An engrossing page-turner, and though some might find its characters a bit too familiar, Luna’s penchant for plot twists...
In Luna’s science fiction action thriller, a heroic astronaut must rescue his crew and his save his mission from a sinister conspiracy.
The near-future world of the novel sees man walking on Mars, but the planet’s role to play with humanity depends on Cmdr. Matthew “Mac” MacTavish and the crew of the spaceship Mars 2. Mac’s team of scientists and engineers must build a sustainable habitat on Mars, prepare it for the imminent arrival of Mars 3, along with a new group of astronauts, and then, hopefully, a perpetual influx of pioneers. But during their final days on the red planet, Mac’s team suddenly loses contact with Earth and Mars 3. Dr. Boyle, the crew’s pompous scientific lead, believes the spaceship, as well as everyone on Earth, has been killed by a massive solar flare. While Mac decides how to handle this catastrophe, Mars 3 unexpectedly lands near the team’s base. Mac struggles to solve this riddle, but his investigation only yields more questions, with every sliver of truth placing Mac and his crew deeper in danger. The book continues on a hydra-headed path for the duration of the story, making it compulsively engaging. As Dr. Boyle constantly reiterates, the truth is bigger than Mac can imagine. To service his plot, Luna’s characters are drawn from tried-and-true molds and travel through the book on predictable arcs. Dr. Boyle, unsurprisingly, emerges as the story’s key antagonist and grandstands like a true Bond villain. He is the perfect foil to the heroically square-jawed and straight-laced Mac, who leads his team with paternal care. Luna makes a point of highlighting Mac’s relationship with the rest of his team, immersing the reader in their camaraderie. This turns out to be an important aspect, as it gives the story a real sense of danger. Though these characters, on their own, are not necessarily special, the relationships among them are—and it hurts when Luna severs them.
An engrossing page-turner, and though some might find its characters a bit too familiar, Luna’s penchant for plot twists provide an ultimately satisfying read.Pub Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-0615464657
Page Count: 279
Publisher: Gravity Bay
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2011
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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