Intriguing plotlines, but graphic descriptions of rape, torture and murder may deter many.
Chan’s (To Gain the Whole World, 2013) pulpy psychological thriller is not for the faint of heart.
Lucinda McConnell has held onto an image of The Boy Who Rescued Maximilian—her stuffed rabbit, Maximilian, that is, who fell over a fence at the zoo when Lucinda was a child—for most of her adult life, ever since she was kidnapped, raped and tortured for years shortly after the day at the zoo. The thought of this mysterious boy coming to rescue her from her physical and psychological pain has sustained her throughout difficult relationships and unsatisfying jobs, including her current gig at a law firm. So when Lucinda runs into a man in the elevator who claims to be her long lost childhood friend, she can’t help but hope. Penn is handsome, interesting and seems to want to get to the heart of Lucinda’s fears. But when her ex-boyfriend, Daniel, shows up with a story about a man who, in his search for new tales for his “story collection,” pumps him for information about Lucinda and then mysteriously moves in to her apartment building—Lucinda’s life begins to unravel. Every new friendship and every success she has at work seem to have been poisoned by her past and her relationship with Penn. After a tumultuous eight months, Lucinda breaks it off—and Penn commits suicide. But the nightmare isn’t over: Handsome, exotic Ronin moves into Lucinda’s apartment building and her heart, with catastrophic consequences. Author Chan has crafted a fast-paced, complicated thriller that is not short on twists. An efficient storyteller, Chan skillfully weaves together numerous plot threads. While the writing is decent and the dialogue believable, the gratuitous portrayals of the darkest side of humanity might be a bit much for those looking for a beach read.
Intriguing plotlines, but graphic descriptions of rape, torture and murder may deter many.Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1615729807
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Damnation Books, LLC.
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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