An engrossing, socially conscious novel of urban alien invasion.
Extraordinary phenomena interrupt a technology-industry takeover in Northern California in Covington’s (American BeheMouth, 2012) SF novel.
In San Francisco, residents are observing strange things, including giant specters and mysterious lights that instill horror and intense curiosity. Thirty-something Joel, his pregnant wife, Krista, and their friend Nico are intrigued by the reports of the strange lights hovering over Nob Hill. As speculation and conspiracy theories engulf the city, Joel seeks the opinion of a man called “Crazy Hair,” a notorious UFO conspiracist who sparks a media circus in San Francisco by relocating his television program “Aliens Among Us” to the city. Joel’s appearance on the show, in which he talks about “ancient astronaut” theories, makes him an overnight sensation—but then 8-foot “giants” and their otherworldly skyscrapers appear in the city, capturing everyone’s attention. Despite such harrowing events, Covington keeps the tone light, undemanding, and darkly humorous by attributing human qualities to his space invaders—and giving them huge appetites for Earth food. The devout Joel’s religious visions offer explanations for the aliens’ origins, as fringe groups begin forming in preparation for an expected spiritual battle. The entertaining narrative combines dynamic characters with a variety of offbeat theories and concepts, all of which appealingly tie into the central plot. Readers who enjoy stories of aliens, Illuminati conspiracies, and unexplained phenomena will find it particularly riveting. Covington also weaves in loosely arranged commentary on housing bubbles in major urban centers and the protest-friendly populace of San Francisco. He engagingly presents the city as one that’s stunted by economic disparities, peppered with high-rise condominium construction projects, and populated by people who are either swimming in wealth or literally dying on the streets.
An engrossing, socially conscious novel of urban alien invasion.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-949873-27-6
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Beyond Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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