An evocative fictional exploration of history that reminds readers to always question their assumptions.
In Wetsman’s whirlwind adventure story, a modern-day man finds out the part he will play—and has already played—in a plot to alter, or perhaps maintain, the course of history.
In New Orleans in the year 2000, Joe Schwartz’s life is full to the brim, thanks to his work as a historian and Tulane University professor. One day, after giving a lecture on the Roman emperor Julian—about whom he is writing a book— an unfamiliar man who initially identifies himself as “Frank Roberts” confronts Joe in a stairwell: “I’ve wanted to meet you for some time now,” Frank says. The two go for coffee together, and Frank reveals that he’s actually Flavius Claudius Julianus—aka Julian—and that he’s traveled from the past to see Joe. Julian explains that he uses a coin to travel through time, and that he’s doing it all for the sake of education. He goes on to explain that Joe, along with therealFrank Roberts, whose identity he’s assumed, and a doctor named Alexandra Goodman, will all be tasked with helping an earlier version of Julian who will shortly arrive from the past. These four will have only a short time together, during which Julian will not only learn of the decisions and mistakes he will invariably make during his lifetime but also how they’ll affect the world after he’s gone. As Joe learns of his inevitable involvement in an unbelievable situation, Wetsman ably makes the time-travel storyline easy to understand. Although it’s a complex narrative, he uses skillful character development and expositional dialogue to smoothly guide the reader through the past, present, and prospective future of the story. In addition, although much of the story speculates on potential histories, it’s also based firmly on real-life historical research; readers will find that the latter gives them a strong foundation to build on as they proceed through the plot.
An evocative fictional exploration of history that reminds readers to always question their assumptions.Pub Date: June 3, 2024
ISBN: 9798990624719
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Idea Breeder
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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