A fantasy adventure with fodder for hard-core paranormal fans.
The Goddess of Chaos fights against her destiny as a wellspring of evil as she collaborates with other immortals to conquer her father, the devil himself.
Debut author Judilyn sets the stage for pandemonium and devastation when she begins her novel with the brutal rape of Ishtar, the goddess of War, in 2750 B.C. The rapist just happens to be Ishtar’s father, the devil, who is referred to as the Day Star. Determined to protect her daughter/sister from their caustic daddy at all costs, Ishtar magically creates her own offspring, the god of Vengeance, who will function as a principal in a future rebellion against the Day Star. Throughout Judilyn’s descriptions of the individualized tortures and more general mass destruction that the Day Star envisions, she introduces supernatural characters of every stripe. This overzealous saga includes vampires, werewolves, wraiths, shape-shifters, and gods and goddesses of varying strengths. After a lengthy introduction, the setting abruptly shifts to present-day New York City, where Xyens, aka the goddess of Chaos, finally meets Chase, aka the god of Vengeance, who is her key to defeating the Day Star. Throughout the novel, Judilyn offers many lengthy explanations about the “powers” and acumen of various beings, which create an unfortunate distraction. Similarly, much of the novel fastidiously details a tale that spans over 4,000 years. Despite its indulgent array of immortal characters and disappointingly slow start, the book builds to an exciting crescendo and suddenly becomes a page-turner about halfway through when Xyens and the God of Vengeance begin assembling an army of Immortals to battle the Day Star. Xyens’ struggles to rescue her mother, Ishtar, from the Day Star’s clutches in an alternate universe and to put an end to the devil’s abominable schemes serves as a riveting denouement.
A fantasy adventure with fodder for hard-core paranormal fans.Pub Date: June 22, 2012
ISBN: 978-1470135898
Page Count: 602
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
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
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