An undeniably unique metaphysical adventure.
The latest installment in Porter’s series continues the adventures of a schizophrenic man who, along with a group of misfit friends, embarks on missions of environmental activism.
In Florida, 2002, Aubrey Shallcross and company have scuttled an old tugboat in front of the St. Lucie Locks, making the lock system temporarily inoperable to prevent the “dirty water” from Lake Okeechobee from contaminating pristine estuaries. Fearing capture after their daring deed, the 58-year-old Shallcross takes his family and friends—some of whom are “voice hearers” like himself—to the coast of Massachusetts for the summer to stay at an old friend’s farm. The eclectic group includes a wild array of characters: Yuchee, a teenage Seminole boy whose mother has recently died; two giant alligators and their “slippers” (spirits of the dead that can inhabit the brains of animals and humans); Aubrey’s 14-year-old son, Drayton; Half Track, an autistic man; Speedy, a motorcycle stuntman, and his wife, Roberta, “the Woman With No Legs,” who charms snakes; and A. M. Sermon, a former land developer turned eco-warrior, who travels with his best friend, a giant chimpanzee named Kong. Once there, the group becomes entangled in another looming environmental crisis: Criminals plan to steal a recently orphaned baby humpback whale with albinism in an attempt to sell it on the black market. This fast-paced and intricately plotted storyline, involving the crooked captain of a Russian fishing fleet named Sean Iponovitch, is where the author really shows his storytelling chops. As Iponovitch schemes between alcoholic binges, Porter weaves Moby Dick references throughout to add a literary thread to the narrative tapestry. This literary aspect is strengthened by the almost Kerouacian travelogue passages following the characters’ travels up and down the East Coast: “They crossed the southeast Georgia tidal rivers with green-brown wire grass islands out in the middle, until it was over the Savannah River into the state of South Carolina.”
Themes from Kerouac’s On the Road are evident throughout, including the search for meaning in life, the glorious pursuit of freedom, and finding profound significance in the connections between people and places. The author leavens the road novel experience with humor in places; Aubrey calls food purchased from gas stations and roadside convenience stores “shit cakes” (but after his son buys an assortment of junk food, Aubrey says, “Give me one a those Moon Pies, Drayton.” While the cast of over-the-top characters is well-developed and the storyline involving the white whale is certainly entertaining (especially the stand-up-and-applaud plot twist at novel’s end), it’s the way in which the author explores living with schizophrenia (specifically hearing voices) that makes this story unique. The perception of schizophrenia as an affliction is turned on its head: “…that’s what makes you different than a lot of other people, Aubrey. You can look at and hear your subconscious, you are a bloody schizophrenic; a beautifully perfected schizophrenic.” The narrative is complemented by dozens of illustrations throughout that exemplify the strange and wondrous tone of the story perfectly.
An undeniably unique metaphysical adventure.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Great crime fiction.
An apparent suicide threatens to destroy an Irish farm town in the final volume of French’s Cal Hooper trilogy.
In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty, “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before, she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home, and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze, and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk, who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built, or a great big data center, or who knows what. If Tommy’s son, Eugene, can get elected to the local council, then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow, and the farms will disappear. Eugene, who’d been romantically involved with Rachel, is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper, an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey, and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland,” and Trey wants to quit school, against Cal’s advice. Finally, the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”
Great crime fiction.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593493465
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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