by J.D. Martin ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
A feverish blend of sci-fi and myth that offers enjoyable mayhem.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
An adventure features technologically advanced heroes of myth as they oppose the resurrection of Ares, Greek god of war.
Helena Schwan works the late shift at a diner in Kansas City, Missouri. Dreary adulthood is nothing like she’d hoped, growing up as a child in love with life. The spark has left her relationship with Carl, who plays video games endlessly. On perhaps the worst—though freeing—day of her life, she’s fired from the diner only to reach home early enough to find Carl cheating on her with a neighbor. After Helena throws a book at her ex-boyfriend’s head, the police convince Carl to press assault charges. Her best friend, Kimmie, pays her bail, but before Helena gets home, she’s attacked by a strangely garbed trio led by a man named Leonidas. Luckily, someone with a bow and bright, energized arrows halts the kidnapping. The armored individuals battle with weapons that seem both archaic and futuristic. After a dazzling explosion, Helena wakes up in a Manhattan penthouse. Her rescuer, Archer, explains that Greek gods are real and the Pythia device has prophesied her involvement in the resurrection of Ares. In starting a new fantasy series, Martin (Blood Week, 2013) threads together elements from various subgenres, including aliens and superheroes. He woos fans of big-budget action films with macho lines like “Death was taking attendance, and his name had just been called.” At times, the author flaunts his love of comic books without fully explaining the references; when a character is killed, the starkly lit room and resulting blood “was like looking into a world taken over by Frank Miller” (the comic creator and graphic novelist). Action fans should nevertheless enjoy blowout sequences involving the winged Erinyes of myth and modern-day versions of gods like Hermes, Apollo, and Hephaestus. Extra lives for these characters come in the form of Bio-synthetic Drone Replacements, which predictably extend the plots beyond the most vicious fights, but also hopefully maintain the creative potential in future installments.
A feverish blend of sci-fi and myth that offers enjoyable mayhem.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Ten & Two Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
More by J.D. Martin
BOOK REVIEW
by J.D. Martin
by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
143
Our Verdict
GET IT
New York Times Bestseller
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Share your opinion of this book
More by Max Brooks
BOOK REVIEW
by Max Brooks
More About This Book
BOOK TO SCREEN
by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2016
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Awards & Accolades
Likes
385
Our Verdict
GET IT
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Share your opinion of this book
More by Colleen Hoover
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© 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.