A lively but campy murder mystery.
In this sequel, a woman’s beloved aunt disappears and clues surface that suggest foul play.
Annalisse Drury is tormented by the uncertainty of her relationship with Alec Zavos, a fabulously wealthy heir to his family’s business empire, and discontented with life in Manhattan and its “cold streets crowded with absentminded New Yorkers fascinated by their phones.” She escapes “Zombieland” for the familiar solace of Walker Farm, a bucolic redoubt in upstate New York where her Aunt Kate lives. But instead of serenity, Annalisse encounters something more discomfiting: Kate’s son, Jeremy, an unsavory character, has decided to sell the farm, and his mother is legally powerless to stop him. Then Kate’s hired hand, Ethan Fawdray, finds a dead man in the barn, a decomposed body with an identification card that belongs to Thomas Taylor, a name that elicits an astonished gasp from Kate, though she refuses to disclose what it means to her. Later, Kate suddenly vanishes, leaving behind evidence that she “fought off an assailant.” Annalisse is beside herself with worry, and Alec calls private investigator Bill Drake to track down Kate. Bell’s (Stolen Obsession, 2018) second installment of the Annalisse series isn’t a stand-alone novel—the plot makes repeated references to its predecessor and even ends with a hint of yet another volume. Those considering reading this book should read the preceding work first. The plot is busy with layers of drama—Alec is being blackmailed by Karl Brooks, his ex-wife’s paramour, a money-hungry drug dealer. The author has a keen eye for the corrosive effects of long-standing secrets, especially those that haunt families. In addition, the story marches to its conclusion at an indefatigable pace, breathlessly action-packed. But the tale also has a soap-operatic quality to it, delivering histrionic melodrama nearly to the point of inadvertent comedy and stark implausibility. For those readers in search of theatrical hyperbole, Bell delivers with an easily companionable style.
A lively but campy murder mystery.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9995394-2-2
Page Count: 378
Publisher: Ewephoric
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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