Sisterly drama combines with a generous dosing of the supernatural in this intricate adventure for fans of urban fantasy.
The second book in Kobasic’s (Vanishing Twin, 2014, etc.) urban fantasy series about conjoined sisters.
Connected from the waist down, Scarlett and Jade are two sisters who don’t always get along. Nevertheless, they do fairly well in a world that will never accept them as normal. Having written a New York Times best-seller about their condition, the sisters live comfortably in Las Vegas, where they maintain a relationship with the famous magician Sebastian Cole, a man who “wasn’t an illusionist, but a true magician.” Rather, Scarlett maintains a relationship with Sebastian; the love between them leaves Jade little to do other than come along for the ride, a position for which she feels no qualms expressing her distaste. If only something could be done. As Scarlett points out, “You couldn’t find a book in some specialty shop that offered tips on how to deal with sharing your first love with your conjoined sister.” Meanwhile, a powerful and ancient group known as Lucifer’s Chosen wants Sebastian’s participation, and they have quite a deal to sweeten the agreement. “Scarlett and Sebastian will be presented with a choice,” says Ebony, a member of the Chosen: “[I]n order to have Scarlett’s soul unbound from Jade, she’ll have to turn to Lucifer.” Could the possibility of uncoupling his true love from her difficult sister be reason enough to join Lucifer’s legions? What would happen to Sebastian’s great magical abilities? Dotted with sexual scenes—“He lifted up my bra, and I pulled him close. His lips suckled my breasts, gently going from one to the other”—as the plot snowballs in complexity, the story takes the concept of conjoined sisters into new and strange places. Though overwrought when describing Sebastian’s ability to put on a Las Vegas show—including his latest creation: a magical ballet he designs with Scarlett—the book nevertheless manages superb pacing and regular excitement. Figures of good and evil continuously plot and pivot, creating a story that goes well beyond boy-meets–conjoined sisters. Readers seeking a love story charged with ancient magic and a remarkably novel physical predicament will not be disappointed.
Sisterly drama combines with a generous dosing of the supernatural in this intricate adventure for fans of urban fantasy.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9881554-4-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: Stone Series Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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