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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.

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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

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.

Pub Date: July 11, 1960

ISBN: 0060935464

Page Count: 323

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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DISTANT SHORES

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...

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Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.

After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).