A realistic, touching account of a lengthy quest to move on.
Debut author Stopler offers a novel, based on a true story, about one woman’s struggle to overcome a trauma from her childhood.
On April 15, 1974, 9-year-old Tali Stark is on her way to school in the Bronx, New York, when a strange man in a white limousine asks her for directions. Tali thinks nothing of stepping into the car, though it’s not long before she realizes that she’s in danger. The man soon molests her in an empty parking lot before driving her back to school. Young Tali is too afraid to tell anyone about the incident, so she carries the secret in silence for years. Readers follow Tali as she attends high school, graduates from college, falls in love, rediscovers her Jewish roots, and even climbs Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Through it all, however, she remains haunted by the man in the white limousine. The scene of Tali’s sexual assault is difficult to read, but the rest of the book moves at a steady clip through the protagonist’s life. Throughout, she grows emotionally in ways that are believable, insightful, and tinged with sadness. Her journey through Judaism, for example, provides readers with a crash course in the ideas of cabala, and the details of her therapy sessions show how she faces the disturbing episode in her past. The book’s several dream sequences, though, can seem a little too on-the-nose; in one example, she dreams of climbing a mountain, which directly leads to her decision to attempt Kilimanjaro. Dreams aside, however, the book paints a strikingly vivid picture of Tali and the challenges she faces on a long, winding road of healing. As she herself states, “It’s so hard to let go. I wish I were better at it.” Rooting for her is easy and watching her mature is endearing, making the novel as a whole a quite memorable experience.
A realistic, touching account of a lengthy quest to move on.Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5333-8111-8
Page Count: 334
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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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