A spirited, diverting thriller that’s marred only by some narrative repetition.
In Tate’s debut romantic thriller, the way out for a woman being obsessively pursued by dangerous men may lie in uncovering her mother’s mysterious past.
Now that Drulietta Van Hamilton has inherited her late father’s vast estate, she’s getting noticed by a number of men. That’s not a problem when the attention’s coming from Chad, a doctor just hired at the nearby hospital who falls for the young woman. But most of the men are either aggressive or outright menaces: Her cousin, Justin, believes he’s entitled to the estate, where he also resides; Chad’s father, Beckley, chases Dru when she refuses his advances; and marijuana traffickers kidnap her for ransom. Dru realizes that they’re enchanted by her since she’s the spitting image of her mother, Caroline, who died after giving birth to Dru and her now-dead twin sister, Drucilla. Dru delves into Caroline’s history to reveal why the infatuated men refer to both mother and daughter by a word she’s unfamiliar with—“Willoweens”—and why Dru’s son, Delamar, is in the same amount of jeopardy as his mom. Tate spins a wickedly fun web in establishing her plot, with gleefully intricate links among the characters; upon hearing that his mother knew Caroline, an already-smitten Chad hilariously expresses a fear that he and Dru are related. There are indelible and often spooky settings, including Dru’s estate, which is so huge that she’s unaware of men growing marijuana on her property. Instant romance arrives too, when Chad, who has only just declared his love for Dru, asks her uncle Mercurio about “making her pregnant.” The introduction of an enigmatic group called Friends in High Places adds intrigue—both its membership and its reasons for being invested in Dru are hazy—as does an apparent clairvoyance shared by Dru and Delamar; each knows when the other is in peril. The story suffers when it hits a lull in the book’s second act, almost as if it’s hovering over the same plot devices: multiple trips to the hospital due to threats or attacks; more than one kidnapping; and interminable discussions about Chad and Dru’s potential marriage and its inexorable consummation. But the third act puts the story back on track with suspense and plenty of chances for Dru to display her self-defense training, though her signature move seems to be kneeing men in “the delicate anatomy.”
A spirited, diverting thriller that’s marred only by some narrative repetition.Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4948-1987-3
Page Count: 326
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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