Lawrence does a masterful job of drawing readers into his fully realized, morally complex vision of the future.
Lawrence’s debut balances adventure, mystery, science, religion and morality.
Mark Lawson discovered time travel in order to save the human race, but he recognizes that his techniques could also be used to manipulate history. Nearly half a century later, that’s exactly what temporal terrorists are doing—and the Guardians exist to make sure they’re not successful. But it would help immensely if the Guardians knew exactly who they were fighting. Their story offers readers a complicated romp through time, with scenes spanning the centuries. For the most part, Lawrence handles the changing times with a deftness that is unexpected in a first-time novelist, though his short treatises on Greek history may make some readers feel like they’re sitting in an obscure history class. However, it’s the characters and the choices they make that matter the most, and that’s what will draw in readers. While the story is what most would call science fiction, it may not be what fans of the genre would expect. Science exists and, indeed, remains central to the story, but doesn’t drive every aspect of the plot. Much of that depends on history, characters, religious faith and more. The characters are not only trying to understand and deal with technological advances, but are asking what it means to be human and how the new technology fits into their lives and culture. Lawrence’s story manages to be exciting enough to make those who crave adventure happy, while also examining the metaphysical and moral implications that time travel could have on individuals, groups and cultures. This is a compelling, detailed read, and one that offers its audience something solid to chew on.
Lawrence does a masterful job of drawing readers into his fully realized, morally complex vision of the future.Pub Date: March 21, 2011
ISBN: 978-0983172123
Page Count: 489
Publisher: Pentelicus Press
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
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.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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