Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Book Review: Lockdown by Laurie R. King




Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell series of Sherlockian romps, has a new contemporary novel out called Lockdown. Set in the current day coastal California, Lockdown is about as far as you can get from Mary Russell's Victorian England, with the focus on a grave subject matter. 

The book begins at a middle school where tensions are seething in every corner...disappearing children, nervous breakdowns, murder...these are just a few of things going on at this troubled school until a mild-manner Career Day turns into a lockdown because of a shooting incident. 

The subject matter in Lockdown is heavy and not for everyone. King does an excellent job of creating the world of the Guadalupe Middle School and creating empathetic characters that draw us into the story. Once you start reading Lockdown, you won't want to put the book down. When it says novel of suspense on the cover, they aren't kidding. 

You may tear yourself away to think about what's happening and how it relates to society today, with the characters and plot will pulling you back. But you have to be ready to enter this world. I couldn't help but thinking about why these types of incidents keep happening and what it means for our society. King is a masterful storyteller. She does an excellent job of tying it all together and every plot point is there for a reason. The book is worth the journey. 

You can read an excerpt of Lockdown here


Laurie R. King is the New York Times bestselling author of 25 novels and other works, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories (from The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, named one of the 20th century’s best crime novels by the IMBA, to 2016’s The Murder of Mary Russell).  She has won an alphabet of prizes from Agatha to Wolfe, been chosen as guest of honor at several crime conventions, and is probably the only writer to have both an Edgar and an honorary doctorate in theology. She was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars in 2010, as “The Red Circle.”


Random House supplied this book to Mystery Playground. We didn't take that into consideration while reviewing it. 



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