Christopher’s blind belief in his relatives and himself can make the exploration plot feel a bit trite compared to its many...
When a young man embarks on a quest in the South American jungle to find the physical and emotional remains of his explorer great-grandfather who disappeared 72 years earlier, he discovers an unbelievable truth.
An earnest romp through the Amazon, this adventure is delightfully didactic at its core, turning into a did-you-know exploration of every stone, native people and ancient word along the way. Occasionally the author bogs down the action with facts, but the ride is largely endearing and compelling. In his search for his great-grandfather, Christopher Giordano meets and falls in love with Shama, who intrigues him with her knowledge of all things ancient and mystical. The exotic setting is fascinating, and fans of thrillers and travel writing alike will feel at home in this whirlwind academic romp that’s full of ancient factoids and trivia that move the plot—and the reader’s thoughts—forward. Daniels’ tale improves upon formulaic thrillers, however, with the centrality of the protagonist’s relationship to his family and newfound loves. Christopher embarks on this dangerous mission with the lone conviction of his heart. Albeit a little fantastical, he eventually finds his grandfather in the depths of the jungle, though not before nearly dying during the journey. Christopher arrives through the Gateway, a portal that takes him back through the centuries. The supernatural element is somewhat oversimplified, but it makes for a fascinating comparison of different eras, and Christopher is so eagerly interested in his adventure that even this unusual development feels earned. Each moment seems romantic, and not simply because of the exotic backdrop of ruins and rainforest—the history and relationships are as poignant as they are powerful.
Christopher’s blind belief in his relatives and himself can make the exploration plot feel a bit trite compared to its many action-adventure peers, but the young man’s heartfelt quest to find and create his family is richly engaging.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2010
ISBN: 978-1450248914
Page Count: 420
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2010
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
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.
Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.
In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring passeurs: people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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