A creative and sensual novel that doesn’t disappoint.
A magic portal transports an overworked entrepreneur to a fantasyland in a loose, erotic spin on a classic tale.
In this steamy, contemporary reimagining of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—the first in a planned series—Alice Hightower was abandoned as a child and now, at 49, insists on controlling every aspect of her life. As the ambitious CEO of Excellcardia, a revolutionary biomedical company about to launch a breakthrough cardiac device, she’s found great career success. However, her cynicism toward love has kept her single, and she regularly discusses her anxieties with her psychiatrist. As with Rea’s rousing second novel, Conjuring Casanova (2016), the author doesn’t waste much time on narrative exposition. Instead, she quickly sends her protagonist through a time-travel portal, located just behind Alice’s balcony door, through which she visits bygone eras and fantastical dimensions. Alice dons outfits that mysteriously appear in her mirrored closet at home, dressing in 1970s bell-bottoms to tour with a British rock band, satin lace to attend a Roman orgy, and a formal ball gown to enjoy a Venetian carnival. Everywhere she goes, her sexual desires are described in meticulously detailed scenes. Leaving behind “the serious, conservative CEO that was Alice in the daylight,” she revels in her new, secret persona. Running alongside these adventures are clinical notes from her psychiatrist, who suggests that Alice may be suffering from inherited, high-functioning bipolar disorder, which has a sobering effect on the novel’s hypersexual fantasy. Still, the vast majority of this work is lavishly embellished with descriptions of historical locales and sexy, insatiable characters, making it an explicit, erotic treat for adults. Whether Alice is tickled by the affections of twins named Don and Dan or washed ashore with swashbuckling pirates, open-minded readers will appreciate and savor Rea’s literary creativity. The author’s fresh, flirtatious take is provocative and lucidly described; eventually, though, reality catches up with and even surpasses Alice’s imagination, forcing her to reevaluate her career and her capacity for love.
A creative and sensual novel that doesn’t disappoint.Pub Date: July 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-953735-76-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale that’s at once familiar and full of odd and unexpected twists—vintage King, in other words.
Narnia on the Penobscot: a grand, and naturally strange, entertainment from the ever prolific King.
What’s a person to do when sheltering from Covid? In King’s case, write something to entertain himself while reflecting on what was going on in the world outside—ravaged cities, contentious politics, uncertainty. King’s yarn begins in a world that’s recognizably ours, and with a familiar trope: A young woman, out to buy fried chicken, is mashed by a runaway plumber’s van, sending her husband into an alcoholic tailspin and her son into a preadolescent funk, driven “bugfuck” by a father who “was always trying to apologize.” The son makes good by rescuing an elderly neighbor who’s fallen off a ladder, though he protests that the man’s equally elderly German shepherd, Radar, was the true hero. Whatever the case, Mr. Bowditch has an improbable trove of gold in his Bates Motel of a home, and its origin seems to lie in a shed behind the house, one that Mr. Bowditch warns the boy away from: “ ‘Don’t go in there,’ he said. ‘You may in time, but for now don’t even think of it.’ ” It’s not Pennywise who awaits in the underworld behind the shed door, but there’s plenty that’s weird and unexpected, including a woman, Dora, whose “skin was slate gray and her face was cruelly deformed,” and a whole bunch of people—well, sort of people, anyway—who’d like nothing better than to bring their special brand of evil up to our world’s surface. King’s young protagonist, Charlie Reade, is resourceful beyond his years, but it helps that the old dog gains some of its youthful vigor in the depths below. King delivers a more or less traditional fable that includes a knowing nod: “I think I know what you want,” Charlie tells the reader, "and now you have it”—namely, a happy ending but with a suitably sardonic wink.
A tale that’s at once familiar and full of odd and unexpected twists—vintage King, in other words.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66800-217-9
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
PERSPECTIVES
Dark thrills for fans of psychology, magick, and murder.
A girl uncovers her own secrets while chasing a serial killer in a fantasy city.
Catrin is the assistant to Magister Thomas, the head architect of the wondrous Holy Sanctum in the city of Collis. While inspecting scaffolds at night, Cat hears a scream and follows the sound only to find a gruesome murder scene. The Comte de Montcuir assigns Simon, a handsome, young distant relation of his, to investigate. As a witness, Cat hides some information because the murdered girl visited Magister Thomas earlier that evening, and she doesn’t want to give his political enemies leverage. In the course of investigating, Cat starts to uncover her own past and things that may make her uniquely qualified to hunt the killer. As more sex workers are brutally killed, Cat, Simon, and his Montcuir cousins develop a profile of the killer—a profile that fits multiple people close to Cat. Plenty of clues and red herrings keep her (and readers) guessing. The romantic storylines gain tension as Cat must decide whom to trust. The “madness” of the killer is clearly separated from mental illness, and diversity in the presentation of mental illness is emphasized. Racially, most characters read as White; there’s an in-universe diversity storyline related to an isolationist nocturnal sect some believe to have magick. The story ends with high-stakes action and long-reaching consequences.
Dark thrills for fans of psychology, magick, and murder. (author's note) (Fantasy thriller. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-75581-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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