A high-spirited tale for readers interested in archaeology and sustainable living.
An archaeological fantasy adventure that brings one of the world’s greatest mysteries into the modern political milieu.
Self-professed archaeology geek Bob Wallace has written a controversial new book, The Impossible Mayan. In it, he posits that the ancient Mayan civilization, rather than dying out, made contact with and joined the “People of the Sea” from the lost city of Atlantis. He and his 13-year-old daughter, Tara, are on a flight back to the United States from a conference in England when the plane’s electronics fail and it crash-lands in the ocean. Meanwhile, Bob’s ex-wife, Jenn Wallace, awaits them at Playa del Carmen in Mexico. She’s set to lead a tour of the Mayan ruins beneath Tulum, where recently discovered images and artifacts lend credence to Bob’s theory. The same phenomenon that downed the plane—an electromagnetic pulse—causes fog to cover the beach, followed by a small-scale tsunami. Bob, Tara, and other conference attendees, including the insufferable Evan Masters, survive the plane crash only to encounter low, wooden ships powered by oars. Aboard them is a contingent that Bob recognizes as ancient Mayan. The rescuers bring the survivors to an island formed by “Three rings of water, and three of land”—Atlantis itself. In this opener to a new series, author Enock (Doc Christmas and the Magic of Trains, 2016) soon shows what happens when a large nation of benevolent visionaries, who believe that “no single voice must...be allowed to speak for all,” is thrust into the chaotic 21st century. The book is both playful and politically savvy; for example, the Atlanteans appear superficially primitive, but they know enough to use their force-field technology to protect the island from scrambling world powers, such as China. However, they also trust in the visions of the mysterious Diachrome, who foresaw the world’s end in 2012. Although this plot thread leads to moments of humor, another one about global elites reaping technological benefits while humanity suffers is frightfully consequential. By the end, Bob’s and Tara’s lives are changed forever, urging readers toward the next volume in the series.
A high-spirited tale for readers interested in archaeology and sustainable living.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-988108-01-8
Page Count: 440
Publisher: iTinkr Inc.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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