An epic, entertaining fusion of hilarity, unease, and memorably eccentric characters.
In this debut satire, people in a dystopian nation unwittingly cross paths with a fiendish being who’s crusading for the Apocalypse.
Park ranger Trent Taphor cares for his twin brother, Calvin, who has Down syndrome. That doesn’t mean that Trent is too preoccupied to notice that his fellow Californians are evacuating their homes on account of the “anomaly” popping up on the Doppler radar. On the same night that the mass of “goopy dots” appears, Calvin vanishes, soon after encountering creepy, perpetually smiling Mr. Moony. Not far away, a local cult, certain this event spells the impending end of days, names member Don Philly, a writer who’s actually undercover for research, as the “Chosen” one to face whatever doom awaits. Ten years later, the U.S. has become the Divided States of America while a series of calamities, including merciless storms and another civil war, have shaken the country. Calvin is effectively imprisoned with others whom Mr. Moony dubs “the significants,” while Trent and Philly, both having apparently swallowed one of those dots (which are even worse than they initially seemed), are affected in a disturbing fashion. The twins and this so-called Chosen writer most assuredly have links to a diabolical plan that Mr. Moony has brewing, in which he’ll ensure the Apocalypse transpires. Doing so requires more people whom he draws together—hacker and former reality TV star Love; her psychedelic therapist and former best friend, Yew; and high school principal Gary Mustafa. Combine all of them with recently christened Eden’s End, a quasi-utopia on the DSA’s West Coast, and Mr. Moony may very well get the Apocalypse he’s craving.
The first third of Enterante’s 446-page novel, which centers primarily on Trent, Calvin, and Philly, leans toward horror. This element comes courtesy of Mr. Moony’s chilling introduction in the pitch-black night, the inexplicable “storm” aimed at California, and Trent’s eerie tendency to converse with his meat cleaver, Dex. But the story changes direction following a time jump and the corresponding exposition that the narrative sprints through. The original trio sadly fades into a gradually expanding cast, with the plot becoming more devoted to unraveling mysteries and connecting characters in sometimes surprising ways. Of course, this new focus also prompts darkly comedic turns that lampoon such topical issues as America’s political polarization and the prevalence of social media and technology. For example, the DSA’s three politically charged “Zones”—Red, White, and Blue—abide by the oxymoronic Treaty of the Divided Alliance. Such drollness runs throughout the book, from Philly on the phone with his wife in Florida and oblivious that she’s clearly enjoying someone else’s company to Yew taking a call during a therapy session and convincing her patient that the ringtone was an LSD hallucination. Enterante takes advantage of the futuristic setting, with robotic Skeeter-5000s joining the cast and someone using tech to provoke a tragedy. This work’s curious structure employs an unknown narrator who adds periodic asides to an omniscient narrative (“Mind You, I’m nearly finished with my tale’s whole setup—just so You know”). While most readers will work out who this figure is, the narration leads to an unforgettable and truly worthy ending.
An epic, entertaining fusion of hilarity, unease, and memorably eccentric characters.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9798987733806
Page Count: 458
Publisher: Oblivion Press
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.
Atwood goes back to Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), consistently regarded as a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, has gained new attention in recent years with the success of the Hulu series as well as fresh appreciation from readers who feel like this story has new relevance in America’s current political climate. Atwood herself has spoken about how news headlines have made her dystopian fiction seem eerily plausible, and it’s not difficult to imagine her wanting to revisit Gilead as the TV show has sped past where her narrative ended. Like the novel that preceded it, this sequel is presented as found documents—first-person accounts of life inside a misogynistic theocracy from three informants. There is Agnes Jemima, a girl who rejects the marriage her family arranges for her but still has faith in God and Gilead. There’s Daisy, who learns on her 16th birthday that her whole life has been a lie. And there's Aunt Lydia, the woman responsible for turning women into Handmaids. This approach gives readers insight into different aspects of life inside and outside Gilead, but it also leads to a book that sometimes feels overstuffed. The Handmaid’s Tale combined exquisite lyricism with a powerful sense of urgency, as if a thoughtful, perceptive woman was racing against time to give witness to her experience. That narrator hinted at more than she said; Atwood seemed to trust readers to fill in the gaps. This dynamic created an atmosphere of intimacy. However curious we might be about Gilead and the resistance operating outside that country, what we learn here is that what Atwood left unsaid in the first novel generated more horror and outrage than explicit detail can. And the more we get to know Agnes, Daisy, and Aunt Lydia, the less convincing they become. It’s hard, of course, to compete with a beloved classic, so maybe the best way to read this new book is to forget about The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoy it as an artful feminist thriller.
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-385-54378-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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