by Jason J. Tavares ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 26, 2013
A supernatural tale with a solid story concept that gets bogged down by verbosity.
A man must face the actions of his past in the latest novel from Tavares (Existence: The Tale of a Fanged Killer, 2010, etc.).
James Threadwelle’s wife turns out not to be who he thought she was, and she suddenly leaves him for jilting her sister at the altar years earlier. Stunned, he packs up his belongings and his cat and is about to leave their home when he’s stopped by their chatty neighbor. The neighbor, it seems, knows a great deal about James—more than he knows himself. James, he says, once had another life, before a disfiguring accident, in which he went by another name. The neighbor reveals his identity as the Devil; he usually appears to bring people to Hell, but he says he’s come this time to show James his past mistakes. As James’ life comes back to him in bits and pieces, he learns a horrible, haunting secret from his previous life. Getting past this revelation, however, may be the key to his future. Although the story’s premise is intriguing, it often reads like a first draft, with its complicated storyline repeatedly broken up by long descriptive passages and detailed back story that doesn’t serve the plot. Although the author has a knack for these vivid descriptions, their quantity slows the action and makes the complicated story more difficult to follow. For example, early chapters include multiple digressions about James’ physical appearance and the care and feeding of his cat; after the Devil unexpectedly appears, these wordy sections may make readers impatient. Also, the book’s frequent spelling and grammatical errors may oblige readers to sometimes reread passages for clarity. That said, the novel offers some fine plot twists that will genuinely surprise readers who stick with it.
A supernatural tale with a solid story concept that gets bogged down by verbosity.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0578120171
Page Count: 378
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
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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APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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
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