Psychological thriller debut by a distant relative of Edgar Allan Poe's that, while it will not win an Edgar, holds up as a consistently interesting tale, though more in the line of a Wilkie Collins mystery/romance than a Poe grotesquerie. Crowley Creek, Virginia, some 60 miles from Roanoke, is the location of the rebuilt House of Usher, now a sanitarium run by Drs. Roderick and Madeleine Usher, twins and descendants of the notorious Ushers made famous by Poe. Rod's best friend is John Charles Poe, a relative of Poe's, an independently wealthy man with a degree in English literature who nonetheless works as the sole, trod-upon reporter for Fanny Boynton's Crowley Sentinel. John Charles has inherited Crowley House, as well as a casket of private papers written by Edgar Allan himself (at Sotheby's these would, of course, be worth zillions, but that's never mentioned). Roderick goes balmy when Madeleine (she's a shrink) dies. Not only he but other patients at the sanitarium have seen ``ghosts'' of dead patients wandering the halls, and now Rod and even John Charles see the late Madeleine waltzing about. Throughout the story the supernatural is hinted at—but are the ghosts only a ploy by unscrupulous New York hoods who want to open a casino on Rod's grounds and use it for money laundering? Are the hoods in league with certain locals such as Fanny Boynton, lawyer Prynne, and the mayor? Do real ghosts blunder about the maze of tunnels through and under the House of Usher? And what of the copper-lined room where the original Madeleine was laid out and later awoke from premature burial? Will the Poe papers in the casket reveal to John Charles the abominable secret of the Ushers? And will the approaching monster hurricane do more than knock a few boards loose from the House of Usher? Less supernatural than the elder Poe—but the hidden papers of great poets always cast a spell.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-86012-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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