Implausibly melodramatic portrait of a killer whose actions evoke horror rather than sympathy.
Tyree (Just Say No!, 2001, etc.), whose grim tales of life in the ’hood usually offer moments of grace or wisdom, tells a horrifying and essentially nasty story of a woman who murders those who get in her way.
The New Orleans–set story reflects a depressing racism: all whites, however well intentioned or innocent, are responsible for the plights of blacks, while the ills of victimhood excuse the vilest behavior. The violence begins shortly after aspiring filmmaker Kaiyah videotapes an interview with four Dillard University students who share a house. Ayana, a wannabe rap star, Bridget, daughter of wealthy parents, and goodhearted Yula all cooperate, but the fourth, Leslie Beaudet, refuses to speak. A good and ambitious student, Leslie is tormented by her family problems, her past, and her responsibilities. Her Haitian father, who wanted to be a great chef, is living in a shelter; her sister Laetitia is a teenaged unmarried mother in the projects; and elder brother Pierre, who once stood by while she was sexually abused by a gang of boys, rides round with gangster leader and drug-dealer Beaucoup. When her mother dies of AIDS and Laetitia is upset because her man is seeing waitress Phyllis, something snaps in Leslie. Her father had talked to her about Haitian Vaudou (the true version of voodoo), and Leslie, believing she’s a Vaudoo priestess, uses her powers to eliminate all who thwart her. First is the waitress Phyllis. Then, annoyed by her prying, Leslie arranges for Kaiyah to be killed. Next comes Eugene, Bridget’s Creole boyfriend. Leslie herself knocks off gangster Beaucoup after luring him to a hotel room. The violence is intensified when brother Pierre, fearful of the consequences of Beaucoup’s death, kills his guards. And Leslie, still angry, apparently can be understood only by “facing the lies of America, those painful lies of color.”
Implausibly melodramatic portrait of a killer whose actions evoke horror rather than sympathy.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2002
ISBN: 0-7432-2866-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002
Although this sequel doesn’t break new ground, it will appeal strongly to fans of the first book.
More steampunk adventures of a samurai prognosticator, his clockwork octopus, and his human lovers.
Five years after her charming debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2015), Pulley brings back the main characters for another scramble through the dangers and consequences of clairvoyance. Readers of the first book already know the big reveal: that Keita Mori—the eponymous London watchmaker—has an unusual memory that works both backward and forward. (Readers new to the series should put this book down and start with Watchmaker.) This time Pulley sets the action principally in Japan, where Mori; Thaniel Steepleton, a British translator and diplomat; Grace Carrow Matsumoto, a physicist; and Takiko Pepperharrow, a Kabuki actress and baroness, are working together to foil a samurai’s power grab and turn away a Russian invasion. At least, that’s what Mori’s doing; the others are rushing blindly down paths he’s laid out for them, which may or may not get them where he wants them to go. But if Mori knows what’s coming and what steps they can take to change the future, why doesn’t he just tell them what to do? The answer is half satisfying (because, as in any complicated relationship, communication isn’t always easy; because the characters have wills of their own and might not obey) and half irritating (because if he did, there wouldn’t be much of a story). Pulley’s witty writing and enthusiastically deployed steampunk motifs—clockwork, owls, a mechanical pet, Tesla-inspired electrical drama—enliven a plot that drags in the middle before rushing toward its explosive end. Perhaps more interesting than the plot are the relationships. The characters revolve through a complex pattern of marriages of passion and convenience, sometimes across and sometimes within genders and cultures, punctuated by jealousy and interesting questions about trust.
Although this sequel doesn’t break new ground, it will appeal strongly to fans of the first book.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63557-330-5
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally...
Yale’s secret societies hide a supernatural secret in this fantasy/murder mystery/school story.
Most Yale students get admitted through some combination of impressive academics, athletics, extracurriculars, family connections, and donations, or perhaps bribing the right coach. Not Galaxy “Alex” Stern. The protagonist of Bardugo’s (King of Scars, 2019, etc.) first novel for adults, a high school dropout and low-level drug dealer, Alex got in because she can see dead people. A Yale dean who's a member of Lethe, one of the college’s famously mysterious secret societies, offers Alex a free ride if she will use her spook-spotting abilities to help Lethe with its mission: overseeing the other secret societies’ occult rituals. In Bardugo’s universe, the “Ancient Eight” secret societies (Lethe is the eponymous Ninth House) are not just old boys’ breeding grounds for the CIA, CEOs, Supreme Court justices, and so on, as they are in ours; they’re wielders of actual magic. Skull and Bones performs prognostications by borrowing patients from the local hospital, cutting them open, and examining their entrails. St. Elmo’s specializes in weather magic, useful for commodities traders; Aurelian, in unbreakable contracts; Manuscript goes in for glamours, or “illusions and lies,” helpful to politicians and movie stars alike. And all these rituals attract ghosts. It’s Alex’s job to keep the supernatural forces from embarrassing the magical elite by releasing chaos into the community (all while trying desperately to keep her grades up). “Dealing with ghosts was like riding the subway: Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home.” A townie’s murder sets in motion a taut plot full of drug deals, drunken assaults, corruption, and cover-ups. Loyalties stretch and snap. Under it all runs the deep, dark river of ambition and anxiety that at once powers and undermines the Yale experience. Alex may have more reason than most to feel like an imposter, but anyone who’s spent time around the golden children of the Ivy League will likely recognize her self-doubt.
With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally dazzling sequels.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31307-2
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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