A highly charged fantasy tale about God-chosen warriors fighting evil forces intent on destruction.
A young man imbued with superpowers must fight to save the world from the man he once thought was his father.
The latest from Platz (Sir Coffin Graves Book 1, 2015) picks up right where the previous book left off: young Collin Graves, formerly a furniture store worker and part-time gravedigger, has had his world shattered by a series of revelations and tragedies. His lifelong nanny, Sylvanna, abruptly leaves him; Henry Davis, the man he once thought was his father, is revealed as Lord Harod Dunraven, the powerful lieutenant of a being named Dymortis, who’s bent on world domination; Jill, a young woman Collin cared for, mysteriously dies; Collin’s friend Patrick is abducted and tortured by Dunraven’s henchmen, the Regulators; and Collin himself is approached by a group calling itself the Challengers that tells him he’s actually the last surviving leader of an ancient bloodline of supernatural beings named Soulmadds, who are intent on thwarting the plans of Dunraven and Dymortis. Under the tutelage of the various remaining Soulmadds (including Sylvanna), Collin starts to master the supernatural powers that he’s begun to manifest, and he learns more about the mission of the Challengers and their allied groups, such as the grass-roots movement of the Fosai. All of them are dedicated to serving God and defeating the designs of the “Adversary,” furthering the well-crafted Christian allegory of the series. As in the previous novel, Platz here presents a thoroughly constructed and often quite exciting fantasy scenario full of high-stakes plot twists, vivid characters, and some well-timed comic relief amid all the end-of-the-world drama. Most of the Challengers feel like types rather than individuals, but Collin himself fascinates more with every chapter, constantly confronted with new information about both himself and the world, frequently forced to adapt his beliefs while trying to maintain some level of sanity. Platz continues to do a first-rate job of crafting a gripping fantasy series that can appeal equally to religious and nonreligious lovers of the genre.
A highly charged fantasy tale about God-chosen warriors fighting evil forces intent on destruction.Pub Date: April 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63505-035-6
Page Count: 332
Publisher: Mill City Press
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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