A satisfying thriller that will keep readers guessing.
A kidnapping victim’s body surfaces halfway around the world.
In the fourth installment in the 6:20 Man series, Department of Homeland Security agent and former Army Ranger Travis Devine flies to Australia to help investigate a strange death. In New York City, a man and woman are attacked while in the middle of an argument. Criminals shoot the woman and whisk away the man, Bill Walker, in a van. Next thing you know, his bullet-ridden, shark-bitten corpse bobs to the surface in Sydney Harbour. The autopsy shows he’d been dying of cancer, and authorities learn he’d filed for divorce. But why? He’d been happily married to Australian billionaire Charlotte Woolwine. The U.S. is drawn to the case because of Walker’s connection to Five Eyes, the intelligence-gathering alliance of which Australia is a part. Once there, Travis teams up with DS Anais Jones to search for answers. Did one of the Woolwine family orchestrate the murder? While they dig, bad guys try to kidnap Travis, much to their misfortune. The story occasionally backtracks to recap Travis’ difficult relationship with his father, a thread that pervades the series. Travis went to West Point and into the Army, both of which made the old man furious. Why not work on Wall Street and get rich? Travis already tried that and succeeded but hated it. Now he works for Homeland Security and is forever on the cusp of danger, relying on his exceptional talents and capacity for violence to stay alive. “Let me be as clear as I can be,” Travis says. “My job is to find out who killed Bill Walker” and shot Theresa Lee, an investigative journalist. But there’s more—AI looms as a national security threat, and what’s an international thriller without Putin’s shadow? Baldacci skillfully ties all the complex plot elements together. Readers will find characters to root for and fret about in this tale of murder down under.
A satisfying thriller that will keep readers guessing.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781538758069
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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