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EXECUTIVE

Name: EXECUTIVE
Author: Leslie Wolfe
ISBN: 978-0984384624

A NOVEL

by Leslie Wolfe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2011

A highflying, cautionary tale of unrestrained technology—some narrative assembly required.

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A timely adventure explores corporate malfeasance, executive greed and the deadly consequences of unmanned aerial vehicles gone astray.

When a private undercover firm is hired to investigate the deteriorating work environment at a respected U.S. military contractor, top managers stand to lose everything. The assignment to uncover the cause of poor morale and declining stock prices at NanoLance becomes a race to prevent further deaths caused by rogue drones. Aided by an interesting format for chapter delineation, Wolfe keeps readers turning the pages as the action blows past with little meaningful character development. The novel highlights Wolfe’s self-stated love for technology—exacting descriptions of electronic spyware, sophisticated communication devices and unmanned aerial vehicles figure prominently in the story, with most technology described in more detail than the living, breathing characters who appear on the scene with little to no background. They’re just there to keep the story running. The brief description of heroine Alex Hoffmann’s strange childhood begs the question of how her parents shifted from loving to startlingly abusive. For the other characters, no history is offered at all. Why did “The Agency” work so hard to recruit Alex for their team—indeed, what is “The Agency”? Opening chapters suggest a government connection, but that direction stalls. The top brass’ behavior at NanoLance becomes too pathological to be plausible, although Wolfe cleverly exposes the peculiar effects of fear on quality in the work place. Stylistically, the narrative has a tendency to stumble in awkward phrasing—“Janet Tempelton … was only five minutes away of Mrs. Kingsley’s address”; “She had no idea when the time had flown”—which cools the plot’s otherwise fiery jets.

A highflying, cautionary tale of unrestrained technology—some narrative assembly required.

Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2011

ISBN: 978-0984384624

Page Count: 348

Publisher: Italics Publishing

Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2012

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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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.