An absorbing, unsparing critique of American politics with humor and a likable protagonist.
A campaign staffer finds himself wrongfully accused of a crime during the 2020 Donald Trump–Joe Biden presidential race in this alternative-history satire.
As Election Day in America nears, rumors float that the Chinese are bankrolling Biden’s presidential bid. The head of a Washington, D.C., strategic intelligence firm hires former MI5 operative Danny Copper to see if there’s validity to this scuttlebutt. Copper turns to someone working on Biden’s campaign—Hong Kong–born Gary Wang. The pair’s drunken conversation sparks the mere suggestion that the candidate is aware the Chinese are bankrolling his presidential run. Copper adds fuel to the fire by digging up “plausible evidence” against Biden, though it’s little more than further rumors. Meanwhile, someone throws Wang’s life into a tailspin by leaking his name in the press as a reputed “back channel” to the Chinese. The feds scour his New York City apartment, and reporters hound him and his girlfriend, Manny Carleton, a Fox News assistant guest coordinator. Wang may run before he’s arrested for supposedly accepting money from China for Biden’s election campaign. But the only place Wang has to go is an estranged relative’s place, which will likely stir up a past he’s kept hidden. Goodwin’s novel lampoons both political sides, as Republicans and Democrats scramble to either debunk the accusations or substantiate them. Though this narrative leans toward conservative views, nearly every character is shady, including a cutthroat CNN reporter with a right-wing agenda. An extensive cast and comedic moments help propel the story, from President Trump’s repeated descriptions of certain people as good guys to a surprisingly funny interrogation scene. But the author takes some subjects seriously, as when protests spiral into violence. The latter half takes a welcome turn by concentrating on sympathetic Wang, who, in trying to prove his innocence, gets caught up with criminals. The final act suitably wraps up his personal story as well as the impending election.
An absorbing, unsparing critique of American politics with humor and a likable protagonist.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63363-565-4
Page Count: 292
Publisher: White Bird Publications
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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