A genial protagonist will keep readers enticed throughout this amusing romp.
A comic novel focuses on a dying language and the last chance to save it.
In this tale, Gardner presents Leonard Thorson, an assistant professor at a “fourth-rate” school called Ghurkin College. Ghurkin, whose mascot is a gerbil, is not exactly known for excellence in anything. Thanks to a corrupt dean, the school nevertheless boasts a grand football stadium. Lenny is a linguist who teaches French, lives in an apartment that used to be a rotating restaurant (that still occasionally revolves), and loves nothing more than diving deep into etymology. Lenny also works on a project with an Army veteran named Charlie. Charlie is said to be the last living speaker of a language called Skalwegian that comes from the now vacant island of Skalvik, located some 80 miles north of Norway. The two men hope to preserve the language, which is in danger of being lost forever. But Lenny soon learns that Charlie’s project is not quite on the altruistic level he was led to believe. It also doesn’t help that professional hit men are actively trying to assassinate Lenny. Or that many on campus hate Lenny for flunking two football players who never went to class. This wacky tale comes straight from left field. A nice-guy linguist who lives in a former restaurant and fails to realize that people are trying to kill him is unlike most heroes readers would expect to encounter. But the setup works. When Lenny is not providing the background on a word like idiot (“descended through middle English from the Old French word idiote,” readers are told), he is accidentally fending off assassins and wooing a sexy TV broadcaster. But even for such a fanciful tale, some aspects stretch credulity. The dean, for one, is so woefully incompetent that he runs afoul of a bad guy named Luther Skammer. (Yes, Skammer.) Still, Lenny is the type of hero worth rooting for. Tough but not arrogant, smart but not stuffy, he will stir readers’ curiosity, making them wonder where his rollicking adventure will ultimately land him.
A genial protagonist will keep readers enticed throughout this amusing romp.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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