Compelling and well-researched, yet not quite relatable.
A fictionalized account of the Apostle Thomas’ travels following Jesus’ Crucifixion.
Villoth’s book, the first in a series, begins with the death of Thomas (here called “Thoma”) before flashing back to the Crucifixion of Christ (here called “Yeshua”) and Thoma’s subsequent journeys to preach the Gospel. An editor’s note reveals that the story has been reconstructed from scrolls found in the writer’s “ancestral house”: letters from Thomas to the Apostle Peter, called “Cephas” in the text. The use of Hebrew names for the characters can be confusing for readers trying to link the Hebrew names to their better-known biblical counterparts, but this choice lends authenticity to the story and helps maintain Villoth’s rich mood. The prose is voluptuous and imaginative, with sentences that twist and turn around the sights and smells of the ancient world as Thoma makes his way from Jerusalem to India: e.g., “…the tapestry of busy-ness being woven together by every living strand of muscle and sinew that was Damascus.” Plot-wise, the nature of Thoma’s relationship with his brother Yeshua is hinted at, though it never becomes abundantly clear. At one point, Thoma writes, “Yeshua betrayed us!...He who could mend bones, bestow sight, exorcise demons, he could not do that for us, at Golgotha?”; ultimately, though, readers never get a clear sense of Thoma’s emotional arc. The plot meanders somewhat, sometimes getting lost in the details, though it maintains a line of ancient mysticism that unifies Thoma’s experiences, including his encountering people of various faiths and discovering the ways early Christianity intersects. Clearly well-versed in the religious and political dimensions of the time, Villoth brings new insight into biblical territory, but these details can get in the way of plot and character development, which may turn off readers looking for a good story rather than a fictional take on biblical times.
Compelling and well-researched, yet not quite relatable.Pub Date: May 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499203462
Page Count: 324
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 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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