A grizzled, tightly-wound account of two men struggling with an unforgiving world.
Phillips’ novel follows troubled old friends in a small town.
Sam Carl is a short-order cook at a diner in the town where he grew up. He is, at the age of 26, a father who lives with his wife and son. Sam’s life is largely unremarkable when compared with that of his friend Hayes Simms. Hayes and Sam used to get up to mischief when they were kids, but Hayes’ father, Ryder, was no laughing matter. Ryder, in Hayes’ words, is a “hate-filled prick”; a stern man to say the least, he even pistol-whipped Sam one time for no good reason. Hayes, as an adult, is a Marine who saw action in Afghanistan. Now, he’s back home. Hayes is called a “war hero,” but he is troubled. He seems unfit for civilian life, particularly when he does things like build sandbag bunkers around his home or mouth off to a police officer. He also seems bent on killing a local Marine Corp recruiter named Jazz. The narrative darts back and forth between the past and the present as Hayes and Sam come to terms with their lives. Theirs is a world of desert dust and angry men—after Sam is pistol-whipped, he thinks about killing Ryder: “Why can’t I be the one to put him out of his own and everyone else’s misery?” Such thoughts help keep the tension in the story high, as the threat of violence is always near. The novel does progress slowly in some lengthy scenes; a flashback to Hayes and Sam playing soldier in the desert as kids goes on for several paragraphs but does not yield much aside from the suggestion of a slightly sinister aspect of their friendship. Still, the reader remains curious about who, if anyone, will be left standing by the time all the dust has settled.
A grizzled, tightly-wound account of two men struggling with an unforgiving world.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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