Primarily a buildup for Book 3, but delivers an intriguing underground setting and captivating characters.
As natural disasters and terrorists devastate the world, denizens of a top-secret U.S. facility find out about an imminent strike against America in this second installment of a thriller series.
The original purpose of underground complex Omega 11 was to protect Americans against the threat of Soviet nuclear weapons. But its merit is truly put to the test by California falling into the sea, trailed by a major tsunami, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Col. Jon Frasier hasn’t been Ground Forces commander for long but has already faced scoundrels conspiring to assassinate Omega 11 leaders. Things calm down once the compound is in hibernation mode, allotting time for the soldiers to train in combat and weaponry. Frasier also meets with the Chiricahua living in sacred caves taking up much of the land above the compound. A Chiricahua medicine man’s vision seems to confirm information Omega 11 has gathered: Mexican forces are plotting to invade the U.S. They’re getting support from the Chinese, whose tunneling equipment indicates a scheme to seize the facility as well. As reports of global calamities (terrorist attacks, an influenza outbreak, etc.) continue, Frasier prepares to withstand intruders both above and below ground. Hodgson’s (The Omega Project, 2017, etc.) solid premise fits neatly into the post-apocalyptic subgenre, even if the disasters are ongoing. Frasier and others, for example, constantly adjust to their subterranean life (taking in refugees or new officers) and hear periodic accounts of the outside world. The story is predominantly dialogue, as characters frequently discuss the global dilemma, strategy, and training. This allows for a dynamic, multicultural narrative, respectfully showcasing the Chiricahua, diverse styles of martial arts, and Scots Guards who join the complex. Unfortunately, there’s little plot progression; the much-teased confrontation doesn’t quite happen, presumably saved for the subsequent series entry. But characters have time to shine, and, as in the preceding novel, Frasier’s military working dog, Klavia, remains a knockout.
Primarily a buildup for Book 3, but delivers an intriguing underground setting and captivating characters.Pub Date: March 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4575-6146-7
Page Count: 283
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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