A somewhat predictable but enjoyable diversion for lovers of cozy mysteries, romance, and theater.
A debut novel introduces a contemporary, community theater–based romance series.
Since her divorce five years ago, Clarissa has been miserable—spending unappreciated days at her dead-end job and lonely evenings with her cat, Felix. Deciding that getting involved in theater again (something her cheating ex-husband, Stephan, did not allow) is the key to rediscovering herself, she auditions for the lead role of Tracy Lord in the Empire Theatre’s production of The Philadelphia Story. (The theater has a fraught history: a Prologue explains that during opening night of the Empire Players’ production of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None in 1988, two cast members died under suspicious circumstances.) But Clarissa’s budding acting career is almost cut short when she balks at kissing a handsome stranger, Alexander, during the audition. She gives in to the kiss and nearly gives in to unexpected lust. Alexander, a newcomer to the small town, is the typical alpha male—wealthy, handsome, mysterious, and a presumed womanizer. Scarred from her divorce, vulnerable Clarissa is immediately wary of him (despite the fact he gives her no reason to be), particularly his odd attachment to the Empire and his inexplicable interest in her. At the same time, Stephan strangely begins to woo her, the fate of the theater divides the town, and Clarissa discovers that a trinket from her grandmother may be her key to financial freedom. In Masque’s appealing tale, a small cadre of supporting characters—theater director Derek, assistant Ivy, and Clarissa’s best friend, Sally—provides depth, while the deliciously evil con artist Zandra and stupid Stephan give the reader two characters to hate. The conflict between wounded Clarissa and alpha Alexander, based primarily on her unwillingness to trust him or any man and on miscommunication, is a bit contrived. But while their romance remains slightly formulaic, the mystery subplot adds interest. The Prologue’s 1988 whodunit is not mentioned again until the closing scenes, presumably to be resolved in future installments of the series.
A somewhat predictable but enjoyable diversion for lovers of cozy mysteries, romance, and theater.Pub Date: July 31, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 280
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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