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The Last Bush Pilots

Name: The Last Bush Pilots
Author: Eric Auxier
ISBN: 978-1-4802-7988-9

by Eric Auxier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 17, 2012

Romantic entanglements and a covert mission help this aviation tale take off.

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A flier’s new gig as an Alaskan bush pilot is impeded by hazardous weather, an arrogant inspector, and a hasty plan to rescue bear cubs in Auxier’s (Code Name: Dodger, 2012, etc.) adventure.

All Daniel Christopher “DC” Alva has to show for years of flight training is a dreary job flying Grand Canyon tours. So he’s willing to brave unfavorable weather when best friend and fellow pilot, Allen Foley, gives him a heads up on an opening at Southeast Alaska Seaplanes. Working as a bush pilot gives DC access to superior aircraft and could lead to a major airline position. Unfortunately, in Juneau, Alaska, Federal Aviation Administration Inspector Frederick Bruner may have it out for DC, citing him for minor infractions. Add to that pilot Ralph Olafsen’s aggressive behavior toward Bruner, and Southeast Alaska is in danger of the FAA shutting it down completely. Complicating matters is a few pilots’ desire to save three bear cubs, orphaned by poachers but facing termination from game wardens—to save money. Allen, Ralph (sans pilot’s license), and others initiate Operation Dirty Harry to ensure that the bears return to the wild. Mother Nature, however, not to be tamed, takes down a Southeast Alaska flier’s plane, while DC will have to fight to make certain Allen doesn’t suffer the same fate. The novel possesses both suspense and drama in spades. Check airwoman Holly Innes, for one, hides from a menacing someone actively looking for her—and getting closer. Popular local Tonya Hunter, meanwhile, creates a rift between DC and Allen, amorously toying with the friends, and in true soap-opera fashion, DC’s pseudo-ex Stephanie (they “sorta broke up”) makes a surprise appearance in Juneau. There are disappointingly no strong women: Tonya’s aimlessly manipulative, Stephanie’s clingy, and Holly’s authority is undermined by male pilots (“Lady, you need to get laid,” Ralph tactlessly declares). But aviator Auxier’s intelligent and comprehensive descriptions of the story’s numerous flights, or characters discussing them, will put readers in the pilot’s seat. There’s plenty of context to help understand the jargon and an exhaustive glossary at the end, even including a few terms not in the narrative.

Romantic entanglements and a covert mission help this aviation tale take off.

Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4802-7988-9

Page Count: 306

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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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...

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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

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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.

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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.