A tight series installment that thrives on narrative risk.
In Barlow’s thriller sequel, 18-year-old Jack Harper attempts to break free from a tragic past, until she hears the siren’s song of revenge.
As this installment opens, Jack watches a mansion burn. She’s destroyed the headquarters of the Infinitum cult run by her father, Cyrus. Lutin, a supernatural being known as a ferric, gave her the power to resurrect the dead, but has now vanished from her life. Jack drives Cyrus’ car from Basille, Louisiana, to New York City to “build my life, one brick at a time.” Initially, the stimulating metropolis invigorates her. Then she sees that Cyrus’ downfall—and the location of the car she stole—have made the news. She eventually settles into a routine of robbing people in Central Park so she can afford an apartment under the alias Sarah Anderson. She’s shocked when she starts receiving letters from children from around the country who are still trapped in the cult’s network; somehow, her precautions have come to naught, and Jack realizes that her attempt at a new life is a fantasy. As she attempts to retreat into drug use, she meets Patrick Flannigan, a princely party animal who turns out to be the target of a criminal syndicate; his father owns the mysterious Lucient Laboratories, which may have a connection to Jack’s past. Barlow’s remarkable sequel keeps the tension high, and the twists consistently feel fresh and unexpected. Jonathon Roth, later introduced as the leader of the criminal Outfit organization, proves a compelling foil for Jack. The protagonist’s quest for self-possession is never eclipsed by the supernatural pyrotechnics, although the action scenes are remarkably cinematic: “Blood exploded from beneath his right cheekbone. Teeth flew out of his mouth to rattle off the windshield.” The final third consists of carefully arranged surprises, each adding psychological complexity to the story—and hints that the next volume will be even grander.
A tight series installment that thrives on narrative risk.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64428-137-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
A new and contemplative take on the vampire novel.
Following a vampire across more than 200 years, this novel considers “whether this world and life in it is a kindness or an unkindness, a blessing or a curse.”
At the age of 10, Anna faces illness and death daily as an epidemic sweeps through her town. After the deaths of her father and brother, and when she's at her sickest, her grandfather arrives. Just as she’s about to succumb to the illness that killed her whole family, he transforms her into a vampire like himself. When she asks him why he did it, he replies: “This world, my dear child, all of it, right to the very end if there is to be an end, is a gift. But it’s a gift few are strong enough to receive. I made a judgment that you might be among those strong few, that you might be better served on this side of things than the other. I thought you might find some use for the world, and it for you.” The years that follow are difficult and often wrought with loss for Anna. She lives many lives over the centuries and eventually takes on the name Collette LaSange, opening a French preschool in Millstream Hollow, New York. Chapters alternate between Anna’s life beginning in the 1830s and her current life in 1984 as Collette. Notable points of tension arise when Collette tries unsuccessfully to sate her hunger, which is becoming increasingly unbearable, and as her interest in the artistic growth of a student named Leo deepens. Through decadently vivid prose—which could have been streamlined at times—this hefty novel meditates on major themes such as life, love, and death with exceptional acumen. The final questions in the book—“How presumptuous is the gift of life? What arrogance is implicit in the act of love that calls another into existence?”—serve as an anchor to meditations on these themes found throughout.
A new and contemplative take on the vampire novel.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781250856760
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
