An occasionally implausible romantic spy thriller that delves into the complexity and power of grief.
In Wolf’s debut novel, an Israeli woman tries to forget her past as she pursues a career as an undercover Mossad operative.
What’s the statute of limitations on grief? For Dani, five years is still not enough to erase the memory of Dylan, her gorgeous, intelligent husband; he and her infant son, Kieran, were killed in a car accident that she survived. After she recovered from her physical wounds, she spent the next several years training in the Israeli special forces, becoming an expert on information gathering, motorcycle riding and surviving enemy torture. Unfortunately, the demanding work doesn’t heal her but only helps her ignore her true needs. On one of her first vacations, she decides to track down a film star named Troy Morel who looks just like her late husband; it’s part of her plan to say a ritual “goodbye” to Dylan. Will Dani be able to let go of her pain, or will seeing her husband’s suave doppelgänger only make it worse? Wolf’s novel is competently written, with a thrillerlike pace that makes it easy to read. It’s not concise, however, often using two sentences when one will do: “I drove my rented Land Rover into the quaint village of Saint-Sébastien just as the hot summer sun was setting behind me. It was lit by warm gold and orange light.” The novel skirts genres by integrating multiple, seemingly disparate threads; it’s as much a book about spying and deception as it is about emotional vulnerability and romance. This makes the story unusual, even if some scenarios stretch believability at times. Its genres are also frequently at odds with each other; as a romance, readers may want to see more of Dani’s emotional side, and as a thriller, they may want to see more of her take-no-prisoners approach. Wolf’s choice to integrate these elements creates a heroine who feels very divided, which makes for an inventive, if not entirely satisfying, book.
An occasionally implausible romantic spy thriller that delves into the complexity and power of grief.Pub Date: April 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991591800
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Annabelle
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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