Occasional narrative stumbles are more than made up for with deft characterizations.
In Carroll’s (Dooley’s Dollars, 2010, etc.) political thriller, the Irish Republican Army organizes an attack on the London Underground, sending in five disposable people.
In 1986 Northern Ireland, Carlos approaches members of the IRA with a plan: In exchange for two million dollars, he’ll formulate a scheme to stop the London Underground trains, effectively shutting down the British capitol. The price is steep, but the IRA hopes the resultant chaos will bolster Northern Ireland’s claim for independence. Pat, Gerry, Sean, Roddy and Peter, each deemed expendable, are chosen to enact the scheme; all they have to do is follow simple instructions and stay clear of authorities. The novel gets off to a bumpy start with (female) Pat on the thieving end of a daring armored-van heist; the scene may strike readers as out of place, since Pat is anything but the novel’s protagonist. Subsequent chapters center on numerous characters, introducing the other four terrorists individually as they are selected for the mission. The travels of mastermind Carlos as well as IRA agents Roger and Krells prove overly detailed, further adding to the book’s sluggish start. But once the plan is set in motion, the novel hits its narrative stride. Suddenly, even the seemingly mundane act of Carlos purchasing gardening tools will pique readers’ curiosity because its eventual purpose is certain. The book focuses more on descriptions of preparations than the actual terrorist act, affording ample time for characters’ personalities to develop. All the would-be terrorists, excluding Gerry, pass the weeks together awaiting instructions—Pat with Paul, the tour guide; Roddy with Francie, the young nanny—each manifesting different outcomes. There are also frequent reminders of the looming plan: Peter times the distance between the Underground and his hotel; Pat constantly worries about a double-cross; Gerry researches the Underground, determined to learn what he’ll be asked to do. Quite a bit of slang is utilized but it’s subtly defined; the meaning of a curvy barmaid’s “Charlies” is easy to discern. The ending may seem anticlimactic to some readers, but perhaps that’s the point of the novel—the ends depend on what may or may not go wrong with the means.
Occasional narrative stumbles are more than made up for with deft characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-0910390163
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Coda
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2012
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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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