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NAVFAC

Name: NAVFAC
Author: A.P. Greenwood
ISBN: 978-1461180111

THE FINAL TOUR OF DUTY

by A.P. Greenwood ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2011

In spite of the book’s unpolished prose, Greenwood’s methodical protagonist will hold readers’ attention.

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Greenwood (Lakota Dreams, 2009, etc.) presents a tale of a murder, romance and classified operations at a naval facility (Navfac) in 1970.

One year from retirement, Lt. Commander Alex Wolfe finds himself posted at a Navfac on the coast of North Carolina. Wolfe is the watch officer, overseeing the tracking of Soviet subs, but his collateral duty also has him functioning as the base’s legal officer. He’s immediately assigned the task of searching for an AWOL sailor, whom readers have learned, by the third page, has been beaten to death. Greenwood’s narrative presents Wolfe’s story in the first person, occasionally interrupted by third-person passages focusing on a U.S. submarine crew undergoing a top secret mission. Greenwood eventually ties this subplot to an investigation into the sailor’s death, as well as two additional murders. Further third-person addendums relay information of which the protagonist is unaware, obstructing potential mystery and diminishing suspense, as Wolfe is rarely in jeopardy. Wolfe’s behaviors are sometimes contradictory. He woos a local named Kate—a young-adult approach in which he’s excited by a simple kiss and contemplates something “long term” after first meeting the woman, despite her initial withdrawn behavior. At the same time, Wolfe openly flirts with the captain’s wife and is more than willing to engage in a tryst with her. Likewise, the lieutenant commander is enraged when his captain expresses more interest in a softball game than the investigation, but he later gripes about having been placed in right field. The author’s strong point is the story’s structure. Though he doesn’t allow his metaphors to speak for themselves (explicitly comparing Kate, who works at a fishing store, to a fish), Greenwood’s narrative often reads like a report. Wolfe prides himself on avoiding military terms (saying “3 o’clock” in lieu of “1500 hours”), but his first-person perception is highly detailed, like an officer’s account, specifying his meals at restaurants and frequently describing the interactions with others more than including the actual dialogue. Such a structure makes for a reliable narrator, and it’s maintained throughout, all the way to the rational, convincingly open-ended conclusion.

In spite of the book’s unpolished prose, Greenwood’s methodical protagonist will hold readers’ attention.

Pub Date: July 21, 2011

ISBN: 978-1461180111

Page Count: 351

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.