November 11, 2024
Keenan and Wands (In Case of Emergency, as E.G. Scott) team up again for a lively page-turner that quickly morphs from a murder mystery into a breakneck caper. Hazel and Kagan Bailey are testy 30-something siblings who’ve already squandered most of the money their mother, Janice, gave them. When Janice remarries her charming ex-husband, Perry, Hazel and Kagan smell a rat. Then Janice dies from a supposedly accidental fall and Perry cuts Hazel and Kagan out of her will. Though the Baileys are sure Perry killed their mother, he manages to point law enforcement toward the spoiled siblings instead—and then he disappears altogether. To help find him, Hazel and Kagan track down his daughter, Ava, who’s just been released from prison for committing cybercrimes. They also loop in Hazel’s boyfriend, Habitat for Humanity volunteer Adam. The group’s search takes them from New York City to Florida, revealing secret allegiances among their ranks along the way. McCullough and Wands keep things fleet and frivolous, stocking the narrative with an array of genuine surprises en route to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. It’s a trip worth taking. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists.
December 13, 2024
The writing team of Keenan and Wands, who previously wrote as E.G. Scott (The Rule of Three), issue a new novel, featuring estranged siblings Hazel and Kagan Bailey, both of whom are stunned by their mother's sudden death. When they learn they were cut out of her will, they suspect their stepfather was actually behind her demise, caused by a fall from a cliff near New York City's Cloisters museum--particularly because their mother was afraid of heights. Hazel and Kagan set out to prove their stepfather is a fraud and a killer, but he sells their mother's home, and suddenly they can't find any evidence he ever existed. The siblings enlist the help of their stepfather's hacker daughter, an ex-con who works for Homeland Security, to try to find the missing man. In a twisted story where everyone has devious motives, the siblings follow secrets and lies to a conclusion in which multiple people plan to double-cross the others. With a cast of duplicitous characters, readers will be unsure which con artist or grifter to root for. VERDICT The title is perfect because there is no one trustworthy in this novel of family and secrets, and readers will find themselves hoping for everyone to get their just deserts.--Lesa Holstine
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