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SCIMITAR

Name: SCIMITAR
Author: John Abbott
ISBN: 0-517-58705-X

by John Abbott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1992

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Clever, cartoonish thriller about a deep-cover assassin on the trail of George Bush. Abbott, a pseudonymous first-time novelist, weaves a witty, zigzagging plot that's bolstered with liberal graphics—photos, maps, handwritten notes, etc. The stylish action begins when L.A. medical intern ``Sonny'' Hemkar is telephoned by a woman who alerts him that his day has finally come—for Sonny is really an incognito hit man for an Arab dictator (guessing which one serves as one of the plot's several puzzles). On the train to N.Y.C., Sonny picks up naive UCLA coed Elita Randall, who notes the tiny green scimitar tattooed on his chest; meanwhile, in New York, the woman who phoned Sonny is shot (by whom?), and the cops, finding her British passport, check her i.d. with Geoffrey Turner, a young British consulate hack. Arriving in New York, Sonny dumps Elita, who, heart-stricken, tries to locate him through the British consulate- -and through Geoffrey. At the same time, Sonny learns his targets: George Bush and, if possible, Margaret Thatcher, either at the Plaza Hotel (at a dinner) or the Statue of Liberty (during a speech). In scenes detailed in the assured manner of Frederick Forsyth, Sonny explores both potential killing fields and concocts an exotic poison; he then takes some r&r in the Hamptons, where he unwittingly picks up...Elita's sexy mom. She smells a rat; he dismembers her. Back in the city, Sonny stalks the Plaza dinner but is spotted by Elita, who's been invited by Geoffrey—and so the narrative spirals to a suspenseful climax on Liberty Island, where Sonny, bug-sprayer in hand, takes an end-run at Bush.... Lack of a proper foe to supervillain Sonny (Geoffrey et al. add up to fleabites) comprises the only big flaw in an otherwise swift, crafty, and roundly enjoyable—if far-fetched— entertainment.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-517-58705-X

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.

Pub Date: July 11, 1960

ISBN: 0060935464

Page Count: 323

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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DISTANT SHORES

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...

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Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.

After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).