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THE DRAGON'S EYE

First appearance in English for both this 1991 SF yarn and its French-Canadian author. Planet New China has two suns, one of which, the Dragon’s Eye, pours out harmful ultraviolet radiation, so when it’s in the sky everyone must thoroughly protect their eyes and skin. Early in the 24th century, the joint mission of agent Rojean Tanner of the European Bureau of External Affairs and Japanese agent Jay Hamakawa is to locate the New Chinese deputy premier Chen Shaoxing—a Bureau mole—and debrief him on the growing threat the New Chinese independence movement poses to debt repayments and European control of trade. Strangely, however, Chen has vanished, and when Tanner (disguised as a Chinese) and Jay attempt to leave the European enclave, Jay is arrested as a spy. Helped by young, beautiful Qingling, Tanner extracts Jay from jail, and after a long, arduous journey, the two finally catch up with Chen. Chen, though, says he’s had a change of heart and prefers discussing poetry, though he won—t betray the independence movement. Still, the pair forces him to return with them—until their journey is interrupted by devastating storms. Jay is crushed by a toppling bus. When Chen dies of a heart attack, Tanner cryogenically preserves his head, though a war of independence breaks out before Tanner, Qingling, and the head can reach the European enclave. Finally, injured and exhausted, they arrive only hours before the last ship departs. With chaos everywhere, the Bureau’s weasely new chief refuses to take Qingling, and orders Tanner drugged and thrown aboard the ship. Good characters, a convincing backdrop, and truly marvelous atmosphere: an enjoyable, dark-edged romp provoking thoughtful responses.

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-312-86882-0

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999

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DEVOLUTION

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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  • 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

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THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE

Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.

Life lessons.

Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.

Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.

Pub Date: July 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-345-46750-7

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004

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