by LC Boyle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2011
While the bare bones of the plot and the characters are inherently interesting, much retooling and polishing of the basic...
Even hard-bitten security consultants can get in over their heads, as is made clear in Boyle’s novel introducing the team of Miles Warwick and Lucy Clewes.
London is gearing up for the 2012 Olympics as the narrative begins, and Warwick—a former soldier looking to make ends meet for himself and his employees—is trying to drum up business beyond the occasional bouncer gig. Enter Lucy Clewes, a beautiful private investigator with top-flight skills and academic credentials, a politically connected family and an unusual gift: a super-sharp sense of smell, thanks to brain damage suffered in a collision. Lucy is investigating the disappearance of an antiques dealer and suspects sinister happenings, so she hires Warwick to watch her back while she investigates. What starts off as a simple missing persons case soon blossoms into an international smuggling ring involving stolen Russian art and millions of dollars, and when all the players on the board become visible at the Olympic opening ceremonies—the CIA, MI6 and the Russian mafia, among them—Warwick and Clewes find that security is difficult to come by. Boyle’s novel starts strong, with a sure sense of the characters and their voices, but the plot is immensely complicated, and the efforts to make clear what’s happening and who’s pulling which strings at any given time makes the progression fitful, advancing in starts and stops rather than the well-machined flow demanded by thrillers. An excess of comma splices and run-on sentences further muddies the water, particularly in some of the longer dialogue stretches, making it difficult to parse the emotional content of certain scenes.
While the bare bones of the plot and the characters are inherently interesting, much retooling and polishing of the basic elements would be needed to make the story function as a workable thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1466453999
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Fast Pace Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2008
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
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