A superb thriller, thanks to tenacious characters and an unyielding pace.
A former investigative journalist tries to stop two men, each with vengeance on his mind and access to bombs, in this sequel.
Tina Thomas is shaken by the news of an abortion clinic’s recent bombing a mere 30 minutes from her Chicago suburb. She nearly died in a similar blast five years ago in Arlington, Virginia, during her days of investigative reporting. Tina’s internet search and footwork reveal not only another nearby abortion clinic bombing, but also that the detonation originated in the men’s bathroom in both recent cases. Because that location was the Arlington bomber’s signature, Tina believes he may be out for revenge, as she, attempting to stop him years ago, shot him. But Tina has another equally pressing concern: the “remaining bad guy” from a case she helped the FBI resolve much more recently. Said baddie isn’t behind bars, and Tina suspects he likewise craves vengeance against her as well as her neighborhood chums: Linda, Molly, and Cassandra (aka the Hamlin Park Irregulars). Each member of the group brings a particular skill set, like Molly, an ex-model who worked for the CIA. And joining them is a new neighbor, David John, who’s trained in threat assessments. While trying to locate the FBI-released bad guy, Tina discovers that he has gotten his hands on C4. And finding the Arlington bomber will prove to be extremely complicated. His target isn’t easy to pinpoint, as it could be Tina, additional abortion clinics, or the assassination of a significant political figure. As in his preceding thriller, Duff (boom-BOOM!, 2017) aptly fuses exhilarating scenes of action and suspense with the more down-to-earth challenges of a stay-at-home mom. Though the Hamlin Park Irregulars stress they’re not superheroes, they’re all exceedingly capable. Linda, for example, with degrees in computer science, accounting, and law, is a former attorney, an exceptional hacker, and an expectant mother. These returning characters are indicative of the consistency between the series’ first two books (less than a week has passed between the stories). The FBI-related case and residual baddie are direct links to the earlier novel. Throughout both installments, Tina has been steadfast in continually potty-training her 2-year-old daughter, Kerry —with only moderate success. As the menaces in this volume are pre-existing (from Tina’s past), tension is established from the beginning and rarely lets up. This is especially true in the latter half, once Tina verifies that someone is watching, tracking, and/or listening to her. Violence, though restrained, also increases and prompts arresting images; one brutal encounter ends with Tina noting “clotted blood on my shorts” and “dried blood under my fingernails.” Nevertheless, there are a couple of notable plot twists that most readers will likely predict, though that doesn’t dampen the inevitable peril in which Tina and others find themselves. Duff weaves a few intriguing themes into the narrative, namely old media vs. new media: Tina scoffs at a reporter who tweets her story and follows up with photographs on Facebook and Instagram.
A superb thriller, thanks to tenacious characters and an unyielding pace.Pub Date: July 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-73246-520-6
Page Count: 408
Publisher: K, M & N Publishers, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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