Red Phoenix author Bond, who also collaborated with Tom Clancy on Red Storm Rising, takes his formidable war-game skills to South Africa, where he pits fascist Boers against Cuban communists. Yanks are, once again, policemen on the world beat. Armchair warriors suffering from post-Saddam letdown, as well as ground-war fans disappointed by the walkover in Iraq, should find considerable satisfaction in this lengthy (729-page), detail-rich treatment of a multifront war that flares up when ultra reactionary South African politicians send all their moderate governmental colleagues off on a luxury train knowing that the train is about to be blown up by black radicals. With the reformers out of the way, the fascists seize power, undo racial and political reform, and send their army off to reclaim the one-time colony of Namibia. The surprise blitzkrieg makes a spectacular start—and then promptly runs into unexpected and father fierce opposition from the Cuban forces still left in neighboring Angola. Castro has got on the phone and sold a backsliding Soviet Union on the idea of an aggressive combination of Cuban know-how and Soviet hardware that will demonstrate to the world the glory of renascent Leninism. In the best Schwarzkopfian fashion, the Cubans fly and ship a major expeditionary force to Africa and roll out a tricky three-prong counterattack against the beastly Boers. When the panicky South Africans nuke one of the prongs, it's time for the US to step in and sort things out. Observing much of the action but unable to capitalize on the opportunity is an American telejournalist who is out of favor with his network—but much prized by the pretty daughter of one of the nastiest of the fascist cabinet ministers. Not all the Boers are bad, by the way. Many, many battles and much, much war with not too much mushy stuff. The political doings that set the war machinery running are rather broad-brush and suffer in comparison to the well-done battle scenes but, still, it's likely to sell oodles.
Pub Date: June 3, 1991
ISBN: 0-446-51566-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1991
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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