A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans.
Eight people become unlikely friends during a hostage situation created by an inept bank robber.
In a town in Sweden, a desperate parent turns to bank robbery to help pay the rent. Unfortunately, the target turns out to be a cashless bank, which means that no robbery can take place. In an attempt to flee the police, the would-be perpetrator runs into a nearby apartment building and interrupts an open house, causing the would-be buyers to assume they're being held hostage. After the situation has ended with an absent bank robber and blood on the carpet, a father-and-son police pair work through maddening interviews with the witnesses: the ridiculous realtor; an older couple who renovates and sells apartments in an effort to stay busy; a bickering young couple expecting their first child; a well-off woman interested only in the view from the balcony of a significant bridge in her life; an elderly woman missing her husband as New Year’s Eve approaches; and, absurdly, an actor dressed as a rabbit hired to disrupt the showing and drive down the apartment price. Backman’s latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people’s lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. The observer/narrator is winding and given to tangents and, in early moments, might distract a bit too much from the strongly drawn characters. But the story gains energy and sureness as it develops, resulting in moments of insight and connection between its numerous amiable characters.
A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6083-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
An intriguing, twisty-turny tale of family secrets that comes just short of the bullseye.
A Cape Cod woman’s life is turned upside down by unexpected developments.
A year ago, Frankie Attleboro’s mother died at age 52 and the family fell apart. Frankie’s father, famous scientist Mack Attleboro, who had always been a distant figure in his children’s lives, was adrift. Frankie fled the Cape, throwing herself into her work as a nature photographer and leaving her brother, Penn, to hold things together. Now engaged and pregnant, she’s excited to share her news when she gets a text from her father asking her to come right away. Worried, she rushes home only to discover that her father is also engaged—to her childhood best friend, Ariel. Who is also heavily pregnant. As Frankie deals with her complicated feelings and her father’s complete lack of understanding of them, Ariel’s mother, Carlotta, who left when the girls were teenagers, shows up unannounced and ready to ingratiate herself back into Ariel’s life. Mitchard’s tone walks a fine line: Is everything dramatic because there’s actually a sinister edge to affairs, or is Frankie just having trouble dealing with things? Though each plot twist makes everything slightly more ludicrous in a way that would feel silly in another book, Frankie’s reactions and emotions ground the story, so the book can focus not on how absolutely absurd things are but on how one person’s words and actions can affect everyone around them. The novel’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t know if it wants to be a thriller or a family drama and never fully commits to one or the other. Mitchard is deft enough to create a rewarding read, but the book could have used a bit more mystery.
An intriguing, twisty-turny tale of family secrets that comes just short of the bullseye.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780778369370
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.
When a devoted husband and father disappears, his wife and daughter set out to find him.
Hannah Hall is deeply in love with her husband of one year, Owen Michaels. She’s also determined to win over his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey, who has made it very clear that she’s not thrilled with her new stepmother. Despite the drama, the family is mostly a happy one. They live in a lovely houseboat in Sausalito; Hannah is a woodturner whose handmade furniture brings in high-dollar clientele; and Owen works for The Shop, a successful tech firm. Their lives are shattered, however, when Hannah receives a note saying “Protect her” and can’t reach Owen by phone. Then there’s the bag full of cash Bailey finds in her school locker and the shocking news that The Shop’s CEO has been taken into custody. Hannah learns that the FBI has been investigating the firm for about a year regarding some hot new software they took to market before it was fully functional, falsifying their financial statements. Hannah refuses to believe her husband is involved in the fraud, and a U.S. marshal assigned to the case claims Owen isn’t a suspect. Hannah doesn’t know whom to trust, though, and she and Bailey resolve to root out the clues that might lead to Owen. They must also learn to trust one another. Hannah’s narrative alternates past and present, detailing her early days with Owen alongside her current hunt for him, and author Dave throws in a touch of danger and a few surprises. But what really drives the story is the evolving nature of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship, which is by turns poignant and frustrating but always realistic.
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5011-7134-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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