Well-researched but overstuffed.
In Feiss’ (The Formula, 2011, etc.) new novel, a cadet at the prestigious U.S. Air Force Academy dies under mysterious circumstances.
The Air Force Academy is an institution that takes the best of the best, then beats them down and builds them up until they’re something even better. But not everyone can make it through this grueling test of mental and physical strength. When Nick Argento’s battered body turns up one morning in the snow a few stories below his dormitory window, everyone agrees that he wouldn’t have committed suicide and no one would have murdered him. So how did Argento die? Uncovering that mystery is the job assigned to Zach Fields and Mindy Reynolds, veterans of the nearby El Paso Sheriff’s Department. The academy’s commitment to an ironclad code of honor makes it nearly impossible to get straight answers about Argento from anyone, which is further complicated by the fact that the cadet’s father is an ambitious tea party senator. Thanks to the unpublished memoirs of a cadet from the 1960s, Zach discovers that the honor code has been a source of great controversy for decades, and he’ll have to break through the ranks of cadets and officers to find someone truly honorable, who can finally tell him what happened to Argento. The novel offers a great behind-the-scenes view of the academy, its rituals and training regimen. Unfortunately, a lot of time is spent on less interesting minutiae, such as the workout habits of secondary characters or back stories for ancillary characters like Brig. Gen. Leo Barrows, who doesn’t seem to deserve so much attention. Weaving in the memoirs of a 1960s cadet proves to be an intriguing narrative choice, but its voice and perspective are barely differentiated from the rest of the text, making each section feel less authentic. Though the dialogue can be wooden—characters insist on frequently referring to each other by name midconversation—the chapters in which Zach and Mindy actively engage in trying to solve the mystery of Argento’s death are especially enjoyable. Occasionally, however, a few too many plotlines—multiple romantic interests and a secondary shooting outside the academy, to name just two—slow down the action.
Well-researched but overstuffed.Pub Date: May 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1481968355
Page Count: 326
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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