A striking sci-fi adventure.
A convincing sci-fi thriller about a pair of modern-day scientists who discover an ancient Chinese colony in the jungles of South America.
In Canter’s (The Bastard, 2012) fast-paced thriller, Mason Drake and Tree Summerwood—longtime friends, former lovers and fellow scientists—have their work cut out for them. As they study the biodiversity of the Amazon rain forest, their work is dramatically interrupted when they become the only survivors of a helicopter crash on one of the 3,000-foot tepuis that form the jungle’s remote highlands, where “only the deep trenches of the world's oceans had seen fewer humans.” It’s not long before they discover evidence of a long-lost colony founded by the 15th-century Chinese explorer Zheng-He, “the Magellan of China.” The colony has become a thriving, hidden civilization composed entirely of women, ruled over by a forbidding empress. Mason and Tree meet the exotic Hsiang K’un-Chien (“Perfume of Earth-Heaven”), who possesses a remarkable physical ability that allows her to get to know both Drake and Summerwood, which gives the book’s second half an unexpected, deftly written erotic charge. In search of their missing mission colleagues, the pair must negotiate both their feelings for each other (Mason, scarred by his recent past, is wary of Tree’s feelings for him) and the strange ways of K’un-Chien’s people. Canter expertly sharpens his narrative with humor and action; vicious piranhas, a clutch of menacing Komodo dragons, swarms of killer bees and weirdly intelligent monkeys are only some of the oddities Mason and Tree encounter as the plot builds momentum. They’re also caught in a sexual power struggle among the hidden tribe, and when they prepare themselves to escape, the book’s tempo increases even further. Canter masterfully allows the scientific exposition to flow naturally in the narrative; like books from Michael Crichton and James Rollins, the story is both informative and exciting. Fortunately, the bit of clichéd dialogue is more than countered by thought-provoking digressions into the sources of sexuality and sexual fidelity, all while suspense holds until the very last page.
A striking sci-fi adventure.Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1481074315
Page Count: 380
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 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.
