A clever, complex tale that should pique readers’ curiosity about Genghis Khan and leave them looking forward to the...
A debut novel combines elements of archaeology, historical fiction, and geopolitical thrillers.
James Andrews’ life is busy, but he doesn’t think he has much to show for it. An archaeology professor at the University of Virginia, he’s spent years digging in Mongolia, dreaming of finding the lost tomb of Genghis Khan. But this year, he’s only recovered a few ancient roof tiles and a tiny fragment of stray human bone. Andrews tells Parker Winthrop, the Asian Historical Society’s representative in Mongolia, that the bone probably belongs to “a peasant shot by the Soviets for trespassing and left for dead.” But everything changes when DNA analysis of the bone marrow points to Genghis Khan himself. And what should be cause for celebration also yields something far darker, as forces around the world have their own agendas for Mongolia and this discovery. Even people Andrews thought he could trust—or love—are caught up in the conflict in ways he couldn’t have foreseen. At the same time, the narrative offers brief windows into the story of Temujin and Jamuka, two boys in ancient Mongolia, one of whom will become Genghis Khan. Amid betrayal, mystery, and espionage, Andrews has his work cut out for him trying to get to the most valuable thing of all: the truth. Pelkey’s insightful novel moves at a quick pace, but it’s at no loss for details, and early scenes returning from the dig site or in Andrews’ lecture hall provide an excellent sense of the historical significance of Genghis Khan. What’s more, exposition smoothly flows in the text, pointing out the geopolitical reality of Mongolia, which is on the brink of a modern-day gold rush: “ ‘What about the Mongolians?’ Andrews asked. ‘It’s their country.’ ‘Road kill,’ Parker said with a flick of his hand.” On top of that, the characters’ uncertain loyalties give the book a sense of intrigue and emotionality, and the brotherhood and struggle in the Temujin and Jamuka sections only add to this unexpected depth. Finally, the fact that Andrews has a lot of uncertainty in his life—due to his frequent travels, far-flung friends, and short-lived romantic relationships—makes him a more sympathetic and relatable protagonist than most in these genres.
A clever, complex tale that should pique readers’ curiosity about Genghis Khan and leave them looking forward to the author’s next book.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9968426-7-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: SDP Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Britisher Swift's sixth novel (Ever After, 1992 etc.) and fourth to appear here is a slow-to-start but then captivating tale of English working-class families in the four decades following WW II. When Jack Dodds dies suddenly of cancer after years of running a butcher shop in London, he leaves a strange request—namely, that his ashes be scattered off Margate pier into the sea. And who could better be suited to fulfill this wish than his three oldest drinking buddies—insurance man Ray, vegetable seller Lenny, and undertaker Vic, all of whom, like Jack himself, fought also as soldiers or sailors in the long-ago world war. Swift's narrative start, with its potential for the melodramatic, is developed instead with an economy, heart, and eye that release (through the characters' own voices, one after another) the story's humanity and depth instead of its schmaltz. The jokes may be weak and self- conscious when the three old friends meet at their local pub in the company of the urn holding Jack's ashes; but once the group gets on the road, in an expensive car driven by Jack's adoptive son, Vince, the story starts gradually to move forward, cohere, and deepen. The reader learns in time why it is that no wife comes along, why three marriages out of three broke apart, and why Vince always hated his stepfather Jack and still does—or so he thinks. There will be stories of innocent youth, suffering wives, early loves, lost daughters, secret affairs, and old antagonisms—including a fistfight over the dead on an English hilltop, and a strewing of Jack's ashes into roiling seawaves that will draw up feelings perhaps unexpectedly strong. Without affectation, Swift listens closely to the lives that are his subject and creates a songbook of voices part lyric, part epic, part working-class social realism—with, in all, the ring to it of the honest, human, and true.
Pub Date: April 5, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-41224-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
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