Erickson (Death by Eggnog, 2017, etc.) kicks off a new series that combines irresistibly cute pets, a tangled plot, and a...
A family dedicated to animal rescue find themselves involved in murder.
On a mission to pick up Stewie, an elderly Pomeranian whose even older owner is heading for an extended care facility, Liz Denton and her son, Ben, spot a van belonging to another rescue group run by Courtney Shaw, who’s not above making a buck by charging high fees for pets. Stewie’s owner, Timothy Fuller, who’d called Liz to find his beloved dog a great home, orders his nurse to take him indoors, leaving Liz and Courtney to negotiate in front of Tim Jr. and his wife, who just want the dog gone. When the nurse suggests that one of them come back later for Stewie, Liz follows Courtney home, leaving Ben to make the acquaintance of Selena Shriver, the bikini-clad neighbor, until she returns. Courtney finally agrees to let Liz take Stewie, but when she returns for him and Ben, she learns that Timothy’s dead and Ben’s been arrested for his murder. Since he’d never met Timothy before, Ben seems an unlikely suspect. But the police have a witness who saw Ben enter the house, and there’s blood on his shirt, which sports his name in large letters. Ignoring her veterinarian husband, Manny, who advises her to trust in the law, Liz starts sleuthing on her own. The rumor that Timothy had a large sum of money hidden away on his property generates more suspects who might have stabbed him for refusing to disclose his hidden stash. Liz’s daughter, Amelia, a college student, has been acting strangely recently, but her secret proves surprisingly helpful in proving Ben innocent.
Erickson (Death by Eggnog, 2017, etc.) kicks off a new series that combines irresistibly cute pets, a tangled plot, and a pretty obvious killer.Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1992-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
More of the same: Sparks has his recipe, and not a bit of it is missing here. It’s the literary equivalent of high fructose...
Sparks (The Longest Ride, 2013, etc.) serves up another heaping helping of sentimental Southern bodice-rippage.
Gone are the blondes of yore, but otherwise the Sparks-ian formula is the same: a decent fellow from a good family who’s gone through some rough patches falls in love with a decent girl from a good family who’s gone through some rough patches—and is still suffering the consequences. The guy is innately intelligent but too quick to throw a punch, the girl beautiful and scary smart. If you hold a fatalistic worldview, then you’ll know that a love between them can end only in tears. If you hold a Sparks-ian one, then true love will prevail, though not without a fight. Voilà: plug in the character names, and off the story goes. In this case, Colin Hancock is the misunderstood lad who’s decided to reform his hard-knuckle ways but just can’t keep himself from connecting fist to face from time to time. Maria Sanchez is the dedicated lawyer in harm’s way—and not just because her boss is a masher. Simple enough. All Colin has to do is punch the partner’s lights out: “The sexual harassment was bad enough, but Ken was a bully as well, and Colin knew from his own experience that people like that didn’t stop abusing their power unless someone made them. Or put the fear of God into them.” No? No, because bound up in Maria’s story, wrinkled with the doings of an equally comely sister, there’s a stalker and a closet full of skeletons. Add Colin’s back story, and there’s a perfect couple in need of constant therapy, as well as a menacing cop. Get Colin and Maria to smooching, and the plot thickens as the storylines entangle. Forget about love—can they survive the evil that awaits them out in the kudzu-choked woods?
More of the same: Sparks has his recipe, and not a bit of it is missing here. It’s the literary equivalent of high fructose corn syrup, stickily sweet but irresistible.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4555-2061-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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