bookshelf

ARTICLE 58

Name: ARTICLE 58
Author: Diana Mathur
ISBN: 978-1-5236-7047-5

From the The Linden Tree & the Legionnaire, A Latvian Tale of Blood and Treasure series , Vol. 1

by Diana Mathur illustrated by Karlis Smiltens ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2016

An enjoyable, but unfinished glimpse of Latvian history.

bookshelf

A young man revolts against a chaotic Communist regime in this debut historical novel.

This first installment in the Article 58 series opens in 1992, with the scene of a crime: the Latvian home of Karlis Perkons, where the body of retired KGB agent Igor Volkov has just been found. Karlis recognizes the Russian as his nemesis from nearly 50 years ago during the brief Soviet occupation of Latvia on the brink of World War II. The scene then shifts to 1940, when an 18-year-old Karlis learns the hard way that Communist soldiers are not to be trifled with. After his friend Peters is arrested and his family is threatened, Karlis joins a secret society of like-minded youths who call themselves the Nonchalants. Together they secretly publish a newspaper condemning the Soviet regime, and plot to blow up the infamous torture chamber known as the Corner House. But the work is incredibly dangerous, especially because Igor has just moved into Karlis’ father’s shop, supposedly as an apprentice but really, the teenager fears, as a spy. The book is illustrated throughout with paintings by Latvian artist Smiltens, on whose life the story is loosely based, and it contains a character list and glossary of Latvian terms at the end. Mathur’s tale draws the reader in immediately with a murder mystery and keeps up a brisk, action-packed pace throughout. The artistic, rebellious, yet sometimes cowardly Karlis works well as a protagonist, and Igor makes a shifty, enigmatic villain. Other characters tend to fade into the background, but in a novel this brief, that’s forgivable. What is less forgivable is the book’s lack of completeness. Although the beginning of a series needs to leave some questions unanswered, this opener ends abruptly with no sense of closure. Worst of all, the murder mystery at the beginning is never mentioned again. While most of the dialogue is passable, some out-of-place exposition (“The Russians have imposed a ridiculous exchange rate, impoverishing most of us”) becomes irritating.

An enjoyable, but unfinished glimpse of Latvian history.

Pub Date: April 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5236-7047-5

Page Count: 134

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

bookshelf

BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

bookshelf

THE ALCHEMIST

by Paulo Coelho & translated by Margaret Jull Costa ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1993

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.

bookshelf

Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.

The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.