This tale’s sharp focus on imperfect but appealing characters sets it apart from standard genre fare.
In Hunt’s debut thriller, a forest ranger races across the United States with his daughter to reunite with his wife after a solar flare wreaks havoc worldwide.
Alex Robinson is a disaster “prepper” who’s often worried about riots, food shortages, or mad cow disease, so news reports of an unusually large solar flare have him on edge. After his preteen daughter Piper’s out-of-state swim meet in New York City, he wants to forgo sightseeing and quickly get home to his wife (and Piper’s mother), Cameron, in Seattle. But before he and his daughter can leave, there’s a statewide power outage, and it turns out that other parts of the country are facing the same problem. Alex opts to hit the road with Piper, which proves to be an arduous undertaking involving shoddy cellphone service, raging storms, and even falling planes. In the meantime, former Army medic and current emergency room nurse Cameron takes refuge at the family’s cabin in the mountains of Washington state. The relatively small cabin community, however, isn’t immune to unrest, and she and her friend Wade, who also served in the Army, try to maintain order. Meanwhile, she hopes that her family members make it home or, at least, find a way to communicate with her. Hunt’s narrative is epic in scope, but he aptly zeroes in on his main characters to tell the story. Readers don’t know any more about the ongoing catastrophes than the Robinsons do, although one scientific explanation is offered—as a minor character’s conjecture. Hunt further elevates the suspense by adding personal obstacles (diabetic Piper needs insulin, for example) and character flaws (Alex must overcome his trust issues). It’s familiar terrain; as in other disaster or apocalyptic novels, people—including car thieves and trigger-happy survivors—are invariably worse than the calamity they face. But the author delivers it all in easygoing, steadily paced prose, resulting in an ending that thoroughly wraps things up—although a sequel would be feasible.
This tale’s sharp focus on imperfect but appealing characters sets it apart from standard genre fare.Pub Date: July 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-91671-1
Page Count: 477
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A bold but flawed debut novel.
There’s a mystery, a coming-of-age, abundant melodrama and even more abundant medical lore in this idiosyncratic first novel from a doctor best known for the memoir My Own Country (1994).
The nun is struggling to give birth in the hospital. The surgeon (is he also the father?) dithers. The late-arriving OB-GYN takes charge, losing the mother but saving her babies, identical twins. We are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1954. The Indian nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, was a trained nurse who had met the British surgeon Thomas Stone on a sea voyage ministering to passengers dying of typhus. She then served as his assistant for seven years. The emotionally repressed Stone never declared his love for her; had they really done the deed? After the delivery, Stone rejects the babies and leaves Ethiopia. This is good news for Hema (Dr. Hemalatha, the Indian gynecologist), who becomes their surrogate mother and names them Shiva and Marion. When Shiva stops breathing, Dr. Ghosh (another Indian) diagnoses his apnea; again, a medical emergency throws two characters together. Ghosh and Hema marry and make a happy family of four. Marion eventually emerges as narrator. “Where but in medicine,” he asks, “might our conjoined, matricidal, patrifugal, twisted fate be explained?” The question is key, revealing Verghese’s intent: a family saga in the context of medicine. The ambition is laudable, but too often accounts of operations—a bowel obstruction here, a vasectomy there—overwhelm the narrative. Characterization suffers. The boys’ Ethiopian identity goes unexplored. Shiva is an enigma, though it’s no surprise he’ll have a medical career, like his brother, though far less orthodox. They become estranged over a girl, and eventually Marion leaves for America and an internship in the Bronx (the final, most suspenseful section). Once again a medical emergency defines the characters, though they are not large enough to fill the positively operatic roles Verghese has ordained for them.
A bold but flawed debut novel.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-375-41449-7
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2008
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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