An adrenaline-fueled tale that ably shifts between action and drama.
In Schulman’s novel, a small-time criminal vanishes with stolen money from a notorious street gang, and his family faces danger in his absence.
It’s 1978, and Jon Fenton, the courier for New York City’s notorious Flying Dragons gang, is on the run. After getting wind of gang leader Sifu Qiu’s plan to kill him, he took the money he was supposed to deliver and faked his own death. However, the gang still wants a measure of revenge, and they target Jon’s adult sister, Kim, who ends up in the hospital after a brutal assault. After she recovers, she takes martial-arts self-defense lessons from her childhood friend, Ethan Wolf, who owns an acupuncture and kung fu studio; the two bond over their mutual grief over Jon’s absence. As years go by, Jon attempts anonymity but still manages to get into trouble halfway around the world in China: “The gang exchanged glances before lunging. Jon’s training took over. He ducked a punch. His movements had the grace of a dancer and the power of a charging bull.” There, he fights for justice, and he forges a surprising career as a martial arts movie star. Along the way, he continues to grapple with his past, which, he eventually learns, he can never truly leave behind. Schulman’s novel briskly spans almost 20 years and includes its characters in historically significant events, as in multiple chapters toward the end, set in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. With a fluid narrative voice and a plot that moves along with a clear vision, the author writes with a confidence that smooths over occasional stiff dialogue. Although the action may sometimes strike some readers as a bit over the top, it never drifts into caricature. The main characters are well-developed, and their desires, regrets, and motivations plausibly move the story along at a refreshing clip, even when it touches upon serious topics.
An adrenaline-fueled tale that ably shifts between action and drama.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2025
ISBN: 9781509263080
Page Count: 324
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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