Collins’ dim view of human nature never fails to entertain.
The latest in the adventures of Collins’ lady mobster with a heart of platinum, Lucky Santangelo.
When we last left Lucky (Goddess of Vengeance, 2011, etc.) she was extricating her children from scrapes and fighting off a hostile takeover attempt by the Middle Eastern kingdom of Akramshar on her Las Vegas showplace, The Keys. Nothing much has changed except that gorgeous, canny, and sexy Lucky continues to age in reverse. A prologue reveals that since Armand, the favorite son of Akramshar’s King Emir, was assassinated at The Keys, Emir has vowed revenge on the entire Santangelo clan. The first salvo arrives as Lucky is preparing for another Vegas reunion with her former mob boss father, Gino. The ever feisty nonagenarian is gunned down, execution style, while on his daily power walk in Palm Springs, and Lucky finds an anonymous embossed card reading “Vengeance” in his desk. Lucky’s son, Bobby, opening his new nightclub in Chicago, is slipped a roofie by a call girl—for whose murder he is subsequently framed. Lucky immediately suspects a link between Gino’s killing and Bobby’s predicament, but her private detective informs her the attack on Bobby was probably intended to ensnare Bobby’s girlfriend, Denver, a Los Angeles district attorney who's attempting to bring down Alejandro, son of Pablo Diego, another of Collins’ hate-worthy drug-czar villains. As for Lucky’s daughter, 18-year old Max, a breakthrough Italian modeling gig has turned into “something of a nightmare,” an atypical (for Collins) understatement. For some reason, Lucky doesn’t wonder who else might have had it in for the Santangelos. As readers wait breathlessly for Lucky to catch on, a stable of has-beens and hopefuls, including Willow, a tabloid-tarnished former starlet trying to fellate her way to a career restart, and Rafael, the illegitimate son Pablo underestimates at his peril, adds spice to Collins’ usual stew of Hollywood depravity.
Collins’ dim view of human nature never fails to entertain.Pub Date: June 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-04823-3
Page Count: 544
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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