Rich in characters and real-world events and a worthy companion piece to the author’s previous book.
The search for a killer in a decades-old homicide exposes family secrets in a Pacific Northwest town in this historical novel.
In 1994, Sal Bremer; her husband, Rob; and their children move into the Chatsle House. It’s in the couple’s hometown, where the Chatsles were a notoriously wealthy family. Sal is fascinated by the former homeowners, as son Andy went missing in action during the Vietnam War and there are questions surrounding matriarch Celeste’s death (a car somehow crushed her against a tree). So Sal is understandably curious about the diaries Celeste left behind. Meanwhile, Vietnam veteran Kevin Occley has already perused some of Celeste’s diaries, hoping for answers about his sister Kitty’s unsolved murder in ’64. An unknown person has been letting Kevin inside the attic and later, after the Bremers take up residence, giving him notes on additional diary entries. Reading about Celeste’s life reveals a host of surprises, including her link to The Society of the Red Dragon, a mysterious spy organization. But the diaries further detail secrets among the families that spent decades in the town. As Kevin receives a note warning him off his hunt, he and Sal inch closer to identifying Kitty’s killer. Celeste’s diaries play out as flashbacks, giving the enthralling story a lengthy timeline beginning in 1915 and focusing on Vietnam. There’s an abundance of characters, quite a few who appeared in McGinnis’ (Five Cats of Hamburg, 2015) preceding novel. Reading the earlier book isn’t necessary but does enrich this tale once familiar names start popping up. Along with the murder mystery, the author provides a brooding atmosphere with the old, often spooky house. For example, after seeing an unexplained light in the attic, Sal goes to check on it, with her daughter, Tali, and some friends—all during an ominous storm outside. The final act runs a bit long, as McGinnis intentionally prolongs the murderer’s unveiling. But the resolution, coupled with other plot turns, results in a satisfying ending.
Rich in characters and real-world events and a worthy companion piece to the author’s previous book.Pub Date: June 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5328-2214-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
Falls short of Crichton’s many blockbusters, but fun reading nonetheless, especially for those interested in the early days...
In 1876, professor Edward Cope takes a group of students to the unforgiving American West to hunt for dinosaur fossils, and they make a tremendous discovery.
William Jason Tertullius Johnson, son of a shipbuilder and beneficiary of his father’s largess, isn’t doing very well at Yale when he makes a bet with his archrival (because every young man has one): accompany “the bone professor” Othniel Marsh to the West to dig for dinosaur fossils or pony up $1,000, but Marsh will only let Johnson join if he has a skill they can use. They need a photographer, so Johnson throws himself into the grueling task of learning photography, eventually becoming proficient. When Marsh and the team leave without him, he hitches a ride with another celebrated paleontologist, Marsh’s bitter rival, Edward Cope. Despite warnings about Indian activity, into the Judith badlands they go. It’s a harrowing trip: they weather everything from stampeding buffalo to back-breaking work, but it proves to be worth it after they discover the teeth of what looks to be a giant dinosaur, and it could be the discovery of the century if they can only get them back home safely. When the team gets separated while transporting the bones, Johnson finds himself in Deadwood and must find a way to get the bones home—and stay alive doing it. The manuscript for this novel was discovered in Crichton’s (Pirate Latitudes, 2009, etc.) archives by his wife, Sherri, and predates Jurassic Park (1990), but if readers are looking for the same experience, they may be disappointed: it’s strictly formulaic stuff. Famous folk like the Earp brothers make appearances, and Cope and Marsh, and the feud between them, were very real, although Johnson is the author’s own creation. Crichton takes a sympathetic view of American Indians and their plight, and his appreciation of the American West, and its harsh beauty, is obvious.
Falls short of Crichton’s many blockbusters, but fun reading nonetheless, especially for those interested in the early days of American paleontology.Pub Date: May 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-247335-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
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