What if the Olympian gods still existed and had merely been forced to go off and live in the sun? Or Jupiter, needing some high-powered help in his great comeback bid, had sired a new Hero upon an English suburban housewife? What if Betamax videos had captured the market? Well, young Jason Derry soon grows tired of slaying fabulous monsters and retrieving golden fleeces at the behest of his divine father, so when an eagle who can turn into a girl takes him for a chat with Prometheus the Titan, presently somewhat tied up in the Caucasus, Jason listens. Long ago, you see, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He also stole The Joke. Gods, it seems, are a grim, serious bunch, and the only thing that stops them from totally dominating humanity is- -laughter. Soon, Jason is helping Prometheus, but Jupiter isn't worried; like all Heroes, Jason has a tragic flaw—he's a good boy and always does what his mother tells him. Still, even Jason eventually figures it out: If you're a Hero, the easiest way to get what you want is to beat up anyone who tries to stop you. And what does happen on Betamax worlds, anyway? The gods reign supreme, of course—and nobody laughs. Ever. Not quite in the Terry Pratchett league, though it's wacky enough and, in places, genuinely funny. Holt would travel better if he toned down his rather strident Englishisms (``jammy,'' ``duff up,'' ``knackered,'' etc.). Still: amusing stuff, especially for Anglophiles, and a vast improvement over the one-joke Flying Dutch (1992).
Pub Date: April 16, 1993
ISBN: 0-312-08927-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1993
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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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