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
The first installment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and...
The debut novel from Australian actor Arnold is a fusion of paranormal fantasy and mystery set in a world where magic has been effectively destroyed by humans, forcing the supernatural population to live a radically diminished existence.
Fetch Phillips is a “Man for Hire,” which is another way of saying the down-on-his-luck, hard-drinking former Soldier–turned-detective will do just about anything to pay the bills. When a principal from a cross-species school enlists him to find a missing professor—a 300-year-old Vampire named Edmund Rye—Phillips quickly agrees. Without magic, the Vampires—and all other supernatural beings—are slowly dying. So how difficult could it be to find a withered bloodsucker who is so weak he can hardly move around? After visiting Rye’s last residence—a secluded loft space in the local library filled with the Vampire’s research and writings—Phillips discovers that one of Rye’s students is missing as well: a young Siren named January. His investigation becomes complicated when more Vampires turn up dead and he is almost killed himself. While the mystery element of the storyline is a bit thin, the focus on meticulous worldbuilding and highly detailed backstory as well as the cast of fully developed and memorable characters (Simms, the reptilian cop; Peteris, the disfigured half-werewolf; etc.) are unarguable strengths. But the real power here is in Arnold’s use of imagery throughout. His unconventional descriptive style brings a richness and depth to the narrative. Pete’s smile is “like a handbag with a broken zipper,” and the sound of Phillips’ falling from a building is “like someone stepping on an egg full of snails.”
The first installment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-45582-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
A strong, thoughtful, and fast-paced follow-up that bodes well for future volumes.
In the second installment of a political fantasy thriller series where “bioenergetic jade” provides magical energy, the conflict of two warlord/organized crime clans has global implications.
In the Hong Kong-like city of Janloon, the Mountain and No Peak clans have announced a public truce while each secretly tries to undermine the other for control of the city and their nation of Kekon, the only source of the jade. As jade smugglers both inside and outside the country threaten the clans’ mutual control over the mineral, political tensions rise between the neighboring nations of Espenia and Ygutan over a rebellion in Shotar, which leads both to seek more jade for their armies. Meanwhile, Hilo, the former Horn (chief enforcer) of the No Peak clan, struggles to master the tactics he needs to fill his late brother’s role as Pillar (clan leader). His sister, Shae, the clan’s Weather Man (chief advisor), has that tactical knowledge but lacks the clan’s complete trust; she’s also trying to juggle her clan responsibilities and her personal life, which includes a quiet romance with a nonclan professor. At the same time, their adopted brother, Anden, embarks on a new, jade-free life in Espenia but still manages to find trouble there, and Hilo’s jade-immune wife, Wen, secretly supports the clan through her own work as a spy. If they are to prevail against the ruthless Ayt Mada, Pillar of the Mountain clan, and the various other domestic and foreign threats, terrible sacrifices will be required, made willingly or not. The first installment, Jade City (2017), leaned rather heavily, albeit effectively, on some tropes and plot points from The Godfather, and it’s pleasing to see that the author has chosen a more independent path this time around. If there’s any thematic link between this book and Godfather II, it’s a common understanding that the outside world has a way of crashing into isolated communities and forcing them to adapt, so it’s best to be on the offensive, as well as a rueful acknowledgment that despite that understanding, relationships with those outside the community might not end well.
A strong, thoughtful, and fast-paced follow-up that bodes well for future volumes.Pub Date: July 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-44092-9
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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