A multilayered protagonist and stellar setting help guide this sci-fi narrative to an unforgettable coda.
In 2040, a former convict with an implant to stave off violent impulses finds himself in the midst of a plan to take down a corporate empire in Lutz’s (Book Hunter, 2015, etc.) sci-fi thriller.
It’s been a year since Andre Cross left prison early after agreeing to get a device implanted in his neck that counters his destructive urges by inducing euphoria. He works at a farm that produces Neura, a drug that’s part of a health plan for wealthy citizens in a place called Upper Brulle. Andre’s maintenance job pays him in credits and doses of Neura, but because the implant prevents him from taking the drug, he sells it legally for even more credits. He’s hoping to earn enough to buy a ticket to the utopian city of Anchora. And there’s a chance he could expedite his departure: his preferred customer, Finn, suggests that Andre could swipe a large haul of Neura for a bulk sale. Andre’s subsequent attempt results in his capture by members of the Heart of Grace, a cult that opposes Neura’s owner and creator, a company called Titan. The cultists force Andre to help them infect Upper Brulleans with zilla, a potentially lethal Neura/painkiller combo. The ex-con draws on whatever he can, including his newfound feelings for a female PrePAC (android) named Mo Da, to ensure he lives to see Anchora. Lutz’s story tackles the common sci-fi theme of a robot experiencing emotions. But Andre’s apparent tenderness toward Mo Da is equally complex; he also struggles to subvert the “dark thing” that drives him to violence, even as the implant practically turns him into a zombie. His back story, which involves a not-so-nice older brother, is dramatic and laced with mystery. Characters range from pleasantly ambiguous to dangerously blunt; for example, Kade, cult leader Elron’s right-hand man, doesn’t even try to hide his animosity toward Andre. Technology circa 2040 is chic but believable, particularly Andre’s harness for handling maintenance, which is constructed out of robotic arms. This tech is the subject of one of many visually enticing illustrations, courtesy of Lutz and debut illustrator Gray.
A multilayered protagonist and stellar setting help guide this sci-fi narrative to an unforgettable coda.Pub Date: June 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9946275-0-6
Page Count: 380
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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