Review by Booklist Review
Professor Eve Roth is a storm chaser. As an atmospheric physicist, she studies weather patterns, so when she sees a fire on the ground while flying above a rainstorm, she thinks it's an earth-bound anomaly. And it is--a Tesla on fire. But it turns out to be her professor husband Matthew's car, he is nowhere to be found, and the police suspect her in the foul play. Then psychic Jonah Kendrick shows up on her doorstep, claiming to have seen Matthew in a vision, and it doesn't look good. Initially skeptical of Jonah, Eve is desperate enough to trust him. With her father-in-law, disabled after a stroke, in tow, and as an ice storm shuts down Iowa, Eve and Jonah start an investigation that goes beyond Matthew's academic woes into something far more sinister, with a final reveal that will leave readers reeling. Mejia (Strike Me Down, 2020) has penned a taut thriller that balances scientific research and a plot that just won't quit. Give to fans of chilling, chilly, plot-driven thrillers with strong characters.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Mejia (Strike Me Down) delivers her best work yet in this propulsive, intelligent page-turner. Eve Roth's life changed forever when she lost her father to a tornado as a child. That tragedy drove her to become a physics professor at the University of Iowa, specializing in meteorological phenomena. One night, during a flight in her mobile air lab, she spots an unusual black cloud emanating from the ground--upon landing, she learns the source of the smoke was her now-missing husband's Tesla, which somehow caught fire in the middle of a rainstorm. The police immediately suspect Eve of foul play, and things get even more complicated when she's contacted by detective Jonah Kendrick, who claims both that he's a psychic and that her husband's disappearance is linked to an open case of his. Desperate to clear her name, Eve reluctantly teams up with Jonah to uncover the truth, despite her science-based reservations about his supposed "gift." Mejia gives Eve and Jonah uncommon depth, which makes their potentially clichéd skeptic/believer dynamic feel surprisingly fresh, and manages to hold onto plausibility even when the plot gets far-fetched. This indelible thriller has series potential. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Susanna Lea Assoc. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The lives of three people--a professor, a private detective, and a cop--intertwine as a search to find a missing man unfolds in and around Iowa City. Eve Roth is a professor studying atmospheric physics in an effort to understand weather phenomena because a tornado carried her father away when she was 9. She has a great life, a job she loves, and a family she holds close--a husband, Matthew Moore; a best friend, Natalia Flores; and a beloved father-in-law, Earl, who's had a stroke and lives with her and Matthew. But then one day, while she's flying her $3.2 million mobile air lab above a rainstorm at 20,000 feet, everything crumbles. Matthew, a chemistry professor, hasn't been seen all day, and his Tesla is found burning, creating a black cloud that was visible from her position above the storm. "How does a car burn in the middle of a rainstorm? On purpose," Eve thinks when she sees a video of the car. Soon, Jonah Kendrick, a psychic detective, shows up at Eve's door saying he'd dreamed of Matthew being held in a barn, and he wants to help find him, especially since he's already desperately searching for his own niece, Celina, and he thinks the cases might be related. Max Summerlin, an investigator for the Iowa City Police Department--Jonah's college roommate and until very recently his best friend--had been searching for Celina with Jonah, but that came to an abrupt stop when he was shot by a man he wasn't able to identify. Author Mejia has created a tangled web seen through the eyes of Eve, Jonah, and Max that extends far beyond two missing people. The story ricochets between the laws of physics and psychic dreams as Eve and Jonah work together, with Max circling around them. Love, lies, deceit, and violence unfold as Eve ruthlessly looks for her husband over the course of a few days. An intense, adrenaline-fueled thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
