A finely written character study of a multifaceted doctor.
A sequel focuses on a complicated physician from Texas.
In Albedo’s follow-up to his novel Nutshell (2021), Dr. Chase Callaway is facing difficulties again. Chase is a surgeon in California. Anyone who thinks a bright and sure-footed physician like Chase would do well on the West Coast would be wrong. From frivolous malpractice suits to struggles with colleagues (at one point, he feels he is being “bushwhacked by a bunch of no-talent scum”), Chase has a tough road. He develops a drug addiction to boot. Although Chase becomes a “a student, then a disciple, of psychopharmacology,” his need for stimulation eventually has him heading back to Texas. There, he enters rehab. In the irony of all ironies, he has to dry out at the same mental health facility where he used to work as a psychiatric aide. What’s more, two weeks after his discharge from rehab, he becomes the chief of surgery at the local Veterans Affairs hospital. Despite such challenges, Chase winds up devoting himself to breast cancer research. As things seem to finally come together, he feels he can “sit back and let the excellence unfold.” Unfortunately, his struggles are only beginning. This installment of Chase’s saga overflows with biting, humorous prose. When Chase is in the mental institution, patients are advised to drink water in the morning. The schizophrenics in the audience “were enthralled by the prospect of such easy eradication of their demons.” Later, Chase advises Dr. Porter Piscotel to “know thyself, Porter, know thyself, even if thyself is a freakin’ asshole.” In contrast, some aspects of the storyline can prove needlessly lengthy. Chase’s dogged fight against breast cancer (and his dream of creating a “Breast Pavilion”) includes budget and equipment discussions that do not quite leap from the page. But when it becomes clear that he has a “lethal rage” growing inside him, twists are afoot. After all, who could have predicted Chase would end up in a drug rehab program? There are more surprises where that came from.
A finely written character study of a multifaceted doctor.Pub Date: May 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68433-991-4
Page Count: 452
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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