An engaging, thinly veiled fictionalization of Chicago politics.
The business partner of a power broker in Chicago recounts political shenanigans that led to a presidency in this debut novel.
Marston “Mars” Gregory, partner of Saidah “Sam” Alsheriti, describes himself as “the last man standing” in his story, since “Everyone else is either dead, in prison, or untouchable.” He provides excerpts of his own memoir, which include an account of events that “ended the careers of two governors and elected a president of the United States.” It all began with a 1994 traffic accident that killed six children. It was eventually revealed that drivers’ licenses were being given to unqualified truck drivers who bought tickets to a fundraiser for politician Ed Parker. The scandal was initially hushed up, though, and Parker became Illinois’ governor. Gregory then left his corporate law gig to become partners with Chicago real estate developer Alsheriti, a Syrian immigrant. Alsheriti was eager to become a political power broker, but Vince Perino, “the mastermind of the Republican Combine,” turned down his offer of campaign contributions. This snub led Alsheriti to help take down Parker and install a new Democratic governor. He also assisted Malik Alawi, a beaming, young African-American state senator, by securing a bargain price for land near his home. By novel’s end, Alsheriti and both governors are behind bars, and Gregory is amazed that Alawi now sits in the White House, as his partner predicted. Author Beller, a Chicago-based investment-firm executive, takes readers through an entertaining composite tour of the highly publicized corrupt politics of his city. Along the way, he brings an array of recognizable honchos to life, such as the controversial, real-life Obama supporter Tony Rezko. Beller spends a bit too much time on descriptions of Mars’ extramarital activities, however, and too little time fleshing out his Obama-like character. Indeed, Alawi makes only a few enigmatic walk-ons, and Sam’s bombshell that “Malik owes me big” for fixing a problem with a birth certificate is dropped very late in the game.
An engaging, thinly veiled fictionalization of Chicago politics.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9966799-0-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: G. Anton Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
