Not always successful, but an interesting, frequently entertaining debut.
In this jet-setting thriller, a fight against an island dictator intersects contemporary concerns of ethnobotany and international law.
Williamson’s debut juggles several plots revolving around the island nation of Santa Carolina, ruled by the despotic Alberto Alvarez. Tired of Alberto’s brutal tyranny, his French-born wife, Marguerite, plans to kidnap their son in order to blackmail Alberto into establishing a constitution, all with the help of her high-powered lawyer–sister and the friendly nuns at an orphanage in Paris. Meanwhile, Alberto joins forces with international pharmaceutical company HardwickeMasterson (HM) to exploit a tropical plant that has antimalarial properties. In hopes of getting compensation for the native tribes, American Rebecca Tenley comes to the island to spy on the pharmaceutical deal, but she quickly finds herself enmeshed in Alvarez family conspiracies, along with the rebels’ plans to overthrow Alberto and the additional mystery of the island’s miraculous cancer clinic. Williamson spins these intertwined plots carefully, mostly keeping the story moving briskly, although a few scenes tend to drag. For instance, a comical but unnecessary subplot about the ne’er-do-wells whom HM press-gangs into finding the plant—a plotline that evaporates halfway through the novel even though readers may wonder why HM would endanger the profitable deal by hiring these screw-ups. Other issues plague the plot: Alberto has a brutal state-security apparatus, but Rebecca calls New York to discuss her schemes without worrying about her phone being tapped; and the various editing mistakes (a dropped “said,” a reference to Spanish fascist “Fernando Franco”) further distract from the action. The novel’s main bug, though, is the thinness of its characters. Marguerite’s sister, Ariane, seems like a flat, tough-as-nails district attorney torn from film noir, and when an ex-military man and Marguerite fall in love, their romance makes sense for the genre, though it’s hard to see what draws the two characters together. Perhaps this thinness isn’t a bug, but a feature: The characters shouldn’t be thought of as flat, but archetypal. Still, when a secret informant takes off his disguise and the private investigator exclaims, “Unmasked!,” it’s hard to tell archetypal from hokey.
Not always successful, but an interesting, frequently entertaining debut.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© 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.
