Nice for her, right? But the drab heroine and the preposterous plot she’s mired in make this debut less than auspicious.
The first of a trilogy inaugurating the Kate’s Mystery Books imprint features unimpressive Lily Pascale, who hightails it back to Devon when she tires of her nonsuccess in London—a boyfriend who cheats on her and auditions that never lead to parts. Her mum finds her a job teaching pop culture (i.e., detective fiction) at the local college, where her students are obsessing over the murder of 19-year-old Stephanie, whose corpse was missing its head. Especially overcome is Steph’s would-be beau Jason, who utters a few cryptic words, then expires of an Ecstasy overdose behind the Blue Dolphin club, a druggie hangout owned by the brother of Dale, an old school chum of Lily’s who’s now putting the moves on her. Within a week, Lily, perhaps goaded into detective mode by her reading, is the last person to see devilishly handsome instructor Fenn Baker before he does a runner; has a crack at decoding Jason’s dying utterance; and winds up taking Dale to the hospital after a drug mishap of his own. More snooping reveals skullduggery in the college’s science department and promises made to the college dean, Professor Valentine, who attends midnight cult meetings as Freddy Future, architect of new life processes based on experiments in which that missing head plays a prominent role. Outthinking the cops, Lily connects all the criminal dots, effects a dramatic moors rescue, and receives a £20,000 reward for her efforts.
Nice for her, right? But the drab heroine and the preposterous plot she’s mired in make this debut less than auspicious.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-932112-01-4
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Justin, Charles
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2002
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
The Stand did less well than The Shining, and The Dead Zone will do less well than either—as the King of high horror (Carrie) continues to move away from the grand-gothic strain that once distinguished him from the other purveyors of psychic melodrama. Here he's taken on a political-suspense plot formula that others have done far better, giving it just the merest trappings of deviltry. Johnnie Smith of Cleaves Mills, Maine, is a super-psychic; after a four-year coma, he has woken up to find that he can see the future—all of it except for certain areas he calls the "dead zone." So Johnnie can do great things, like saving a friend from death-by-lightning or reuniting his doctor with long-lost relatives. But Johnnie also can see a horrible presidential candidate on the horizon. He's Mayor Gregory Aromas Stillson of Ridgeway, N.H., and only Johnnie knows that this apparently klutzy candidate is really the devil incarnate—that if Stillson is elected he'll become the new Hitler and plunge the world into atomic horror! What can Johnnie do? All he can do is try to assassinate this Satanic candidate—in a climactic shootout that is recycled and lackluster and not helped by King's clumsy social commentary (". . . it was as American as The Wonderful Worm of Disney"). Johnnie is a faceless hero, and never has King's banal, pulpy writing been so noticeable in its once-through-the-typewriter blather and carelessness. Yes, the King byline will ensure a sizeable turnout, but the word will soon get around that the author of Carrie has this time churned out a ho-hum dud.
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1979
ISBN: 0451155750
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1979
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
