The familiar protagonist, along with sensational new and recurring characters, drives an energetic political tale.
A pastor who’s a former SEAL and CIA operative tries to protect a potential candidate for the Russian presidency from assassins in this eighth installment of a thriller series.
Pastor Stephen Grant is leaving behind his Long Island Lutheran church—temporarily—for a conference at the Reagan Library in California. He’ll be supporting his wife, Jennifer, who’s promoting her debut book on economic policy. Also attending the conference is Russian businessman Vitaly Orlov, whose political presence is so strong in his own country that some believe he may run for president. This has sparked criticism from incumbent Russian President Nestor Petrunin, who calls into question Orlov’s loyalty to his homeland, as his respect for Ronald Reagan is well-known. Orlov has clearly amassed enemies, evidenced by the two assailants that target him and his wife, Maya, in California. Luckily, Grant thwarts the assassination, and at the pastor’s recommendation, Orlov hires the security firm CDM. CEO Paige Caldwell, Grant’s old CIA partner and ex-lover, and the CDM team are on full alert, as there are further attempts on Orlov’s life. Tensions only escalate when political assassinations in Russia suggest that someone is staging a coup. It seems Orlov is not safe in either country, even with Grant and CDM as his guardians. Keating (Lionhearts, 2017, etc.) has accumulated an impressive assortment of characters in his series, and he gives each of them ample opportunity to shine. Caldwell, for example, is formidable both in action and business and has a (mostly) secret relationship with U.S. President Adam Links. As in the preceding novels, the author skillfully blends Grant’s sermonizing with intermittent bouts of violence. It creates a rousing moral quandary for readers to ponder without either side overwhelming the storyline. Tight action scenes complement the suspense (uncertainty over when the next possible attack will be), though a later plot turn is too predictable. The villains, meanwhile, are just as rich and engrossing as the good guys and gals.
The familiar protagonist, along with sensational new and recurring characters, drives an energetic political tale.Pub Date: April 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-979463-51-5
Page Count: 324
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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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