A methodically paced but wholly engaging literary tale that revels in its dreamlike plot.
In this psychological thriller, an author hoping to match her bestselling debut’s success signs a lucrative contract that nudges her into a nightmarish world.
Alexa Wainwright has written quite a few novels since her first book. But while A Foregone Conclusion stayed at No. 1 for a year, her subsequent works haven’t cracked the top 10. Her chance to be a winner again comes from her copy editor, Margaret Hathaway, who introduces Alexa to Alex. His last name is eerily Wainwright, and he is a dead ringer for Foregone character Rick. Alex wants to make Alexa’s not-yet-completed trilogy into a film, but she resists, as the movie adaptation of her debut bombed. The full offer from the company Alex represents, Trinity of Sixes, is unbelievable, promising millions for movies and future books. Reluctant, Alexa meets CEO/Chairman King Blakemore, a surreal encounter in which the novelist is disoriented and sees others resembling characters from her stories. She’s later shocked to learn she has evidently signed a contract with the company. As Trinity slowly turns her newest psychological tale into an erotica piece for mass appeal, Alexa is stuck; the contract language keeps inexplicably changing, closing off potential loopholes. She’s soon certain the company name is a sign: Alexa has made a deal with the devil. Bell’s (Sunspots, 2012, etc.) novel is a sometimes-convoluted but riveting story. Readers, for example, will be just as startled as Alexa by plot twists: her apparent doppelgänger; the suddenly appearing basement door in her home; and a surprising death or two. Answers aren’t easy to come by, which is befitting of the protagonist, who entertains notions that she’s being drugged, hallucinating, or perhaps losing her mind. Regardless, her plight is grounded by her parallel, Jodie, her more relatable literary character drawn to abusive relationships, akin to Alexa’s inability to escape the ruthless contract. The final act addresses various mysteries, including Alexa’s murky history (she isn’t sure of her mother’s birth date), while the ending is appropriately—and smartly—open to interpretation.
A methodically paced but wholly engaging literary tale that revels in its dreamlike plot.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5497-7232-0
Page Count: 222
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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