Religious readers will find familiar, comforting, but not unique expressions of authentic faith.
A collection of uplifting, inspirational religious poetry that spans 28 years of the author’s life.
As a Black man who faced adversity growing up in the projects, Brown uses poetry to process struggle, profess his love for family, and proclaim his faith. In primarily free verse poems and rhyming couplets, he explores topics from socio-economic status to racism. In “Why,” he mourns the loss of those felled to violence. Brown wonders if his culture can be reborn through Christianity, if people of all colors can come together in pursuit of a higher purpose, and he rails against poverty, which he deems “a plaque [sic] that rides us all / A disease that will be our fall.” Some poems read like prayers, direct communications between the author and God. Others, like “Stop! Comforting the Devil,” serve as cautionary tales: “The devil is looking around watching you closely, waiting for the right moment to erupt your walk with God.” Brown even takes on the perspective of God in “When I Call,” questioning why people have forgotten him. Though he occasionally engages in wordplay, such as a poem titled “Sinderella,” his poems are more cerebral than playful, and as a result, there is little sensory detail or establishment of place. Brown is clearly moved by his faith, and his vulnerability and willingness to share his personal relationship with God imbue his work. The collection, however, sticks to standard spiritual themes of being cleansed, saved, and forgiven and leans too heavily on platitudes: “His words bring life through you in the hour of need / You are God’s vessel taking time in others to water His seed.” His writing is at its strongest when it delves into details particular to his community.
Religious readers will find familiar, comforting, but not unique expressions of authentic faith. (forward, dedication, author bio)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-66420-071-5
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Great crime fiction.
An apparent suicide threatens to destroy an Irish farm town in the final volume of French’s Cal Hooper trilogy.
In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty, “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before, she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home, and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze, and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk, who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built, or a great big data center, or who knows what. If Tommy’s son, Eugene, can get elected to the local council, then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow, and the farms will disappear. Eugene, who’d been romantically involved with Rachel, is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper, an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey, and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland,” and Trey wants to quit school, against Cal’s advice. Finally, the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”
Great crime fiction.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593493465
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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