A strong start to the Victor Wells series, which, in addition to action, offers thought-provoking social subtext.
In Allen’s speculative techno-thriller, a talented young member of an aristocratic society must fight to stay ahead of a terrorist militia.
Victor Wells is the most talented saber fighter of his generation—so talented, in fact, that when a single point is scored against him in the novel’s opening match, it is cause for brief consternation before his inevitable victory. As Victor hustles from this exhibition to a diplomatic event, readers are clued in to his unique position in his hometown, the Flats. Deemed a “Noble” by blood, Victor is expected to grow into a position of power to support the city’s “Great Experiment,” in which the Nobles have subjugated those whose blood is not as “pure,” deeming them “Sinisters” and sequestering them in shabbier, more dangerous neighborhoods. Alongside his grandfather (Victor’s parents have long since died) and the family’s loyal bodyguard, Freddy, Victor is present when a militant terrorist group known as “the Left Hand” attempts to assassinate the embattled Sen. Avardi Supart; Victor heroically saves the day. Frightened but alive and mostly in one piece, Victor and his coterie manage to escape the chaos—but now, the Left Hand has targeted Victor. Talented saber fighter or not, Victor knows that no one has ever survived a “Marking” from the Left Hand. Now desperate and living on borrowed time, Victor must uncover the plot behind these events by diving into the very underworld from which his Noble birth was supposed to protect him. Allen’s debut is inventive and just outright fun. While the adolescent-hero-takes-on-bad-guys narrative may not be groundbreaking, the setting of the Flats feels fresh and offers ripe opportunities social commentary: “The city’s senate is responsible for placating any who come against us,” the wealthy, revered Noble Dr. Rosewood muses, “but we must be strong from within. Imagine a city where all people are Nobles. In the future, that city will exist.” Such reworkings of present-day rhetoric are commonplace here, elevating the work above a simple adventure story.
A strong start to the Victor Wells series, which, in addition to action, offers thought-provoking social subtext.Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 9781947448087
Page Count: 384
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tranquil story about Jonathan and his two secrets: “One is buried in a patch of sunny earth. The other was buried in a patch of evening mist.” The secret in the sunny patch is a sunflower. The other secret appears to be a second flower—a night-blooming cereus or a queen of the night? When the big day comes, Jonathan and his whole family stand in awe, mouths agape at the “flashiest flower” sister Kate has ever seen. Come night, Jonathan creeps down stairs and is joined by his father outside. There the second secret unfolds: It is not a different flower at all, but the sunflower by night, radiant still. The mystery of night adds a note of excitement to Jonathan’s secret, but not enough to strain the lullaby sweetness of this story. Every page is enhanced by Lambert’s soft pastels. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-899607-98-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Gradually, globe-hopping flights and substitutions of a hilariously unconvincing forgery for the real van Gogh start to take...
Now that he’s completed his trilogy of prison diaries (2003–05), Lord Archer, out on the street again, returns to his old habits with this tale of a disgraced art expert’s attempt to thwart her villainous banker boss’s plot to fleece a fine old English family of van Gogh’s Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear.
The morning after Lady Victoria Wentworth has her throat cut before she can follow Dr. Anna Petrescu’s advice about selling off her van Gogh to cover her debt to Fenston Finance, Bryce Fenston fires Anna for offering the advice. Getting sacked is the best thing that could have happened to her, because while she’s waiting for an elevator to take her down to the first floor of the World Trade Center for the last time, the building is rocked by a fiery explosion. Yes, it’s 9/11, and while Archer is using the disaster as colorful background, Anna’s taking advantage of the chaos to disappear, presumed dead. She plans to fly to England and ask Arabella Wentworth, Victoria’s twin and heir, to help her steal the canvas, now technically Fenston’s property, before Fenston’s lieutenant, disbarred lawyer Karl Leapman, can pick it up. Knowing that a terrorist bombing goes only so far, Archer (Sons of Fortune, 2003, etc.) ladles on extra complications. An FBI agent who’s had his eye on Fenston gets on Anna’s trail. Her phone calls to her friend Tina Forster, Fenston’s assistant, puts her irate ex-boss close behind. The knife-wielding assassin who killed Victoria Wentworth goes after Anna as well.
Gradually, globe-hopping flights and substitutions of a hilariously unconvincing forgery for the real van Gogh start to take the place of plot developments, and somewhere between Bucharest and London, most of the suspense evaporates, though there are still a hundred pages left to run.Pub Date: March 7, 2006
ISBN: 0-312-35372-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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