by Ralph J. Ehlinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
A remarkable history of revolutionary Cuba that could have been shorter and more tightly developed.
In this epic debut novel, an ambitious American businessman operates in Cuba during some of its most volatile years.
When Charles Booth is only 3 years old, his father dies in a forest fire that consumes the property he owns in Wisconsin. At the time, Charlie is living in Chicago with his pregnant mother. Twenty years later, compelled by a desire to better understand the father he never knew and against his mother’s wishes, Charlie travels to Wisconsin to claim what is left of his father’s real estate holdings. Despite lacking any experience, he makes an entrance into the lumber business—his father’s area of commercial expertise—and quickly becomes a shareholder and foreman for the Shanagolden Lumber Company. Charlie is both a quick learner and assiduous worker, and successful as a result, but he’s anxious to start his own business. The revolution in Cuba at the close of the 19th century and the American presence that fills the vacuum left by the expulsion of Spain present potentially lucrative opportunities for those investors with a stomach for risk. Charlie moves to Cuba with his wife, Jenny—she is a valuable partner because of her fluency in Spanish—and he buys land on the Isle of Pines, rich in pine trees. But Charlie eventually discovers that even with the American annexation of Cuba—and partly because of it—political instability threatens his business interests. Many see the arriving Americans as invaders more than liberators. In addition, his marriage is imperiled by the pain of prolonged absences from Jenny as well as her “gnawing jealousy” and suspicions that he has been unfaithful. Ehlinger displays an extraordinary command of the historical period that includes the geopolitical and economic currents. Even more impressively, he supplies a sensitive but synoptic account of the internecine divisions within Cuba at the time that became battle lines—differing political, ideological, and racial allegiances so sharply drawn that violent conflict seemed inevitable. Both Charlie and Jenny are largely naive when they first land in Cuba; even late in the novel, he can confidently declare: “We came to save Cuba, save it from itself, and we are well along to accomplishing that.” If anything about Ehlinger’s rendering sounds a false note, it’s the painfully slow process of revelation for two characters otherwise depicted as not only worldly, but intellectually sober as well. While the author’s writing is always lucid, that reliable delivery of clarity is rarely accompanied by literary style; in fact, the bloodless lack of embellishment sometimes seems incongruent with the story’s high drama. His true authorial gift is characterization—it’s rare one encounters a novel so well-populated with such richly drawn dramatic personae, a complex tale unburdened by lazily conceived caricatures. But Ehlinger would have benefited from an expert editor—he lingers far too long on the minute details of this or that business transaction, and as a result the book is needlessly long (over 500 pages). In addition, the genuinely exciting drama is meted out too frugally, interrupted by distracting detours.
A remarkable history of revolutionary Cuba that could have been shorter and more tightly developed.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 531
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
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New York Times Bestseller
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2016
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
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IndieBound Bestseller
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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