An absorbing political tale undermined by sententious preaching and verbose prose.
In this historical novel, three couples join forces in the murky underworld of espionage to help defeat Hitler’s march to European domination.
Emil and Magda Franz, an accomplished Jewish couple, are compelled to leave their native Germany when Nazi anti-Semitism overtakes it. They move to balmy Southern California. But they do not live quietly, marshaling their considerable political influence—Emil takes secret meetings with President Franklin D. Roosevelt—to form a “group with extraordinary abilities” that they can “trust implicitly to look for the strings, the gears moving the theater of the macabre that is this war.” To that end, Emil assembles six talented young adults: two married couples (Laura and Greg Macklin and Rory and Sybil Ellis-Rhys) and two individuals destined to become one (Nessa Eiles and Drax Shaw). One of Nessa’s high school teachers, Steven Etchberry, works closely with Emil, and as a result she comes to his attention—he’s inexplicably impressed by her high school valedictory speech, a long-winded sermon about the evils of selfish ambition. Nessa is at first recruited as an information liaison, a way for Emil’s organization to deliver communications to Roosevelt and Winston Churchill without involving their untrustworthy intelligence services. Later, she graduates to more dangerous work, using her expertise in physics (peculiar for a budding screenwriter) to spy on the German government’s progress in making an atomic bomb. McGinnis (The House on Kalalua, 2016, etc.) follows the group beyond World War II and documents the United States’ embattled relations with the Soviet Union and the pernicious rise of McCarthyism. The plot is brimming with action, intrigue, and captivating characters (Emil and Magda appeared in the author’s 2015 debut novel, Five Cats of Hamburg). In addition, the romance between Nessa and Drax—and the strain put on it by the war—is sensitively depicted. But this unabashedly moralizing work is drawn in heavy-handed brushstrokes—the author seems more eager to proselytize against “rabid capitalist profiteers” than tell a story. McGinnis is inclined to caricature—Nessa’s boss, a “tight-assed Republican,” even has a cartoonish name: Buckley Brentwood. Finally, the dialogue is ham-fistedly overwrought and follows Nessa’s achingly earnest desire to “replace the god Mammon with a social conscience.”
An absorbing political tale undermined by sententious preaching and verbose prose.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5394-9929-9
Page Count: 348
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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