by Joseph Ollivier ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2015
Real-world characters should engage readers, though the R-rated scenes aren’t as muted as the author perhaps intended.
When terrorists kidnap and hold for ransom UNICEF workers in the Middle East, a man gathers his fellow Army Rangers to save the abductees, including his wife, in this debut thriller.
Having been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, Department of Defense analyst Jim Warwick has seen his share of violence in the Middle East. So the Ranger’s understandably apprehensive about his wife, Julie, assessing children’s medical needs in Arabic countries for UNICEF. Julie promises to call Jim every night during her two weeks in Oman and Yemen. When she misses a call, Jim assumes the worst and, unfortunately, with good reason: Julie and three others from UNICEF have vanished. An organization called Liberté claims the abduction and demands a hefty ransom. Jim, however, thinking the United Nations is not doing enough, orchestrates a rescue mission with Ranger pals Scott Masters, Ed Hill, George McConnell, and Damon Harris. Leaving Damon in the United States to handle communications/logistics, and bringing Julie’s military-trained best friend, Rachael Fayyad, the group first travels to Yemen. The band follows the terrorists’ trail, getting intelligence however it can, be it bribery or torture. After the initial ransom deadline passes and results in one hostage dead, Jim is desperate to find Julie before Liberté, an al-Qaida offshoot, decides to get rid of the remaining trio. The story’s believable, grounded characters contrast with the oft-referenced, larger-than-life Hollywood heroes. The Rangers, for one, rely on reconnaissance and stealth, avoiding full-on assaults in enemy territory. And they’re not without flaws; Jim, recovering from injuries in Afghanistan that may necessitate an amputation, becomes addicted to painkillers. There’s little perspective from Julie as a captive, heightening suspense, as it’s not always clear whether she’s still alive. Similarly, what her captors may or may not do to her is predominantly left to readers’ imaginations, which is just as effective as witnessing potential horrors. Ollivier steers clear of foul language, opting for “holy smokes” or the occasional “gosh dammit.” But it’s an odd contradiction to the Rangers’ interrogative methods, like waterboarding or convincing someone he’s eating his own flesh— when what he’s actually consuming isn’t much better.
Real-world characters should engage readers, though the R-rated scenes aren’t as muted as the author perhaps intended.Pub Date: May 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-30547-8
Page Count: 406
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
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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APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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
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