Kemske (The Virtual Boss, 1993, etc.) continues his uneven audit of latter-day corpocracy with a bloody good fable that equates modern management with vampirism. Norman, the nebbishy but dedicated head of Human Resources at Biomethods, Inc., is shocked to learn that his faltering company has been entrusted to the not-so-tender mercies of a turnaround specialist known as Pierce. He'd also be scandalized if he realized his new boss is a vampire, but Norman's by-the-book allegiance to office procedures doesn't admit to deviant, let alone paranormal, possibilities. All too soon, however, he's overtaken by events. In the course of the convulsive makeover, the usually abstemious Pierce has been feeding compulsively on the help. An ageless charmer of unknown origins, Pierce learned the executive trade in the service of the Montgolfier brothers (of ballooning fame), Talleyrand, and in England's dark, satanic textile mills during the 1800s. His on-the-job training in regicidal Paris and the brutish industrial precincts of Manchester (detailed in alternating chapters) provides an almost rational counterpoint to the surreal goings-on at the doomed Biomethods. The astute undead demon perceives that evil is a human construct developed to help people avoid responsibility for their behavior; he also concludes that mankind has but one permanent institution: commerce. But for all his insight, Pierce is unhappy in his latest post, a dissatisfaction leading to a calamitous loss of control. After a series of in-house deaths, Norman finally understands that Pierce is up to something more sinister than increasing his department's paperwork. He finally rises to the occasion, rescuing his careerist wife, a potential victim of the silver-tongued fiend, and confronting an uneasy Pierce—who, at the close, is off in search of a more congenial enterprise, leaving Biomethods a dead loss. A wonderfully ambiguous and deliciously wicked tale leavened by humor (to borrow Mad magazine's felicitous phrase) in a jugular vein.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1995
ISBN: 0-945774-29-X
Page Count: 224
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
