A paranoid thriller for true conspiracy theorists.
An intrepid journalist unlocks the ancient roots of modern-day evil in this London-set conspiracy thriller.
American journalist Paul Fitzgerald is haunted by vivid dreams of the Crusades. Are they mere fantasy or could they be portals into the past? What’s clear is that they have something to do with media titan Lord De Clare, a mix of Lex Luthor and Rupert Murdoch, whose monolithic company, Transitron, is making progress in virtual-reality technology that could transform the nature of human existence forever—if De Clare can get his hands on Paul’s latest manuscript, that is. Aided by helpful dwarf Juicy John Pink, crackpot astrologer Mary Underhill and ministry student Simon, Paul embarks on a spiritual odyssey that takes him from IRA-bombed London subways to 12th-century Jerusalem. Along the way, he unearths enough conspiracies to supply a dozen Da Vinci Codes when he discovers the slender threads that link Western imperialism, Celtic mythology, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the quest for the Holy Grail and quantum theory. And don’t forget numerology: “The Great flood began on the 17th day of the 7th month. The name of God has 17 letters and at the end of time 17 prophets will be born, each bearing one letter of his name. That’s 1 and 17.” If the import of such passages is lost on some readers, the authors have appended an 18-page section of “Additional Notes” to clear things up; they supply more detail on “the Dagda,” “the Monad” and “the quantum nature of existence” for those who want it. Such overabundance is characteristic of the novel, which will not suit audiences looking for the simple pleasures of a page-turner. Although the authors are successful at evoking a modern world at the brink—ruled by corporations and torn apart by religious violence—they struggle with creating flesh-and-blood characters. If Paul’s odyssey is also a personal one, it is not always apparent from dialogue that often reads like revisionist history. The novel’s saving grace is a brisk plot that keeps moving—sometimes even past the point of coherence (according to the authors’ introduction, the story began as a script for Oliver Stone). As Simon says, “This thing is science, mythology, UFOs, religion and national security rolled into one.”
A paranoid thriller for true conspiracy theorists.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1439212011
Page Count: 250
Publisher: BookSurge
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
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