worth packing for the next campaign.
McCourt’s latest potboiler cuts an uneven swath through the nation’s capital, lovingly portrayed (in the sharpest Hogarthian
lines) as a nest of social climbers, criminals, homosexuals, mafiosi, religious fanatics, black supremacists, and politicians. We’ve met Danny Delancey and many of his friends before (Time Remaining, 1993, etc.). A reporter for the East Hampton Star (Long Island’s toniest local paper), Delancey is an inveterate survivor who grew up on the Lower East Side, went off to a Christian Brothers boarding school, and came out in Greenwich Village (during the pre-AIDS bacchanal of the 1970s, no less)—and lives to tell the tale. Now, in early middle age, he leads a somewhat more sedate life on the eastern edge of Long Island, but he can still rise to the occasion when adventure beckons. This particular adventure, however, doesn’t look particularly wild at first: It begins when Delancey is assigned to cover the congressional debate over a new environmental bill. Once inside the District, though, Delancey finds himself in a world as foreign and malign to him as the plains of Kansas would be to Kurt Weill. The president, a Bill Clinton look-alike known as POTUS, is something of a local joke, but Delancey soon finds himself sniffing out what seems to be the scent of some vast conspiracy against the man—and not just against his politics, either. Is an assassination plot hatching? Delancey has the advantage of being an outsider who can ask questions without arousing suspicion, and he also has an array of friends—gay porn star Rain, Georgetown society hostess Bam-Bam, opera diva Vana Sprezza—who can open doors that most journalists don’t even know how to find in broad daylight. But intelligence is only half the equation: Can Delancey tell the tale? Judge for yourself. A bit hyperactive even for a thriller, but McCourt’s narrative has a nice satiric edge and an air of credibility that make it
worth packing for the next campaign.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2000
ISBN: 0-375-40311-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2000
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2025 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.
