Requires some suspension of disbelief and an appreciation for medieval mythology.
Searching for purpose, Will McBride, a young man in 14th-century Scotland, encounters two Templar Knights and ultimately aides them as they attempt to mount a new Crusade to regain a foothold in Jerusalem with the goal of rebuilding Solomon’s Temple and heralding in the “End Time.”
Intrigued by his own Scottish heritage, debut Australian novelist Logan began researching the history of Scotland from the 14th to the 18th centuries. In the process, he became especially fascinated by the real saga of Sir Walter and Sir Robert Logan, brothers and knights. After the Catholic Church disbanded and excommunicated the Order of the Templars, in 1312, a number of knights escaped the European continent and continued their order under the protection of Robert the Bruce of Scotland. This much is history; the rest of the tale is imagined adventure, historical battles intertwined with Celtic mythology, a dose of Arthurian legend and enough magical idols with special powers to keep the fanciful satisfied. Sprinkled in is a trunk-full of sage advice and cautions dispensed to Will by a variety of mentors. There is plenty of interest in this dense volume—political intrigue as early kings vie for power, wealth and land; secret battles between Catholic priests and Templar Knights, each claiming to represent the true way to serve God; plus the search for hidden Templar gold and silver and a secreted statue known as the “Black Madonna” dating back to the days of Queen Esther of ancient Persia. There are also some engaging depictions of 14th-century day-to-day life. Unfortunately, grammatical problems—“more clearer,” “more easier,” punctuation oddities, etc.—prove distracting. Similarly out of place are the occasional colloquial phrases inappropriate for the period—“I tell you he is one sick puppy”—which are especially jarring in a narrative that otherwise tries to re-create the cadence of the time.
Requires some suspension of disbelief and an appreciation for medieval mythology.Pub Date: March 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1491864043
Page Count: 486
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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