Am often compelling mix of ancient history, modern life, and outer space adventure.
In this third book in Stott’s (Spirit Fire, 2019, etc.) Neandertals series, a young, passionate archaeologist pursuing an amazing find discovers far more than she expected.
In a change from the prehistoric tales in the first two series installments, this one takes place in a more modern milieu—the early 21st century, to be exact. There are also new characters with new dreams and aspirations. Sandi Hartwell is a hardworking young archaeologist who’s been searching for fossil evidence that would prove the Neandertals and Cro-Magnons produced offspring. When she finally does find such evidence in Pakistan—apparently guided in her quest by a dream—she almost can’t believe her luck. But after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, any hope of a flourishing career in Pakistan seems to disappear—at least in the short run. Luckily, Sandi eventually manages to return to the country and to the site of her discovery, but what she doesn’t know is that there are still a great many surprises in store for her—particularly after a sudden turn in the second half of the novel, which adds an SF twist, taking the tale of the Neandertals into truly alien territory. Still, as a romance begins to flourish between her and a handsome Neandertal expert, Garret Chambers, Sandi strives to fulfill what she believes is her destiny. Throughout this entry, the prose style—and most noticeably, the dialogue—are refreshingly modern, compared with that of the other books in the series. However, the sudden change in genre about halfway through the story may be a bit difficult for some readers to follow, as plot starts to get more complicated than readers may be prepared for. Nonetheless, the author does a good job of keeping events moving along steadily. The love story between Sandi and Garret also adds a much-needed sense of humanity to the spacey storyline, and it effectively serves to deepen its emotional stakes.
Am often compelling mix of ancient history, modern life, and outer space adventure.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-692-38824-2
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Global Summit House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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