Red Cicada by Gregg Luke - OPTIONAL

Red Cicada by Gregg Luke, 290 pages. Covenant Communications, 2022. $16.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

When a seizure at work leads to a hospital visit, Lana (29yo) resists medical attention because of her late father’s warning against x-rays. The doctor ignores Lana’s concerns and discovers a metal disk in the back of Lana’s head that she doesn’t remember being put there. All of a sudden multiple parties interested in the disk approach Lana, and she struggles to uncover the lies of the past and who to trust with her future.

I was ready to chew out Lana’s doctor for ignoring her clear protests – even knowing that the doctor’s actions were necessary to drive the plot. Despite some illogical assumptions, inconsistencies, and contradictions, Lana’s story was made exciting as she worked to figure out what was going on. It was a fine afternoon read.

The main characters are described as white. The mature content rating is for illegal activity and drug and alcohol use. The violence rating is for gun and knife use, mention of suicide, gore, and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen