Will resonate with readers who love expertly plotted twists and turns.
Bucky Pepin may fancy himself a Sherlock Holmes but his detecting skills are put to the test when faced with a real-life mystery in journalist Bertz’s (Becoming Michael, 2005) second novel.
Bertz’s novel opens innocently enough: a group of teenagers in the 1940s gather in a church basement for some unholy fun. There, Bucky first lays eyes on the beautiful face of Emily Labelle, a deaf girl who sends him head over heels. That same evening, Bertz’s protagonist encounters a pair of mysterious strangers: Vinnie, a fedora-topped gentleman with a nasty head wound, and his lovely girlfriend, Kate. Bucky’s haunches are raised and his suspicions prove true when he discovers the couple are on the lam after Vinnie robbed a bank. Enter Cracker, a Chicago crime boss who, along with a posse of heavily armed goons, catches wind of Vinnie and Kate’s hideout at Sugar Bush farm. Bucky musters his mettle, using all the detecting skills in his arsenal to figure out what’s at stake and who’s behind it. Each member of this artfully plotted novel’s sprawling cast has a stake in the central mystery driving the story forward. But Bertz delves deeper than just the thriller, concentrating equal attention on the complexities and family drama of his protagonist’s life. Readers are drawn in as Bucky contends with his feelings for Emily, the looming shadow of his father’s disappointment and the spiteful behavior of his ex-girlfriend Stella. At times, the compelling plotline suffers from the simplistic tone of the prose. This is particularly noticeable in scenes of criminality and violence. Furthermore, complicated themes, such as abortion and murder, are not handled with the depth and gravity they deserve. The style employed here resembles that of a young adult novel, though the book’s content may make it unsuitable for that audience.
Will resonate with readers who love expertly plotted twists and turns.Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-1456477561
Page Count: 482
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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