An impeccably researched and engaging tale of an authentic war hero.
A historical novel dramatizes the remarkable life of an American Navy hero.
Charles “Gunner” Morgan grows up in New Orleans in the 1870s in a happy Roman Catholic family. He is infused with an “early love of the sea.” Fleeing from dire financial constraints, Gunner joins the Navy in 1882 at the age of 17. His inauspicious start—he’s a third-class apprentice seaman aboard the USS Kearsarge—doesn’t stop Gunner from becoming a nationally recognized hero. After the USS Maine sinks in Havana Harbor, he leads a diving expedition to determine the cause of its demise. When his report implicates the Spanish, he earns the moniker “The Man Who Started the Spanish-American War.” For his heroic actions during the conflict, he’s recommended by powerful political figures—including Vice President Theodore Roosevelt—to be promoted to the rank of officer, unheard of at the time for an enlisted man. Charles Morgan, Gunner’s admiring grandson, and Hillman thoroughly chronicle the hero’s astonishingly eventful life, one marked by a surfeit of both patriotism and adventure. Gunner secretly helps the Japanese navy during the Russo-Japanese War and becomes so renowned for his expertise he earns the title “The Man Behind the Gun.” In addition, the authors document Gunner’s post-military life, also impressively dramatic—he marries Vivian Warren, the daughter of Jerry Warren, a wildly successful businessman known as the “Sugar King of Havana,” and becomes an accomplished entrepreneur in his own right. The authors’ research is admirably scrupulous, though their love of the subject sometimes translates into fawning esteem, if not outright hagiography. Unfortunately, the book’s prose style is almost studiously unliterary—although it is consistently free of interpretive ambiguity. Nevertheless, a life as intriguing as Gunner’s needs little poetical embellishment, and this remains a captivating story.
An impeccably researched and engaging tale of an authentic war hero.Pub Date: Dec. 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73336-268-9
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Hillhelen Group LLC
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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