A mostly satisfying sci-fi tale that aptly conveys both the dangers and benefits of technological advancement.
In Moran’s (The President Is Missing, 2017, etc.) sci-fi thriller, the CEO of a successful robot-manufacturing company hunts for a possible saboteur after his products lethally malfunction.
Mike Bateman’s chain of Robot Depot stores is a rousing triumph. From outlets in 30 states, the company sells robotic devices for various tasks, from cleaning to security. However, Mike and his wife, Jenny, an engineering professor and the company’s vice president, are understandably shocked when they receive a peculiar complaint from a customer. John Beekman is dismayed because he thought that a defective “hubot” (humanoid robot), whom he met in a bar, was a real person—and married it. Beekman’s lawsuit sparks a public outcry against Robot Depot, with some people believing that androids will contribute to human unemployment. Then five floor-cleaning bots in separate states overheat, leading to 10 human fatalities. The reports only worsen, and, in one instance, it appears that a gathering of Robot Depot creations led to an explosion that took down a skyscraper. Mike thinks that terrorists may be sabotaging the bots, so he contacts his FBI agent pal, Rick Bellamy. Soon, it’s revealed that someone is turning company products into bombs. Despite all the deadly occurrences, Moran’s novel is refreshingly pro-technology; for example, a sentient robot named Angus is shown in a positive light, as he proves to be a better diagnostician than humans. However, some of the story’s dialogue is repetitive: Jenny has an oft-referenced and frequently displayed “salty tongue,” but her manner of speaking is virtually identical to that of public relations executive Blanche Whiteacre. The humor also sometimes calls too much attention to itself, as in an explanation of why the coffee-making bot is named “Joe.” Nevertheless, the book’s thriller elements effectively escalate, and the final-act twist is memorable.
A mostly satisfying sci-fi tale that aptly conveys both the dangers and benefits of technological advancement.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9990003-1-1
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Coddington Press
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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