A tense, compelling peek behind the Berlin Wall.
Near the end of the Cold War, two students in the German Democratic Republic navigate love, deception, and freedom in Rintoul’s (translator: Outside Verdun, 2014) award-winning debut novel.
In the wake of her brother’s accident—the details of which, like many in Rintoul’s story, come to light only gradually—Magda Maria Reinsch lost faith in the communist cause. She once believed that communism would yield equality, but now the East German system strikes her as one “where favour counts for everything and merit for very little.” This change of heart inspires Magda to rebel against the party until her father, once a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, intervenes to give his daughter a second chance. Now, Magda studies to become an English-German translator at Karl Marx University Leipzig, all the while dreaming of an escape to the West alongside the charming Marek Dembowski, a friend who remained fiercely loyal to Magda after her brother’s injury. Together, Magda and Marek devise a way out of East Germany that revolves around Robert McPherson, a Scot finishing his advanced philosophy degree at Karl Marx. Though Magda casts a manipulative spell over Robert—at one point he chooses visiting Prague with her over seeing his sick father back home—she also finds herself falling for the Westerner, overcome with “an unexpected stab of desire.” Eventually, the Stasi catches Robert and Magda, a turning point that sends guilt-stricken Robert into a long stretch of depression and alcoholism, while Magda, after a brief imprisonment, must once again piece together her personal identity and public image. Beginning in 1985 and continuing after communism’s sharp decline, journalist and translator Rintoul’s engrossing tale alternates between Robert’s and Magda’s perspectives. Written in the second person, her sections are particularly strong, vividly anchoring the East German experience: “You know what the air is like in Berlin…a mix of brown coal dust and two-stroke fumes that leaves a bleak ferrous after-taste.” The novel’s weakness is Marek, who instigates much of the plot yet never appears long enough to elicit sympathy or disdain.
A tense, compelling peek behind the Berlin Wall.Pub Date: May 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-906582-97-5
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Aurora Metro Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Bulky, balky, talky.
In an updated quest for the Holy Grail, the narrative pace remains stuck in slo-mo.
But is the Grail, in fact, holy? Turns out that’s a matter of perspective. If you’re a member of that most secret of clandestine societies, the Priory of Sion, you think yes. But if your heart belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, the Grail is more than just unholy, it’s downright subversive and terrifying. At least, so the story goes in this latest of Brown’s exhaustively researched, underimagined treatise-thrillers (Deception Point, 2001, etc.). When Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon—in Paris to deliver a lecture—has his sleep interrupted at two a.m., it’s to discover that the police suspect he’s a murderer, the victim none other than Jacques Saumière, esteemed curator of the Louvre. The evidence against Langdon could hardly be sketchier, but the cops feel huge pressure to make an arrest. And besides, they don’t particularly like Americans. Aided by the murdered man’s granddaughter, Langdon flees the flics to trudge the Grail-path along with pretty, persuasive Sophie, who’s driven by her own need to find answers. The game now afoot amounts to a scavenger hunt for the scholarly, clues supplied by the late curator, whose intent was to enlighten Sophie and bedevil her enemies. It’s not all that easy to identify these enemies. Are they emissaries from the Vatican, bent on foiling the Grail-seekers? From Opus Dei, the wayward, deeply conservative Catholic offshoot bent on foiling everybody? Or any one of a number of freelancers bent on a multifaceted array of private agendas? For that matter, what exactly is the Priory of Sion? What does it have to do with Leonardo? With Mary Magdalene? With (gulp) Walt Disney? By the time Sophie and Langdon reach home base, everything—well, at least more than enough—has been revealed.
Bulky, balky, talky.Pub Date: March 18, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-50420-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.
A woman meets her dream guy, but his mother is something out of a nightmare in Jones’ debut thriller.
Emily Havistock is immediately attracted to the handsome Adam Banks when they meet each other’s eyes across the room at a networking event for her London consulting firm, and even though she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, it doesn’t take long before they’re seeing each other every night. Emily’s last relationship ended in disaster, but she feels a true connection to Adam, although he’s not forthcoming about his past. A couple of months into the relationship, he invites her to meet his mother, Pammie, and assures Emily that Pammie will love her. On the way, when Emily makes a light joke about his mom’s taste in music, Adam snaps at her. One would think that Emily might have considered cutting her losses then and there. But, no, Emily is enamored with Adam, so she vows to make it work. What follows is a hellish sequence of passive aggressive nastiness on the part of Pammie that would bring any woman to her knees, begging for mercy. Emily doesn’t feel like she can confide in Adam since he treats his mother like a saint, but she does have the support of her flatmate, Pippa, and best friend Seb. It doesn’t help that Emily feels undeniable sparks with Adam’s younger, very attractive brother, James. Things with Pammie eventually come to a head in a spectacular way, and Emily begins to realize that Adam may not be as perfect as she thought. Emily, who narrates, is relatable even if readers will root for her to put the fiendish, and fiendishly clever, Pammie in her place and smack Adam for not sticking up for her. Jones ratchets up the tension to the breaking point and throws in a curveball that will make readers’ heads spin.
Melodramatic yet wildly entertaining, with a smashing twist.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-19198-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
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