Sure to please fans of the genre looking for the next great beach read, and the open ending hints at a third book in the...
In Rust’s follow-up (Pot Luck, 2011), bumbling protagonist Jacob Walton navigates Hollywood’s underbelly and uncovers hidden secrets as he tries to prove his ex-wife’s innocence in a gruesome double homicide.
Having recently inherited his father’s fortune, middle-aged, pot-smoking psychologist Dr. Jacob Walton has barely settled into his new life when he learns that his ex-wife, Savannah Flanerie, is the lead suspect in the crime of the century in LA involving the power players of Leire Industries—Phillip and Regina. Although Savannah is a nymphomaniac with gold-digger tendencies, Walton succumbs to his daughter Ashley’s pleas to keep her mother out of jail and decamps to Ashley’s Hollywood mansion. Once there, he encounters a large cast of morally bankrupt characters, each with their own plausible motive for murder. As Walton plays amateur sleuth, the plot becomes increasingly convoluted as the narrative alternates between Walton’s point of view and those of at least eight of the primary players. Along the way, Walton discovers that the other lead suspect in the case, Earl Medlar, was also involved in the unresolved Leire kidnapping case years ago. Once Walton, with the help of his TV reporter fiancée, Teri Tarbell, solves the Leire murder mystery in true-to-Hollywood form, the two turn their attention to Earl. While the title is inspired by King Lear, the book is really a mashup of King Lear and A Midsummer’s Night Dream, with farcical misunderstandings and no shortage of tragedy. The result is a murder-mystery bodice-ripper filled with sleazy characters and even sleazier scenes. While the plot engages, with enough action to guarantee continual page turning, the book would benefit from a thorough edit for the sake of grammar and pacing, as well as the simplification of both the plot and the higher-level vocabulary, since the latter is not in keeping with the dialogue or the storyline.
Sure to please fans of the genre looking for the next great beach read, and the open ending hints at a third book in the Walton family soap opera.Pub Date: April 18, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 287
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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