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OUT OF A SOUTHERN AFRICAN FURNACE

From Bagot (Platinum Quest, 2012), an enlightening look at corruption and violence in Botswana.
In Bagot’s novel, the reader is vividly drawn into a world of high-stakes politics and money in modern-day Botswana, specifically at an ore mine near Lake Ngami. Opening with a car accident that traps geologist Ben de Bruin in a car with his agent, Rob Jamieson, Bagot’s novel explores the domino effect of destruction after de Bruin raises questions about the Ngami mining company, which he works for and in which his family has a vested interest. Specifically, de Bruin wants to know why it’s so poorly mismanaged, something he doesn’t appear to consider until his friend’s neighbor suggests so at a party. Experts from around the world are called in to consult, such as Peter Connor, an engineer, and Rebecca Rosslynn, a business consultant and operator from Australia. Connor, Rosslynn and de Bruin realize all too soon that even a mismanaged company can be powerful—and dangerous. Bagot provides a fully realized world that speaks to his background in mining. The novel clips along at a nice pace, and Bagot deftly builds conflict, moving it ever onward. It’s also interesting to see the central conflict from multiple viewpoints, particularly that of Rosslynn. The local tribal concerns regarding the company are likewise intriguing. If there is a fault to be found with Bagot’s novel, it is that it seems at times to be a bit bloated. With more characters than it can easily manage, the cast is too large to do any of the named characters justice. And keeping track of each new name can be tiresome.
An intelligent, informative thriller that looks at deadly corruption in southern Africa.

Pub Date: May 24, 2011

ISBN: 978-0646552798

Page Count: 396

Publisher: Baclesit Pty, Limited

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014

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MAGIC HOUR

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

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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