A passionate but uneven tale of morality and honesty.
In his debut novel, Ackermann delivers a tale of unscrupulous real estate developers and unfaithful spouses.
Jim Schroeder has always tried to live as virtuous a life as possible. Born and raised on a farm by indefatigable German parents, he eventually moved to suburban New Jersey, where he became a successful land surveyor. Schroeder is committed to his work, but he values his home life with his wife, Leslie, and their two children above all else. His life is rocked, however, when his wife has an affair; he’s also drawn into a controversy about contested property lines that could affect multimillion-dollar real estate deals. Schroeder grew up believing that the “three keys” his parents taught him—honor, courage and perseverance—were the most important things in life. However, many people, including his wife and son, don’t follow the same rules that he does, and avaricious land developers often trample on all three keys before they have their morning coffee. The novel earnestly approaches the subjects of family loyalty and the importance of upholding marital vows but explores little new territory; overall, its explorations lack vivid characterization and realistic dialogue. The ultimate courtroom showdown regarding the boundary dispute, however, contains considerable detail about the process of establishing property lines, and Ackermann is clearly in his element here. He escorts readers through the weeds of the surveying process, dropping in terms such as “senior rights” and “one-foot-long engineers’ scales” and establishing their significance. Not surprisingly, Schroeder’s integrity and knowledge become critical to the disposition of the case; even the judge comments, “In my experience, too many [land surveyors] are not as well versed on the subject as they should be and look upon it as just a job....But Mr. Schroeder has opened my eyes to just how professional a surveyor can be.”
A passionate but uneven tale of morality and honesty.Pub Date: March 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1456747220
Page Count: 264
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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