A high-stakes Caribbean thriller, fueled by sex, drugs, and deep-sea dives.
Raised by the Texas Mafia and addicted to the nitrogen high of deep-sea diving, a hired gun struggles to escape his past and start anew.
Once a quiet wonder just off Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the island of Chinchamos now buzzes with high-end restaurants, tacky gift shops, and tourists ferried over from the mainland. If local mobster Omar Luna has his way, there’ll be even more. Hoping to funnel tourists to his other ventures on Chinchamos, he’s begun construction on a pier that would allow cruise ships to dock directly on the island. But a contingent of local environmentalists stands in his way, refusing to sell him their land. All the while, Branch Curry has been working undercover for Luna, whose ties run back to Texas organized crime and, ultimately, Curry’s father. Growing more and more apprehensive of his work, Curry agrees to help his voluptuous girlfriend, Valerie, and her blackmailer Fernando rob Luna of his spoils. Curry wants to cut his ties with organized crime and start anew. “Something out there that scares you,” Valerie tells him. “And it’s getting closer every day. Time to cash out and go, Branch.” The novel kicks off with a gripping underwater cave dive and rarely lets up, the pages crammed with hit jobs, nitrogen narcosis, and sex—lots of sex. “She set her drink down and pulled the straps of the minidress off her shoulders. Then she led his lips down to her breasts while unbuckling his belt and tugging at his silk trousers.” Though a swift and thrilling read, it often succumbs to one-dimensional displays of women and stereotypical depictions of the villain: “Omar Luna gazed out the rear passenger window of the black Escalade as it rumbled away from his mansion in Chinchamos North Country Club.” Nevertheless, these are minor transgressions, especially given the book’s pulpy intent. At times, the large cast becomes difficult to keep track of, but the story ultimately succeeds in creating a world rich in violence and booty.
A high-stakes Caribbean thriller, fueled by sex, drugs, and deep-sea dives.Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tepid follow-up to The Camel Club (2005), with few surprises.
Helped by a beautiful grifter, the “Camel Club”—the four-man band of conspiracy theorists—returns to battle a threat to national security.
Annabelle Conroy is con-artist extraordinaire; Jerry Bagger, mobster and mark; and Roger Seagraves, master assassin. All come straight from central casting. Seagraves is killing high-level government officials, and Conroy is putting together the con of the century, with Bagger as the target. The mysterious death of a rare-books expert at the Library of Congress launches the story, which splits off at first into two different plotlines. In one, Conroy and her team work their way up to their major score. In the other, the Camel Club investigates the mysterious death of a close friend. Things are slightly more exciting in Conroy’s world. She’s assembling her team, eager to settle an old score by taking down Atlantic City’s most notorious and ruthless casino owner. After a series of capers out west to build their bankroll, the team heads back east. There’s little drama Players act out their part; marks fall. The big score comes off without a hitch. The two plots intersect halfway through. Annabelle arrives in D.C., thanks to an awkward development, along with a new piece of unfinished business. Seagraves and the Camel Club are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game, and Annabelle Conroy is the special guest star. The merged stories reach a predictable conclusion. An obvious conflict remains unresolved for much of the way, setting up the next chapter in the saga.
A tepid follow-up to The Camel Club (2005), with few surprises.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2006
ISBN: 0-446-53109-X
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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