Readers in search of intelligent, whimsical nonsense could do far worse than setting sail with Pirate Captain. Aaarrr.
Having recovered from schlepping around the Galápagos in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2004), Defoe’s scurvy dogs go in search of a famous whale in this slim, surreal sequel.
When the mast of his ship flattens, Pirate Captain, “the pirate who liked to show off how much he knew about wine,” recognizes that it’s time for a trade-in. Unfortunately, he makes a deal on an expensive boat with a murderer who picks off deadbeats and grinds their bones to dust for use in hourglasses. After a fruitless search for treasure to pay the debt, Pirate Captain makes the mistake of accepting an offer of help from his doppelgänger, Black Bellamy. (“There were several reasons why the Pirate Captain and Black Bellamy didn’t get along, but the main one was that Black Bellamy was the Pirate Captain’s evil nemesis, which obviously put quite a strain on the relationship.”) So the pirates—after a side trip to Vegas, where their pirate-related revue fails to draw crowds—take up a weary Ahab’s offer for a contract on Moby-Dick. Much silliness ensues. Defoe keeps things moving along and has a winning proclivity toward footnotes—where he does some of his best writing—and nonsensical asides. (Pirate Captain has his feet helpfully tattooed “left” and “right,” “a gift from his mother on his fourth birthday.”) The clever tone is somewhere between Monty Python and comic artist-writer Kyle Baker, and there are a few lascivious jokes and one instance of hot whale-on-boat action.
Readers in search of intelligent, whimsical nonsense could do far worse than setting sail with Pirate Captain. Aaarrr.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2005
ISBN: 0-375-42385-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
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
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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