A thoroughly enjoyable and iconoclastic comic novel.
In Henry’s farcical adventure, a man pursued by the law flees his Central Asian country to become a fisherman in Hawaii but finds himself still hunted by his enemies.
Jefir Zaqq lives a simple life in Taboor City, Zazaristan, a (fictional) Islamic nation in Central Asia that’s experienced dizzying shifts in political fortune. Jefir sells melons with his brother, Rahim, but lands himself in trouble one day when he’s stopped at a checkpoint by Bashir Hallazallah, a powerful warden looking to shake him down. Jefir attempts escape, and in the process stabs Hallazallah’s son with a corkscrew, which proves fatal. Now Jefir’s life in Zazaristan is in danger, but while on the run, he finds unexpected help from mysterious businessman Wahiri Shwarma, who arranges to smuggle him out of the country on a cargo ship. For nine days, Jefir hides in a prefabricated home headed to somewhere in North America, which turns out to be Honolulu. Jefir changes his name to Jeff Zachary and almost immediately finds work as a fisherman on a tuna boat, the Monkey Fist, captained by the cantankerous Tasha Hale. Henry artfully combines satirical hilarity with genuine drama in these pages as Jeff is doggedly pursued by Customs and Border Patrol agents as well as a vengeful Hallazallah as he tries to raise funds to have Rahim join him in Hawaii. The plot is entertainingly absurd throughout; Henry shows himself to have a keen eye for the ludicrous and a sharp wit in its literary expression, as when he humorously lays out Zazaristan’s political upheavals in list form: “Centrally Planned Market Oligarchy, Proletarian Empire, Traditional Monarchy, Mixed Fascism, Second Wave Monarchy, Plutocratic Democracy, Full-on Anarchy, Uruguayan-Style Co-Participation, Social Republic, etc.” Indeed, this novel is a rarity in that it’s simultaneously politically irreverent, genuinely funny, and impressively thoughtful.
A thoroughly enjoyable and iconoclastic comic novel.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 397
Publisher: Operation Dodecahedron
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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