An American spy who has come in from the cold helps save turn- of-the-century Russia from its own worst self in an absorbingly resonant thriller from Forsyth (The Fist of God, 1994, etc.), who once again proves himself a master of the game of blending historical fact with fictive fancy. During the hard winter of 1999, Russia (whose economy has been crippled by corruption, organized crime, and inflation) reaches the brink of collapse when its president suddenly dies in office. A new chief executive must be chosen within 90 days, and the world's smart money is on Igor Komarov, the charismatic chairman of a right-wing political party known as the Union of Patriotic Forces (UPF). Something more than a reactionary nationalist, Komarov has unwisely committed his fascist and racist philosophy to paper. A copy of this appalling document (known as the Black Manifesto) falls into the hands of British intelligence and comes to the attention of Sir Nigel Irvine, retired head of the SIS. Since neither London nor Washington will take action, the knight-errant secures help from a sub-rosa group of elder statesmen to frustrate the would-be dictator's terrifying aspirations. His main man in this venture is Jason Monk, a former CIA officer, who had quit the agency after his Moscow operatives were betrayed by Aldrich Ames. Infiltrated into Moscow, Monk (who speaks Russian like a native) plays the centerpiece role in a dramatic scheme to discredit Komarov and rescue Russia from anarchy by establishing a constitutional monarchy with a Romanov heir on the throne. With assistance from a Chechen Mafia chieftain whose life he once saved, the elusive operative enlists the aid of bankers, upright police commanders, journalists, TV executives, the military, and other oddly coupled allies, including the Orthodox Church's patriarch, in halting the UPF's electoral juggernaut. His efforts are successful enough for the desperate Komarov to attempt a New Year's Day coup. Fine page-turning fare from a consummate pro.
Pub Date: Oct. 10, 1996
ISBN: 0-553-09128-X
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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