by Brad A. Braddock Jason Pacy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 12, 2015
Fans of heroes who drink, waste bad guys, and still find time for church will enjoy this grisly high-stakes war.
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A fantasy/adventure about a small village and an onslaught of demonic forces from debut authors Braddock and Pacy.
Van Peers is “a warrior in a land of darkness and woe.” An Elkmaster with a trusty mount—a bull elk named Legend, Van Peers has a blade that can “tame the wickedest soul.” Living in the village of Eben Hollow, he does what he can to repel whatever evil comes his way. It’s a tough gig: the nearby woods are ruled by Ganoate, “the devil of the forest” who “walk[s] on two cloven hooves, his body completely covered in reddish-brown hair.” Ganoate sends his minion Knoll to steal children from Eben Hollow. When a young carpenter falls under the spell of powerful sorceress Eva Strella, the hollow’s troubles worsen. What sort of torment does Eva Strella have in store? Will the citizens’ faith in God and their various weapons be enough to repel a hellish attack? Combining swords, revolvers, Christianity, and magic, Braddock and Pacy create a churning, imaginative setting. Trips to the local tavern result in glasses of ale “with a touch of a grizzly’s saliva,” and a Sunday at church provides a stern warning that “Satan may captivate whomever he wishes, should they open themselves to him.” The authors also don’t stint on graphic torture scenes: “He laughed devilishly, as he inserted the flaming rod into the man’s anus and slowly pulled out his charred innards a piece at a time.” And the dialogue is similarly colorful: “I curse you with the blood of Satan’s heart!” (as one character remarks shortly before his violent end). What are readers to make of a place where heroes thank Jesus and an archvillain smokes cigars? While some moments and character traits are excessive, those interested in an epic struggle of good against evil will find one here. The adventure hums along with plenty of action and sinister plotting. This is particularly true as trouble mounts in later pages, causing the conflict to take on merciless proportions.
Fans of heroes who drink, waste bad guys, and still find time for church will enjoy this grisly high-stakes war.Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1612964782
Page Count: 174
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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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