An uneven but enjoyable debut that should appeal to faithful thriller aficionados.
In Williams’ gritty debut thriller, the lives of drug dealers, organized criminals, political revolutionaries and marketing executives intertwine in spectacular fashion.
In the novel’s opening, the Eighth Precinct police department in the fictional city of Salento is making security preparations for a parade to honor billionaire Russian Pyotr Ptushko. Ptushko successfully smuggled American soldiers out of a dangerous region in South Central Asia, yet his motives are dubious. At the same time, several grow houses operated by ruthless marijuana magnate Otis M. Gaverill are pilfered by a mysterious team of seven men who act with stealth and military precision. Det. Sgt. Sal Mitchell and his partner Eddie “Sandman” Sandovan are the lead investigators in the fallout of the ensuing encounters between the factions. In an adrenalin-fueled subplot, Mitchell’s girlfriend, Mya Laing, a high-level marketing executive at a prestigious advertising firm, is tasked with creating a brilliant yet inexpensive word-of-mouth campaign for a designer jean label. Mya and her team develop an intricate alternate-reality game to garner attention for the brand—a tactic that’s at the forefront of contemporary advertising strategy. This subplot provides entertaining respite from the graphic violence and language in the main storyline, yet readers may wish the two narratives intersect earlier and more completely than they do. Williams also offsets his explicit depictions with well-placed humor that only occasionally leans toward the prosaic. While this may distract some readers, the overall effect, especially in combination with the bright, lively dialogue, is refreshing. There is a well-articulated juxtaposition between the honor and restraint of the military team and the repulsive bloodlust of Otis’ group. Williams’ main characters are engaging, but, with the exception of Otis, they fail to reveal flaws or make mistakes, an omission that challenges believability. Williams leaves unanswered questions and more than hints at a sequel (a sample chapter of his next book is included). Devotees of the genre may conclude that he has provided enough to entice them back into his vivid universe.
An uneven but enjoyable debut that should appeal to faithful thriller aficionados.Pub Date: July 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-1461044840
Page Count: 458
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
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
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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