A fabulous cache of gold inspires a chamber symphony of greed and betrayal in contemporary Russia. Colonel Oleg Ivanovich Polyakov hasn't distinguished himself on his recent posting to Uzbekistan to meet legendary local gangster Pulat Usmanov, the godfather of Tashkent. Hours after arriving, he's spirited away by Usmanov, who's hidden $8.5 in gold bullion officially destined for Russia; then he's kidnapped, locked up, and put to work by Usmanov's enemies in Khiva loading the gold they're hijacking from him; finally he's slugged and hustled off back home by the minions of his own boss, General Viktor Petrovich Marchenko. But all these indignities are only a prelude to Polyakov's homecoming: Marchenko's KGB superior General Anatoli Nikolaevich Zorin, incensed that Polyakov's helped steal Usmanov's gold, abruptly strips him of his rank, his apartment, and his retirement benefits, and Polyakov realizes too late that he's been caught in a crossfire between Zorin, who's in league with Usmanov to keep the gold for the Uzbeks (and of course their special KGB friends), and Marchenko, who's bent on using the gold to finance the underground dealings of the Brotherhood. Things look better, but are actually worse, when Polyakov allows himself to fall back into the arms of his former KGB subordinate and lover, Maj. Natasha Trofimenka, whose father just celebrated his own retirement from the KGB by taking a fall from his tenth-floor apartment. Bent on identifying and punishing her father's killer, and easy prey for the promises of both Zorin and Marchenko, Trofimenka has no loyalty to spare for Polyakov. Once their alliances and positions have been staked out, Gowing's tiny cast do nothing but switch them, baiting each other with foolish ingenuity in their tireless determination to keep the gold away from Mother Russia. Gowing (The Wire, 1989) spins a series of double-crosses worthy of Len Deighton in this sorry tale of the same Old World Disorder.
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1995
ISBN: 0-312-13116-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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