by L.D. Bergsgaard ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 10, 2011
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Preying on the fears of Americans, militant Islamic factions plot the downfall and overthrow of America from within.
In Bergsgaard’s thriller, U.S. mercenaries kidnap a Taliban informant believed to have information vital to national security. Alex Stone, hired by multinational company Blackstone, delivers the kidnapped man, Ali Shah Masood—a member of the Islamic Council—to CIA agents in Afghanistan. Ali has information about plans the Islamic Council has to unleash the biblical plagues of Egypt (acts of terrorism on the U.S.) to force all U.S. troops to withdraw from the Middle East, then Israel can be destroyed with no U.S. interference. In seemingly unrelated incidents, four border patrolmen in Texas are murdered, red algae overtakes the Potomac River and flies and frogs engulf Arlington National Cemetery while railroad bridges are blown up and forest fires rage. Doc Martini, special agent with the Anti-Terrorism Force, is called on to investigate. With the help of Agent Susan Rivard, Martini finds connections among the events and unravels the secret plans of the Islamic Council before U.S. citizens panic and Israel is destroyed. The author uses his experience and knowledge as a special agent to create a storyline that feels fresh, honest and diabolical. Regulations and procedures stymie federal agents while perpetrators of crime slip through U.S. society seemingly unhindered. Written in a tight, matter-of-fact tone, the story unfolds at a deliberate pace that keeps the reader engaged and in anticipation of the continued action. Events unfold on a day-by-day basis over a period of about two months. Some days have as many as six different entries in a dizzying array of locations including Pakistan, Spain, France, Italy and the White House, with multiple locations listed for Afghanistan and Minnesota. This approach leaves the reader feeling unsettled and confused at times, as well as looking at past chapters to reconnect plot lines. In places, the storyline depends too much on the surface tension of Islamic countries wanting the destruction of Israel, and could stand some bolstering with more in-depth character development of several of the Islamic Council members. A fast-paced, informed action/adventure story that holds the reader’s attention from cover to cover.
Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-1457505171
Page Count: 380
Publisher: Dog Ear
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2012
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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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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