An entertaining spoof of American politics with energetic characters and sharp repartee.
A modern-day man trying to emulate the masked do-gooder of the Old West finds it harder than he expected in Taylor’s raucous adventure.
Taylor’s yarn begins in February 2021, when Joe Smith, laid off from his public relations job at Toyota, decides that what America—and especially his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky—needs is for him to become a new Lone Ranger, dedicated to righting wrongs and quelling strife. He acquires a sidekick in Teresa “Ta-Ta” VanDerveer, an attractive lawyer with money and time to burn; her autistic sister, Margie, has apparent right-wing sympathies, suspecting everyone she meets of stealing the election. The trio patrol Lexington’s streets and Starbucks shops in Ta-Ta’s Mercedes Cabriolet—which is silver, of course—looking for people in distress to help. Unfortunately, the new Lone Ranger’s methods of doing good—mainly handing out $20 bills and Good & Plenty candy—usually fail miserably. His attempt to calm a domestic squabble earns him a crack on the head from the wife’s skillet. After he tries to cheer up a depressed woman, she shoots herself. And his repeated efforts to help a scornful teenage sex worker result in more violence from her pimp. Along the way, the Lone Ranger takes in a satirical vision of American culture, awash in bizarre protests: “If you can love and coexist with dogs, then you should love and coexist with Covid!” exclaims a zealot at a coronavirus-rights march. Adding sardonic commentary on the scene is a magical figure known as Coyote, who often appears in the guise of a goat and performs offensive japes.
Taylor’s rambling picaresque features offbeat characters and gonzo situations, all in service of a sendup of extremism across the political spectrum, which he portrays as a cacophonous mashup of incoherent slogans and conspiracy theories: “They got Trump and Biden secretly together!” shrieks one protester. “To keep Bernie from winning! They want to topple Gamestop! We gotta build an underground Wall to stop Them!” Amid the rants and exclamation points, the Lone Ranger and Ta-Ta are depicted as the last halfhearted believers in hangdog American normalcy: “To make America heal, to bring back jobs, to make America function as a cohesive unit, respectful of the individual and of individual differences” is The Lone Ranger’s summary of his mission. Despite the vehemence of the politics on display, the novella’s mood is relaxed and generous; it’s bemused, rather than outraged, and seemingly convinced that masked adventuring is less important than quiet kindness in the face of misery. Margie turns out to be the story’s true hero; her orneriness evaporates when she comforts a bereaved mother with a heartfelt hug. Taylor’s dialogue sometimes suggests classic screwball comedy with its colorful eccentrics trading snappy banter—with Margie again stealing the show with snarky one-liners (He: “I am The Lone Ranger.” She: “Well then, why can’t you be more alone?”). Readers will root for the masked man as he undertakes his gallant, if seldom effectual, quest.
An entertaining spoof of American politics with energetic characters and sharp repartee.Pub Date: April 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798309579617
Page Count: -
Publisher: Nat 1 Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.
A high school senior pursues an affair with her teacher.
Seventeen-year-old Waldo, the narrator of McCurdy’s fiction debut, lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her mother, though she’s long been the parent in their relationship. She heats her own frozen meals and pays the bills on time while her mom chases man after man and makes well-meaning promises she never keeps. Waldo blows her Victoria’s Secret wages on online shopping sprees and binges on junk food, inevitably crashing after the fleeting highs of her indulgences. Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher, has “thinning hair and nose pores”; he’s 40 years old and married with a child. Nevertheless—or possibly as a result?—Waldo’s attraction to him is “instant. So sudden it’s alarming. So palpable it’s confusing.” Mr. Korgy professes to want to keep their friendship aboveboard, but after a sexual encounter at the school’s winter formal that she initiates, an affair begins. Will this reckless pursuit be the one that actually satisfies Waldo, and is she as mature as she thinks she is? Waldo is a keen observer of people and provides sharp commentary on the punishing work of female beauty. Readers of McCurdy’s bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), will surely be curious about the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, and it is one of the novel’s highlights, full of realistic pity and anger and need. (“I want to scream at her. I want her to hug me.”) Unfortunately, the prose is often unwieldy and sometimes downright cringeworthy: When Waldo tells Mr. Korgy she loves him, “The words hang in the air in that constipated way they do when you know that you shouldn’t have said them.” Waldo frequently lists emotions and adjectives in triplicate, and events that could be significant aren’t sufficiently explored or given enough space to breathe before the novel races on to the next thing.
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593723739
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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