An engrossing tale of an EMT who gains superpowers.
A troubled emergency medical technician develops psychic abilities in this debut SF novel.
Even in 2020, medical science is not 100% certain why electroconvulsive therapy (formerly known as electroshock therapy) is so markedly effective in treating a variety of moderate to serious mental disorders. And, in the classic SF tradition, that’s as much of a wedge as Kremer needs for his book, in which electroconvulsive therapy is the fulcrum on which the outlandish plot turns. Paxton Gahl, an Everyman EMT and ambulance driver, learns that his wife, Gwen, wants a divorce, and this sends him into a tailspin of self-destructive behavior and excessive drinking (“The cheapest swill Walmart had on the shelf”). He impulsively buys a boat that he navigates on the Ohio River, but his life spirals out of control through a cancer diagnosis and, eventually, admission into the hospital, where he becomes a candidate for electroconvulsive therapy. His treatment has far more than the standard therapeutic benefits: Instead of merely feeling better, Gahl develops superpowers. Suddenly, he’s a human EMT dispatch, able to supernaturally sense people in need (and help 911 dispatchers get them the aid only he knows they require). He takes the name Vulcan and is soon involved with police Sgt. Malika Kelly and the hunt for a cache of gold coins. Kremer risks testing readers’ patience by giving them more than ample details of Gahl’s deterioration, but the gamble pays off. The hero feels entirely believable long before he falls headlong into the tragedy that changes his life. The author is less successful in developing his secondary characters, but his talent for pacing carries the entire narrative forward. The supernatural elements that Kremer introduces are fitted seamlessly into the plot as Gahl slowly and haltingly comes to terms with his new, enhanced mental abilities. But ultimately the book’s most winning aspect is the deepening of the personal elements, the slow deployment of emotional development to the point where readers aren’t just wondering what Vulcan’s future will be but whether or not Gahl will end up whole and happy at the end of the story.
An engrossing tale of an EMT who gains superpowers.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-938462-45-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Old Stone Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
