Vatican Protocol

Name: Vatican Protocol
Author: Brian Gallagher
ISBN: 978-1-61225-334-3

by Brian Gallagher ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2016

Helmed by an Everyman, this tale is likely to appeal to readers who envision themselves leaping from the armchair into an...

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Gallagher’s debut paranormal potboiler examines one man’s search for the truth.

Sean O’Shea always wanted to be a writer, but unfortunately “every attempt ended with an unfinished manuscript.” A huge fan of the History Channel, Sean finds himself with a thirst for information about UFOs and a need for cash. Seeing his longtime dream as a practical solution to both problems, he decides to take action. Sure, his family is fine thanks to an online business selling organic products. But, after some issues with the housing market, Sean is motivated “to not only regain financial independence, but also to restore his self-esteem.” Leaning toward a book that will attempt to prove the U.S. government has suppressed evidence of UFOs, he speaks with an old acquaintance who once worked for the CIA. Originally from Germany, Wilhelm Wolfe tells Sean of an incident that occurred in a forest near Freiburg in 1936. The story includes a UFO, Nazis, and the potential for a connection between the two. With Wolfe able to explain more and more about Nazi interest in the occult, Sean is soon transfixed enough to change his investigative intentions. He heads to Europe, where his journey takes him down darker, more dangerous paths that happen to include the murkier aspects of the Roman Catholic Church. Frequently blunt (“Someone is hunting and killing people who were doing what you’re about to do,” Sean is warned before embarking on his mission), the book moves with all the heft of a no-nonsense adventure. But ever the family man, Sean travels to Europe in part to see his daughter, who is studying at the University of Heidelberg. While this aspect can slow down some of the action (could Dan Brown’s hero Robert Langdon have made it so far if he constantly stopped to call his wife?), it creates a protagonist that is relatable, if a bit corny. Incorporating items of historical interest (including “Operation Paperclip”), the novel blends the real with the fictional to make a mix that explores what sort of boogeymen might lurk in locations as disparate as the Vatican and the Black Forest.

Helmed by an Everyman, this tale is likely to appeal to readers who envision themselves leaping from the armchair into an international thriller.

Pub Date: April 26, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-61225-334-3

Page Count: 286

Publisher: Mirror Publishing

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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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.