Renshaw’s new novel is an intricate affair featuring an attorney who delves into the world of extrasensory experiences.
A reader of Renshaw’s earlier books (Science, Remote Viewing and ESP, 2009, etc.) might be prepared for the emphasis on psychic phenomena in the present work. For the uninitiated, however, this novel provides a persuasive primer on channeling, remote sensing, space-time perceptions and other brain functions beyond our physical reality, in addition to a skillfully crafted first-person drama. In fact, the theme of psychic activity powers every aspect of the action, including a love story that gains momentum as the narrator’s logical skepticism fades. Dave Willard is a successful Los Angeles patent attorney and a sailplaning enthusiast. Tina, his companion on weekends in the desert, where he keeps his plane, is a teacher whose enthusiasm for channeling and her apparent ability to “read” his thoughts keep skeptic Dave from commitment. Yet, when he impulsively (and implausibly) agrees to take on the prosecution of a case in which a psychic will be the chief prosecution witness against a small-town sheriff and prepares his case by interviewing scholars and practitioners of ESP, he soon accepts the validity of extrasensory experiences and concomitantly realizes he is in love with Tina. The affair flourishes despite sabotage attempts, convoluted security activities as the trial date approaches, an air of suspense in courtroom scenes and the fast pace of events. But this novel is not a thriller; it isn’t even what one might expect of a love story. There are no steamy scenes, just a lot of hugging and kissing and occasionally kittenish mock-seductive behavior as Tina leads her lover to the bedroom. In fact, their dialogue sometimes lacks the spontaneity of other exchanges and takes on a pedantic tone when Tina expatiates on the work of regional artists. That said, this novel will hold the reader’s attention because the plot is clever; the remote-sensing experiences riveting, particularly for a skeptic; the sailplaning episodes invite envy; and the characters exhibit a breezy California outlook that is refreshing. Renshaw’s novel practically vibrates with the relentless activity of several interconnected plot-threads moving to a highly satisfactory end.
Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0985273101
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Constellation
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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