A wild ride with entertainers serving during WWII.
O’Connor’s historical novel highlights the “Jeep shows” that entertained soldiers during World War II.
Jim Tanzer (based on the real-life Jim Hetzer) is a song-and-dance man who enlists in the military to fight in WWII. He’s quickly assigned to the Morale Corps at Camp Sibert. “You’ll be entertaining combat soldiers in places where the USO can’t go,” his captain tells him. One of his fellow enlisted men is Mickey Rooney (who actually was in the Morale Corps during the war). They are two among a cast of more than 50 in a show called Hip Hooraythat travels to New York and London before it’s disbanded in favor of “Jeep shows,” in which teams made up of one driver and two performers are sent out in a Jeep to perform for the troops. Jim, Mickey, and their friend Wes are one such team traveling to various battlegrounds, including the Ardennes and the famed Battle of the Bulge. The action hops back and forth in time, providing readers with depictions of an 11-year-old Jimmy’s introduction to vaudeville and his relationship with his wife, Stella. It seems odd to call a World War II novel “delightful,” but that’s exactly what you get with O’Connor’s mix of history and fiction as battles rage on and enlisted men entertain the troops. The narrative covers a wide swath, from drama onboard ships to dealing with nasty weather to, of course, the travails of the injured (including Jim) and the dead during the war. It’s a fascinating look at a part of the military that many folks probably have never heard of. The characters, both real and imagined, are well drawn, and the author has a knack for dialogue that rings true. There’s also humor, thanks in no small part to Rooney’s presence. The interjection of real-life characters, particularly Rooney, isn’t jarring; in fact, it serves as a useful reminder that Jim Hetzer was a very real person. This is a compelling mix of showbiz and war, laughter and tears—a fine line that O’Connor walks well.
A wild ride with entertainers serving during WWII.Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2024
ISBN: 9780990888451
Page Count: 348
Publisher: OKPI Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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