by Dewey Lambdin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2004
Every bit as atmospheric and addictive as its predecessors.
Twelfth Alan Lewrie adventure (Havoc’s Sword, 2003, etc.), this time about a quest for pirates that leads to the fathomless wildernesses of Louisiana.
Captain Lewrie is not a man to be trifled with. A born seaman and seasoned commander, he has brought his ship Proteus to the Americas at the onset of the Napoleonic Wars as an “independent” vessel at the service of the Admiralty—the better to engage in wholesale piracy against the French and Spaniards without violating the letter of maritime law. His hunt meets with quick success when he captures a French merchant ship stuffed to the gills with valuable cargo—but he suffers a sharp setback when the prize manages to escape, with several of his crew aboard. A wild goose chase through the Caribbean fails to recover the ship, though Lewrie later rescues his lost crewmen—all save one, who was murdered by the enemy hands. Set on revenge, Lewrie is determined to recapture his prize and deal with the killers. His bloodlust dovetails nicely with the designs of the Foreign Office and Admiralty, who want him to lead an expedition up the Mississippi in Louisiana (then held by Spain) to help establish British control over the region before the Americans beat them to it. The convoluted politics are a distraction from Lewrie’s usual ambitions of looking after his men, his reputation, and his fortune, but they result in a roundabout narrative that covers a lot of ground, changing course as often as a skiff in a hurricane. Of course, the real question, as always, is whether the captain will finally win the hand of his beloved Caroline Chiswick. A lot will depend on the booty, naturally, for (as Alexander Pope rightly asked) “what female heart can gold despise?”
Every bit as atmospheric and addictive as its predecessors.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-312-31547-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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
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