by James Patrick Dillon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2017
A spiritual tale with an engaging plot, although some extraneous material occasionally slows its progress.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
Debut author Dillon delivers a novel about the appearance of a miraculous figure in New York City’s Central Park.
When President of the United States R.J. Jacaruso calls New York mayor Jack Molinaro, the news isn’t good. After a U.S. strike on nuclear facilities in Iran, a retaliatory attack on Israel has killed the vice president and countless others, and the president says that “an attack on New York may be imminent.” As if that weren’t enough, Jack then learns that his political nemesis, the unpleasant Lt. Gov. Denny “The Dog” Brandt, will soon become governor of New York state. To top it all off, Jack’s sister, Katie, with whom he isn’t very close, has gone missing during her morning run through Central Park. Jack doesn’t know what to do, but Katie’s disappearance soon takes center stage when it intersects with a strange occurrence near Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace. Katie, it turns out, was attacked by sinister characters during her run, but she was aided by a “self-luminous” figure who can walk on water—and who brings a message of peace and forgiveness to the world. The being, who will come to be known as “the Stranger,” will soon generate an immense following of people who see him as nothing short of the second coming of Jesus Christ himself. Unfortunately, his message of peace comes at a time when the world is right in the middle of a particularly deadly conflict. Would it be treasonous, if not crazy, to lay down one’s arms at the command of such a mysterious source when one’s very country is in danger? This is only one of the many intriguing conundrums that Dillon explores in this novel. For example, readers are also asked to consider what it would take for the world to accept a Christ-like figure as the actual Christ. Would those who call themselves Christians actually serve God’s will, whatever the cost? Certain aspects of the book, however, take away from such pressing issues. Indeed, whenever such questions are pushed to the background, the narrative tends to lag. The back story of Jack’s failed marriage, for example, adds little to the narrative other than extra pages. Specifically, it’s used to explain why Jack didn’t rise higher in politics, but this turns out to be largely inconsequential to the greater conflict at hand. After all, politicians who cheat on their spouses are nothing new, but the potential return of Jesus certainly is, and readers will be much more engaged in figuring out whether or not “the Stranger” is the real Messiah. Some holy men in the novel go so far as to suggest that the Stranger is evil; as one priest argues, “We believe he is, at the least, an agent of the devil.” Who, after all, can be trusted in an age of so much misinformation? The book is truly at its best when it explores such difficult ideas.
A spiritual tale with an engaging plot, although some extraneous material occasionally slows its progress.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 359
Publisher: Enlightened Little Souls, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Robinne Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017
A fascinating, thought-provoking, genre-bending romantic read.
When Solène Marchand takes her 12-year-old daughter to a concert by the hottest boy band on the planet, she doesn't expect to fall in love with one of the singers.
Middle-aged art gallery owner Solène hasn’t dated since her divorce, but when her ex-husband buys their daughter and a group of her friends tickets to Vegas and a backstage concert experience, then backs out at the last minute, she steps in as escort. The five guys in the wildly popular English boy band August Moon appeal to women of all ages, but Hayes, the brains behind the group’s success, flirts with Solène at the concert meet and greet, invites them to a party after the show, then pursues her once she gets back to Los Angeles. He’s only 20 and he’s incredibly famous; his attention is flattering and heady. The two fall into an affair that’s supposed to be light and easy, but before long they can’t ignore their intense emotional attachment. Solène is hesitant to tell her daughter, but when she procrastinates, Isabelle learns about it through an online tabloid, which damages their relationship and leaves Solène open to censure from her ex. Then, once the affair goes viral, she experiences the darker side of Hayes’ fan base. What started out as a jaunty adventure turns into an emotionally fraught journey, and Solène must decide what she’s willing to risk for her happiness and what she won’t risk for her daughter’s. Actress Lee, who appeared in Fifty Shades Darker, debuts with a beautifully written novel that explores sex, love, romance, and fantasy in moving, insightful ways while also examining a woman’s struggle with aging and sexism, with a nod at the tension between celebrity and privacy.
A fascinating, thought-provoking, genre-bending romantic read.Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-12590-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More About This Book
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.
Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.
A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice (The Bone Collection, 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”
Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kathy Reichs
BOOK REVIEW
by Kathy Reichs
BOOK REVIEW
by Kathy Reichs
BOOK REVIEW
by Kathy Reichs
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.