Parks' latest genre-defying novel addresses such universal issues as free will, predestination and the justifiability of killing one person if that death will prevent thousands more. Brilliant lawyer Jenny Welker's latest case is a major class action suit against power company giant CP&L, whose plant emissions are causing high rates of lung cancer locally. When Jenny's husband Nate is kidnapped, taken to a secluded mansion and told he must at all costs get Jenny to drop the CP&L case, he decides not to tell Jenny until he can figure out what's going on. He assumes CP&L is behind his kidnapping, but he soon learns that the culprit is a shadowy group called the Praesidium, headed by reclusive visionary Vanslow DeGange. DeGange can purportedly predict the future and outlines to Nate the disastrous consequences if Jenny wins the CP&L case. DeGange is very persuasive and convinces the highly sceptical Nate that he must convince Jenny to back off the CP&L case. But Nate is totally blindsided when events spiral out of control, he and his family are under threat, terrible and unforeseen violence nearly destroys his family and DeGange makes a shocking revelation that will change Nate's and Jenny's lives forever. While the plot premise is somewhat implausible, the strong and memorable characters, taut suspense, unexpected twists and dramatic conclusion make this a hard-to-put down read. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Parks' latest novel addresses such universal issues as free will, predestination, and the justifiability of killing one person if that death will prevent thousands more. Brilliant lawyer Jenny Welker's latest case is a major class-action suit against power company giant CP&L, whose plant emissions are causing high rates of lung cancer. When Jenny's husband, Nate, is kidnapped, taken to a secluded mansion, told he must at all costs get Jenny to drop the CP&L case, and then released, he decides not to tell Jenny until he can figure out what's going on. He assumes CP&L is behind his kidnapping, but he soon learns that the culprit is a shadowy group called the Praesidium, headed by reclusive visionary Vanslow DeGange, who can purportedly predict the future and outlines to Nate the disastrous consequences if Jenny wins the CP&L case. DeGange is very persuasive and convinces the highly sceptical Nate that he must convince Jenny to back off the case. While the premise is somewhat implausible, the strong, taut suspense and the dramatic conclusion make this hard to put down. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Would you kill your spouse if that were the only way to prevent a billion other deaths? For lawyer-turned-househusband Nate Lovejoy, this suddenly is no idle question. According to Lorton Rogers, the man who's kidnapped him, Vanslow DeGange, founder of the shadowy Praesidium, can see the future, and he can see that the lawsuit Jenny Welker's filing on behalf of 280 clients of Virginia's Commonwealth Power and Light alleging that its coal-fired Shockoe Generation Plant produced record amounts of lung cancer and COPD will have unintended consequences: Other energy companies that get sued will bring their plants into compliance by using technology that will unintentionally but catastrophically accelerate global warming. Nate won't be able to talk Jenny out of pressing the suit; she'll have to die to save all those other lives. Although Nate's nowhere near ready to pull the trigger once he's released from captivity, Parks stands ready to unleash a furious barrage of complications that will force his hand. Nate will hear Rogers threaten the couple's two small children. His attempts to gather more information about the Praesidium will backfire spectacularly. He'll realize that Rogers is tracking his every move. He'll press DeGange to make other predictions that come startlingly true. He'll learn that he's been reported to the police for domestic violence. He'll get evidence that Jenny is having an affair. All the while, the cabal responsible for killing John Kennedy and Martin Luther King for the greater good of the greater number will tighten its grip on him until...but that would be telling. A textbook one-sitting read whose fiendishly inventive details only intensify its remorseless momentum. Copyright Kirkus 2021 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.