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INDIAN SUMMER

Name: INDIAN SUMMER
Author: C. James Brown
ISBN: 978-1-73374-980-0

by C. James Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A standard murder mystery that’s enhanced by its wily sleuth protagonist.

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In Brown’s debut thriller, a Massachusetts private eye’s search for a missing person quickly turns into a murder case involving wealthy people with secrets.

Earl Town runs his PI business out of his apartment, and many of his clients are walk-ins, like Joanna Hill, whose boss at Boston-based Wayne Trust, James “Mac” MacArthur, has disappeared. Mac inexplicably vanished a week ago, but Joanna seems to be the only person in his life who’s concerned. Earl questions Mac’s two ex-wives, but the case ultimately moves to the Indian Head Yacht Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, where Mac keeps his boat. The PI is assuredly out of his element among the affluent club members, but it’s clear that he’s on the right track when he sneaks aboard Mac’s yacht and finds a body—before an unknown assailant knocks him out cold. After he comes to, he’s more determined than ever to solve the murder case—even after two FBI agents warn him to stop interfering with their case. As his pool of suspects increases, he starts a potentially dangerous romantic relationship with someone tied to the case. It turns out that some of Mac’s associates have something to hide—and may be willing to kill to keep those things hidden. Earl’s blue-collar background is the source of much of his appeal, and the author seems to share Earl’s dim view of the wealthy; many rich characters are deceitful, condescending, or generally unsavory. There are, however, a few exceptions, including the winsome Joanna, who eventually assists Earl with his investigation. There’s also Eddie Chase, his bright but lackadaisical hacker nephew. The mystery is a slow-paced procedural, but this befits the PI, who’s also a former cop. There aren’t very many twists and turns, and the ending won’t surprise every reader. However, Earl, as a character, will most certainly gain some fans.

A standard murder mystery that’s enhanced by its wily sleuth protagonist.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-73374-980-0

Page Count: 170

Publisher: Time Tunnel Media

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

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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.