Capably written, consistently thrilling science fiction.
Biological terrorism forms the complex crux of Hiltz’s fast-paced, exhilarating debut.
A grisly opening chapter jumpstarts the action as the shadowy “Moone” and his henchmen survey—and set fire to—a village in southwest China that has been horrifyingly decimated by a flesh-eating disease and terrorized by mutated vermin. One year later, widower and Army veteran George Munson and his beautiful daughter Denny are getting settled in their new San Marino, Fla., home following the violent murder of beloved wife and mother Beth, back in Miami. Their safe, new life isn’t without complications; George’s secret, burgeoning love affair with neighbor Dawn Nichols rocks his already emotionally fragile daughter. His engaging career as a music engineer for an aging Latin pop star takes a back seat when a seemingly overnight influenza outbreak quickly quarantines the city. Returning home from vacation, young friends Jim, Eric, Manny and Manny’s girlfriend Kara are ordered to stay inside. Impatient hero George, however, sneaks out and vigorously interrogates a FEMA operative who reveals the “flu” epidemic is actually a man-made, highly contagious, lethal “genetic retrovirus,” the antidote of which is unavailable to the general public. Knowing they’ve all been infected, George leaves his family in search of the cure. Putting his former Army surveillance experience to good use, he stealthily sneaks onto top-secret military property, stumbles upon a germ warfare lab full of human and animal medical experiments testing, among other variations, the “Red Death #13” microbe, and desperately searches for the antivirus. Meanwhile, the Jim, Eric, Manny and Kara converge with Denny and Dawn in an effort to escape the crazed, bloodthirsty zombies that have seemingly taken over San Marino. Hiltz’s forceful narrative aptly powers George’s race against time as the virus spreads globally and his daughter is kidnapped by evil kingpin Moone in the rousing conclusion. Though scenes involving the four youths have a rushed, underdeveloped quality, Hiltz’s writing ability is promising and his creative imagination sets the stage for further high-tension adventures.
Capably written, consistently thrilling science fiction.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2010
ISBN: 978-1456352301
Page Count: 310
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2011
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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