This is a phenomenal first novel; an excellent read for anyone who loves mystery, and would-be writers who want to learn...
This finely wrought sci-fi/mystery/thriller explores the themes of rebirth and renewal through characters on the run and those who come to their aid.
The story begins in medias res: tossing the reader squarely into the midst of the action. Lost in a blizzard with her young daughter Valerie, badly hurt, the FBI in hot pursuit, Jill Braedon sends the child off into the raging storm alone. Valerie stumbles into the cabin of John Mills, a former rock star-turned-recluse since the deaths of his wife and child. Mills, who walks with the aid of a cane, ventures out into the storm and surprisingly finds Jill alive. As she recovers, puzzles gradually unravel, only to expose yet other mysteries. Superbly crafted and flawlessly executed, Eubanks doles out both plot and back-story in small doses, expertly keeping readers turning page after page. This book is a study in how to show and not tell a story, and should be required reading in creative writing courses. Not to spoil the adventure, some of what comes out is that Jill, dying from Hodgkin’s disease, was given an illegal surgery which effectively endowed her with the ability to heal herself. However, a side-effect causes her nightmares to become real and do physical harm. Ostensibly, the FBI is after her to secure this power and keep it out of enemy hands; even if that means killing Jill and Valerie. But these agents are not what they seem. Mills tries to protect Jill from the FBI and her dreams, and in so doing, opens hidden doors and rooms within his own psyche. Eubanks utilizes a variety of techniques such as character interaction and dreams to fill in past details without bogging down in exposition. Perhaps the most engaging occurs as Jill relates her story to Mel Talbot, a computer hacker par excellence that Mills has summoned to help. After enough explanatory interaction to build Mel’s character, Eubanks shows us her story, a device often used in film.
This is a phenomenal first novel; an excellent read for anyone who loves mystery, and would-be writers who want to learn exactly how it’s done.Pub Date: March 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1482356182
Page Count: 340
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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