A thrilling mystery with an unlikely yet endearing heroine.
A gruesome murder is no match for a vodka-swilling Russian medium in Fortis’ debut mystery novel.
“Chainsaw” Jane Dzhugashvili is a character in every sense of the word. “Small and wrinkled like a Russian bad seed,” Jane lives in the small town of Noliar, Pa., and has a proclivity for good Russian vodka, strong curse words and tarot cards. Despite her unconventional appearance and personality traits, Jane is also a medium who works with the NYPD. When New York City bookstore owner Dorothea Sishy goes missing, the police (led by Jane’s friend Julie) show up on Jane’s doorstep asking for help. Though Jane is distracted by the recent disappearance of her best friend, Cruz, she agrees to use her skills as a medium to deduce what happened to Dorothea. According to Jane and the cards, Dorothea has been the victim of a grisly murder, most likely at the hands of one of her many lovers. The cops also realize that something may link the murder and Cruz’s disappearance, meaning Cruz and even Jane are in serious danger. Julie enlists the help of her old friend Zoe, and the two manage to pack up Jane and move her to New York City, where Jane continues to pursue the murder case in hopes of saving Cruz. The investigation carries on in both Noliar and New York City, leading to several suspenseful moments as Jane closes in on the killer. Fortis has a marvelous character in Chainsaw Jane, a complicated woman with a cryptic past. Jane’s voice, the result of countless cigarettes and an occasionally thick Russian accent, comes through loud and clear thanks to Fortis’ snappy, smart dialogue. Zoe, Julie and the various personalities of Noliar are a solid supporting cast who accept Jane, despite her eccentricities. The psychic’s abilities and her involvement in the crimes intrigue, and Fortis presents a mystery with elements of suspense, horror and humor. A simmering romantic interest who returns from Zoe’s past offers a nice secondary plotline.
A thrilling mystery with an unlikely yet endearing heroine.Pub Date: March 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615715957
Page Count: 304
Publisher: LIBURU PRESS
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
