A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.
In Dalrymple’s second thriller featuring Ann Kinnear, the appealing spirit sensor fears she may be haunted by the ghost of a killer.
Ann’s been unhappy since surviving an encounter with a murderer; she killed Biden Firth in self-defense but also lost her beloved dog Beau. And though she can sense Beau’s spirit, he seems to have moved on. When sudden hand cramps lead to injuries, Ann believes Firth’s ghost is the source and calls fellow sensor/consultant Garrick Masser. Garrick, in turn, offers an exchange of services: he’ll help get rid of Firth if Ann can locate “the lady,” a mysterious something that Garrick’s client, Ellen Lynam, wants. Ellen’s late brother, Loring, isn’t cooperating with Garrick (they weren’t on friendly terms when Loring was alive), but the ghost may respond more favorably to the reddish-blonde Ann. Ann, meanwhile, can only hope that Firth doesn’t compound his assaults on her. Dalrymple (The Sense of Death, 2013) has crafted an understated mystery; it seems like a simple case for Ann, but numerous conundrums emerge during the investigation. It isn’t initially apparent, for example, what exactly the lady is, or why Ellen thinks the lady can save her family’s hotel. There’s unquestionably a constant threat for Ann; she can’t even drive because a hand cramp could cause an accident, and she has to rely on brother Mike’s boyfriend, Scott, as her chauffeur. But Dalrymple’s story is at its best in its jovial, humorous scenes. For example, Ann’s go-to pseudonym is Kay Near, clearly inspired by her surname. Likewise, a surprise run-in with Ellen leads Ann to pretend Scott is her fiance, a role that he plays with unmistakable relish. Even Dalrymple’s prose isn’t resistant to cheeky descriptions, referring to Garrick as an “emaciated vulture,” while Ann, aiming to drive without Scott’s knowledge, spots his hanging pants and pats “the pockets of the pant guiltily.” The ending offers a thorough resolution but not before hitting a few genuinely surprising plot twists.
A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9862675-1-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: William Kingsfield Publishers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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