Like The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (1990) and The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper (1991), this...
An exquisitely curated gift to superfans of the TV cult classic Twin Peaks.
Novelist and acclaimed television producer Frost (Rogue, 2015, etc.) offers readers the most elaborate fan fiction ever in this obsessive relational artifact from the show. The novel takes the form of a dossier, complete with a memo from the deputy director of the FBI to an unnamed special agent. The dossier is reported to have been recovered from an active crime scene. And it is incredibly dense, superweird, and bound to be satisfying to those who remember the show warmly. There are numerous layers of content here, but it’s presented through three perspectives. The first is a running commentary from a character (named later in the book) who identifies himself as “The Archivist.” Alongside this commentary are annotations from an active FBI analyst, who pops up to explain things from time to time. Finally, there is the content of the dossier itself, which is a sprawling subterranean history of Twin Peaks from the first explorations of Lewis and Clark to the fate of Agent Dale Cooper. In between, Frost treats readers to a mass conspiracy theory that makes Welcome to Night Vale look like a school for rational thought. Seriously—UFOs, Bigfoot, the Freemasons, President Richard Nixon, and L. Ron Hubbard all make substantial appearances. Believe it or not, there is a running plot through the narrative, and Frost delivers on his revelations before a cliffhanger ending that offers a bridge to the upcoming revival of the show on Showtime next year. That said, there are certainly treats for more casual viewers, including a medical report on the Log Lady, the menu from the Double R Diner, and nods to various characters from the show.
Like The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (1990) and The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper (1991), this ambitious project will be less-than-essential for newbies but better than a damn good cup of coffee to members of the cult.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-250-07558-1
Page Count: 361
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Lamer than usual. Has the formula at last run thin enough to keep Baldacci off the bestseller list?
Murders, kidnappings, international conspiracies, internecine warfare between alphabet agencies, mad scientists and, oh yes, buried treasure, as Baldacci pours it on.
Michelle Maxwell and Sean King, once of the Secret Service, but now, reductively, P.I.s chasing the industrial security buck, return in Baldacci’s 13th (The Collectors, 2006, etc.) to face a sea of troubles. For one thing, Michelle may be cracking up. We know this because in the opening scene she ventures into exactly the wrong Washington D.C. bar and picks a fight with exactly the wrong Neanderthal. She’s almost killed, which, it turns out, might well have been the aim of the game. Instantly, Sean nudges her into a “facility” where she can be restored to mental health by world-class though unconventional psychologist Horatio Barnes, Sean’s old friend. (We know how far from hidebound he is because he wears jeans and black t-shirts and drives a Harley.) Restoring Michelle to mental health does not come cheap, so Sean takes on a gig that connects him to a certain high-powered and mysterious enclave in Virginia called Babbage Town. Baggage Town is high-powered because the scientists who work on its behalf are super bright, and it’s mysterious because no one really knows what they’re working on—except that a breakthrough could bring “the world as we know it to a screeching halt.” There, Sean finds the adorable Viggie, an 11-year-old girl genius (mathematics) who is targeted by various nasty types attempting to exploit her. Soon the customary battle ensues. Fortunately, Michelle recovers sufficient mental health to blow the facility and resume the partnership, arriving in time to earn again the thanks of a grateful…make that world.
Lamer than usual. Has the formula at last run thin enough to keep Baldacci off the bestseller list?Pub Date: April 24, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-446-58034-2
Page Count: 421
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
Fast-paced, imaginative fun. May Kurt and crew survive, as there’s a good series to continue.
The latest maritime thriller in the NUMA series starring Kurt Austin (The Rising Sea, 2018, etc.)
In 1968, the French submarine Minerve sinks without a trace in the Mediterranean. In the present day, an oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing and badly injuring many workers. Enter Kurt Austin, head of Special Projects at the National Underwater Marine Agency. Kurt leads a team that assists in marine emergencies, so they respond to the Mayday call and quickly find a stream of underwater flame—escaping gas is burning in the water, down “as far as the eye could see.” It’s a fire that needs no oxygen, a phenomenon Kurt’s team has never seen. NUMA calls the disaster clear-cut sabotage, and Kurt’s assignment is to find the guilty party. Said party is Tessa Franco, CEO of Novum Industria, who is busily sabotaging oil production around the world. She wants to promote her new fuel cell to replace “this mad reliance on fossil fuels” and become even more stinking rich than she already is. She has “infected half the world’s major oil fields” by pumping oil-eating bacteria into them, rendering them useless. “She is the oil crisis,” Kurt tells the president. Kurt's and Tessa’s teams race to locate the Minerve, which may have critical genetic research Israel commissioned half a century ago. There are great action scenes underwater and on the surface, where Tessa’s seaplane, the Monarch, is almost as big as a 747. Rotten to the core, Tessa wants her lackeys to “get rid of Austin once and for all.” Her odds look mighty good considering the firepower she brings to bear.
Fast-paced, imaginative fun. May Kurt and crew survive, as there’s a good series to continue.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-1902-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
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