Hinton’s novel is loaded with sugar, but its plot lacks some much-needed spice.
A fiercely protective New Mexican community unites to support its citizens in this feel good sequel to Pie Town (2011).
Raymond Twinhorse, whose father owns the local garage, is a troubled young veteran who suffers from PTSD after being wounded in Afghanistan. One night, he loses control, pushes his girlfriend, Trina, into a pot of boiling water, runs amok and ends up being accused of robbing the Silver Spur Bar. That same evening, a contingency of FBI agents raids a suspected drug operation, but instead of criminals, they terrorize a homeowner, an elementary school principal who suffers a heart attack. These two incidents set up the premise for the bland action that follows. Bucking against good Sheriff Roger Benavidez’s wisdom, one of the FBI agents goes after Raymond with a vengeance, intent on charging him not only with the robbery, but with illegal drug trafficking. But Raymond is proving hard to find, so his father, Frank, is taken into custody. The townsfolk, who spend a great deal of time at the local diner, decide to organize a rally to protest the FBI’s actions and to show their support for the Twinhorse family. For some strange reason, this apparently makes more sense to the citizens of Pie Town than engaging a lawyer to challenge Frank’s unlawful detention and the lack of due process. Trina believes Raymond is innocent, but she worries about his violent behavior and struggles with an important decision that could affect whatever future they may have together. Interspersed with religious and mystical themes and diverse characters, this story’s a bit too predictable for every palate, but it’s one that lovers of romance or inspirational literature might relish. And for those who enjoy baking, the author provides recipes for each of the pies mentioned in the book.
Hinton’s novel is loaded with sugar, but its plot lacks some much-needed spice.Pub Date: June 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-204512-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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