A first suspenser, southern California-set, that subscribes to the Los Angeles gestalt of spiritual destiny, car phones, and cheesecake containing three grams of fat per slice. Investigative reporter and TV producer Ariel Gold wakes up one morning not only feeling dreadful but having no idea who she is. With a huge lump on her head, a German shepherd named Jessie, a gun, and a bloody shirt, ``Ariel'' then begins to live the adage that ``Today is the first day of the rest of your life.'' A stranger to herself, she's also repulsed by the body she finds herself in. Who is this fat, ugly woman with the bad perm? Nor does Ariel seem the same to her boss, Henry Heller, a thrice-divorced and seasoned TV news reporter, or to any of her other colleagues and quirkily charming neighbors. Then, suddenly, Ariel begins to quote famous authors; she's acquired wit and grace and charm; and she loves to garden and cook low-calorie meals. In fact, more and more—first emotionally, then physically—she begins to resemble Jane Macaulay, the likable model and heiress murdered in a Santa Monica car bombing that was intended for Ariel. As she begins to investigate her own mysterious case, she meets Jane's father, who takes immediately to her, as does Jane's cute dog and her psychic yoga teacher. But even with hypnotherapy, Ariel can't bring herself back to her former life. And yet she must, because with a wrecked apartment, a burglar she kills in self-defense, and assorted unmarked vehicles following her, Ariel knows she's in mortal danger. Who did the crime is never in doubt; the real mystery is how two 30-ish women in identical red Thunderbirds found themselves at the same Italian restaurant on the same fateful Sunday.... A pleasantly engrossing, gentle beach read—and a promising start for Mercer. (Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-671-89960-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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