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BELTWAY UPHEAVAL

Name: BELTWAY UPHEAVAL
Author: Ken Gorman
ISBN: 978-1-365-16307-4

by Ken Gorman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2016

Politically astute and topical, this presidential drama loses momentum in a convoluted plot.

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In this complex political thriller, controversy surrounds a new American president’s legitimacy.

Democrat Herbert Atkinsen wins the presidential popular vote in his bid for election but falls short of the electoral votes necessary to clinch the win. As a result, a rare contingency vote is called, the first since 1825, in which the House of Representatives casts the deciding votes to determine the next president, while the Senate selects a vice president. Atkinsen prevails, as does his Republican running mate, George Granger. However, following the death of his wife, Atkinsen has suffered from serious health problems that he believes will prevent him from completely fulfilling the position’s considerable obligations. His chief of staff, Steve Wagner, comes up with a plan: Atkinsen will swear into office and quickly resign, and the order of constitutional succession will anoint Granger president. This denies Republican Sen. John Robinson, an extremist, any chance of assuming the Oval Office and neutralizes the corrupt Democrat speaker of the House, Bob Allcott. Wagner was able to secure Allcott’s cooperation by threatening a criminal probe into his connection to Cody Manville, a corrupt power broker—the two may have coerced electors to vote their way—and Manville is suspected of murder. However, Granger signs a series of aggressive executive orders, the last of which establishes sweeping fiscal reforms, inspiring the unabashed ire of his political opponents, including Allcott, who demand an impeachment trial for abuses of power. Gorman (Patriotic Gamble, 2012, etc.) displays an astonishingly fertile imagination, conjuring a swamp of political malfeasance impressive even by today’s grim standards. Also, his knowledge of American government, particularly the constitutional law that restrains the presidency, is impressively vast. The plot, however, while briskly paced, is forbiddingly labyrinthine. Also, the main characters remain frustratingly nebulous, never fully developed beyond their political personas. Finally, the writing, especially the dialogue, lacks the edge the plot delivers (“ ‘Wow!’ Cam Tucker exclaimed. ‘Now I understand why politics is called a blood sport’ ”).

Politically astute and topical, this presidential drama loses momentum in a convoluted plot.

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-365-16307-4

Page Count: 262

Publisher: Lulu

Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

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A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.