An engagingly illustrative intersection of two distinct time periods.
A historical novel concerning 20th-century archaeology and the Crusades.
Boas presents two intertwining stories that take place more than 600 years apart. One is set in the 1920s as an archaeological team led by a man named John Riley excavates Montfort castle in what was then British Mandate Palestine. The excavation comes across a major point of interest: a subterranean chamber that may hold secrets about the castle dwellers who built it. The team, however, is plagued by disgruntled employee Larry Walker, who later becomes a disgruntled former employee with a dangerous penchant for explosives and whiskey. The second narrative is set in the year 1271, in which a young man named Hermann escorts the elderly Albert of Ulm, who’s set off to the East in search of his son, who, when he disappeared, was attempting to retrieve the arm of St. John the Baptist. Hermann and Albert have picked a poor time for their expedition, however; the threat of a Saracen attack on Montfort draws near. If push comes to shove, will the castle hold? As the book alternates between the 1920s and the 13th century, readers learn much about both eras; Riley’s team wants to understand what happened in Herman’s time by piecing together the past, when men apparently risked their lives in search of bizarre treasures. The 1920s team must deal with an unpredictable foe and, in the case of one of the characters, a love interest with a local woman named Bel. Still, the 13th-century plot generates more excitement; relatively modern concerns pale in comparison to the sheer wild danger of a castle under attack, and Boas puts readers in the midst of all the “cracking of wood and the crash and crack of stone” with little promise of help for the main characters. Yet, the overall narrative manages to maintain interest with the question of how the two tales will overlap—and what exactly was going on in that subterranean chamber.
An engagingly illustrative intersection of two distinct time periods.Pub Date: March 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62-787869-2
Page Count: 341
Publisher: Wheatmark
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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