An endlessly appealing supernatural tale with two charming protagonists.
This fifth installment of a series finds zombies in Iowa, part of a sinister plan that vampire and werewolf agents are investigating.
Samuel Johnson has encountered various creatures as an agent for Vampires Against The Evil. These include werewolves, aliens, and fiendish vamps called the Evil Ones, who consume blood directly from humans. But now Samuel and his fellow agents are tracking zombies ambling through residential areas in Des Moines, killing them at the first indication of “dangerous activity.” The appearances of the undead aren’t random, as Samuel quickly determines that black vans are dropping off the zombies. VATE agents search for the source while the zombies become increasingly harder to kill. Meanwhile, lycanthrope Joe Butler, who’s previously worked with Samuel, is on assignment for the Werewolf Organization Of Fighters. He’s shadowing out-of-town Wild Ones—rogue but not feral werewolves. These Wild Ones are meeting with some Evil Ones, though it’s common knowledge that werewolves and vampires hate one another. Joe gets closer to Henry Borman, one particularly suspicious werewolf, by convincing Henry’s pack to take him in. The agent learns of a mysterious third party involved in the unfolding plot and that VATE and WOOF each have a mole. Soon, Joe’s and Samuel’s paths intersect, necessitating their cooperation, however reluctant. As in preceding series entries, the narrative style consists of Samuel’s opinionated written account. But this time, Carpenter (Economies of Blood, 2018, etc.) offsets the vamp’s typical snootiness (he believes all humans and werewolves are stupid) with Joe’s alternating, more amiable accounts. But both perspectives are often humorous. The author also skillfully showcases other narrative modes: a surprise third narrator later in the story and Joe’s condensed, animalistic voice when in wolf form. While the novel is lively and entertaining, it’s occasionally predictable, from who’s ultimately behind the baddies’ scheme to the inevitable converging of Samuel’s and Joe’s cases. Still, it’s fun to watch these two striking heroes at work, whether they’re independent or together.
An endlessly appealing supernatural tale with two charming protagonists.Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-07-580861-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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