by Mike Cohen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2016
A mystery in which melodrama reigns, with an admirably tenacious protagonist.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
In Cohen’s debut thriller, a lawyer returns to his Washington hometown in the 1970s only to discover a swarm of illicit endeavors may be linked to his family.
Nathan Hirsch is a low-ranking but zealous attorney at a Washington, D.C., firm. Though he generally follows his boss’s script in the courtroom, Nathan takes an opportunity to branch out on his own. This unfortunately entails violating one of the firm’s policies and results in his termination. He retreats to Bethell, Washington, where his depressed mother rarely goes outside, having never recovered from the deaths of her older son, Ritchie, in Vietnam, and her husband, Leon, from a heart attack. Staying in Auntie Riva’s basement, Nathan has a chance to practice law again thanks to “Uncle” Harry King, a family friend and his parents’ lawyer. Nathan isn’t yet licensed in Washington state, but a judge allows him to act as public defender under Harry’s supervision. The same judge later pressures Nathan into representing Wally Richmond, a man arrested for burglary and the murder of “Uncle” Si Galitzer, another Hirsch family friend. Meanwhile, Harry, executor of Si’s will, enlists Nathan as his attorney. Harry anticipates that Si’s brother, Frank, will be in an uproar over a piece of the will, but Nathan wasn’t expecting the peculiarities surrounding Si. Digging deeper exposes a string of shady deeds and businesses as well as the possibility that Harry’s somehow involved. Cohen slowly sets the hook for readers. Nathan’s inevitable downfall in D.C., for one, isn’t a mere preamble but a meticulously drawn-out event. Characters unhurriedly reveal rich back stories, from Harry to Nathan’s D.C. boss, Lynn Reilly. The novel is unquestionably a murder mystery, and there are several suspicious characters. The most riveting is Ritchie. Nathan blames himself for events that drove his brother out of the family. This also ties to Katie, Ritchie’s girlfriend, currently in Bethell and seemingly harboring ill will toward Harry. Nathan’s lack of confidence often dulls the narrative. He sees himself as Reilly’s or Harry’s “puppet” and a lesser man than Ritchie. His keen observations, however, produce effervescent details: in Auntie Riva’s parlor, “the walls do not shake with the past chatter or the laughter that would make a place feel lived in, sounds you might expect to seep into the walls over generations and echo back across time.” The story has merit as a legal thriller; though few scenes take place inside a courtroom, Nathan successfully employs legal maneuvering (e.g., at a bank) to retrieve information. But the genuine focus is on Nathan as a young man overcoming never-ending hurdles. Watching him fight to earn respect within his family and as a lawyer is exhilarating, even before considering all the criminal goings-on.
A mystery in which melodrama reigns, with an admirably tenacious protagonist.Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5328-7925-8
Page Count: 306
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Nora Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 1995
Thoroughbreds and Virginia blue-bloods cavort, commit murder, and fall in love in Roberts's (Hidden Riches, 1994, etc.) latest romantic thriller — this one set in the world of championship horse racing. Rich, sheltered Kelsey Byden is recovering from a recent divorce when she receives a letter from her mother, Naomi, a woman she has believed dead for over 20 years. When Kelsey confronts her genteel English professor father, though, he sheepishly confesses that, no, her mother isn't dead; throughout Kelsey's childhood, she was doing time for the murder of her lover. Kelsey meets with Naomi and not only finds her quite charming, but the owner of Three Willows, one of the most splendid horse farms in Virginia. Kelsey is further intrigued when she meets Gabe Slater, a blue-eyed gambling man who owns a neighboring horse farm; when one of Gabe's horses is mated with Naomi's, nostrils flare, flanks quiver, and the romance is on. Since both Naomi and Gabe have horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, Kelsey is soon swept into the whirlwind of the Triple Crown, in spite of her family's objections to her reconciliation with the notorious Naomi. The rivalry between the two horse farms remains friendly, but other competitors — one of them is Gabe's father, a vicious alcoholic who resents his son's success — prove less scrupulous. Bodies, horse and human, start piling up, just as Kelsey decides to investigate the murky details of her mother's crime. Is it possible she was framed? The ground is thick with no-goods, including haughty patricians, disgruntled grooms, and jockeys with tragic pasts, but despite all the distractions, the identity of the true culprit behind the mayhem — past and present — remains fairly obvious. The plot lopes rather than races to the finish. Gambling metaphors abound, and sexual doings have a distinctly equine tone. But Roberts's style has a fresh, contemporary snap that gets the story past its own worst excesses.
Pub Date: June 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-399-14059-X
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nora Roberts
BOOK REVIEW
by Nora Roberts
BOOK REVIEW
by Nora Roberts
BOOK REVIEW
by Nora Roberts
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2008
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
Share your opinion of this book
More About This Book
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.