stages of a months-long collapse, less a psychological than a spiritual emergency — full-bore and loud.

Maybe It’s Me recounts what led up to that emergency as well as its aftermath, when Kelly came back to Canada to try to rebuild his life. For a while he did just that, but at the very summit of his hard-won achievements, life and his own folly brought him low again. Chronically unemployed, crippled by hideous back pain, and driven to despair by the mother of all writer’s block, he was divorced and nearly homeless at age 47. But along with how to fail, Kelly knew how not to quit, and he set about the process — long and difficult — of creating a consequential, good-enough life.

Free of self-pity and beautifully told, Maybe It’s Me is for everyone who gets in their own way — and can still have a laugh about it.

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Excerpt: THE INEVITABLE UNDOING OF ZAHARA DOUGLASS by Leslye Penelope (Redhook)

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Today we have an excerpt from the latest genre-bending mystery novel by acclaimed author Leslye Penelope: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass. Due to be published by Redhook, in August, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share. Before we get to that, here’s what the novel is about:

For four years, Zahara Douglass has been haunted by her sister’s impossible disappearance. Now, in December 1999, with the world on the brink of chaos, Zahara sets out to find her sister no matter the cost in this twisty and compelling modern fantasy from Leslye Penelope.

In April 1995, Zahara watched her twin sister, Annica, get hustled into a stranger’s car and disappear — only to return to a world where no one remembers Annica ever existed. Not her mother. Not the police. No one.

Now, as the world braces for the looming Y2K crisis, Zahara finds evidence that proves her sister was real. Determined to uncover the truth, she hires a private investigator and begins digging into her family’s shadowed past. When the investigation leads to two charismatic men who once served with her father in Vietnam, Zahara realizes she and her sister may be pawns in a dangerous power struggle with unthinkable consequences.

​To find her sister, Zahara must face the truth about her family, her memories, and the power lurking within her. But the sisters’ reunion comes at a price — one that could unravel reality and bring about the end of the world.

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Out Now: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN SCREAMING AND CRYING by Dan Franklin (Constable)

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Back in 2020, I read Dan Franklin‘s excellent history and examination of heavy metal, Heavy. His latest book, which I somehow missed until yesterday, is Somewhere Between Screaming and Crying, a new biography of the band Slipknot. Published yesterday by Constable, the book’s release was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the band’s second album: Iowa.

The album was released shortly before I started university (and, less nostalgically, a couple of weeks before 9/11). I have many fond, quite vivid memories of buying the album on release-day, and spending the following days walking the streets of Oxford, discman in my cargo-pants side pocket, the album on repeat. It remains an excellent album, although (in my humble opinion), the follow-up — Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) — is better. I’m really looking forward to reading Franklin’s new book, and revisiting those heady days of nü-metal dominance. With Iowa blasting the background, of course…

Here’s the book’s official synopsis:

A captivating biography of Slipknot by acclaimed music writer, Dan Franklin, to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Iowa: an album that redefined metal.

Slipknot is one of metal’s most iconic and recognisable bands. In late August 2001, Slipknot released their extraordinarily brutal second album, Iowa. With it, nine masked maniacs from the American Midwest captured the zeitgeist and reimagined the genre. The album’s emotional intensity and aggression was matched only by its commercial success, as it topped album charts and defined the nu metal era.

Two weeks after its release, the world changed forever. After the attacks of 9/11, Slipknot collided with history and a generation in upheaval. As the band’s members struggled with their own demons, it wasn’t certain that Slipknot would survive. What followed is a story that’s as tumultuous, gripping, and as real as it gets.

Somewhere Between Screaming And Crying is the story of Iowa‘s difficult birth and its remarkable impact in a world seemingly coming apart at the seams. As nu metal is embraced by a new generation today, Dan Franklin unravels how and why this much-maligned subgenre still connects so strongly and explores the ongoing influence of Slipknot as one of the most recognisable and artistically vital bands in metal today.

Dan Franklin’s Somewhere Between Screaming and Crying is out now in the UK, published by Constable. (At the time of writing, I couldn’t find any information about a North American publisher.)

Also on CR: Review of Heavy

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Upcoming: THE OPERATOR by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Crime)

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Congressional fixer Joe DeMarco’s misadventures in and around Washington and America’s politics continue! Now, though, he’s pitted against a merciless, far better-resourced opposing fixer…

In February 2027, Atlantic Crime are due to publish The Operator, the 20th novel in Mike Lawson‘s excellent series — an incredible milestone for the series and author. This has been a favourite series of mine ever since I read DeMarco’s debut outing, The Inside Ring, so every new volume is something to celebrate. Here’s the synopsis:

It’s fixer versus fixer, and only one can win…

Joe DeMarco is a capable man. He works as a fixer for John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House (though DeMarco prefers the term “troubleshooter”). He’s the one Mahoney calls upon when there’s a situation that requires creative problem solving.

Carla Andretti — a cutthroat lawyer at one of the world’s top firms — is a fixer too. On behalf of the ultra-wealthy tech-mogul Leo Cage, Carla helps her boss conquer whatever he desires, even if she too must bend the law to make it happen.

When one of Leo’s schemes begins to crumble, it threatens to expose them both on a massive scale, forcing Carla to do what she does best: fix the situation. In order to keep her and Leo’s names clean, she’ll have to go after the people responsible for the unraveling. The only problem? Joe DeMarco’s onto her — and he knows all too well the tricks of the trade.

Can’t wait to read this.

While I’m waiting, I could of course get caught up on a few of the author’s novels that I have (inexplicably) yet to get around to: Redemption (a stand-alone thriller) and the Kay Hamilton series — Rosarito Beach, Viking Bay, and K-Street — which were published under the pseudonym M. A. Lawson.

Mike Lawson’s The Operator is due to be published by Atlantic Crime in North America, on February 16th, 2027.

Also on CR: Reviews of House Rules/Dead on Arrival, House Secrets/Dead Man’s List, House Justice, House Divided, House Blood, House Odds, House Reckoning, House Rivals, and The Asset

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

Upcoming: & SONS (Icon Film)

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Over the weekend, I spotted the trailer for the upcoming film & Sons (probably on Instagram). The name jumped out at me, because back in 2014 I read (and very much enjoyed) a novel of the same name by David Gilbert. And, it turns out, it is indeed an adaptation of that book. I was a little thrown, initially, because the novel is set in Manhattan, but the movie is set in the UK — an interesting choice, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this changes the story.

The trailer is above, and here’s the movie synopsis:

A world-renowned but reclusive novelist, convinced he is about to die, summons his estranged sons to his home. But instead of seeking forgiveness for his countless mistakes, he instead reveals a truly unbelievable secret that brings his beloved ex-wife back into his orbit. With decades of resentment, jealousy and rage on the verge of spilling over, this splintered family is forced to face an inevitable reckoning, for better or for worse.

The movie, directed by Pablo Trapero and distributed by Icon, has a stellar cast, too: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Johnny Flynn, Noah Jupe, George MacKay, and Dominic West.

The movie will open in cinemas on August 21st. (I think it is also going to be on at TIFF, so I’ll do my best to see it then.)

David Gilbert’s & Sons is out now, published by Random House in North America and Fourth Estate in the UK.

Movie: Website, IMDb
Follow the Author: Goodreads

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Upcoming: LUCKY Season 1 (Apple TV)

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On Wednesday (July 15th), Apple TV will start releasing episodes of Lucky, their new show adapted from Marissa Stapley‘s novel of the same name. Produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine, it stars Anya Taylor-Joy (also executive producer), Timothy Olyphant, Annette Bening, William Fichtner and others, this has been on my to-watch list since it was first announced. Here’s the movie pitch/log-line:

A reformed criminal is forced to confront her past and return to illicit activities for one final job, hoping to secure her freedom and leave her former life behind for good.

I read and quite enjoyed the novel, and the trailer (above) has certainly piqued my interest. Here’s the synopsis for the book:

A thrilling roller-coaster ride about a heist gone terribly wrong, with a plucky protagonist who will win readers’ hearts.

What if you had the winning ticket that would change your life forever, but you couldn’t cash it in?

Lucky Armstrong is a tough, talented grifter who has just pulled off a million-dollar heist with her boyfriend, Cary. She’s ready to start a brand-new life, with a new identity — when things go sideways. Lucky finds herself alone for the first time, navigating the world without the help of either her father or her boyfriend, the two figures from whom she’s learned the art of the scam.

When she discovers that a lottery ticket she bought on a whim is worth millions, her elation is tempered by one big problem: cashing in the winning ticket means she’ll be arrested for her crimes. She’ll go to prison, with no chance to redeem her fortune.

As Lucky tries to avoid capture and make a future for herself, she must confront her past by reconciling with her father; finding her mother, who abandoned her when she was just a baby; and coming to terms with the man she thought she loved — whose dark past is catching up with her, too.

This is a novel about truth, personal redemption, and the complexity of being good. It introduces a singularly gifted, multilayered character who must learn what it means to be independent and honest… before her luck runs out.

Marissa Stapley’s Lucky is published by Simon & Schuster in North America and Hodder in the UK.

Also on CR: Review of Marissa Stapley’s The Lightning Bottles

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram