A favorable introduction to a sci-fi series that sets the stage for more action-packed adventures.
Debut author Rich’s sci-fi novel sends its characters on a roller-coaster journey through time.
It’s the end of the 21st century, and the human race is facing its greatest threat yet. Although incredible advances in technology and society have solved many problems, thousands are dying of Metagenesis, a condition in which a person’s soul separates from their body after too many reincarnation cycles. After Grace Dartmouth learns that her son, Jordan, has contracted the terrible disease, she’s determined to do anything to save him. Her chance comes when the world’s leading Metagenesis specialist approaches her and her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Marc Dartmouth, about an unapproved clinical trial. Dr. Messie describes how Jordan’s soul could be repaired by cloning a compatible soul from a past life—in this case, one of Marc’s. Grace is the only person who could possibly recognize Marc’s soul, so she’s chosen to travel back to the year 2000 and find it. She and her companion, Kay, arrive in the Las Vegas of that era, where they must navigate confusing customs as they race to accomplish their mission. After Grace discovers some sinister omissions in Messie’s story, she’s forced to make a painful decision—with her son’s life hanging in the balance. Rich spins an ambitious and imaginative concept into a plot that’s full of fantastically complicated twists. Throughout, readers receive myriad details about the mechanics of the fictional world and the motivations of its characters. Throughout, the narrative raises and resolves questions at a brisk pace, making for a compelling page-turner. The author occasionally oversaturates the narrative with excessive description or heavy-handed explanation, but the engaging plot and likable characters make up for these flaws. Grace and Marc’s dynamic as they navigate their broken relationship and their son’s illness is especially well-rendered. Rich wraps things up with a cohesive, satisfying ending, leaving plenty of intrigue for a promised sequel.
A favorable introduction to a sci-fi series that sets the stage for more action-packed adventures.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-947072-92-3
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Words Matter Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
