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
Real events like the Vietnam draft and Stonewall uprising enter the characters' family history as well as a stunning plot...
The Owens sisters are back—not in their previous guise as elderly aunties casting spells in Hoffman’s occult romance Practical Magic (1995), but as fledgling witches in the New York City captured in Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids.
In that magical, mystical milieu, Franny and Bridget are joined by a new character: their foxy younger brother, Vincent, whose “unearthly” charm sends grown women in search of love potions. Heading into the summer of 1960, the three Owens siblings are ever more conscious of their family's quirkiness—and not just the incidents of levitation and gift for reading each other's thoughts while traipsing home to their parents' funky Manhattan town house. The instant Franny turns 17, they are all shipped off to spend the summer with their mother's aunt in Massachusetts. Isabelle Owens might enlist them for esoteric projects like making black soap or picking herbs to cure a neighbor's jealousy, but she at least offers respite from their fretful mother's strict rules against going shoeless, bringing home stray birds, wandering into Greenwich Village, or falling in love. In short order, the siblings meet a know-it-all Boston cousin, April, who brings them up to speed on the curse set in motion by their Salem-witch ancestor, Maria Owens. It spells certain death for males who attempt to woo an Owens woman. Naturally this knowledge does not deter the current generation from circumventing the rule—Bridget most passionately, Franny most rationally, and Vincent most recklessly (believing his gender may protect him). In time, the sisters ignore their mother's plea and move to Greenwich Village, setting up an apothecary, while their rock-star brother, who glimpsed his future in Isabelle’s nifty three-way mirror, breaks hearts like there's no tomorrow. No one's more confident or entertaining than Hoffman at putting across characters willing to tempt fate for true love.
Real events like the Vietnam draft and Stonewall uprising enter the characters' family history as well as a stunning plot twist—delivering everything fans of a much-loved book could hope for in a prequel.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5011-3747-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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