Full of memorable character portraits and incisive observations on wealth and social class, this stylish departure by the...
When a veteran detective is shot while on special assignment, uncovering the truth involves layers of deceit and secrets that might be best left unrevealed.
Shortly after establishing the Operational Command Unit, which looks into crimes perpetrated by the rich, DS George Quinn has been shot and lies in a coma. It falls to DI Blake Reynolds to figure out what happened and perhaps continue Quinn’s work. His assignment appears to be nearly impossible, both because Quinn, a star homicide detective, had carte blanche within the department to keep his investigation under wraps and because Quinn’s personal assistant, Victoria Clifford, is equally secretive. Even after Reynolds’ suspicions about Victoria are confirmed by a meeting at Scotland Yard, he finds himself attracted by her crisp efficiency. Martin’s thriller unfolds as a study of class and character. Quinn, who is gay, lives in London’s posh Mayfair district; Reynolds is from something like the wrong side of the tracks. The cat-and-mouse game between the two adversaries, whose perspectives are explored in alternating chapters, adds an extra dimension to Reynolds’ dogged probe long before he unearths the investigation Quinn had been working on: a complex case involving two uber-wealthy families, the eponymous jewel, and the grand dames of each clan who lay claim to it.
Full of memorable character portraits and incisive observations on wealth and social class, this stylish departure by the author of the long-running Jim Stringer series (Night Train to Jamalpur, 2014, etc.) is full of droll humor.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-571-28820-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Here, after last year's Of Love and Shadows, the tale of a quirky young woman's rise to influence in an unnamed South American country—with a delightful cast of exotic characters, but without the sure-handed plotting and leisurely grace of Allende's first—and best—book, The House of the Spirits (1985). When little Eva Luna's mother dies, the imaginative child is hired out to a string of eccentric families. During one of her periodic bouts of rebellion, she runs away and makes friends with Huberto Naranjo, a slick little street-kid. Years later, when she's in another bind, he finds her a place to stay in the red-light district—with a cheerful madame, La Senora, whose best friend is Melesio, a transvestite cabaret star. Everything's cozy until a new police sergeant takes over the district and disrupts the accepted system of corruption. Melesio drafts a protesting petition and is packed off to prison, and Eva's out on the street. She meets Riad Halabi, a kind Arab merchant with a cleft lip, who takes pity on her and whisks her away to the backwater village of Agua Santa. There, Eva keeps her savior's sulky wife Zulema company. Zulema commits suicide after a failed extramarital romance, and the previously loyal visitors begin to whisper about the relationship between Riad Halabi and Eva. So Eva departs for the capital—where she meets up with Melesio (now known as Mimi), begins an affair with Huberto Naranjo (now a famous rebel leader), and becomes casually involved in the revolutionary movement. Brimming with hothouse color, amply displayed in Allende's mellifluous prose, but the riot of character and incident here is surface effect; and the action—the mishaps of Eva—is toothless and vague. Lively entertainment, then, with little resonance.
Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1988
ISBN: 0241951658
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988
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