A gritty action tale with a central character who’s less compelling than those in his orbit.
A young man becomes a contractor for the CIA in this action-adventure tale.
As a 13-year-old in the 1960s, Eli Rose watches I Love Lucy, wanders the Miami streets and hangs out at the Gayety Burlesque. There he meets the polished, moneyed Vicente Amarón—the man has ties to organized crime, but Eli still wants to be like “Mr. Slick.” After Eli’s father dies, he learns that he is now accountable for a business loan from the mob and payback will come through his participation in a reckless mission, financed by anti-Castro mobster Morgenthal. Vicente becomes Eli’s mentor, teaching him, among other things, how to read people. After graduating college, Eli accepts employment at an import-export firm, and his connections are exploited by those whose faith in La Lucha—the struggle to free Cuba of communism—never falters. Soon Eli meets Robert “The Redhead” Jasper, a loose cannon who brandishes a .45 and bonds with Eli through a blood ritual. On orders from Morgenthal, Eli, Jasper and Vicente depart for Cuba and nonstop action ensues until the book’s final page. Some nice turns-of-phrase establish the setting—“The air was thick with the smell of jasmine and rotting trees, and it clung to Eli like clear syrup.” Eli is appealing, particularly in his relationship with father-figure Vicente, but as complex characters, Vicente and Jasper outweigh Eli. The young man’s allegiances may be misplaced, and at times he responds as if he is numb, in spite of the carnage around him. His driving force is “kill or be killed”—not the most original credo in the world, but understandable when body parts are flying. Pacing is brisk, but not breakneck, with tension building to an eventual face-off between Eli and Jasper—just how crazy is Jasper, and how far will he go? Although Eli confronts danger in various venues, readers never doubt that he’ll survive for at least two more books in the series, removing some dramatic tension. In future installments, Eli needs to evolve more, and command center stage.
A gritty action tale with a central character who’s less compelling than those in his orbit.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2010
ISBN: 978-0966974942
Page Count: 327
Publisher: Robert N. Erlich
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2011
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
SEEN & HEARD
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