A lengthy but eventful character study that keeps its protagonist in jeopardy both on and off the battlefield.
Notchtree offers a military adventure novel about the making of a modern Russian soldier.
When readers first meet Maxym “Max” Ivanov, it’s the year 2000, he’s just 6 years old. He’s with his parents and sister when Chechen separatists brutally attack; Max hides, but the rest of his family is killed. Russian contract soldiers known as “kontraktnik” swiftly catch the perpetrators, and one of the soldiers offers young Max a gun so that he can seek immediate justice. Max does so, shooting all the captives and vowing to one day kill all the mujahedeen. One of the Russian soldiers, Leonid Nikolayevich, adopts the youngster and vows to take care of him. After Leonid is wounded in battle, he and Max move to the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. Aside from the fact that Max has killed several people and seems driven to kill more, he and Leonid live a fairly ordinary life. When the young man reaches puberty, he realizes that he’s gay; he later carries on a secret relationship with a boy named Andrei. When the two are caught having sex, it creates a scandal, and they are forced to sever all ties with each other. At the age of 17, Max joins a fighting force called Valhalla, and he proves to be highly skilled with firearms. In Valhalla, recruits live by such maxims as “your whole body is a killing machine.” Max goes on to participate in missions throughout the world; eventually, in 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine occurs, and he reflects on how he really doesn’t want “to join this Donbas mess and end up shooting at Ukrainians.”
The entire saga of Maxym Ivanov weighs in at more than 700 pages, and it’s a tale that progresses at an unhurried pace with a great deal of dialogue. For instance, when Max is young, he has an awful lot of questions; when he and Leonid are taking a trip to England, for instance, the youngster asks, “Can we meet the Queen?” Many of his queries, though, don’t add much to his character or to the overall progress of the story. Even in Max’s later years, he still has obvious queries, as when he says, in response to a comment about bank interest rates going up: “That means I get more in interest, doesn’t it?” Still, for readers, the heart of the matter is where this ferocious combatant will ultimately end up. The narrative builds excitement as he arrives in such locales as Northern Ireland and the Central African Republic. There’s plenty of action, as well: “A hail of bullets came his way, smashing into the masonry around.” One never knows what the next hot zone will have in store—or if his sexual orientation will attract dangerous attention. For example, he worries about what the Russian army, who threaten to conscript Max if he doesn’t volunteer for combat, will do if they find out that he’s gay. Such moments of tension give the story added suspense and momentum.
A lengthy but eventful character study that keeps its protagonist in jeopardy both on and off the battlefield.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2024
ISBN: 9798389763173
Page Count: 534
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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