An often vivid account of British-Canadian partnership and espionage.
Set around the War of 1812, this debut novel focuses on the travels of a British spy.
Decore (The Campfire Gourmet, 1997), a retired trial lawyer from Edmonton, Alberta, builds a vivid fictional story around the life of David Thompson (1770-1857), a renowned British-Canadian explorer and mapmaker who was part owner of the fur-trading Northwest Company. In the early 1800s, there was rising concern that American John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company intended to establish a fort in Oregon Territory, which would give it exclusive trading rights and pave the way for an American takeover. The British government feared that American agents among Astor’s men might try to steal Thompson’s maps and logs—and even kill Thompson, if necessary; Decore’s fictional protagonist, British army Capt. William Ashford, is sent to ensure that this won’t happen. Summoned to London in early 1810, the promising young soldier is tasked with accompanying Thompson on a canoe journey on Canada’s Columbia River. He’ll be an undercover “information officer,” with only Thompson aware of his true identity. The maps that result from the journey will be shared by the crown and the Northwest Company. Among the mostly French-Canadian crew are two Iroquois brothers, Ignace and Charles, who befriend Ashford. Decore brings the voyage to life by offering plentiful description of such acts as making pemmican and riding toboggans. Immersive details about meals, camping, hiking, and attire make it easy to picture the explorers’ day-to-day activities. The chapters are snappy, with extra information provided in characters’ correspondence, rendered in boldface type. After the War of 1812 starts, the author tends to rely on quick historical overviews rather than imagined scenes, which makes the narrative feel somewhat dry. However, a late scene at the Bladensburg Races battle is a highlight, as is Ashford’s hand-to-hand combat with a person who ordered his assassination. There are occasional punctuation and typographical errors (such as the use of the word “decent” in place of “descent”) as well as dialogue that feels anachronistic: “How in the world did you pull that off?” But all in all, this is an atmospheric and convincing adventure story.
An often vivid account of British-Canadian partnership and espionage.Pub Date: June 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5255-2507-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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