A rollicking ride that combines political realism with flights of satire.
The unlikely head of an energy company struggles to survive ruthless competition and environmentalists’ protests in Pepper’s in this third novel in a series.
Lindsey Harper Crowe becomes the chair of New York City–based Crowe Power Company, a “global energy goliath,” after she ousts her incompetent husband, Robbie, from the role. However, her newfound power comes with an equal share of burdens; although Robbie left the company in dire financial trouble, the “deposed king”will stop at nothing to return to the throne. Lindsey also sees her daughter, Missy, as a traitor who makes common cause with “Planetistas” protesting the very company whose cash fills her trust fund. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jessica Holtgren is putting the squeeze on the entire industry; she’s portrayed as an empty talking head fronting equally empty policies. The true existential threat to Lindsey’s company, though, comes from Harold “Hacksaw Harry” Crenshaw, a hedge fund manager who aims to slice the company into pieces under the disingenuous guise of ecological responsibility. Lindsey hires a world-weary public relations expert, Marty McGarry, to help spin a palatable narrative for the public, while also exploring a new form of fusion technology that could move the world past dependence on fossil fuels. Over the course of the novel, Pepper irreverently and intelligently exposes ways in which some calls to environmental integrity are often corporate or political expressions of a will to power. The satirical focus is not on a commitment to ecological obligation, but rather how it can be twisted by selfish hypocrisy. For example, Missy is as discomfited by her “deeply embarrassing wealth,” even as she is dependent upon it. The author has a tendency to aim low with his comedy, which can be crude; Lindsey’s tenure is described as proof “you don’t need some remnants of founder jizz coursing through your veins to run Crowe Power.” Despite this, the novel’s farcical depiction of American politics is often as humorous as it is astute.
A rollicking ride that combines political realism with flights of satire.Pub Date: May 14, 2022
ISBN: 979-8436592312
Page Count: 251
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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