A tale of misplaced trust, opportunities lost, and indefatigable hope that will satisfy war vets and pacifists alike.
A thriller about a college student who flees to Canada after his favorite professor frames him for murder.
Sharry depicts the same post–Vietnam War disillusionment that was central to his first book, For Renata (2014). In the wake of the disastrous riots at Kent State University, college student and reservist Bobby Coyle is called by his commanders to help quell protests at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. When one of Bobby’s superiors becomes aggressive toward a young co-ed, Bobby steps in to defend her, knocking out his commanding officer. Worried he may have killed the man, Bobby runs from the scene looking for help, which he finds in Adam Payne. Little does Bobby know that Payne is a psychopath, a terrifically evil man engaged in a string of his own crimes and indiscretions. Payne seizes upon Bobby’s misfortune, manipulating the scenario so Bobby takes the fall for Payne’s unrelated wrongdoings. He convinces Bobby to escape to Canada, where Payne intends to complete the frame-up, then have him killed. As Bobby tries to create a new life for himself, he wises up to Payne’s plan, staying in hiding to evade American authorities as well as Payne. As Sharry shifts between scenes of the deserter and the deserted, he keeps the reader guessing about whether Bobby will ever find peace and whether Payne will get his just deserts. There is constant fear throughout the tale that Payne will catch up with Bobby, putting an end to the gripping cat-and-mouse game he has created. In addition to this undercurrent of suspense, Sharry presents realistic emotional struggles involving Bobby’s estranged relationships with family members, seemingly ubiquitous yearnings for approval, and the pervasive distrust of government that prevailed during much of the turbulent 1970s. While maintaining a fast narrative pace, Sharry still manages to intriguingly address questions of hope, loyalty, and love. Readers will hold their breath waiting to see how it all turns out.
A tale of misplaced trust, opportunities lost, and indefatigable hope that will satisfy war vets and pacifists alike.Pub Date: June 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-40314-3
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Coccinelle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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