by Mitchell J. Rycus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 2013
A fascinating tale of how chance interconnects the lives of a handful of strangers.
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In Rycus’ (The Soil Is Dead, 2012, etc.) novel, a dying man receives an unexpected gift while vacationing in Bali.
After a brief prologue in which saintly Father Pavlos of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Ypsilanti, Mich., confesses his need to relate a remarkable story, that story begins with young engineer Joey Gilbert’s doctor bluntly telling him, “You’ve got incurable cancer.” Gilbert is stunned; he and his wife, Gabriella, had been planning their second honeymoon, this time off the beaten track in Bali, and now everything has changed. But the doctor suggests they go through with their vacation, and he recommends an old doctor-colleague of his as a contact person in Bali. That colleague, Dr. Setiawan, is sympathetic to Gilbert’s tragedy and gives him some specially made tea that immediately soothes him. Setiawan gives him a small supply of tea leaves to take back with him to the States, where customs inspectors at the Detroit airport confiscate the tea leaves as suspicious contraband. The confiscation hardly matters to Gilbert; he’s too elated at learning that his cancer has entirely disappeared. Meanwhile, customs agent Konstantinos “Connie” Sarbanes, who’s brought home some of the mysterious remedy, smokes it hoping that it’ll ease the irritation of his newly diagnosed glaucoma—but it cures it instead. Likewise, Nando Garcia, a janitor at the Detroit airport, wonders if using some of the leaves he brought home from work might ease the symptoms of his daughter’s muscular dystrophy—and they eliminate her disease entirely. When temperamental Ypsilanti police officer Mitch Foley visits the bedside of his partner who’s been shot in the chest, the gravely wounded cop jokingly sprinkles some of the ground-up plant on his chest, and he makes a full and speedy recovery. After coming in contact with the leaves, even Foley’s chronic anger issues resolve themselves. Father Pavlos keeps a record of these and other seeming miracles in his “T file,” and as Rycus’ completely winning narrative works to its climax, possible deeper significances of the wonders wrought by the unusual cure are explored. In vignette after vignette, Rycus expertly animates his characters.
A fascinating tale of how chance interconnects the lives of a handful of strangers.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1475972337
Page Count: 240
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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
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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
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