An English environmental activist teams up with an immensely wealthy rock star to prove that a new pesticide is by no means as benign as its maker would have the world believe. Francis's immense skill as a storyteller (Wolf Winter, 1988; Night Sky, 1984) steers her thriller firmly away from the usual ecohysteria. A rush crop-dusting job, an overworked pilot, poor maintenance, a sticky valve, and a sneaky new pesticide come together in the skies over the vast, isolated, Scottish holdings of a middle-aged rock star who's so much like Paul McCartney there's no point in imagining anyone else in the role. The misplaced pesticide settles on the rock star's pregnant wife, who begins a slow and painful death that, since there were no witnesses to the disaster, is blamed on a harmless wood preservative she'd been using. Into the life of the grieving musician comes Daisy Field, an exceptionally attractive lawyer who's now working full-time for an environmental action organization. Ms. Field has been digging into the cases of some much less famous people who've succumbed to the same symptoms as the musician's wife. Daisy narrows the suspect insecticides down to Silveron, a new product about to go on the market in the UK. Of course, Silveron's manufacturer has no intention of letting Daisy interfere with the success of the lovely new chemical, and her detective work is brutally blocked at every turn. Daisy's budding romance with the musician founders when her shakily documented case crashes. But all's not lost. An American scientist has some important evidence that, if the man will just stiffen his backbone, may help, and the pilot who started the mess, if he can be found, may clear up some crucial points. Ms. Field persists. Thoroughly readable. Daisy is the perfect heroine, and for once there is none of the pious, windy self-righteousness and sermonizing that are the usual curse of eco-thrillers.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-671-76939-1
Page Count: 728
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1992
A fat pancake of a novel, the author's second hardcover production tells the life story of one Ruby Blue—from an abused childhood and youth, to years as wife of a Marine, personal liberation, life in the world of industry, and her golden years in a rural retreat. Throughout the career of Ruby Blue, monster men abound. There's Papa George in their Pennsylvania home, a slasher, smacker, and wife beater, who requires that his daughters repay him, in bucks, for the cost of raising them. Then there's Ruby's husband, Andrew (met in those WW II glory days in D.C.), who is heavy on the verbal abuse and generally amoral. Ruby's lifelong friend Dixie is regularly slugged mercilessly by husband Hugo. Ruby's longtime true love, Calvin, is a gentle soul, but his wife, Eva, is as lethal as the men; fortunately for Calvin, she lacks the biceps. Ruby weathers life with Andrew at Marine bases and puts up with his callous treatment of their two children, but after Andrew admits to having gambled away their son's college money she finally decamps to New Jersey. Ruby soldiers on with Dixie, and their kitchen cookie business goes international in no time. As for the men, they'll get theirs: Papa George is Bobbittized with scalding grape jelly; the late Hugo's ashes get lost in traffic; and Ruby dumps Calvin. But Andrew sees the light. Glop. However, bear in mind the author's smashing success in paperback, including her Texas saga (5 million sold).
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-345-36774-X
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.
A very funny novel about the survivor of a childhood trauma.
At 29, Eleanor Oliphant has built an utterly solitary life that almost works. During the week, she toils in an office—don’t inquire further; in almost eight years no one has—and from Friday to Monday she makes the time go by with pizza and booze. Enlivening this spare existence is a constant inner monologue that is cranky, hilarious, deadpan, and irresistible. Eleanor Oliphant has something to say about everything. Riding the train, she comments on the automated announcements: “I wondered at whom these pearls of wisdom were aimed; some passing extraterrestrial, perhaps, or a yak herder from Ulan Bator who had trekked across the steppes, sailed the North Sea, and found himself on the Glasgow-Edinburgh service with literally no prior experience of mechanized transport to call upon.” Eleanor herself might as well be from Ulan Bator—she’s never had a manicure or a haircut, worn high heels, had anyone visit her apartment, or even had a friend. After a mysterious event in her childhood that left half her face badly scarred, she was raised in foster care, spent her college years in an abusive relationship, and is now, as the title states, perfectly fine. Her extreme social awkwardness has made her the butt of nasty jokes among her colleagues, which don’t seem to bother her much, though one notices she is stockpiling painkillers and becoming increasingly obsessed with an unrealistic crush on a local musician. Eleanor’s life begins to change when Raymond, a goofy guy from the IT department, takes her for a potential friend, not a freak of nature. As if he were luring a feral animal from its hiding place with a bit of cheese, he gradually brings Eleanor out of her shell. Then it turns out that shell was serving a purpose.
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2068-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
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