A retro space opera that stars a robust hero, diabolical aliens, and powerful hybrids.
A security pro embarks on the adventure of a lifetime, defending imperiled Earth against an approaching alien fleet, with unearthly allies and traitors on all sides.
In Hill’s sci-fi debut, Earth in 2113 has shifted in orbit and is protected from the scorching rays of the sun by an elaborate shielding array courtesy of tycoon Howard Simpson. Muscular young security specialist Jerry McCallister lands his dream job with Simpson’s company and is soon hot on the trail of an apparent spy beaming intelligence from within the well-guarded organization into uncharted space. McCallister also encounters Simpson’s virgin sex-bomb daughter, Carla, whom he ecstatically deflowers on their fact-finding mission at the lunar-based, shield-controlling center (which also doubles as a sort of virtual-reality, adults-only playland). In a parallel narrative that carries weird echoes of the mythology behind L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology Scripture, high-ranking U.S. space pilots reveal themselves as partially alien, being descended from reconstituted extraterrestrial cremated remains long marooned on the moon. These friendly hybrids carry DNA memories of the Citons, nasty cosmic warlords who tend to talk like gangsters (calling women “whores” and “bimbos”) and who have an implacable doomsday invasion fleet en route to Earth. The Citons are formidable foes (McCallister tells Simpson that the Citons’ “minds and weapons are a million or so years beyond our comprehension”). How McCallister and his otherworldly allies pull together to confront the Citon threat is a tale full of action, intrigue, and pretty women. Hill’s energetic tale offers the kind of brawny characters, big explosions and spectacular crashes, questionable science, and heavenly bodies (the female kind) typified by men’s magazine fiction of the days when cigarette ads still walked the Earth (and goat-gland virility remedies were peddled in the classifieds). A cameo by counteragent Matt Helm or master spy Derek Flint would not have violated the suspension of disbelief all that much. The macho space heroics feel a bit like the louche reading material Capt. Kirk might hide in his underwear drawer so Gene Roddenberry wouldn’t find it.
A retro space opera that stars a robust hero, diabolical aliens, and powerful hybrids.Pub Date: March 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4787-7472-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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