A man’s search for his missing uncle leads him into the Arizona desert, where secrets—and maybe some bodies—are buried in Ingwalson’s (WDYG, 2013, etc.) latest thriller.
When 22-year-old Sin gets a call from a former agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a woman known as la Calavera, he immediately goes to see her. She’s been sent a picture of Sin’s uncle, el Viejo, at Denzhone, an upscale vacation spa where the elderly man goes to relax. El Viejo, once a Marine sniper, had raised (and trained) the boy since he was a bullied tween carrying his dad’s gun in his backpack. The picture’s considered a possible threat, taken from what could be a sniper’s vantage point, and sure enough, el Viejo is nowhere to be found. Sin, unsure if his uncle is alive or dead, scours Arizona to find out what has happened to el Viejo and why. Ingwalson’s neo-Western thriller showcases a first-rate protagonist, who stays calm under pressure even when outnumbered. The oscillating timeline lays out some of Sin’s back story, from his tormented school days to his life as a young man under the wing of el Viejo, who became his mentor. Much of Sin’s training with his uncle remains a mystery, but it’s enough to pique interest. Sin’s family is also fascinating, especially his older sister, Nicki, who left the home when Sin was 11 years old and whom he misses dearly; apparently in hiding, she offers another puzzle to be solved, based on a cryptic phone call that Sin makes. Though Sin revels in the violence—his equating the feel of a gun to “a little orgasm in his hand” is particularly jolting—he’s equally at home handling surveillance. In fact, the novel’s best scenes occur when Sin follows a trail in the desert sand, spying on a couple of shady characters, and checking a restaurant and motels to get info on mercenaries who might be behind el Viejo’s disappearance. Sin does find resolution, at least in this story, but Ingwalson has created a world ripe for exploration in future novels. A sterling achievement, featuring an ultracool protagonist and doting descriptions of all types of guns.
Pub Date: May 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1497343405
Page Count: 192
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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