A solid story of political warfare made doubly compelling by the dubious hero leading the charge.
A callous mogul tries his hand at politics and uses his undue influence to get a former governor elected president, only to regret his support and redirect his resources to ousting the same man.
Melvin Shultz runs Lust Cosmetics, a billion-dollar company. Unsatisfied in the private sector, Shultz decides “on a whim” to commit all his time and money into backing long-shot candidate Robert “Buck” Porter for president of the United States. Whereas controversially provocative ads succeeded in promoting Lust Cosmetics, Shultz turns Porter into a contender via the standard shallow campaign of false promises. Once Porter is in office, however, Shultz realizes he’s made a considerable mistake in electing the contemptible former governor. After being appointed CIA director by Porter, Shultz tries to contain and dismantle the president’s ineptitude, which threatens to drive the country into the ground. Grayson (My Troubles with Time, 2011, etc.) ably establishes Shultz as a cold, detached power broker but also as a man who inspires confidence by the impressive ambition and cunning in his often despicable scheming. True to form, realpolitik is a constant battle—even after the successful presidential campaign, Shultz necessarily employs the same hardball tactics in his fight for the CIA directorship and, ultimately, in the campaign to bring down President Porter. In contrast to the playfulness suggested by its title, the novel has a frank tone and a clear style that feels comfortably old-fashioned. Shultz, for instance, may be an assertive personality, but he steers clear of hard liquor, drives an old, dilapidated Buick and has a nine o’clock bedtime. He’s a loyal husband, though even he must tire of his wife’s incessant grumbling.
A solid story of political warfare made doubly compelling by the dubious hero leading the charge.Pub Date: Dec. 22, 2011
ISBN: 978-1468093988
Page Count: 324
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
