Smart, compelling and multifaceted—promising is an understatement.
In McCormick’s epic sci-fi debut, Book 1 of the Children and Ghosts series of five books, the destruction of a desolate planet in a distant system will forever shape the fate of mankind as it sets in motion events of a greater-than-galactic scale.
In a galaxy controlled by the Galactic Coalition, the fledgling independence movements on the frontier planets never have a chance, thanks in particular to the well-funded operations—secretly sponsored by the government—that rob or assassinate separatists in an arrangement known to a select few as “Operation Peacemaker.” But when her associates are killed in front of her while stealing a package from an armored car, career criminal Christmas “Crazy Eyes” Parker is put at odds with both her boss, ruthless industrial magnate Atusa Navarro, and their government contact, Horace Murchison. Out for revenge, Parker seeks to uncover the mystery behind the package she stole that night, and Murchison might have answers. There’s one problem: Parker isn’t the only one looking for him. After Murchison has a religious experience that focuses on the destruction of the planet Mozha II—the ramifications of which are continuously revealed to be greater than readers expect—Murchison disappears. That brings Detective Benjamin Weizmann of the Major Crimes Bureau to planet Eridan, and he intends to do his job even if it means exposing the entire clandestine operation—or breaking the very laws he has sworn to uphold. This work is more than sci-fi adventure, though; even the title—a reference to a 19th-century poem by William Blake—hints at the narrative’s intelligence. McCormick’s attention to detail makes both major and minor characters memorable, each one distinctly motivated and flawed, and although the story’s start is a little rocky, it’s not long before readers will be drawn into the inescapably alluring combination of criminal activity, political intrigue, sci-fi wonderment and unalloyed action. Readers will be frequently astounded at the ingenious ways he finds to tie together the seemingly disparate storylines as events move beyond the reach of any one character’s grasp.
Smart, compelling and multifaceted—promising is an understatement.Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-1483916958
Page Count: 510
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
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.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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