by Rick H. Veal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2016
An enticing supernatural plot with an initially frisky pace hampered by excessive exposition.
A college student falls for the mysterious owner of a manor in this first installment of a paranormal romance series.
Katelyn Corbin, 21, surrenders to an “unseen force” in a recurring dream she’s had since the murder of her parents. When Katelyn arrives on the campus of her new school, the “open gash” in her soul attracts the protection of enigmatic, handsome, and wealthy College of Charleston patron James Thomas Dubois. Katelyn quickly forms a strong attachment to James, whose long hair looks “more European than American.” Ever the gentleman, he includes Katelyn’s new dorm roommate and best friend, Alexis “Lexi” Gordon, on excursions to his lavish home, Whitehall Manor, a huge colonial plantation that he lovingly restored. James reveals his true nature as well as his growing feelings for Katelyn during a visit to his old friend Charlotte Ann in New York City: “I want so much to give her the gift,” James says of Katelyn. Back on the Whitehall grounds, a snake bites Katelyn, and James saves her life with his blood. Soon James reveals all to her. A long session of sweet sex later, she must decide between James’ two offers—amnesia or his gift of immortal life—not knowing her choice will directly affect whether Lexi lives or dies. The eerie opening dream sequence in Veal’s (James’ Journey, 2016, etc.) novel creates a sexy inevitability (“All of a sudden I became aware of an unseen entity close by, sharing the darkness with me. It radiated an invisible strength, as if someone, or something, was standing right beside me”). But the promising tale, which paints an evocative portrait of a conflicted heroine, runs aground because of vague descriptions and narrative repetitions. For example, Katelyn observes of James, “Everything about him spoke of great wealth but a nicely subdued manner,” without providing vivid details. Single events are rendered multiple times. Katelyn and James’ first lovemaking episode is recounted first in real time, second via her inner dialogue, and third via another intellectual rehash. While informational, the repetitions deflate the building tension and slow down this intriguing, otherworldly story.
An enticing supernatural plot with an initially frisky pace hampered by excessive exposition.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9981044-0-9
Page Count: 412
Publisher: Virgin Vampire Publishers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
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
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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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