Fine writing but not a single likable character in this bizarre conservation story.
Fired from an ad agency—and with murder on his mind—a man gets pulled into an arms dealer’s scheme to save Africa’s wildlife in a tale of quid pro quo.
In this debut novel, Chicago ad executive Harry Bones purges much of his agency’s staff, including art director and South African emigrant Roger Storm, whom he has long loathed, particularly for his unhip wardrobe. After the dismissal, Harry asks 56-year-old Roger what his plans are and is told, “I’m going to think of a way to kill you, Harry.” But first Roger goes to Paris. Sad and drinking too much, he laments his depressing childhood and current situation. After talking to his hotel’s concierge about a malfunctioning television remote (“Have you been watching pornography, Monsieur Storm? We’ve found that semen is the worst thing for remote controllers. It clogs the buttons”), Roger heads to a restaurant, where he is shocked to see his childhood friend Freddy Blank, who supposedly died years earlier. Freddy’s faked suicide helped him in his career as an arms dealer, working with his lover Jamie Bowes and “sexy assassin” Conchita Palomino, daughter of a Mossad agent and a Colombian revolutionary. The trio’s company, PaloMar Industries, made a fortune selling weapons, and some of the money now finances saving Africa’s endangered wildlife “from land encroachment, poachers, and trophy hunters” by whatever means necessary. Harries, a retired leader at a global ad company, shows an obvious passion and knowledge of Africa in this well-written series opener. Unfortunately, the methods used to kill big game hunters are disturbing; case in point, death by sexual violation by hippo. The book has humor, but it also has a deeply cruel streak and an unsympathetic cast. Character comments display a disdain for minorities, the overweight, and women—unless they are attractive. In what can be considered either clever or pretentious, lengthy chapter titles begin with “In Which,” similar to those in the classic Don Quixote.
Fine writing but not a single likable character in this bizarre conservation story.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-950628-04-9
Page Count: 315
Publisher: Rhino Books
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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