A well-paced, religion-infused story that’s hampered by the demotion of a great character.
Residents near Yellowstone National Park must contend with Satan worshippers and an insane man hunting for his sister in Perkinson’s (Mystic, 2017, etc.) thriller sequel.
In her new job as a seasonal ranger for the area around the Old Faithful geyser, Joan Worthing has the chance to prove herself. She’s looking forward to no longer being a victim after years of sexual abuse by her schizophrenic brother, Teddy. Unfortunately, the latter escapes a mental institution and makes his way to Yellowstone to find Joan. His repugnant goal is to conceive a child with her; it’s part of his delusion involving a prophecy of saving the world. Teddy’s increasingly erratic behavior poses a danger to other people, as well, including local psychologist Dr. Rand Holland and preacher Cory Beard, who later becomes Joan’s love interest. Meanwhile, a satanic coven in Denver recruits 16-year-old Lela Lander, one of Rand’s patients, and pursues a sinister plan that ultimately involves Joan. The coven’s leader is apparently communing with demons, while Cory feels that he’s losing his connection to God and Rand is hearing what he believes is God’s voice. As the time of the coven’s blood ritual looms, a confrontation between good and evil seems inevitable. Despite the fact that multiple people hear demonic or divine voices, Perkinson keeps the story grounded, never verifying the existence of any spiritual presences. Instead, he tells a tale in which mere humans are the primary threat and the ones who must protect themselves and others. The simple, straightforward prose details a wide range of characters, including members of the coven and of Cory’s congregation, but Perkinson also maintains the story’s forward momentum. There are some effective plot turns along the way, including a few surprising deaths. One drawback, though, is Joan’s waning importance to the story; she begins the novel admirably determined to combat a male-dominated world that wants women to fail, but later, she’s a mere supporting character, her personal fight overshadowed by Cory’s questions of faith.
A well-paced, religion-infused story that’s hampered by the demotion of a great character.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68433-083-6
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 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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