A rather thrilling adventure spun off from a throwaway joke.
Grahame-Smith (Unholy Night, 2012, etc.) continues his lunatic reimagining of American history after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
Keeping in mind that Grahame-Smith was responsible for the screenplay of his first Lincoln book's awful film adaptation, this sequel is still better than his more gimmicky offerings (see: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 2009). That said, it pretty much offers much, much more of the same. As before, Grahame-Smith is supposedly writing about the secret adventures of Henry Sturges, a vampire who is finally revealing his tale. Henry’s story picks up the night of Lincoln’s assassination, as Henry turns Lincoln into a vampire in order to save him but loses him in the end. Later, Henry is told by Adam Plantagenet, a founder of the Union of Vampires, to seek out a mysterious “A. Grander VIII,” the monsters’ greatest threat and a figure from Henry’s past. Mostly, Grahame-Smith creates excuses over and over to mash up cool characters from history. In London, Henry stalks Jack the Ripper in the company of Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle. Remember when Nikola Tesla killed Rasputin with his secret death ray? (OK, that part was pretty cool.) These tales of twisted history are even accompanied by historical photographs, either altered or repurposed to serve the tale. When Lincoln resurfaces later, the old friends team up with Eliot Ness and his Untouchables, not to mention that fight to the death with the book’s villain on the decks of the Hindenburg. There’s an overarching plot about a long-term conspiracy—imagine one of James Ellroy’s novels shot through with a healthy dose of George Romero and you’re just about there—but readers who are jazzed by American vampire history probably don’t need the literary denouement anyway.
A rather thrilling adventure spun off from a throwaway joke.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4555-0212-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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