Readers who enjoyed Presidential Intentions won’t be disappointed by this action-packed sequel.
A political thriller that explores the grim consequences of a cataclysmic terrorist attack on Washington, D.C.
In his sequel to 2014’s Presidential Intentions, Wood (101 Things I Want to Say…The Collection, 2013, etc.) brings back Samantha Harrison, a one-time Republican candidate for president. Now Hillary Clinton occupies the Oval Office, and Harrison has lost her bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia. With her once-bright political future now murky, Harrison considers exiting public life for private pursuits. However, Gov. Eric Cantor of Virginia presents her with a new opportunity: veteran congressman Frank Wolfe plans to retire, and he wants Cantor to install Harrison as his replacement. She quickly accepts, which instantly reintroduces her into the Washington political fray. Meanwhile, in a continuation of a plotline from the previous book, an Iranian plan unfolds that aims to bring the U.S. government to its knees. Harrison soon finds herself challenged like never before, both as a leader of a hobbled country and as a mother grieving the death of her son. The depiction of the hateful, calculating lead terrorist, Kazim Maalouff, is chilling; at one point, for example, he explains the inner logic of terrorism with a dark calculus: “No doubt you will never understand our cause. Violence is something America abhors unless they’re the ones dispensing it.” It’s not necessary to read the first book to appreciate the action of its sequel, but it will certainly help to gain a fuller understanding of the protagonist. The first installment rigorously develops the character of Samantha, revealing her political inclinations and worldview, while the sequel forces her to test the efficacy of those views in a crisis. This sequel is just as politically sharp, but it packs a more powerful dramatic punch. In the first book, for example, the terrorism took a back seat to domestic political intrigue, but this installment revolves around terrorist activity and even crescendos with it. Overall, this is a gripping read for political junkies of all partisan inclinations given its topical nature and its use of real-life political figures and issues.
Readers who enjoyed Presidential Intentions won’t be disappointed by this action-packed sequel.Pub Date: June 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1508806318
Page Count: 207
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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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