A frightening, if flawed, tale about two mysterious plagues.
An employee works to save the world from a health crisis caused by his company in this debut eco-thriller.
In the near future, the world is beset by two strange and terrible plagues. The first, Idiopathic Infertility Syndrome, kills fetuses in the womb. The second, Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome, causes organ failure in otherwise healthy people. Veregro, a massive company that manufactures seeds and insect repellent, has offered a million-dollar reward to anyone who can discover the cause of these scourges, and someone does: a Veregro tech named Randy Hall. But the company probably won’t like what he finds, as the cause is Veregro itself. Randy takes his findings to Veregro’s vice president for communications, Walter Conroy, a former researcher whose work predicted these epidemics 18 years ago. Walter, who recently lost his wife to MODS, begins to look into the matter, only to find out soon after that Randy has been murdered. Walter seeks out Charlotte “Lottie” Winters, a former Veregro lawyer with a checkered past who lives on a Marin County commune where MODS has not yet appeared. Walter and Lottie will have to race to stop Veregro before its products lead to the death of millions—and before the company deals with them in the same manner as Randy. Roy Mankovitz and Alan Mankovitz (a father and son team) tell their story in breezy but urgent prose: “Walter returned, sat down and poured himself some tea. The way Lottie was frowning at him suggested he wouldn’t be staying long. But how could she be angry at him? They were both after the same thing, weren’t they?” The characters are generally believable, as is the book’s terrifying premise, and the authors maintain an admirably brisk pace. This verisimilitude—in terms of the setup, if not the full narrative—makes for a thriller that is pleasantly anxiety-inducing, even as it travels along a fairly predictable track. Readers will turn the pages with their stomachs in knots, hoping that some biological solution can be found, even if it is preceded by some rather silly plot developments.
A frightening, if flawed, tale about two mysterious plagues.Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9990994-9-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Weeping Willow Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
Haunting and superbly crafted, this is a magical book from a writer of immense talent and intelligence.
The lives of three generations of women in Jamaica intersect as they try to build better lives.
Margot, a 30-year-old desk clerk at a hotel in Jamaica, has fallen into a side business of sex with the white men who visit the island looking for poor women to exploit. This, of course, is not the life Margot wants. She only does it to support her younger sister, Thandi, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who's destined to be successful and “make everything better” for the family. Thandi, however, is more interested in being thought beautiful and the type of success that goes along with that, spending her extra money on skin-lightening creams to turn her dark skin whiter. Thandi's and Margot’s tales intertwine with the story of their abusive mother, Delores, and the rest of their poverty-stricken community, set against the backdrop of wealthy white tourists. Margot finds a temporary refuge from the constant barrage of work and men in her romantic relationship with a local woman named Verdene, but she can't escape the fear of violence that same-sex couples in their society face. And, as past secrets come to a head, the poor black and wealthy white worlds of Jamaica collide. This debut novel from Dennis-Benn is an astute social commentary on the intricacies of race, gender, wealth inequality, colorism, and tourism. But these themes rise organically from the narrative rather than overwhelming it. Here are visceral, profound writing and invigorating characters. Here, too, is the deep and specific sensation of experience. Consider teenage Thandi’s first awareness of being watched by the boy she likes: “a pulse stirs between her legs and she hurries down the path, holding it in like pee."
Pub Date: July 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63149-176-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Liveright/Norton
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A steamy, glitzy, and tender tale of college intrigue.
In this opener to Kennedy’s (Hot & Bothered, 2017, etc.) Briar U romance series, two likable students keep getting their signals crossed.
Twenty-one-year-old Summer Heyward-Di Laurentis is expelled from Brown University in the middle of her junior year because she was responsible for a fire at the Kappa Beta Nu sorority house. Fortunately, her father has connections, so she’s now enrolled in Briar University, a prestigious institution about an hour outside Boston. But as she’s about to move into Briar’s Kappa Beta Nu house, she’s asked to leave by the sisters, who don’t want her besmirching their reputation. Her older brother Dean, who’s a former Briar hockey star, comes to her rescue; his buddies, who are still on the hockey team, need a fourth roommate for their townhouse. Three good-looking hockey jocks and a very rich, gorgeous fashion major under the same roof—what could go wrong? Summer becomes quickly infatuated with one of her housemates: Dean’s best friend Colin “Fitzy” Fitzgerald. There’s a definite spark between them, and they exchange smoldering looks, but the tattooed Fitzy, who’s also a video game reviewer and designer, is an introvert who prefers no “drama” in his life. Summer, however, is a charming extrovert, although she has an inferiority complex about her flagging scholastic acumen. As the story goes on, the pair seem to misinterpret each other’s every move. Meanwhile, another roommate and potential suitor, Hunter Davenport, is waiting in the wings. Kennedy’s novel is full of sex, alcohol, and college-level profanity, but it never becomes formulaic. The author adroitly employs snappy dialogue, steady pacing, and humor, as in a scene at a runway fashion show featuring Briar jocks parading in Summer-designed swimwear. The book also manages to touch on some serious subjects, including learning disabilities and abusive behavior by faculty members. Summer and Fitzy’s repeated stumbles propel the plot through engaging twists and turns; the characters trade off narrating the story, which gives each of them a chance to reveal some substance.
A steamy, glitzy, and tender tale of college intrigue.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-72482-199-7
Page Count: 372
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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