Expertly judged writing, thoughtful observations, warm and likable characters: Siegel’s third thriller is a promising start,...
Engaging legal-suspenser about a sheriff’s detective and a case too troubling to call.
Lines of tension emerge at once as Los Angeles Times reporter Siegel (Actual Innocence, 1999, etc.) brings a slate of sharply etched characters onto the scene of a housefire in the mid-California coastal village of La Graciosa. Detective Doug Bard clearly riles Sheriff Howie Dixon, and Bard finds DA Angela Stark moves too quickly to judgment. Along with newspaper editor Jimmy O’Connor, whose presence also irks Dixon, they investigate the fire that took the life of genial Ollie Murta and one of his piano students, 11-year-old Merilee Cooper. Accidental death, Stark insists, with Dixon quickly lining up in agreement. The scrupulous and sensitive Bard disagrees: Clues suggest foul play. Before long, responding to Bard’s insistent prodding, Stark reverses her ruling and has crotchety Jed Jeremiah arrested for the crime. Still, Bard isn’t satisfied, finding the county’s case against Jeremiah too pat. When Stark and Dixon have the irrepressible Bard taken off the case, the detective goes it alone, with some investigative assistance from editor O’Connor. The involvement in the matter of developers who may transform the charmingly authentic village into another town of beige malls and condos becomes apparent. Pretty clear, too, is the perpetrator of the crime. The suspense, then, emerges from Bard’s need to uncover the evidence that nails his suspect before jurors convict Jeremiah in a swiftly moving trial. Troubling Bard is a possible link between his ex-wife Sasha and the developers. Indeed, the case is driven by the characters’ personal connections to it, by their past histories—by the lines of defense they construct for their actions. Justice becomes not an abstract issue, but a force buffeted by the emotions and ambitions of fallible men and women.
Expertly judged writing, thoughtful observations, warm and likable characters: Siegel’s third thriller is a promising start, perhaps, to a new series.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-43821-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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